Movable, Replicable, Replaceable, Multi-functional.
Movable, Replicable, Replaceable, Multi-functional.
"The interior is the asylum of art. The collector is the true resident of the interior. He makes his concern the transfiguration of things. To him falls the Sisyphean task of divesting things of their commodity character by taking possession of them. But he bestows on them only connoisseur value, rather than use value. The collector dreams his way not only into a distant or bygone world but also into a better one - one in which, to be sure, human beings are no better provided with what they need than in the everyday world, but in which things are freed from the drudgery of being useful. "
by Walter Benjamin
In The Arcades Project, Walter Benjamin depicted a utopian collection scene where art is not confined to any specific form of expression; art includes paintings, sculptures, and even furniture and clothing. Based on indoor space, the boundary of 'possession' and 'privatization', seems to nullify the innate connection between 'consumption' and 'capitalism', making consumption an act of human generosity towards objects. Similarly, the semi-outdoor space in The Arcades Project are "glass-roofed, marble-paneled corridors extending through whole blocks of buildings", which manifests an evident consumer trap, while the glass' isolation brings a dreamlike distance akin to a shop window.
The boundary of the outdoor space in this exhibition, the glass enclosure (CUHK-SZ Glass Space), and the marble contents representing the interior, an important medium in Hu Qingyan's work, together form the shop window imagery of the arcade. The overlapping destiny in time and space between Walter Benjamin and Hu Qingyan coincidentally serves as a prelude to the spatial narrative of this exhibition. I have simulated a sanctuary awaiting visits and pilgrimages with the artist's creations, to draw the dialectical indoor-outdoor imagery of the glass arcade into the discussions inspired by the exhibition. Look back on the exhibition theme, "Movable, Replicable, Replaceable, Multi-functional". Though it crudely summarizes typical product descriptions offered by many interior furniture brands, including IKEA, but when applied to describe Hu Qingyan's works and stripping away the original subject, 'furniture', these descriptions vaguely reveal a transcendent myth. An artistic, non-private and non-indoor, instead omnipotent and mysterious surplus - aura - faintly emerges. Behind this dialectic is not simply the contradictory unity, but rather an affirmation of both objects beyond contradiction and opposition. In the context of a 'post-consumer' society, sculptures originally outdoor (public spaces) often appear indoors through market demand modifications. Under such a reality, discussing any matter cannot detach from the adhesion of commodity and value. Anything perceptible can be consumed. Perhaps art and commerce, just like indoor and outdoor, sculpture and furniture, do not inherently oppose each other, and can even be two sides of the same coin.
As a sculptor, Hu Qingyan has long incorporated 'self-mockery' such as anti-sculpture and anti-eternity into his works. We cannot help but chuckle at the 'nonsense literature' or 'fèihuà-wénxué' (which is self-referential) commonly seen in contemporary art such as "the eternity of sculpture is often non-eternal". But, from a technical perspective, achieving such counter-intuitive expression in works requires hyper-realistic integration and reproduction of the real prototype. The volume, texture, colour, and material of the prototype must become carriers of 'hyperreality'. For instance, a highly convincing 'plastic bucket' made of stone, transformed by the artists, possesses the original characteristics of both stone and plastic. Behind this lies not only a transcendence of technology but also a Sisyphean sacred persistence.
Contrary to this mythic structure, the self-eliminating methods found in 'nonsense literature' are as ubiquitous as jargon in contemporary art. This often makes us, the public, reject with suspicion rather than revere this seemingly ingenious phrasing. This skepticism also provides contemporary art with the process of being repeatedly visited and discussed. In Hu Qingyan's case, doubt makes 'anti-sculpture' a more eternal symbol structure than 'sculpture' itself. Right now, in this room (exhibition space), Hu Qingyan is consciously using 'uselessness' to crown the credibility of his creations. Because although this dialectics of nonsense is useless, it is undoubtedly poetic and creates a sense of distance. In the system or worldview Hu Qingyan constructs regarding objects, a dreamy, intoxicating filter or glass barrier is at play. When you set aside the filter of doubt and touch upon the singular function or prototype (the original reference) within the work, the object once again becomes governed by the toil of being used.
Myth and nonsense are homologous in Hu Qingyan's attempt to transcend reality through his works. 'Hyperreality' is like 'currency', the credential that links all values. Or rather, it is a 'sinthome', topologically connecting the imaginary, the symbolic and the real.
By/GAO Jiangbo
