Lawrence · Weiner
United States artist Lawrence · Weiner's first major retrospective exhibition in China, Lawrence · Weiner: The Pursuit of Happiness, the Sooner the Merrier, will be presented at UCCA Center for Contemporary Art from July 20 to October 20, 2024. Here's the scoop from Phoenix Art.
▲ Photograph of the exhibition "Lawrence · Weiner: The Pursuit of Happiness, the Sooner the Better".
▲ Photos of the exhibition site
Curated by curatorial advisor Peter · Eli and in collaboration with Lawrence · Weiner's artistic legacy, the exhibition features a selection of around 50 works spanning more than half a century of the artist's career.
The exhibition includes sketches, posters, and videos that provide a detailed background for the viewer to understand Weiner's approach and philosophy. Each work is displayed in a specific space in the UCCA Grand Gallery, with the aim of inspiring the viewer to construct a personalized interpretation and perception of the art according to the specific context and how the work is displayed.
▲Exhibition view "Declaration of Intent"
On the wall at the entrance to the exhibition is Lawrence · Weiner's Statement of Intent, written and published in 1969, which sets out the basis of his creative philosophy:
1. Artists can construct works
2. The work can be manufactured
3. The work does not need to be realized
(Each condition is equal and consistent with the artist's intentions, and the choice of these conditions depends on the viewer's decision at the time the work is received.) ）
▲ Photos of the exhibition site
▲ Photos of the exhibition site
Using language as an artistic medium
Lawrence · Weiner believes that "a work can exist in any form", and his works use language as the main medium, exploring the essence and boundaries of art through words and concise forms of expression, and his works cover various forms such as sculpture, installation, painting, poster and video.
Weiner is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of the conceptual art movement, but in reality Weiner himself does not fully identify with the label of "conceptual artist". Lawrence · Weiner once said, "My work is done in words, but it's all about matter." He always insisted that he was a materialist, not a conceptualist, and that he wanted to deal with the objectification of what society did not yet realize its function.
▲ Photos of the exhibition site
瑞士语言学家弗迪南·德·索绪尔(Ferdinand de Saussure)将记号(sign)定义为一种二元实体(dyad),一方面是能指(meaning),另一方面是所指(signified)。
A signifier is a purely material aspect of a sign, such as the vibration of the vocal cords during speech, the ink during writing, and so on. Signified is a concept that is marked on a psychological level, for example, when people mention the word "cat" in conversation, they do not think of a specific cat, but the general mental concept of "cat".
When Lawrence · Weiner's written works are printed and posted and read aloud by the audience, they stimulate experience and touch thinking, so-called conceptual art does not stop at ideas, but has become a "physical" existence.
▲ Photos of the exhibition site
Subjectivity and "Objectification" of Experience
Weiner believes that the structure in language can play the role of "sculpture", and that language sculpture is not limited to place or time, but can be constructed in different contexts, which is why his works can exist in any field, which also makes it possible for his works to interact with each other and with the audience.
▲ Photos of the exhibition site
In the Statement of Intent, Lawrence · Weiner specifically states that "the choice of these conditions depends on the decision of the viewer when receiving the work", and his art emphasizes the participation and interpretation of the audience. Further, Weiner emphasized the subjectivity of experience, and he once proposed that in general, there is always an intermediary who assumes our experience of such things by discussing the perception and understanding of other things, and he thinks that art is like taking the subway for granted, and when you stand in the subway you have a reason to go somewhere, and there is no need to justify or position.
▲ Photos of the exhibition site
▲ Firecracker residues in various parts of the exhibition hall
However, under the constant promotion of the media's use of language as an artistic medium by the media, when the audience is in the exhibition hall, they ignore or suspect the physical works made of more common artistic media, such as "some paint is poured on the ground and left to dry", "stacks of tiles", "firecracker residues throughout the exhibition hall", "walls filled with mud or peeling panels", and "1000 Germany marks of medium-sized bulk materials transferred from one country to another".
观众在作品前的犹疑似乎又对应了“一些物体取代另一些物体在阳光下的位置Some Objects Taking the Place in the Sun of Some Other Objects”和“本该被看见的东西而被强行掩盖Things Made to be Seen Forcefully Obscured”。
▲本该被看见的东西而被强行掩盖 Things Made to be Seen Forcefully Obscured
▲ Photos of the exhibition site
Lawrence · Weiner once said in an interview: "I demand that as human beings have the right to present a kind of 'objectification' of the material environment in my eyes, but I don't need the right to give instructions to others." "Because of this, when faced with the overwhelming number of large-scale, large-scale slogan-style English works in the exhibition hall, there is no feeling of fatigue and oppression.
Translation and Geoculture
▲ Photos of the exhibition site
It should be noted that, as the works in the venue "go from one language to another" reminder, when the works are translated from English to Chinese, they bring an unexpected but more geo-cultural experience to the original works.
▲ Photos of the exhibition site
For example, the title of the exhibition, "A Pursuit of Happiness, the Sooner the Merrier", is originally titled "A Pursuit of Happiness, ASAP". The part of "A Pursuit of Happiness" is presented in a way that is juxtaposed in Chinese and English, with a Chinese word and an English word placed on each line. The action of the circle drawing makes people focus on the main point, and the circle circles the Chinese verb "chase" and the English indefinite article "A" at the same time.
