27 Aug 2008

DISCOVERYING IN THE BACKYARD OF HUMAN SPACE

PREFACE: DISCOVERING SECRET IN THE BACKYARD OF HUMAN SPACE

-Some Comments to Tang Nannan's Series of Human Zoo



Chai Zhongjian the Curator



Humanity, in Chinese culture, may be said to be thoroughly tempered in the stove of 'Benevolence and Justice'. The power of dictatorship makes us never clearly see the people who is behind the power and makes every move only after mature deliberation behind. All of Tang Nannan's effort is to be confused by and following the attraction of that deliberate guy and let him step into the dream like backyard. And we seem to see him show his true color by following Tan Nannan's effort.



The effect of eyes' direct vision or expanded vision is the major characteristics of contemporary art. The construction is that our experience given by the visual method of art has return to the original shape and the visual method has been hidden by language for a long time. But the new problem is that the deep connection in vision has disappeared step by step, the knowledge of images and words and the internal connection experience with more secret has become the subject that hard to be touched.



The method of image construction is related with actual balance or hypothesized. This has dragged in the thread of image history of the whole China contemporary art. And during this time, most of the artists are much more like the explanatory notes of history, rather than the value in art history. Their works are just the instantaneous images of the time.



Tang Nannan has finalized this transfer.

Beside the actual balanced image, we can also see images of fictitious, imagination and concept. Then we met Tang Nannan's image of Observers. The world itself is just a kind of concept. And the world outlook is just the exact description of this method. Let us see the image of Observer that Nannan saw, ears closed (because Nannan canceled it), eyelid hanging down and narrowing, the person is calm and relax with a mood of deliberation. And what all of these mean? Obviously Nannan's construction of the image entered into observe by internal eagle came from look, the realistic eagle, entered into marrow from appearance, to observe internal image and characteristics of Chinese people.



Tang Nannan's artistic particularity is the expression of people without gender characters. 'Without' is a middle status between being and not being, between routines and special. It is a status of intermediate perspective beyond the vulgar and exceptional, that is a secret status of existence with high level skill. So called people without gender, refers to the people that has contained everything and can not be described. It is full of experience, not male nor female, not ghost nor human being, not Yin nor Yang, not void nor being, not real nor fake…may be the subjects that in the bone of people of doctrine of mean. So it is strange image, a people of capable, be pleasant all around, wide mind, coolly watching, always change and will never fall down. It is a forever winner, may be a really high talent Chinese, a recluse of strategic, watching and wise, calm and stable, superb and will not be moved by current meters. It is the incarnation of ghost like power of non-genders that hide in the deep side of the garden.

Overall, Nannan's thinking of image issue is an eagle of concept, and he obviously came out from the fashionable POP of masses in his concept and entered into a POP of announcing internal subjects. And he became to keep his focus on the subject with secret and much more spiritual connotation.



August 2008, Beijing