Micro-Memoirs of Chinese Contemporary Artists

Amy Cheng

Zheng Shengtian has had both substantial involvement and deep investment in contemporary art. His profound understanding of his interview subjects allowed the artists to speak intimately about their creative practices and the stories which surround it. The interviews are enthralling and easy to read, yet the artists’ personal stories document an innumerable amount of “unbearable lightness.” Even when many of the interviews do not speak directly to the artworks, the artists’ recount of their personal thoughts, experiences of the time opens up profound examinations imbued with humanistic qualities on art and art practices. 

These interviews are like miniature memoirs created through the cumulative process of these dialogues; the project revolves around the axis of these 51 art practitioners and their life experiences, around their studies, moments of enlightenment, their work, and their lives. The interviews form a retrospective view of the twists and turns of the lives of each and every individual, which provide enough detail to assemble an overall portrait of the era for the reader. The past ten years have been a period of considerable historical importance for Chinese people. Over the past decade, the world in which we live has entered the context of globalization—an era characterized by unbridled acceleration, with various elements moving towards the extreme edge of materialism and consumerism. Amongst this climate of change, the development of art within the Chinese world has experienced an unprecedented and astonishing turn of events, unfolding various features and facets that echo both the contemporary zeitgeist and the conflicts which characterize it. The era from which the artists emerged was marked by tremendous social transformations, changes in world view, and in the recognition and assignment of identities.In Mainland China, artists experienced the Reform and Opening-Up; In Taiwan, the end of martial law and in Hong Kong the end of Colonial Era and the Handover to China. After the Millennium and the post-Cold War restructuring of the global political economy, Chinese contemporary artists became participants in this global wave. Like mirrors, they reflect upon the global and historical changes through their work. This wave shook each and every individual who experiences it, including the artists’ practices and their stated motivations. Their brilliance lies in the artists’ endeavor to employ their individual creative energies to help us re-examine and re-create potential value for human existence in our contemporary world. Regardless of the success or failure in this endeavor, history is constructed through countless accumulated experiences—its meaning is far greater than the fragments of individual imaginations or reminiscences. However, moving towards a mode of increased commercialization and industrialization—a process which has characterized this era—has assimilated art production into the massive ecosystem, of “consumer goods.” Today, as art becomes increasingly easy to produce, it is also rapidly breaking away from its creator, the artists, and are assimilated into “a system of mass production for art objects.” We increasingly see art as an economic activity, as part of the culture and entertainment industry, and rarely do we find opportunities for art to return to a life-scale simplicity, where we can employ candid and straightforward approaches to interpret the meanings of the artworks. Paradoxically,  we believe that the incremental accumulation of a life time’s experience is the origin of artistic value. This collection of interviews are reliable and vital archival additions to the historical records of this era, which look back upon the artists’ experiences of growing up to explore their artistic motivations. 

For those interested in understanding the greater historical context of the artists of this era, these small histories and personal narratives from artists who were nurtured through the different regional backgrounds provide a sufficiently broad spectrum to illustrate the trajectory of social, cultural, and political changes in the various periods. The stories, through their similarities and differences, altogether cast light upon a “commoning” of the time.

当代华人艺术家的微型回忆录

郑慧华

使得受访对象都能够敞开心胸无所居束地讲述关于自己和创作的故事。内容读来轻松，却也记录了许许多多生命中不可承受之轻。即使少有对艺术作品的直接阐述，但是当受访者倾述自身经验之际，也就打开了对艺术和创作的另一深层剖析，充满人性。

这已如同微型回忆录的对话集结，是五十一组艺术工作者以他们的生命经验为主轴，围绕在他们学习、启蒙和工作与生活的谈论，其各自殊异的生命际遇与回顾，足以让读者窥见一整个时代的肖像。当代华人的这十年，已是一段具有相当份量的历史过程。在这十多年之间，我们大部份人所生活的世界步入了全球化的光景中，时代剧烈加速，各方面走向极度物质化、消费化。在此之中，艺术于华人世界的发展也经历了前所未有的惊人转折，展现出与时代性相应与冲突的各种面貌。

受访者所身处的世代，则多半经历了巨大的社会转型、世界观与身分认同的改变──中国大陆的文革到改革开放，台湾的戒严到解严，香港从殖民时期回归中国。在千禧年后，世界普遍走向后冷战的全球政治经济重新整编之时，华人当代艺术在这股全球浪潮成为其中的参与者，并且如同一面镜子般，映照着这些世界性和历史性的变化。时代浪潮卷动着每一个亲历其中的个体，艺术创作者所陈述的意志与工作，其光芒也在于他们都试图以个人的力量，重新去思考和创造当代人类生存的可能价值。

无论成败，通过无数点滴经验所组构而成的这段历史，其意义或许远远大于我们片段零星的想像。然而这个走向高度商业化与产业化的时代过程，也快速将艺术生产带入「成为消费商品」的巨大生态循环中。如今的艺术生产越来越轻易且快速地脱离它的生产者──艺术家──而走入「艺术物的庞大生产链」，我们越来越常看到艺术像是一种经济活动和文化娱乐工业，越来越少有机会能够回归素朴的生命尺度，以单纯的方式感知艺术创作的意义。矛盾的是，我们其实相信，生命过程的点滴累积恰恰才是艺术价值的本源所在。这本访谈文集是在这样的时代里作为一个实在而重要的补充，以回溯艺术家成长经验来探寻创作的意志。然对于想要了解这个时代里华人艺术家所处的大历史境遇，通过这些拥有不同地域与养成背景的个人口述所表达出来的小历史，也足以在一个宽阔的频谱上反映出社会文化与历史阶段的变化轨迹，并呈现自差异中所投射出的时代「共性」（commoning）。

Some texts and images are reproduced from 
“Approaching Chinese Artists: Fifty One Interviews by Zheng Shengtian”， Art & Collection Group Ltd. Taipei, 2014”
备注：“部分文图转载自《走近当代艺术家：郑胜天的五十一次访谈》，台北典藏艺术家庭股份有限公司出版，2014年”。