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A Visit about History and Time

Song Dong, a name that our professor mentioned a lot, yet, I got little concept or...say knowledge about. Not until we headed to the site, I realized what kind of artwork the artist had been doing-- 36 hand-drawn, wire-bound annual calendars.

It was on a Saturday morning, 2^nd of February, I went on a guided tour together with my classmates towards an exhibition called Song Dong: 36 Calendars. It was located at ArtisTree in TaiKoo Place.  We arrived a bit earlier than the report time of the tour, so 15 minutes was just enough for me to get a thorough look of the studio.

The show room was composed of cold colors, black, white and grey. Although the three colors are of the majority of my clothes, I love bright colors more, which is what I mentioned in the first gallery visit blog post. When most of the people were reading the words on a large board, the small tables put in the center of the room attracted me. They were small and covered with glass. As I was standing in a point distant to that, the tables were arranged very close to each other to me. Will it be possible for us to walk between the narrow gaps? Well, later will proof.

The month when I was born!

Soon, a staff member started our journey to Song Dong’s world. What the entire exhibition showing was the calendars drawn by Song Dong. From 1978 to 2013, he has been drawing calendars once a month. Presenting each with a sketch and a paragraph of caption, noting down history that touched him most.  This was Song Dong’s first solo exhibition. To me, it was a really good start. In my poor knowledge, there were various ways for artists to present their works. Sculptures, movies, paintings, I have never seen people using calendars. From then on, interest was raised.

It was the first guided tour I had in art galleries. I started with expectance. However, the staff member spoke a bit too fast. Every time when I was able to have a closer look on the sketch on the calendars, she had already led the others to another ‘month’. That was ok, cause I could enjoy the atmosphere of art more, on my own.

From 1978 to Feb, 2013, there were a total of 410 months. Walking in between the works was like time traveling. The opening of the McDonald’s, the found of Facebook, things or people that had or had no connections with us, were all recorded. Apart from this ‘public timeline’, Song Dong had his own immersed. He drew us images of the day when he stayed with his father, the dates he had with his wife, how he wrote his diaries as well as the birthday of his daughter. Among these, I got a few that impressed me very much.

Song used pencil to sketch the situation at that time vividly. Black smokes floating, seems mourning for the innocent lives.11^th September 2011, a day the whole world mourned. Hijacked planes attacked the Twin-tower. Within minutes, the building collapsed with thousands of deaths. I was 6, got only faint memory of this image. But Song drew it down. He described the event as: ‘A terrorist incident in the age of media, an opening of anti-terrorism.’The terrorists destroyed not only the tower, but also conscience. The pain and lost were delivered to the world along with the live-broadcast. To our TV cable, to our heart. No one dare to forget and the drawing refreshed our memories.

The atmosphere now needs buffer. I remember the diamond skull discussed in the first lecture of contemporary art. About the work, Song had a comment: the exhibition of diamond skull is over. What matters next is no longer about art, but the market of diamond.’Indeed, even in the lesson, will it boost the market of diamond is a topic that we have never thought of. Price always matters… Song Dong drew the skull in detail. The diamonds were ‘sticking’tight together. They were even shimmering under his pencil. The slide about this sculpture reappeared in my mind.

End of story of the ‘public timeline’, now starts the Song Dong timeline. In his story, what touched me the most was the calendar about the birth of his daughter. It was January, 2003. He was moved by that moment. And it was shown meticulously on the drawing. The gentle gaze he and his wife had on the baby, the hand he put on wife’s shoulder, everything is proofing the thankful heart he held. I can feel the happiness even without the description. He Was Having A Baby.

These were words I could barely hear from the guide: The small tables were calendars modified by 400 people. Participants were invited to add their own views on the calendars made by Song base on their memories towards the historical events. I appreciate this act. Song Dong didn’t care about the potential risk of people ruining his work, just hope to add another layer of history onto his work. I personally think this breadth of mind is rare among artists. I have never thought of reinterpreting artist’s work in action… Here is some of the reinterpretations.     

Not only Song Dong records history, I do it too, but in another way. I used to write letters to myself. Every time when I read the one I wrote a month of years ago, the important moments flash back to me. That surprise and happiness when you read those written for years were greater than any letters you have every received. What about yours? Do you record your own timeline?

Oh. The space between the tables were very wide, enough for us to pass through.

:D

15 minutes eternal

'I really don't know how to enjoy his work.'

