WilliamTerburgh
Edit “Crit-o-Rama”UICA
The Urban Institute for Contemporary Art was impressive this year. Although I missed an actual lecture, I had the chance to talk to some art students I had not met before. I listened in on at least 3 critiques of works that I found compelling. The first of these I had the chance to see was a triptych set of oil paintings entitled “Bijing, Bilan and Bitao” by Bilan Liao. I figured the names for the paintings were Romanized translations from Mandarin. I was correct on that assumption. The first painting called “Bijing” was striking. From the original Buddhist Text; “Bijing” or “bijing kong (ultimate void)” was very poignant title for the first piece. There is a child of no more than 4 years old in a basement with a few baskets looking toward the light coming from the door to the basement stairs. This is the first of three depictions of life as a child under Mao’s regime. Children, even more so than average people in China were considered expendable under Mao’s directives as the leader of the Communist Party in China. A recent book from a defector stated that Mao killed an estimated 500 million of his own people. This is more people killed in both the world wars, Korean War, Vietnam, and Iraq combined. No graves were ever dug for the victims of progress during China’s industrial revolution. Children are the most vulnerable to abuse and neglect. Without their parents, they are virtually helpless. These innocent children were often used in work camps and factories in China. They were worked to death for the sake of progress in the Maoist vision of China. Millions of Children died in this effort. “Bijing” struck me as eye opening, and provocative. Just to the right of the painting was a type written historical background for the work. It was about the Cultural Revolution in China, and how the artists little sister “chose” work over an education. On the back wall in the painting there is an idealized poster of some communist hero. A hero who’s glorious story was undoubtedly hammered into the mind of this young child, engraining the love of the communist party and of Mao himself. The technical aspects of the piece are stunning. The contrast Liao attains from the light at the top of the stairs is brilliant when set next to an idealized communist hero poster on the wall in the basement. The stairs up to freedom for the child look like a daunting task to climb. This illustrates the difficulty faced by the situation they were in. With that ‘chosen’ life, children were left with a feeling of nothingness in their lives. “The Ultimate Void” is a very accurate title in my opinion. The second work is called “Bilan” is also very moving. The little girl is wearing her traditional school uniform reading a communist hand book (Mao’s book). Pages are ripped out and strewn about the floor. To me this signifies that the child is missing part of communist story. However, with the shear number of pages torn out, most of the true story seems to be missing. The symbolism in the piece is very evident, and captivating. This piece like the last one had a type written description of the cultural revolution in China and about the artists younger sister life as a child laborer. The third piece is called “Bitao”. The child has gotten up from her chair and is walking out the door in the center of the canvas. Mao’s picture is just to the left of the door. This is an ominous reminder of the influence Mao had in everyday life in China. He is looked at as the hero of China. When in reality, the Chinese people are not allowed to question his, or the party’s actions. They are also told obvious lies and they have to accept them as the truth because conformity to the communist will is paramount. Even if that will is responsible for deaths of millions of innocent people.
This triptych is a reminder to me of the horrors humans perpetrate against one another. The injustice these children are receiving is appalling to me. The reality is that the deaths and hard life of these children are in vain. The atrocities subtly depicted in Liao’s work are not done for the benefit of the Chinese people. It’s an entirely self serving plan by the communist leaders (most importantly Mao). Most communists are much more corrupt than our own politicians. They line their pockets with the blood of millions of innocent Chinese children.
The next piece that struck me as a humorous social commentary was a series of black and white photographs entitled “Instructions for Daily Living” by Kans Medina. These five photographs also featured hand written captions (or narratives/instructions) accompanying each piece. The first picture was of a mirror over a sink reflecting part of a light and a shower. The mirror takes up over half of the upper right corner. In the lower left corner is some floral wall paper that offsets the mirror. The ‘instruction’ just to the right reads: “Upon entering the Restroom, always wait your turn.” I enjoyed this piece because of the interesting way Medina cropped this photo. There is just enough information in the piece to determine what objects are, but not enough to come to any obvious conclusions about them. The second photograph is from the perspective of the floor looking into a stall along that ground plane. As someone might do making sure the stall was not occupied. To the right of the piece is another hand written (in pencil) instruction reading: “Enter unoccupied stall and lock door to prevent any unwanted visitors.” I thought the choice of angle and perspective were a good choice because people would be able to identify with that photo. The last thing anyone wants is someone to walk in on you in that position. It’s the most vulnerable time in our day. I often find myself a little worried about the locks not working in public restrooms. It’s impossible to test to see if it is working properly. So a little faith is needed before going in. The third photo is of some toilet paper. It’s cropped so you get ninety percent of the paper. This roll actually appears to be on a counter. The instruction next to it read: “No socializing in the restrooms! Keep quite while doing your business.” I found this one funny because this was put together by a girl. Girls usually go into bathrooms in groups for the sole purpose of socializing! Guys have what one comedian referred to as a ‘non-interference’ policy for restrooms. This third photo struck me as hilarious because of that gender-specific instruction. The fourth photo is of part of a sink and counter from the perspective of someone standing over it, at about average height. Next to this is an instruction that reads: “Always wash your hands. Make sure and check for toilet paper trails before leaving the stall.” I thought this was funny as well, because that’s a common thing to check for before leaving a stall. I found this photo less appealing than the first two, because part of a sink is a tad cold and uninteresting. The fifth photo is of the upper corner of the restroom. It contains a full light, and part of some pipes running into the wall at that corner. I found this perspective interesting. It’s not a very common angle to be depicting. However, just to the right the instruction clarifies the meaning of the picture: “Ladies, always check your make up, and tip the attendant.” The light is obviously for checking the make up. I realized too that Hans must go to some nice places, to have an instruction to tip the attendant.
Overall this piece of work had me laughing all the way through it. However, I then thought of the social statements being made with those ‘instructions’. I am not sure what the critics thought of the work. I only caught one saying that she liked that fact that Hans was still doing this by hand. I thought the work was engaging and fun to follow along with.
Sources
http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-JOS/jos94083.htm
http://www.marxists.org/archive/chen/chenongpcr.htm
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- Studio Writing: Gorilla Girls last edited on 9 April 2007 at 10:46 am by 148.61.85.8