The Study Room
I managed to get my train down to London with no cancellations or delays, which I was pleased about. I used the study room at the Live Art Development Agency to research video documentation of artists who have made live art/performance work in China (www.thisisliveart.co.uk). In the study room there are a series of study guides to help users find relevant references. I used ‘A small map piece of performance art in China’ by Adele Tan, 2008 which was really helpful as it listed lots of video documentation. I know that documentation can never replace seeing the real thing/performance/event however I do believe that work can have a second life in other forms and is a good resource to have to reflect upon as a way of learning.
Even though I mostly looked at video documentation the work which is burnt into my memory is an image of MA Yanling holding a gun to her head in a public space, no one is looking at her, they just look at the camera taking a snapshot. This work was made for an exhibition called Internal Injuries 2 at the Morella gallery in Beijing, 06. Liang Tao, Madhouse in Paradise was a performance where she lived in the gallery, which was set-up like a cell and she was dressed in an institutional uniform. This personal display and blurring of public and private behaviour is something I am interested in developing in my work.
I watched the video documentation of a performance called Speech a collaboration between Clare Charnley & Shu Yang for the Dashanzui International Art Festival in Beijing, 2005 (www.clarecharnley.com). Clare appears to be in a courtyard, she takes to the stage and speaks into a mic as if she knows fluent Mandarin, however she is wired up to Shu Yang who is watching her on a live feed and relaying the story to her. I did not know what she was saying as there were no subtitles which I liked although on Clares website you can see a video clip with translation on. I think she is reading a news story about a pregnant woman who was beaten by her husband, which seems to have happened in the local area.
Clare performed Speech during 2002 – 2007 in collaboration with various artists in many different countries. She comments in her statement about the background questions to the project, “How can the foreign artist make work for a context they have a superficial understanding of? Can an audience in the host country engage with the incoming artist without viewing him/her as exotic, patronizing, didactic or irrelevant?”
As I left the Study room all I kept thinking about was, what can I offer? So I left a slightly bruised banana at a crossing in Old Street.
What can I exchange?
I can’t help but think of using myself, my foreignness as a thing to offer to people in Chongqing. I have been told that I will probably get stared at but I wonder if this will actually happen? I say this, as I don’t think I look obviously western. However if this is the case and I do get a lot of attention how can I use it and engage people beyond the surface of how I look? This has sparked off a number of ideas from having words written on my face to simply standing in a public space with viewing borders around me.
Recently I have been working in Selfridges, Manchester store over Christmas for a bit of extra money and found observing and participating in the retail experience fascinating. I embraced customer interaction trying to get people into conversation and seamlessly link in a sale. The social performance of shopping got me thinking about how I can sell myself like a product and who do I want to sell to when I am in China? I noticed many Chinese people purchasing at Gucci and Louis Vuitton concessions. We opened our doors at 8am and by 10.30am Gucci had totally sold out of all their sale items.
I worked in the Paperchase concession and we had a mixture of branded shopping bags and Selfridges famous yellow bags. Most people didn’t want the Paperchase bag favouring the yellow ones after all if you have spent money in Selfridges you want everyone to know about it. This got me thinking about the value of these paper bags especially if you take them to another country like China. How much money would someone bid for a paper Selfridges, Gucci or Louis Vuitton shopping bag?
Research & Reflection
I have been reading exhibition catalogues and books on Chinese contemporary performance artists who participated in live art events Vital and China Live. I actually saw the China Live event at the Baltic in Newcastle upon Tyne, and always remember the image of Shu Yang under a Chinese flag with a big knife stabbing in a downward motion. During the performance I stayed at the back of the audience feeling scared he might stab me as he moved around the space. I remember He Chengyao performance moving frantically in a dark room trying to catch a light reflection on a wall that was being controlled by the audience.
My interest in Chinese live art has come out of a bit of a frustration with other performance work I have seen. I just feel that a lot of performance is very theatrical in it’s presentation and so creates a separation between the audience and the artist. I am interested in squeezing this gap, which is why I like to make work in public spaces and in social/professional situations. Working in this way brings the artist back down to an everyday level, which I feel offers a more natural way for the audience to engage with the experience. Chinese performance art has a modern history and is very political and bold, which encourages me to take risks in my work.
Although I have the opportunity to exhibit at the 501 Artspace in March I am curious to see how my work will translate into a gallery context. There are no guarantees that the documentation of my work will be good enough to use, if so what else can I show? I could do a live performance, however what is left in the gallery space when I leave? Reflecting on these questions are important to consider for positive outcomes in the presentation and documentation of the work. I have loaned a Chinese medicine book from the Chinese Library in Manchester and have been scanning images from it. I really like this illustration of a figure standing on a persons legs, it looks strange even though this action is supposed to be good for you.
Ideas & Research
This week I have got my visa and booked my flights to Chongqing, cant believe I am going in a few weeks time. I have been reading the International toolkit and blog on the newworknetwork website as part of my research and plan to go to the Live Art Development Agency next week to look at Chinese live art and British artists who have made work in China.
My initial ideas are exploring ideas around ‘International exchange’ and ‘communication’ during the residency. Although I will be resident in the artist community I am eager to work with the public in different environments. I have been thinking about contacting some of the artists who have done this residency before to find out about their experience and to learn more about the place I will be staying.
When I visit China I will be resident during the Chinese New Year, which is an unexpected surprise. Due to this I have had to re-think some of my plans and instead of separating out my ideas I am trying to combine them. I am aware that some or even all of my plans may change when I actually get to Chongqing, however researching and having some structure to my residency makes me feel more confident and prepared for what is to come.