"Chasing" seems to correspond to the never-ending untouchable, and the absence of subject and adjective makes the verb advance form bring a feeling of confusion, and can't help but ask questions to provoke thinking, who pursues happiness? What kind of happiness is pursued?
The indefinite article "A" in English is more open than the definite article "The", indicating that there is no specific way to pursue happiness. The "good" in Chinese "the faster the better" is very evaluative, reminiscent of "Chinese speed" fast is good. ASAP is an abbreviation for "As soon as possible", which means "as soon as possible".
▲ Photos of the exhibition site
The work "Attached by Ebb & Flow" translates to "Waves Running Waves" in Chinese, which is relatable to the first sentence of the song "Shanghai Beach", "Waves run, waves flow, thousands of miles of rushing rivers never stop". The orange background is paired with blue English letters and red Chinese characters, inexplicably outlining the style of Hong Kong-style neon signs.
In Chinese history, after the middle of the 20th century, Shanghainese people moved south to Hong Kong, bringing with them commerce and culture. After the 1980s, Chinese mainland implemented the policy of reform and opening up, and Hong Kong entrepreneurs went north to Shanghai, which made Hong Kong begin to give back to Shanghai in terms of urban culture. As two cities that have risen in modern times, Shanghai and Hong Kong have always been inextricably linked.
▲适与不适，独善其身 In & Out of Place Carried by its Own Weight
作品“适与不适，独善其身In & Out of Place Carried by its Own Weight”的中文和英文上也应地缘文化做出相应调整，中文的“独善其身”出自先秦·孟子及其弟子《孟子·尽心上》“穷则独善其身，达则兼善天下。 ”表示修养好自身，保持个人节操。 英文中“Carried by its Own Weight”多用来表达完成自己应该做的部分。
In Fei Xiaotong's "Rural China", he uses the ripples in the water to metaphorize the social relations under the blood connection of traditional Chinese society, and the distance of the ripples marks the intimacy of social relations; A bundle of firewood is used as a metaphor for the social relations in the West that are based on the individual, and they have become a group state.
In the patriarchal group-based structure of Chinese society, the private moral style of "being alone and being good to oneself" is easier to achieve. In the individual-oriented Western society, the equal rights of everyone are regulated through agreements and contracts, so as to form a group that supervises each other, so it is particularly important to "carry by its own weight" to do their own thing.
▲ Photos of the exhibition site
Through his art, Weiner shows us the infinite possibilities of language. The exhibition showcases Lawrence · Weiner's diverse art forms and unique creative concepts, highlighting the possibilities of interpreting and recreating his works in different cultural contexts. At the end of the exhibition, the viewer may discover that, as Weiner said, "the work can exist in any form", his language sculpture is not limited by time and space, and has a continuity in the viewer's mind.
Lawrence · Weiner
About the artist
▲Image courtesy of Lawrence · Weiner Legacy and Gladstone Gallery, photo by Caspari · DeHess. © Lawrence · Weiner Arts Legacy/Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York.
Lawrence · Weiner was born in New York in 1942 and died in New York in 2021. After graduating from Stuyvesant High School at the age of 16, he briefly attended Hunter College before living independently. As a teenager, he hitchhiked around the United States and created small sculptures on the way. It was during this period that in 1960 he created what he would later consider to be his first formal work of art: the Crater Works. He detonated explosives in a state park in Mill Valley, California, creating a new sculptural crater in the landscape. As an important figure in the development of the conceptual art movement, Weiner had a keen interest in communication and the reception of information. His artwork is placed in public and institutional spaces around the world, characterized by an innate inclusivity and fluidity. In addition to his sculptures, Weiner has created music, film and video, as well as artist books throughout his career.
Early in his career, Weiner participated in some of the most famous post-war exhibitions, such as the large-scale thematic group exhibitions that defined the Conceptualist movement, including "Living in Your Head: When Attitude Becomes Form" (Kunsthalle Bern, Switzerland, 1969), "Using Walls (Interior)" (Jewish Museum, New York, 1970), and Documenta 5 in Germany (1972). By the 90s, Weiner began solo exhibitions at institutions around the world, including the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Minneapolis Walker Art Center, the Ludwig Museum in Cologne, Germany, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Burdeaux, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, and the Institute of Contemporary Art in London. In 2007, the Whitney United States Museum of Art held its first retrospective of Weiner's work in United States.
(Phoenix Art Beijing Report Written by / Editor / Yan Zhuorong Editor in Charge/dbk)
凤凰艺术
最具影响力的全球艺术对话平台
艺术|展览|对话
Copyright Notice: All works marked "Source: Phoenix Art" on this website are works that this website legally owns the copyright or has the right to use, if you need to obtain cooperation authorization, please contact :[email protected], [email protected]. If the work is authorized to be used by this website, it should be used within the scope of authorization, and indicate "Source: Phoenix Art". The above works may not be reproduced, excerpted or used in other ways without the authorization of this website.