in a melancholy mood today…

Rendering of the Syrian pavillion

To keep myself fit and healthy I’m back to swimming (which also burns more calories than running : ). We have some really nice outdoor pools in the compound and I enjoy it very much.

Today I was invited to attend the topping out ceremony of the German Pavilion for the Expo 2010. The topping out ceremony is a German tradition that celebrates the completion of the basic structure of a building.

Well, it’s really like this, when you’re suddenly surrounded by (other) two meters tall Europeans they are either Dutch or German. Well, in this case mostly German and so there was a nice and surprisingly big crowd present to marvel at the huge steel skeleton that is to be the German Pavilion and to enjoy German beer (of course) and food.

The only real drawback was the weather. A super hot and sticky, overly humid summer day in Shanghai that kept people flocking near the aircons in the food tents. I still don’t know how they want to handle this when the real Expo is up and people will have to queue for hours outside the main attractions.

Guess we’ll all find out soon enough

What’s the theme of this exhibition, what’s your thread of curating the exhibition, why did you finally choose these artists?

There is no “higher” theme to this exhibition like a topic or style that the artists may have in common. This exhibition is about five young and talented photographers and about giving them a stage to try their voice and to show their work, without prejudice and as unbiased as possible. Therefore also my approach to curating the show is very careful.

I want to avoid slapping labels on them, saying “He is this, she is that, they are influenced by…”. They are all still finding their own way and there is no shortcut to this process. Giving them exposure, putting them – for some of them for the first time – in context with other artists is enough. Young art is a very fragile flower.

I got to know two of the artists through a kunst.licht workshop we did together with fine art photographer Shen Wei. Such an event is for me the perfect opportunity to see how these young people work, what they think, where they want to go and also to understand and evaluate their potential. The other three answered the “Are you the nextkunst.licht” invitation on our website. And what they all have in common is that their art is touching me in a very special way.

Personally, whose work impresses you mostly? And why?

I can’t really say that one of them impresses me more than the others. They all have their unique angles and very different and personal styles. Yes, I think the “personal” aspect of their work is very important to me. They are all honest in what they are doing, they are not trying to cheat people, follow some fashion or copy others. And this is what makes their art strong, unique and impressive. Being an artist is a way of life and takes a lot of passion. And I can see that they are willing to follow this path.

Some of the artists you selected are quite young; some of them are 80s, why do you choose them instead of those seniors? Is it due to kunst.licht’s attitude, which is to promote and introduce younger artists?

I always felt that what is missing here in China is a platform for young artists where they can show their work based only on their talent and creativity, and unfettered from circumstances like having the right guanxi or a rich family background, all things that are still very common in China’s young art scene.

This is why we initiated nextkunst.licht as a program to make this possible. You might see nextkunst.licht as the younger brother of kunst.licht

How do you comment on Chinese young artists’ work? What are their strengths and what are their weaknesses? Do you have any suggestions for them?

I see a lot of potential out there and I really like the beginner’s mind of many young Chinese photographers. Chinese contemporary photography as an art form is still a very young discipline and Chinese artists are not burdened by too many big names that are casting their shadows over them as it might be the case in the west where art photography already has a longer history.

There is a lot of exploring and breaking of old boundaries going on, using photography as a means of liberation of the mind and personal development which is very interesting to see in a country where – not too long ago – photography was primarily a propaganda instrument.

What worries me though is that a lot of young talented people nowadays have the attention span of a five year old. They are hopping from project to project, from job to job, without really taking the time to explore a topic, to live and breathe it, to see it from as many angles as possible. The results of this are predictably shallow, lacking the concentrated effort that always is a sign of great art. And way too often it is just some Photoshop wizardry or plain and simple the rip-off of someone else’s art.

So, my advice to a young artist would be “give yourself some time, don’t rush into or out of things, don’t give in too early”. And study others but don’t copy them. There is no easy way to explore your own creativity. Actually it’s painful most of the time

Most of the works shown this time are conceptual, abstract, and more like contemporary art rather than documentary photography, do you think it is a trend in the circle of Chinese photography?

I’m not really interested in trends but I see more and more artists working in concepts rather than just simply depicting the world around them. There is a new level of abstraction that translates reality into a piece of art that is deeper and with more layers than what meets the eye.

Photography does not have to be piaoliang (beautiful) to be touching or meaningful. Very often quite the opposite is true. When you look at the history of art photography you will find that many of the best pictures are pictures that are challenging, sometimes even disturbing. Personally I’d rather look at pictures that ask questions rather than answering them.

How can young artists apply for the exhibition in kunst.licht, and how do you discover those potential talents? What are your standards of selecting photos for every exhibition?  

We’re always open to new applications and have a look at all of them and anyone interested can download the application form from our website. And if I feel that I’m looking at something that touches me, we’ll be in touch
And as to my standards of selecting artists, they don’t really exist. Each artist I evaluate and each photograph I look at are unique and I try to keep an open beginner’s mind where everything is possible. It’s a very personal, a very intimate process.

My students came out top of the class, all in the 90% range. You might imagine how happy and proud this makes me, that the work we did together made this possible. I’m humbled and thankful that I had the chance to accompany them, sometimes nudge them a little, sometimes push them into the right direction and also kick their asses when needed

Yay!

I’m happy to announce that we have found our first artists for the new nextkunst.licht.
Expect great things

I’m looking forward to seeing some great photography.

Jia you!

Wednesday, business as usual. Suddenly a Chinese police officer walks into the gallery. After having some suspicious looks around he approaches our employees and starts asking questions along the lines of “Hmmm, I see you have this gallery here. Is this a legal business? Are you registered with the local police station?”. To his dismay everything turned out to be correct and at the mentioning of the district government he even got a little uneasy (they almost always do).

Still he kept lingering around until he finally couldn’t hold it anymore “Okay, everything seems to be fine for now. I suggest you buy a subscription of one of our magazines about law and security”. WHAT? That police officer was apparently making his round around the neighborhood intimidating business owners in buying a friggin’ magazine subscription. We couldn’t believe it. And of course didn’t buy one of his little papers.

He, being the entrepreneur that he was, still was not leaving and eventually made his next move “Ah, I see you have an alarm system here. Hmmm, but it’s not directly connected to the police station. We can do this for you. It’s just 220 RMB per month”. “Or, we can also install a silent alarm button. You know, like in a bank. It’s more expensive but really worth it”.

By this time we were just stunned by this guy. Here he was, Mr. Law, trying to sell things no one wanted with a persistence that makes most guys on the fake market look pale in comparison. And always on the edge of what is deemed illegal, even in China.

Well, no luck with us. In the end he left with the words “I’ll have one of our security specialist call you directly about the silent alarm”.

Sometimes this country leaves me speechless. Just speechless.