Comments on some artists and critics of Du Fu

Interpretation of several words of Du Fu

Practical genius

I always think that genius is not suitable for reality, and reality is not suitable for genius. Genius is more aesthetic, and there is often a paradox between aesthetics and practicality. Genius can easily and directly perceive the world and squander life until death, so genius always disappears or commits suicide after epiphany. Therefore, the happiness of genius is called sad by realists, and it is also touching. However, there is such a genius who turned this gift from heaven into a practical talent and put the abstract aesthetic talent into practice. He has enough talent to create, but if he just creates, he will end up like other geniuses, so he finds a realistic way out for his genius, thus saving himself and more geniuses. This genius has more possibilities than artistic creation, he runs schools and education, he creates artistic bases, he runs websites and publishes, and he uses realistic material existence to seize the short-lived genius's throat and let it stay in the world. He is Du Hong Ying. When I say this about him, someone will definitely disagree, but don't forget that only a genius can discover the existence of another genius, and a genius can always discover what others can't and reveal it. If so, learn from it.

Elegant wildness

Not everyone deserves to be described as elegant. I'm sorry I'm so rare and strange, but I've never seen a man who can really be described as elegant. Du is not, of course, but he has this elegant temperament, which often can't cover up the brutality in his bones. This barbarism just reflects his innocence and a man's nature. The reason why I like him is not his elegance and wildness, but that he is still angular after so many years in Shenzhen, a material city, rather than disgusting smoothness and cunning.

Evil goodness

People are not born evil and kind, nor are they born pure and perfect. All these things are made and tempered. A person's pursuit and choice determine whether his soul is noble or not. Good intentions may lead to evil behavior and ending. A person who can see through the essence will not judge people easily. I won't jump to conclusions about anything easily. I just want to say to Du: Dude, there is some evil in your kindness, which is human nature. When you dare to show your humanity, I see you show some unknown truth and beauty.

Persistent uneasiness

Du said that he just wanted to be a down-to-earth person and do things honestly, which showed his anxiety. Anxiety is the natural reaction of everyone who has a sense of life. As long as a person lives, he is cursed by fate, and there is no freedom in life, so freedom has become the goal that people pursue. As long as you live, you must endure all kinds of tangible and intangible constraints and restrictions from life, life, society, family, her/him, yourself, spirit and material. This kind of anxiety is fully expressed in his series "The Curse of the Iron Ring". I'm not a critic, and I can't represent most people. I can only react correctly or wrongly to him and his works on my behalf. Think of it as whispering!

Selfless selfishness

Who dares to think that he is completely selfless? Then he/she is selfish. You can't tell the truth. If you tell it, you won't recognize it. When Du spontaneously founded the Shenzhen Contemporary Art Library in Shenzhen, a new city on the edge of mainstream economy and art, he spent manpower, financial resources and energy without complaining and bravely assumed the role and responsibility he thought he should bear, and a sense of mission was interpreted in him. Some people say that he achieved selfishness by selflessness. This man is right. If everyone in the world can be selfless and selfish, then the world will be peaceful. But if the speaker is up to no good, then he should try and see if he can do it.

Ambition without desire

Many people's strong will comes from their inner weakness. People who are complacent will feel inferior, and those who have no desire will have the wildest heart. Therefore, these negatives are often the motivation of capable people. It pushes ambitious people to the other extreme. Anyone who says that his/her ambition is not good, or that he/she has no ambition, is either hypocritical or does not know enough. The advancement and retrogression of the whole history and society is a history of ambition. One ambition overturns another and produces more ambitions. Du is ambitious, and this ambition is quite big. No desire will be his spiritual height. Everyone has ambition, but not everyone is willing or able to achieve it. I believe he has the ability to stick it out. Bless him.

After explaining the meaning of this word, I remembered that once in Nanshan, Shenzhen, the handsome and strong Du was a mannequin for the artist's photographs opposite my studio. After that, he came to my studio to take a bath. I saw Du Jun covered in bronze butter and wrapped in cloth, smiling shyly. At that moment, it was beautiful! My eyes can't be pure, and they can't be pure. I still vaguely remember that piece of cloth, which is similar to the one used by Jesus to hang on the cross. As for our friendship, I have never desecrated the "ongoing" exhibition since it became known.

Lu Shen

On July 20, 2008, at Huantie Studio.

Lin Shanwen: Encountering Du

one

At 6 o'clock in the morning, Du woke up under the instruction of the biological clock and looked at his wife and children who were still sleeping. He got up. Today is the n th exhibition of art into community series. He will go to Chuangku (Shenzhen Contemporary Art Creation Library) early to sort out some materials, upload some news that Shenzhen Art Network needs to release that day, and send emails to some friends and media who haven't had time to send invitations.

