Although internationally recognized, Tino Sehgal’s work, his unique sense of artistic approach, is more or less unknown to Chinese audiences. One of the reasons for this is the lack of material needed in order to re-present the different works, which we are so accustomed to consuming in the absence of the actual piece. This fact then allows his work to live in perpetuity in a different format: that is, as stories provided by people who actually were part of the situations he creates, which flow across the web as subjective testimonies that feed into curiosity and rumor rather than to some visual understanding of the work. This fact also creates a language barrier for many readers inChina, further preventing access. These stories provide a certain kind of mythic nature to the work that only a few people have actually seen, but that many continue to talk about.
 
Sehgal’s works are not documented through the traditional formats, and there are no wall labels or catalogs to refer to. For many these are very radical gestures, but still Sehgal acknowledges the art system that he is part of. His works are sold as any other works of art, but with a slightly different approach. He sells the immaterial piece without any written agreement, but he requires the presence of a notary public when the collector and artist meet. The artist then states the terms of the contract orally and the notary acts as a witness to the transaction. There is no certificate, no agreement or receipt. In this way, the work is temporarily materialized through the body of an interpreter that creates yet another situation within the particular work.
 
His background in dance and political economy, and the 20th century conceptual art tradition, has in many ways shaped his approach towards his own practice and in determining the context of its final display. Sehgal’s interest in the institutional western tradition of museums and such, it’s structure and role within society – the appearance of which can be drawn in parallel with the rise of democracy in western society – is in a way a point of departure in many of his works.
 
Alternatively, exhibitions and the institutional system in China that has coincided with the recent rise of contemporary art practices in China has been more shaded by the development of a market economy and private investment in contemporary art, and so there is a rather brief traditional grounding and very different social background. This, in a way, introduces the possibility of discussing new potential models for similar institutional systems with Chinese characteristics, and perhaps new and very different contexts for the presentation of Sehgal’s works, as all three sites for Tino Sehgal’s project are private and corporate venues devoted to contemporary culture.
 
Sehgal’s work has been described as constructed situations, which, when they occur within the institutional system, attempt to break away or free from the pedagogical relation between the art institution and visitor, creating a situation where rhetorical power is given to the individual or audience. Likewise, due to his interest in human relations and how human interactions function in certain environments, many of his works are not interpreted by professional actors but by ordinary people working in the institution’s service industry: the guards, ticket sales persons, and other museum staff, whose roles during the ordinary museum visit are rather marginal. Through such works, the artist provides the opportunity for a greater freedom of expression to the museum staff, re-introducing humanity to their positions, creating situations wherein different interactions can take place.
 
In Shanghai, Sehgal will present two pieces: “This is New,” and “This is Exchange,” which will be presented in three different venues as an ongoing, simultaneous project. These two pieces as presented by Sehgal in the specific environments of Chinese institutions will provide the possibility for a very different reading of the pieces.
 
After the market boom and subsequent over-production in the visual arts field in China, the prospect of introducing artists that dematerialize not only objects but also the sale and documentation of their works, while providing a way in which to establish direct relations between individuals, shares the same utopian dream that the larger exhibition too generates: leaving behind no traces, or perhaps locating such traces in some other more significant form than in their physical manifestations.