南方艺术

Starsandscenery(ashortholiday)

来源：中国南方艺术

2012-09-30 04:31
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　　Stars and scenery (a short holiday)
　　
　　Curated by Cecilia Freschini
　　
　　Where’s is the different between what people shows and what they really feel inside?

　　Inevitably each one of us needs to pretend, at least we have to face everyday the line that split out our outward appearance and our secret thoughts. This internal division is the behaviour that society teaches us since we are kids. Klaas Burger and Rieneke De Vries, two artists from Holland present a site specific project resulting from their experience in China.
　　
　　Currently in Beijing there are many residence programs established for International artists.

　　Those are disseminate in and out the City, Klaas Burger and Rieneke De Vries chose to staying in Song Zhuang Art District, thanks to BSC International Art Program, direct and organized by Mr. Zheng Xuewu, Mrs. Guo Xinxin, Mr. Liu Chunjie and Mr. Bi Hongliang. This district, little bit far away but amazing picturesque village is the largest art area in Mainland, where more than 3.000 million artists live. The adventurous artists enjoying living there and find the place suitable for their intentions, in fact they aim long for facing the authentic local art and lifestyle.

　　In these period they have been able to understand and be part of the Chinese art community that was the integral part of their mission in China. Unlike many foreigners artists coming to Beijing to show their previous works that may do not have anything to say to the Chinese audience, Klaas Burger and Rieneke De Vries decided to converse with them directly. The current exhibition is about the difference between what is shown to the world outside, the “I”, and those thoughts, emotions you have inside, but you don"t express, that is “the Other”. The search is focused on the borders marked between the imagination you show, according to the society, and imagination you keep in your mind. The exteriority of the Other, as described by the philosopher Levinas, manifests itself best in the Other"s countenance. The defenceless countenance of the Other can induce a person to forget his own being for a while. “This is an important point of departure for me: the Other is a stranger, never to be grasped. The Other can never be comprehended, being always different from what one imagines him to be. Thinking about my relationship with the Other is for me to understand the environment around me. The people in my work are the ones rendering meaning to the work.” Currently De Vries is working on a series of collages and photographs that bear the title “Little confusing people – art in private space.” In the present exhibition she narrates the story of Song Wei, one of the first Chinese contemporary art collectors, that made good money buying art and probably because of this he lost his mind and now he lives closed in a mental hospital. Moreover, she takes as an example the blinded cars, forbidden in many Countries but usual and obvious thing in Beijing. These cars represent a symbol of what being in China means to the artist: “It’s difficult to see what’s inside the Other, it’s very dark and closed but also very shiny. When I look at the cars words like ‘blind’ and ‘not knowing’ appear in my mind, the same as China: I am evolving but I don’t know to what or where.”

　　The whole exhibition is an installation that the artists have made together as the result of their residency in Beijing and all the perception involved in this new experience. Klaas Burger said: “It is really important to see oneself into a context, which means for me now into the context of China. Because there are always things outside which you want to connect yourself with. Making the connection gives you the power to own the things you connect with; it gives you the power to make the sky blue for one day or green if you need so”. Burger presents three installations. First a series of mirrors in which he connects his own European context of religion and the misuse of symbols to the use of symbols in China. Second he will play with the political meaning of the blue sky above Beijing on October 1 2009. The last project is about a self-portrait. During the opening the artist will make a group photo taken together with the public: the entire exhibition visitors will wear glasses with his eyes on it, in this way he will makes everybody looking trough his eyes!

　　Exhibition: “Stars and scenery (a short holiday)”
　　
　　First results from a residency-period in Beijing
　　
　　Artists:   Klaas Burger (Netherlands, 1977) and Rieneke de Vries (Netherlands, 1981)
　　Curated by: Cecilia Freschini
　　Time:   4pm till 7pm
　　Date:   October 22nd 2009
　　Place:  BSC Gallery
　　Address:      Beijing Studio Center, Songzhuang Art District, Tongzhou District, Beijing
　　
　　Opening: Fireworks outside / Blue sky inside

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