He hurried down from his building and drove out from a community in Nanshan District. He didn't drive directly to the library. As usual, after coming out of his house, I turned a corner and drove in the other direction-to the school gate of Shenzhen University. He didn't forget his appointment with another artist yesterday. He needed a ride. Thirty minutes later, they arrived at the Shenzhen Art Creation Library in the central area of Baoan.

He first opened the door of the office, put back some books that his friends rummaged through yesterday, and then went back to his studio to turn on the computer and began to sort out the programs and materials of the day's activities. At about nine o'clock, his assistant came to the office. He explained the day's work to them and made some arrangements. He wants to go to the studio to finish his work. Seeing that time was a little tight, he drove directly to today's exhibition venue. The exhibition was arranged all day yesterday, and he needed to re-check whether the labels of his works were ready, and some works needed to be adjusted. Because an artist's response is slow, his work hasn't arrived yet, so he called to urge him. The other party said that no suitable car transport works were found. Without further ado, Lao Du explained the on-site work and looked for a car, and soon found a suitable car next to a vegetable market in Nanshan. ...

It was already 2 pm when the work was brought back and ready. He ordered a box lunch, usually cooked pork and rice, and needed pepper and a bottle of beer. It took him two minutes to finish eating, and then he began to check the microphone and other audio equipment. He saw that there was still some rubbish on the ground, and he began to look for a broom. But then the phone call for directions came, and he began to repeat what this place was ... and then chatted with the space owner. ...

At three o'clock in the afternoon, guests arrived one after another and the opening ceremony began at four o'clock. In the meantime, you will see him walking through the crowd and busy. He has no leisure to chat with people with a glass of red wine ... he stops occasionally to say a few words ... he is doing something important. At 7 o'clock in the evening, a group of about 20 people headed for the firecracker shop. Needless to say, it is Lao Du who pays the bill. His nickname is "Boss Du". When the artist in Shenzhen found him, he enthusiastically arranged the reception ... During the dinner, he raised his glasses frequently, and Lao Du was a little drunk. He began to sing (often the song "Beautiful Socialism" tore his heart out). Some friends were sent away, and some came from other places. He took these friends with him, and another artist's Red Flag followed. More than a dozen people went straight to Haiyan Bar in Shekou, continued to drink, and talked about some bad phenomena of contemporary art in China, saying that someone's work was really bad. During the dinner, my wife asked her daughter to make a phone call, which was regarded as an inspection ... Soon, at one o'clock in the morning, he led these people to a night snack stall in a night market, ordered some porridge and some stir-fried dishes, and finally sent them back to the hotel. When he got home, it was already three o'clock in the morning, and his wife and children were already asleep. ...

Of course, this is my imagination of his life in a day. But over the years, in my contact with him, the impression he left me in Shenzhen generally constituted such an imagination. Judging from his frequent troubles and many affairs around him, I guess he spends most of the year like this. Here, I have no intention to portray him as a woman who abandoned her family and devoted herself to art. She may often eat lunch outside and say, "I'm going home." When a friend comes and has to leave, he sometimes takes everyone to a restaurant, signs the bill in advance and then goes home.

Life is a river of memory, and emotions become constant and moving in memory and imagination. A person's understanding and trust originally came from an encounter. After a short and happy relationship composed of fragments, time and space often separate people from things. Fortunately, it is memory that undertakes the repair function. We rely on warm memories to inspire each other's lives.

I didn't have face-to-face contact with Hong Ying for six or seven times, and the time spent together was 10 days at most. I may have lived in the same room only three times and didn't talk all night. I will stay in bed from 2 am to 4 am or even longer because the other party is "unable to reply". What's left is the long phone call between Yunnan and Shenzhen or Beijing and Shenzhen, as well as the information and pictures sent by his frequent activities, and what he guessed when he thought of each other. Time has just taken away four years. In contact and imagination, in some hard-won achievements, we feel warm and encouraged.

Du is a media person, performance art, painter, critic, curator, event organizer, art educator and agent. If you don't need such a long list of terms, intercepting any of them can't summarize his identity. But there is a more appropriate word, and that is "artist". I think Du is content with such an identity, and this judgment comes from my personal experience. Personally, he sometimes takes "the thinker of action" as his ideal goal.

