Gao Yansong is a pioneer in the Chinese Rock and Roll scene. When I met him, he was the lead singer of the band “Wide tip shoes.”
Later, he opened the infamous bar in Beijing, Buzzing Bee, one that many rockers and poets frequented, and one of my novels used Buzzing Bee as its background. It was a bar like those ones in Paris during the fervent era, where new ideas clashed.
After that, I rarely saw Gao Yansong until he changed his identity to that of a “young artist”.
I only saw Gao Yansong’s work this year, which came as a surprise. I had never imagined that an unrefined drunkard like him could make such intricate and expressive installations.
Gao Yansong uses the packaging containers he collected to build a castle in the air that is mindless of its form. The obstacles and wonders of his work has qualities of traditional Chinese culture while transgressing ubiquitous contemporary technique, capturing the historical moment as a humble yet nuanced and magnificent river.
Using new materials for one’s artistic production is a new trend in art, although using packaging material to produce artwork was used as early as Rauschenberg and Andy Warhol’s era of Pop Art. Yet Gao Yansong’s installations using packaging containers are obviously different from the “two masters.” Gao Yansong did not add any further decorative aspects the material he used – packaging container, but only magically transformed this material into palaces and temples. Palaces and temples are the concentration camps for thought and culture in ancient China. They are dignified, sacred and competitive, honest yet shelters the obscene – both a witness of and burden to civilization. Packaging containers are products of modern living. They come with advertising information and design qualities that naturally reflect the characteristics of an era. The concepts behind Gao Yansong’s creative practice allows the material to speak for itself. The material speaks because it already carries the most excessive, in-depth and thorough discourse. So when we see those “dignified architectures” covered by various advertisements, LOGOs or kitsch advertising, we can’t help but applaud the artist’s light-hearted treatment of it. Gao Yansong appropriated the post-modern artistic forms of “appropriation” and “reenactment”, as well as “applying the ancient to today” “applying what’s western in China”, but he also descends the dignified to the grass roots; marginalizes more, humanizes the absurd. He uses the most common material, the most unreliable yet the most effective advertising slogans, the most sacred subject matter, and the most hidden locations to render the most subversive visual and psychological games. Gao Yansong’s packaging container installation does not only present the quality of the material, but by changing the character of the material as well as its lowly quality and identity, he “unconsciously” grants the packaging container more duty and revolutionary vigor. I even believe that there isn’t a more appropriate “modern material” than packaging container as analogies of our nation under rapid development. Packaging is used to wrap objects, but once it is separated from the objects, it becomes a pile of trash. Yet Gao Yansong recycles this trash, and the efforts and thought put into it is quite admirable.
Gao Yansong’s other series consists of the artist setting his packaging installation into the natural environment and photographing it in order to present a surreal scene. On the surface, they seem to be the by-products of his installation works, but in reality this series embodies intensified realism and critical spirits. Those seemingly sturdy architectural structures under the setting sun and moonlight are shown in the pretense of qualities of the unattainable and the sanctimonious. The appearances and qualities, spirit and disposition shown from any object could be largely different from its true nature. Moreover, what we believe is the nature of an object is perhaps also constantly changing. To transform is a type of energy, as well as a kind of strength, and they allow us to be in constant flux – a reality of our era.
Gao Yansong is not the type of artist who stands in mid-air looking down on the lives beneath. He uses his diligent hands to build contradictory ideals, and perhaps this is his castle in the air for art.
June 18, 2008
Wangjing, Beijing
A view on ‘New Junk Art’ through Gao Yansong’s installation
Jiang Ming
Gao YanSong was born in 1972 in Yi Chun, Hei Long Jiang Province, China. He moved to Beijing in 1991. The next year, He founded the band ‘Work Boots’ and played as vocal. In 1994, he was living in Yuan Min Yuan Painters village and was one of the few musicians there at that time. In his early years, Gao used to paint typical ‘Chinese painting’ with subjects of flowers, birds and fishes etc., and he also studied calligraphy. Since then He had carried on his music ambition and always been around in music circle. Gao also writes poem sometimes and had one published call ‘YanSong’s work’. Later he went through training for triathlon and used to own a bar called ‘Busy Bee’. In 2007, His interest moved to contemporary art. He started to thinking and trying to make his first works. In May 2008, He had a solo exhibition ‘Temple’ in Beijing Art Now gallery curated by Huang Liao Yuan. In Chinese culture the character ‘Temple (Miao)’, literally means a site to worship their ancestors or god, which is particular symbol. The exhibition raised attention in the art world, which is surely a success to a ‘young artist’ who just starts his contemporary art practice.