This was what one of my friends said after visiting Andy Warhol's exhibition in The Hong Kong Museum of Art. Every time when there were buses drived passed with Andy Warhol's exhibition poster, those words pop up in my mind. That is why I decided to spend an afternoon visiting this place in person with my friend. Andy Warhol: 15 Minutes Eternal was the title of the exhibition. It was available from December 16, 2012 to March 31, 2013. On the 19th of February, I finally paid a visit. To be honest, before visiting, I thought it would only take 15 minutes to see the whole place, due to its name….

US:D

$10 dollars was all it took for the observation. Just as we entered the gallery, a large screen with lots of colorful photo images caught our attention. We immediately went over to see how could we get our faces on the screen. Soon, we discovered there were two ipads attached on the wall for people to take photos and do some alteration on its color tone. It was like a new toy for us. We rushed to the ipad and took one of ours. And indeed, our photo stayed on the screen for 15 minutes. 15 minutes eternal, just as it’s named.

Despite the curiosity triggered by our friend’s comments, both of us wanted to gain a material for our assignments. As my friend is a student of fine art, with much experience, she went to the audio-tour-guide and borrowed two ‘radios’. With the machines in hand, we finally stepped on the escalator. The ‘15 minutes journey’has begun.

After taking photos to ‘prove’ our visit, we were warned not to take photos inside the gallery. We could only pack our cameras back, although it was quite disappointing.

‘Then how can we write our gallery visit assignment?’ I asked, clearly with astonishment.

‘Google can do most of the job…’ It was all my friend’s reply.

Warhol’s works were categorized by the years they were made, from the 60s to 90s. Throughout the visit, there were three artworks of his marked deeply in my memory. Before going on this trip, I had done some data research and gained some knowledge of his silk screening process. Reading up to this stage, you can now predict what I am going to introduce next.

Marilyn Monroe (series)

Marilyn Monroe, an American famous idol. Everyone admires her beauty, and so do Warhol, with no exception. Marylyn Monroe fascinated Andy Warhol and this was why he did the Marilyn Monroe Series after the death of this legendary woman. He silk-screened the face of the star on canvas. He painted the star brightly with many shades, as if showing the beautiful and mysterious character of hers. Indeed, the colors used were bright and matched my favorite. However, I started thinking: Nearly all of Warhol’s paintings are done with this medium---silk-screening. Despite the colors, the images of the characters were all identical, in order words, printed. This gave me an instant feeling.

‘ If this is what he used on his works, then even I can be an artist.’ 

It was really my thought. Although the silk screening was found by him, it seems inappropriate for him to use this on every single paintings of his, even though this method was relatively new in the 60s. By now, I started to understand why the friend of mine got that comment towards Andy Warhol, but still not fully. 

Finished walking the first room of the exhibition, by then, I realized the gallery was not really a 15 minutes journey. It is generally known that Andy Warhol was a commercial artist, but I have never thought of how obviously he showed to the general public.

Dollar Sign was what surprised me. Again, he used the method of silk-screening on canvas, a medium similar to the Marilyn Monroe series. He painted this work to show his attitude towards his art. To make money, to become famous. It was surprising that he showed this thought to people so directly, ignoring the potential-objection-sounds, ignoring the image of his. It is kind of a good act to me. Sometimes in the society, thoughts of a person are wrapped by lots of splendor items. Love to the world, charity… many of these good words usually became the cover of the money making mind of this economic world. Little people in this century is willing to tell others their real thought. Hypocrites, pretending, words describing these people flood the pool of vocabulary. 

The directness of Andy Warhol finally touched me and helped to gain a balance of my impression towards his painting medium and the meaning.

What helped me to understand my friend’s comment fully was the oxidation work of Warhol’s. It was a work made up of copper metallic pigment and urine on canvas. When the urine of his and his friends dropped on the copper paint, oxidation happened, causing the special color and unique shape. I know the medium of contemporary art varies and artists love innovation, being squared by what people fancy about is disliked. However, what did he want to express through this work? I don't get it. I could only think of ‘people with enough fame can do everything he loves.’ Disregarding other’s views.

The journey with Andy Warhol was coming to an end. Thousands of questions about what is art, why was Warhol so famous, stuck inside my stomach. Walking out of the gallery, art is everything seems a suitable answer to my questions. This reminds me the discussion Mr Takuro and me had in the earlier post. If people do not admire an artist’s work, is it still called art? Artists spend their whole life creating and doing art. If the quality of their works descends, will people continue loving the artists? Or will the admirers interpret the works to something 'meaningful' or suits their own interests so as to proof the artist is a good artist?

This is the question that lives inside me, with an unspoken answer.