This involves the problem of artist's identity judgment. Is the word artist limited to "making concrete visible and placeable works?" What kind of works are good works. If the work is piecework, where is the scope of this "piece" limited? Duchamp said, "My most satisfying work is my life." You may not agree with this sentence. Our role model, Ye Yongqing, also said, "I am proud to be a peddler of artistic lifestyle." John Berger, a British critic admired by everyone now, is actually a painter, novelist and cultural historian. In other words, a single expression cannot satisfy an agile and talented thinker and activist.

Du is a typical "action" artist. He is an artist who understands the new era and should not be limited by the traditional "single" artistic concept. Art is no longer a "solid object" placed in the corner of the art museum for the convenience of collection and sale, passively waiting for others to appreciate, reflect and criticize. Art is a "public welfare behavior" that is integrated into the artist's daily behavior. Art has changed from a noun to a verb. The artist's mission is to enhance the influence of "art" through multiple narratives. By these artists with a sense of mission, they all combine a variety of creative ways.

It is clear here: I regard Du Hong Ying as a work. The sculptures and paintings he created are called works and are part of Du's works.

two

Hong Ying's life is full of legends. He has been fearless and action-oriented since he was a child. At the age of 65,438+02, he began to write couplets for most people in the village. 13 years old, opening a seal cutting shop in surrounding towns and villages to make money. 65,438+07 years old, opened a personal decoration department in the urban area. All this is the result of no professional training, self-study and hard work-his life is smooth sailing. Unexpectedly:/kloc-Du, 0/8 years old, was sentenced to 6 years in prison for assault. Hong Ying is full of a sense of justice and likes to fight injustice, but she is too good at fighting and fighting, which leads to the opposite of life. It seems unfortunate, but it is actually lucky. Prison gave him the opportunity to study and think. Instead of breaking the jar, he found a sense of balance between righteousness and Tao. Due to his literary talent, Du quickly became a literary worker and a prison leader. In those years, he made many pen pals and intellectuals, which laid an important foundation for his later artistic career.

After coming out, he went to Shenzhen to engage in art education, won many awards from excellent teachers at all levels, and was invited to compile the national kindergarten art textbook published by China Youth Federation. When his career was booming, he made a new choice in life: giving up children's education and entering the career of a professional artist. The clarity of Hong Ying's life goal is reflected in his step-by-step planning and breakthrough.

That is, around 2002, when the art world needed "curators", Du initiated a revolution in Shenzhen and organized and planned many exhibitions. I remember that in 2005, he brought seven Guangdong artists (Deng Rongbin, Tian Liusha, Mo Junfeng, Hu Chijun, Zhou Jinhua and Jiang Hong) to hold an exhibition in Kunming. At the symposium entitled "Local and Regional Characteristics of easel painting", Lao Du spoke for the "artist" and left a deep impression on me.

Soon after, he began to build the "Shenzhen Contemporary Art Creation Library", in which more than 40 artists, some poets and critics participated. In the meantime, he also tossed a lot of things. Later, because of the "fire at the city gate, the fish in the pool were harmed", Chuangku moved to the current F5 18 Creative Culture Industrial Park. As soon as he settled down, he began to hold a housewarming exhibition called "Restart and Refresh" and an open day for artists' studios, giving artists a reason to "open the door to welcome guests". His "My Art Gallery" was interviewed and reported by hundreds of media organizations including CCTV.

Let's take a look at his resume: planning "Shenzhen Mobile" Contemporary Art Exhibition, "Living Art Collection Series Exhibition", planning 30 series of activities in our art museum, restarting and refreshing Shenzhen Contemporary Art Creation Library 13 Art Activity Planning, promoting young artists in Shenzhen, hosting 8 series of exhibitions, hosting Shenzhen Avenue Live Art Festival, planning an open series of exhibitions, planning the road of Shenzhen Contemporary Art Exhibition, planning eight contemporary art exhibitions in the community, planning "Anti-Airborne Art Project Series 12" to ..

From 2004 to 2008, "nearly 100 art activities have been planned so far". Few people can match his brilliant achievements. Artists in Shenzhen, even in Guangdong and Yunnan, trusted Du, and his works were handed over to him and moved from one exhibition hall to another. A large group of artists followed his guide to the north. In addition, he also edited Shenzhen Art Network and Shenzhen Art Magazine. ...

three

To tell the truth, Hong Ying belongs to the kind of person who has strong personal preference. Sometimes I worry that he will make things worse without considering each other's feelings, but it turns out that he conquered everyone because of his own public interest. The principle of doing things for things rather than people has been supported by a large group of friends. It is such a victim with the ability to organize and plan. Why is he still making works? ! Du is so busy, does he still have time to work? ! It is hard for people who live and work in peace and contentment to imagine this. People always think that "criticism is a bear's paw and artistic creation is a fish", and you can't have both. People always think that they can't do what others can't do! Is that so?

