Finally, comes the narration
Fan Lin
According to the general understanding, the role of a 'critic' contains a certain negative meaning, which will put an art critic in the opposite position with the hard-working artist. In critic's writing, there are more unkind and indignant expressions than compliment and encouragement. Nevertheless, I often can not help but show my undisguised favor to some artists (mainly to their creations for sure) in an ecstasy of delight, which seems to go against the firmness of my role as a 'critic'; especially at the moment of facing Chen Nong's new work 'Dragon Bridge', I know that I will still express delight even after careful consideration because finally Chen Nong has started his own narration.
The 'Dragon Bridge' pictures a group of well-rooted oriental peasants in the present days. From their activities and time fragments, we know that it's a scene of a way to a peasant market. From the 'layout' of people, we can imagine lots of relations such as consanguinity, affinity and business bond; or specifically speaking, those people may come from the same or neighboring village; they may be sister-in-law or cousins... All these are the basics for people to be interrelated in Chinese agrarian society. It's not very easy to develop people's relations in the work depicting city life that is constructed upon the alienation of people and their native land. It is in this virtual that the interest of narration lies. Each figure that appears has been integrated into Chen Nong's colors at this moment. The trading and harvest haven't brought too much joy, and neither fatigue. Greeting, chatting or standing by has become the main tone of trivial life. Although plain as life itself, it makes up a beautiful scene in which water surface nearby, ducks and gooses in the water, waterside bamboos, distant field and rosy cloud, are eircling the narrow slab bridge underfoot and gently spreading out.
Chen Nong has created this fascinating fairyland, based on the bridges in Luzhou, Sichuan province. At the same time he has also set up a narrative base and an aesthetic direction. He says:"There're more than 170 bridges with dragons from Song dynasty to the Republic of China. Dragon bridge is the simplest slab bridge, yet decorated with exquisite statues of dragon heads. I choose some of them and link them together. The figures are just from a daily market scene. We can see from the picture that the bridge, dragon, people and scenery are well harmonized by the water."
'Dragon Bridge' shows almost the same technique with Chen Nong's earlier works 'Here' and 'Yellow River', but the change is obvious and certain. Compared with the description of dramatic historic events before, 'Dragon Bridge' undoubtedly obtains the most essential understanding of agrarian society and rural life, concerning cultivation and harvest, individual and group, people and fields and rivers...
'Dragon Bridge' carries not only description but also imagination. It's very hard to tell stories through camera lens that 'what will happen then' and 'what will happen afterwards' are impossible to explain. The passage of time is directly in conflict with the instant of photography, and the relations between individual image and social basis is especially hard to explain in photography. Standing beside the pier and mostly higher than the bridge deck, the image and implied meaning of dragon provides a stage for narration. Although integral and concise, 'Dragon Bridge' implies a large number of figures and possible stories. Exactly amazed by this, I use 'narration' to summarize 'Dragon Bridge'.
Shao Shao's photographs are also narrative, but the objects seem to come from his mind, naturally not so direct. His works narrate another aspect and consideration, applying much internal pondering. Therefore, Shao Shao is clearly and firmly expressing his own belief:
"My photographs contain many elements from religions which do not simply mean a specific religion but the belief itself. The picture presents multiple elements such as co-occurrence of POP collage with naked man and ink wash clouds as well as classic architecture with outer space. Mingled with the grey of human high-heartedness, the original pure inbeing and reckless desire overlap with each other. I feel that human nature itself is contradictory and indefinite. Good or evil, it wears a different state as to different space, time and environment. As a kind of ideologies, religions have been accompanying the growth of mankind since primitive days. At that time, the gods stood high above the masses while people were inferior and negligible. Everyone held in reverence toward gods and seldom committed any evil deeds. People could express hopes and confessions through ceremonies so as to get comfort and relief for their souls in return. But now the gods are dead. That means everything is allowed. Therefore, we can run riot without any scruples. Human take the place of gods because there no longer exists any gods. Greed and wickedness in human nature is thoroughly revealed. That's why I pay closer attention to belief, which can be intimacy or a sort of ideal and aim. What I focus on is how belief plays its role in people's life nowadays."
It belongs to a sort of deliberate narration, which tells the author's philosophy and the relationship between space and time and describs the author's insight for life and longing for deep sympathy.
When photography tends to get away from narration, Chen Nong and Shao Shao insist in using narration but not simply and directly applying the elements of images. In my critical frame, the real narration shall be a method of creation that can constitute scenes, plots, relations and associations without delicate descriptions.
Translated by Fan Chen
