three scrolls printed silk, silk brocade and lacquered wood 200cm x 40cm

three scrolls
printed silk, silk brocade and lacquered wood
200cm x 40cm

at an outdoor flea market

at an outdoor flea market

(Beijing, China)  Months ago I was lucky enough to connect with an artist in China, Xu Fan, like me, a teacher of oil painting at a state university. Tsing Hua University is one of the best universities in China and in Xu Fan they have a highly skilled renderer and educator. We agreed then to try and put together a two-person exhibition; two weeks ago we saw it come to fruition in Beijing.

Xu Fan and I wanted to do a show that would allow me to engage with ideas about painting as it relates to Chinese culture, while subtly drawing attention to the fact that Xu Fan is working in a tradition that comes out of Europe. The resulting exhibition is our attempt at dealing with appropriation and painting history in a self-conscious way. We recognized that it is a bit reductive to suggest that the rectangular canvas of an oil painting in European tradition is akin to a hanging scroll in the Asian tradition. Still, a fundamental challenge of the human intellect is the fact that, as the great Saussure observed, meaning is created through difference. Our hope is that our humble show guides viewers beyond simple cultural comparisons and to more critical consideration of the use of various media technologies across the globe today.  Is that too much?  Oh well.

 

streets of 798 Art Zone (Dashanzi Art District) in Beijing

streets of 798 Art Zone (Dashanzi Art District) in Beijing

My first experience exhibiting internationally came with its own challenges. In addition to language barriers, I had to figure out how to transport work across the Pacific Ocean economically and/or create works in another place.  In the case of this exhibition I did both, transporting the sail part of the installation from the USA, collecting some materials (electronics) in China to create the rest of it, and fabricating the scrolls in China as well.  I figured this would be a way to more intensely connect with the community where I was showing, as sort of an accelerated mini-residency.

This show would not have been possible without the language and organizational support of my partner Jiemei Lin, who graciously acted as an interpreter and organizer.  When my limited Chinese skills and Xu Fan’s limited English skills frequently failed us we, could continue to work together critically with Mei’s support.  We stayed with Xu Fan and his wife Liu Ming, who also helped coordinate some aspects of the show.  We all worked together to drum up some press as we finished our pieces in the weeks leading up to the exhibition.  If you have ever done a DIY exhibition (or in this case mostly DIY) you understand the amount of work required, but also the reward.

using a laser level during the install.

using a laser level during the install.

I was amazed at both the graciousness of the community and the energy of 798, the Beijing arts district.  I know of no other place in the world with such diversity in fine art.  From wikipedia: “798 Art Zone, or Dashanzi Art District, is a 50-year-old decommissioned military factory buildings with unique architectural style. Located in Dashanzi, Chaoyang District of Beijing, that houses a thriving artistic community.”

One gets the feeling that, for better or for worse, something like 798 could only happen with a bit of big government assistance.  While China is essentially capitalist economically, there is also a great deal of deliberate and controlled city planning of the sort that unfettered capitalism does not easily allow.  Some of these projects result in disastrous displacement, while some of them are magnificent.  From DIY spaces like the gallery we exhibited in, to large spaces showcasing blue chip contemporary artists, 798 is a rare slice of real economic diversity.  In the USA, by contrast, most areas that begin with a concentration of DIY galleries are quickly gentrified to the extent that the small experimental galleries can’t afford to stay.  What you’re left with are either blocks of overpriced restaurants and bars (as is the case in my former neighborhood Over the Rhine in Cincinnati), or enormous commercial galleries that only show artists selling works for millions (as is the case in Chelsea in New York City).  Our show in Beijing was right across the street from a couple larger and more commercial shows I really enjoyed, including beautiful solo shows by Zhang Hui at Long March Space and by Ye Fana at Space Station.  I was really excited to be in an area with such great company.

The show, Telepresence is up at Sishu Gallery (思塾画廊) in 798 Beijing through August 15.

(北京市朝阳区酒仙桥2号798艺术区中一街 思塾画廊

本次展览,我们在科学与艺术的边界,在东西方的文化通道中,在历史和空间的跨度中,迈进一小步,在北京的暴雨之季,漂洋过海来看你。)

my scrolls flanked by Xu Fan's oil paintings

completed installation with my scrolls flanked by Xu Fan’s oil paintings

Exhibition title cards

Exhibition title cards

Exhibition Statement 

Telepresence is a two-person exhibition featuring artists Joe Hedges (Pullman, Washington, USA) and Xu Fan (Beijing, China).  In these works, each artist explores Eastern and Western ideas about art and technology using desperate media and processes.  Xu Fan’s highly-rendered oil paintings in the Renaissance tradition contrast with Hedges’ new media installation and hanging scrolls to pose questions including:  When comparing cultures and civilizations, are there any objective metrics of success?  How does media technology function in different societies and between individuals from different cultures?  How have ideas about physical space changed in a digitally-mediated world?  As communications technology collapses the space between individuals and nations, we forget to remember the oceans between us.