In 2004, Hong Ying began to create a series of works called "Tightening the Hoop". First of all, she paints, and most of the paintings are images of children wearing hoops. By the summer of 2008 (this year), I have cast myself into a sculpture, interspersed with countless behavioral creations. It can be described as a three-dimensional sweep!

As far as the profoundness of the concept is concerned, the theme and significance of the work are clear and clear, which hits the point of the country's educational ills. Of course, the meaning of the work is not only in children. "Where there is no equality, there will be exploitation and persecution, and there will be a' curse'", which is a topic about imposition, burden and tolerance. As an artist, Hong Ying is not satisfied with just creating a work and waiting for others to discover it, but realizing the influence of this work through exhibition after exhibition. It is said that Hong Ying installed a sculpture with a tight hoop in the front of his car, which "paraded through the city" all day, attracting a return rate of "100%". Up to now, his works have traveled to Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan, Vietnam and other places for "roving exhibitions" with the "best news interview car". Then the influence of these works, because Hong Ying himself entered the community, markets, mountains, the Internet and so on. It has already made many big names and small boards in the country deeply touched. Naturally, we can't underestimate the social influence of this work.

From Lao Du's "this work", we can also see that artists will express different ideas in the same way and express the same ideas in different ways. It would be very narrow to judge these works only by aesthetic principles. It would be too simple to understand his works only by concept. Judging from the schema of his works, he pursues the visual impact of the image itself, his paintings pay attention to the use of contrasting color effects, his behavior pictures are mostly positive effects, and his sculptures "set an example". Although on the whole, the language of the work is a bit simple, lacking more reflection worth pondering, but what is important? The important thing is to persevere.

One day in 2008, Hong Ying began to implement another of his works: he put on a white coat, dressed as a doctor, and extended his stethoscope to every corner of the world-dangerous houses, airplanes, women and men. This series of works called Diagnosis and Diagnosis are also in full swing. He seems to imply that the world is full of hidden dangers and everyone has problems to face and solve. His works seem relaxed, humorous and witty, which shows that his grasp of context is accurate and ruthless. This is also a reflective work. Coincidentally, shortly after he started to carry out diagnosis in Shenzhen, a fire broke out in the factory downstairs in Shenzhen, which made this work have a prophetic effect and the questions raised in the work became more necessary and important.

From his live works of setting off firecrackers in 2005, Theory of Three Represents theory, unified thinking, works of news joint blowing device, retrograde 2007, big horn, small horn, chorus of prosperous times, implemented in July 2007 1, remember, May 16544. What is more dramatic is that the day after the Wenchuan earthquake-Du is such a person, a person who seems to be violent but actually has thoughts, a person who is fearless and has a sense of justice. His informality and resolute action have become the basic characteristics of his "art", and he will be appreciated and respected as a "beautiful" work.

When we look back at his "intangible" works, we will find his consistency in cultural value orientation. The supermarket exhibition of his small art and poetry works was held in the city center, and his works were cheap. Compared with the idea that art is a luxury, he takes the mass line. Although, as far as I know, nothing can be sold, his goal has also been achieved: to let more people get in touch with and understand art. This time, the art of "My Art Gallery" he made has entered community activities with a clearer purpose, taking the family as the unit and the children-parents-neighbors as the unit. He moved his "southern life" and his spell to art galleries, bankers' offices and leaders' homes, and his artistic outlook and influence became stronger and stronger. I think, educational significance, guiding the audience, explorers ... Du never gave up this pursuit.

65438+February 2008

Du is tall and straight, and his figure shows that he is good at fist and fist, and he walks like a triad boss. It is said that he was killed in this red and black society when he was young, and he also paid the price for his youth and naivety. From this, it is thought that some people in the "fake robe brother phenomenon" in the art world like to hold on to a scene. If you don't tell lies, your face will turn white with one punch, and you will only play a small sample to make you laugh. Du gave me a much more real feeling.

Du loves art and is good at painting. Some planned activities are also well organized, and occasionally writing a little words is also on the cutting edge. The important thing is that his experience in dealing with people will bring him some situations, and the number of people who support him will gradually increase, which will be very helpful to his artistic career. We cannot underestimate his future.

Du and I played in Shenzhen for a while. I paint in Deng Rongbin's studio. He is a friend of Deng and often comes to the recording studio to play. I have always supported and admired his great enthusiasm for art, and he often dragged me to participate in his planned art activities, which brought me a lot of happiness. Art is nothing but happiness. With Du, you will be very happy, I can promise.

Mao (06.7 Yichang)