The rise of Installation art can be traced back to Assemblage (art) in 1960s in the West. It aims at breaking through the mystical abstract art that had been dominated since the late 50s, and to release the art from ivory tower back to the mass. The attribute of Installation art can be analysed in three aspects; first, the idea of Duchamp’s ‘founded object’ and a stand to the anti-aesthetics; Second, the subversive spirit in Dadaism; last, the appearance of Pop art and cultural reference. However, the installation art is about concept, which can be seen as a form of Conceptual Art. The concept in it is not a one-dimensional message from the artist or a defined subjective meaning, rather than potentials produced by the interaction between the information that art work carries and the audiences’ own thought. In this point of view, a successful installation piece, first of all, should be able to raise audience’s thought, i.e., it uncovers some problems in our society, which give rise to a further discussion. Gao’s work gives us certain ineffable feeling and showed us a view of a ‘junklized’ Chinese society today.
The materials in Gao’s installation are all from daily trash --- package, that our manufacture and daily consumption relies on. Made of paper, they are disposed after consumption. Packages are everywhere with all sorts of contents: cigarettes, moon cakes, drugs or condoms etc. Gao collects them and employs Chinese traditional crafts to recreate them. He cuts open the labelled material and sticks them together to build up those Chinese traditional temples, steles, towers and pavilions. Installation that combines cheap materials and exquisite handwork becomes popular in China since the late 90s. It distinguishes itself from those dominated depressing ‘post-industrial’ art. The distinction between the arts reflects the difference in state of life between China and the West. Chinese society and its social problems is none like the others.
In art history, installation can be seen as a challenge to traditional category. It beyond what traditional sculpture has obtained on material and space. Art movement of each era is the outcome under certain state of society and its history background. There are also internal and external historical reason for Installation art to become a mainstream presentation today. When American critic Anthony Janson comes to the point that why installations have become the focal point of Postmodernism, he says: ‘They are epitome of deconstructionist idea of the world as 'text'. Because their intent can never be fully known even by their 'authors', 'readers' are free to interpret ‘texts’ (including works of art) in light of their own experience. The installation artist creates a separate world that is a self-contained universe, at once alien and familiar. Left to their own devices to wander this microcosm, viewer brings their own understanding to bear on the experience in the form of memories that are evoked by the novel environment. In effect, then, they help to write the text. In themselves, installations are empty vessels. They may contain anything that the author and reader wish to put into them. Hence they serve as a ready means for expressing social, political or personal concerns - especially those that satisfy the postmodern agenda. Michael Kimmelman, another critic, points out that the rise of installation art is due to its documentation function, which is far ahead to painting, sculpture and photography. Moreover, the raise of Installation Art in the West, roots in the disagreement towards Minimalism. The neat, straightforward emptiness, anti-interpretation in Minimal art makes itself a myth, which reflects worship towards speed, efficiency and mechanism in post-industrial society. However installation art arrived with the tide of globalization: the concept of earth village, the arrive of the Information Age and the end of cold war, replace confronting ideology with commercial corporation and economical win-win. Negotiation and ambiguity is main tune of international cooperation. The myth and vague concept in installation art provides diversity and potential, which is exactly the heart of our time: miscellaneous value and view.
The emersion of installation art in China started in the 80s after Robert Rauschenberg’s exhibition in National Art Museum of China. Since then, along with the industrialization and urbanization of Chinese society, the development of installation art in China had progress on various dimensions. From the early imitation to local creativity and self-discipline, the concept and thought start to approach local issues in different levels. In the period of time there were distinguished works and artists as well as some reflective phenomenon. In 2000, with the bubble in world economy and investigation, installation art in China is overabundance. They often appear in an impressive scale and thoughtless content. Some massive exaggerating works are constantly shown in so-called ‘academic’ exhibitions, whose content or message is not as profound as what they are claimed to be. Most of them simply visualises some well-known ideas and lacking of criticism on current issue. The artists themselves seem need to know more about the subject they are expressing as well as the materials. In fact what those costy ‘grand piece’ are trying to represent can be clearly stated in a smaller model or project. Because of the credit crunch in 2008, ‘grand piece’ starts to shrink with withdraw of hot money whereas some low-cost informative handwork installation begins to step out and being popular. Some of the artists make use of recycle waste to create their installations, which I would rather call them ‘New Junk Art’ in comparison to the ‘Arte Povera’ (Poor Art) in art history. In 1967, critic Germano Celant coined the term ‘Arte Povera’ to sum up the art style of Italian young art at the time: to make use of the plain material, such as branch, metal, glass, fabric and stone etc., to make collage or other combinations. In 2009, Galleria Continua in Beijing 798 launched Italian artist Michelangelo Pistoletto’s retrospective show. In the exhibition, all the works from the 60s to today are presented in a labyrinth made of corrugated board. It holds the whole exhibition in the frame of ‘Arte Povera’.