Joe Hedges 

Artist Statement

My work is about media technology.  As such, I often employ materials and processes that call attention to the presence or absence of the human hand.  For this exhibition in Beijing I wanted to challenge myself to create works that fulfill these goals, but that also relate to the rich history of Chinese art and material culture.  This resulted in the creation of one series of three scrolls and one sculptural new media installation.

printed silk, silk brocade and lacquered wood 200cm x 40cm each

printed silk, silk brocade and lacquered wood
200cm x 40cm each

Color Fill Red, Color Fill Yellow and Move Tool are three works with the appearance of traditional Chinese scrolls.  However, rather than brushed-on ink of Chinese characters, the scrolls instead present ink-jet printed icons of the tool bar found within the popular image-editing software Adobe Photoshop.  Through calling the viewer’s attention to the function and form of ideographs象形文字 across cultures and epochs, and intentionally confusing the digital space of pixels with physical space of silk and gallery walls, these works engage ideas about the ancient human nexus of communications technology, language and image-making.

Joe Hedges Telepresence electronics, bamboo, plastic tarp, rope 250cm x 150cm x 150cm 2016

Joe Hedges
Telepresence
electronics, bamboo, plastic tarp, rope
250cm x 150cm x 150cm
2016

Telepresence is a work that juxtaposes the form of the ancient Chinese junk-boat sail with a pile of media electronics displaying videos of oceanic scenes.  These objects work together as symbols, suggesting notions of travel, progress and technological obsolescence. Telepresence is the sensation of being somewhere one is not, long the dream of magicians and technologists alike.  Is our so-called digital revolution a triumphant realization of this end, or merely an unprecedented accumulation of consumer goods?


我的作品总是围绕着新媒体和科技。我常常使用各种材料和视觉元素去抽象的表达和暗喻人的手。在这次的展览中,我继续了这方面的探索和挑战,与此同时添加了些许中国艺术元素以及对东方文化的讨论。作品包括三个卷轴和一件新媒体装置艺术。
Color Fill Red, Color Fill YellowMove Tool 这系列作品是三张传统书画卷轴,然而,卷轴上的并不是书法或者书画作品,而是设计软件Adobe Photoshop的工具栏。我并没有按照传统使用的毛笔绘制,而是利用矢量设计软件制作了表意上的像素格[1],拼贴出图像。最后我在中国某电商上订购了传统书画定制和装裱,丝绸印刷,完成了我的作品。这系列作品向观众指出了跨越文化和时空的两种象形文字:中文和电脑图标的相似性。利用像素粒和卷轴的效果刻意混淆了实体空间(画廊的墙壁和卷轴)和数字空间(Photoshop的工具栏)的概念。这系列表现了古今视觉传达,余元文字和图像制作中的连结。
Telepresence 这个装置利用一堆废弃家电和过时海洋录影结合现代材料制作的明朝风帆,并置了大明郑和下西洋满载而归的货船与当今游荡在中国海域的废品船的两个看似截然不同的现象。装置利用了视觉符号去表现文化进程中科学技术传播,发展和淘汰过程。Telepresence [2]本身就是一种由科技创造出来的亦真亦梦感受。我们所谓的数字革命,到底是一场人类文明的狂欢,还是仅仅是巨大的商品累积过程?这幅作品重新展示了人们在时间的长河里,那些我们曾拥有的,渴望拥有的,却早已被淘汰和被取代的梦想们。
注:[1]矢量图与一般的图片最大的区别在于有无像素,利用矢量工具制造的像素粒本身就不是像素的产物。
       [2] Telepresence的中文翻译是思科网真(一种通过结合高清晰度视频、音频和交互式组件,在网络上创建一种独特的”面对面”体验的新型技术);远端临场;远程呈现 —-来自有道翻译
Joe Hedges Color Fill Red printed silk, silk brocade and lacquered wood 200cm x 40cm

Joe Hedges
Color Fill Red
printed silk, silk brocade and lacquered wood
200cm x 40cm

Joe Hedges Color Fill Yellow printed silk, silk brocade and lacquered wood 200cm x 40cm

Joe Hedges
Color Fill Yellow
printed silk, silk brocade and lacquered wood
200cm x 40cm

snack foods popular in 90's China

snack foods popular in 90’s China

with an excited Xu Fan

with an excited Xu Fan

Joe Hedges Telepresence electronics, bamboo, plastic tarp, rope 250cm x 150cm x 150cm 2016

Joe Hedges
Telepresence
electronics, bamboo, plastic tarp, rope
250cm x 150cm x 150cm
2016

putting up a poster outside the gallery in 798 Art Zone (Dashanzi Art District) in Beijing

putting up a poster outside the gallery in 798 Art Zone (Dashanzi Art District) in Beijing

attaching the vinyl sticker

attaching the vinyl sticker

putting up an exhibition poster

putting up an exhibition poster

that moment when you get the art-joke.

that moment when you get the art-joke.

getting it together

getting it together

IMG_7910

attendees doing a little post-artist-talk stretch

Xu Fan and 他的太太 in their studio

Xu Fan and 他的太太 in their studio, where I slept and worked while making final preparations for the exhibition.

my loot!

having some electronics delivered to the studio

Mei and Liu Ming with curator Gao Dengke (高登科)

Mei and Liu Ming with curator Gao Dengke (高登科)

rented a van to take all the stuff to the gallery

rented a van to take all the stuff to the gallery

attempting to talk about Hegel in Chinese. Not happening.

after artist talks, attempting to stay with a random discussion about Hegel in Chinese. Not really happening.