However there is a fundamental difference between ‘New Junk Art’ and ‘Arte Povera’, which does not decided by their material attribute rather their attribute as a tool. The branch, metal, glass etc used in ‘Arte Povera’ era can be new, as we can see in may ‘Arte Povera’ works, whilst in ‘New Junk Art’, like the name, the material must be industrial waste or daily trash: used leftover. This, is the fundamental difference on its material attribute. But ‘New Junk Art’ is not something new in installation practice. German artist H. A.Schult’s work ‘Trash People’ was exhibited on Jin Shan Lin Great Wall 2001. And Chinese artist Ying Xiuzheng has been working on junk since the late 90s. The used fabric has become her identical art language. However, in early years, as the concern are only on subject representation, the junk works were often in rough quality. New generation like Gao Yansong prefers material that signifies our time. The material itself reflects the identity of our industrialize commercial society, which is like what the advertising says in Gao’s work Red Double Happiness: new start point, new sensation, new affect. And that is exactly I like to describe those emerging ‘junk artist’, like Gao. And as to the ‘New Junk Art’ phenomenon I have just coined, surely we need to give further research and investigation. However I believer it will be the trend and phenomenon in the progress of Chinese installation art in future.
As the attribute of the conceptualised installation art, there is a necessity to demonstrate the symbolic meaning and value in Gao Yansong’s work again. In Gao’s work the visual resemblance of a typical image of Chinese ancient architects such as temples or steles against modern industrialization and commercial consumption in the material, produces a conflict on cultural and psychology, which is a reflection on the complexity during the transformation of Chinese life style: from feudal to modern. China is not a religious country. However, it is a tradition for the society to form a mono-value system on people’s mindset to protect Empire’s power and governance, as well as Chinese traditional philosophy system such as Confucianism. (Although it is different in Culture revolution era, it was another form of despotism). And the change happened in last three decades has turned China into a society of chaos and multi-value. On theory such a society can not last long. But the commercial discipline, i.e. the profit-first discipline, has been supporting the operation of the huge country. A recession to the growing Chinese economic is unmanageable that is why the government has been forging ahead the economic. In this level, Gao’s work evokes a profound thought on the psychological transformation on Chinese politics, economic and culture. Today’s China is in its early stage of full capitalization, where insanity and brutality becomes its main symbol. And centralization on politics makes everything even more complex and insensible. The significant attribute of capitalization is the elimination of the feudal ones. However, it does not mean that the irrational authorities will disappear with the feudal factors. And apparently the irrational authority in some level is getting more powerful. The whole political decision can be changed for one man’s word, which is unbelievable.
The traditional Temples and steles that Gao Yansong creates from packages, particularly the ones in this show, contains anther layer of meaning. In Chinese culture the psychology of erecting a stele is the same to that of biographying, i.e. to achieve incorruptibility on one’s soul. The idea of incorruptibility forms the Chinese civilisation over five thousand years. There is a saying: one left his name as swallow left its tune. But those modern industrial or commercial packages provides opposite meaning. They are made of paper or other easy-shred material because of the low cost as well as the corruptlility. Modern life does not require durability rather continued consumption and unrecyclability as we need encourage consumption to keep the economic growing. The dates and advertising on packages are also invalid. In this perspective, Gao Yansong’s work through such presentation to satirizes our modern life style and its meaning: there is no eternity in the process of capitalization where Consumerism and entertaining is everything. As what Andy Warhol states: everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.
The combination of material, visual effect and cultural composition also refers to the development of Chinese society, the transform of economic structure and environment resource etc. In Chinese civilization of thousand years, the confrontation between human and the natural has never been as serous as that is in today, either the relationship between individual and society. The twisted progression on economy and society, the sudden change of population, limited natural recourses and environment capability are all lay in front of we generation now. The gap between the rich and the poor, the difference between regions, the conflicts between nations and the disagreement on values etc. all these cause the complicated circumstance of Chinese society. So far there is no one can give a clear answer about the source of problem either an overview of it. But in the very society and under certain circumstance, Chinese artists are encouraged to explore individual cultural background to create art works with intelligence and enthusiasm. As what we can see in Gao Yansong’s installation, the delicate fine Temple and stele forest builds up a world that is informative, absurd and mind-striking. And this ‘world’ accuse that the eager development in China cause eventually turn the country into a land of absurdity: dirty but tough, shameless but loud, autocratic but open, energetic but corrupt. In the visual space that Gao builds with daily material inhabits a labyrinth of our social politics life, realistic life and spiritual life.
It is a labyrinth without exit. Once you stepped in, you can never find the way out. Although the junk temple and steles is grand and powerful, it will never last in a smallest fire spark
First draft on 29th Nov 2009, Qing Huang Dao
Revise on 7th Dec 2009 Beijing,
