Film criticism in Sanyuanli

Ou Ning's "Sanyuanli" project was first exhibited at the Venice Art Biennale in June last year, which was widely reported by domestic and foreign media and attracted the attention of many art lovers. But the focus is mostly on the documentary part of the whole plan, and less attention is paid to the whole plan. In fact, Sanyuanli is a cross-media art work completed by a group, including movies, music, books, websites and exhibitions. Therefore, the special contributor of Information Times paid a marginal visit to Ou Ning and Cao Fei, the planners of Sanyuanli, and Li Jinsong, the musician who provided music for the documentary, and made a thorough and detailed understanding and discussion on the production of other parts of Sanyuanli.

Sanyuanli plan

Sanyuanli is an experimental documentary created by Ou Ning and Cao Fei for the 50th Venice Art Biennale. Produced in the name of the Film Association, the film and study the urbanization process in Guangzhou and the typical Sanyuanli in the village by combining individual creation with group cooperation. Sanyuanli starts from Sanyuanli, a village in the city, and makes a slice study of Guangzhou. This paper discusses the historical debt, the conflict and reconciliation between modernization and Lingnan patriarchal settlement culture, the strange architecture and human landscape in the village in the city, and finally forms a black and white image poem. At the same time, the Sanyuanli project brought Yuan Ying Association into Venice Biennale. The open library in the exhibition hall is mainly used to display documents, members' works, websites and publications of the same name in Sanyuanli.

Sanyuanli is a fusion of many viewpoints.

The "Sanyuanli" project is actually a collective creation of the shadow society. Regarding the participation of so many people, Cao Fei recalled, "When so many viewpoints were gathered together, it was a huge contrast for me and there were many surprises. This also makes me more interested in organizing this film. " This vivid creative form of collective creation has indeed injected more vitality and diverse composition into Sanyuanli's plan.

Information Times: Did the idea of shooting a record in Sanyuanli come into being before or after Hou Hanru's exhibition plan of Guangdong Express? How did the "Sanyuanli" plan come into being?

Ou Ning: Hou Hanru and I worked together before this project, including planning and making some books. At the end of 2002, he put forward the concept of "Guangdong Express" and introduced Guangdong contemporary art into the Venice Art Biennale. After communication, Cao Fei and I proposed to him to build a "Sanyuanli" project in the name of the film festival for display.

Information Times: Cao Fei's past works have a strong personal style. This time, Sanyuanli feels more like a collective creation. Do you think there is a compromise?

Cao Fei: I don't think it's a compromise. This is my first attempt to create collectively. In collective creation, you must hide very personal things. You must consider the ideas of other members of the team and reach a consensus. At this time, you need to learn how to cooperate with others. But because I did the editing, I still have my own personal style in editing.

Information Times: The filming of "Sanyuanli" was completed by a team from different industries. What kind of feeling does this shooting process give you? Does it affect the post-processing work?

Cao Fei: If I took it myself, I expected everything. But because there are many people involved in this shooting, I am the person in charge of editing. When I started post-production, I realized that when so many viewpoints are together, you will find that everyone pays attention to different things, the way the camera moves and so on, which gives me great contrast and many surprises. Let me learn a lot. This also makes me more interested in organizing this film. Collective creation will produce more creativity, more diversity and give people a richer feeling.

Music tells stories beyond images.

Li Jinsong was in Beijing when he was contacted. This Hong Kong experimental musician is in close contact with the domestic independent music circle and has rich musical experience. Making the score of Sanyuanli is the best choice for him. Of course, after the broadcast of Sanyuanli, some people questioned the connection between its music and movies. In this regard, Li Jinsong said, "There is no need to repeat what the video has already said; The soundtrack is just a supplement to tell stories outside the image. " Perhaps, the music itself reflects his inner feelings about Guangzhou.

Information Times: The first is digression. As a Hong Kong resident, do you have a similar life experience with a village in Guangzhou?

Li Jinsong: Yes. 1995 or so, I had such a life experience when I worked with Wang Leyan (a Guangzhou musician). Lived in a village in the city for about 1 week.

Information Times: When curator Ou Ning invited you to participate in music work, what did he ask?

Li Jinsong: Actually, the cooperation started when I provided some samples of my works to Ou Ning. He tried to edit movies with these works, and one of them was quite suitable for them. Moreover, that work is biased towards the concept of simple music and has a strong sense of rhythm. So Ou Ning suggested to me that he wanted to create some progressive and rhythmic music. And according to his request, I used a simpler musical technique to create.

Information Times: It is understood that you didn't see the finished product of Sanyuanli when you were creating, but looked at the original material, which was quite interesting. How will this affect your creation? Will it make you lose your grasp of the whole work, or will it provide you with more room to play?

Li Jinsong: Well, that's interesting. The way we cooperate is that I make a piece of music and give it to them, and they edit a movie. This is an interactive process. We both think this way is very interesting. I don't think this way of making will make me lose my grasp of the whole work, but it does provide more space for my music creation.

Information Times: Ou Ning said that the film in Sanyuanli is fragmentary and prose-like, and your soundtrack is the clue of the whole work, which runs through the intention of the film. What do you think of the final product? Has it reached the state that Ou Ning said?

Sanyuanli is a sociological investigation.

When talking about the book arrangement and creation in Sanyuanli, one of the projects, Ou Ning told reporters with great interest about many interesting places in Sanyuanli's traditional culture: the origin of anti-British in those days, and now the story of Sanyuanli's aboriginal DIY organizing a defense team. Finally, he concluded: "In the face of the same modernization problem, China people have their own logic, modernity and thinking, and we don't need to take the western road."

Today, facing the creation of modern art, Ou Ning and his shadow club have also gone out of their own direction, and the concept of cross-media creation effectively contains a statement about urban issues.

Information Times: The "Sanyuanli" project is a cross-media art project including movies, books, websites and exhibitions. I believe that there are not many friends who have seen websites and exhibitions. Can you tell us something about this part?

Ou Ning: As for the content of the website, we mainly consider that the media of books and the Internet are different, so most of the materials come from the planned books. At the same time, the website is also compatible with some introductions of film festivals. The exhibition is mainly about film festivals. We think this part is an introduction as a film collective creator. The content includes history, members, operation mode and its influence on the film ecology of China. There is also a TV set on the scene, playing five video works of our members. At the same time, the exhibition is also compatible with some introductions in Sanyuanli.

Information Times: What role do the above four parts play in the plan? What kind of relationship are they? Will it have its own narrative focus?

Ou Ning: The most important thing is the movie, and the book part is also very important. At the beginning of the creation, we realized that the film could not accommodate all the contents, especially the presentation of the problem of the village in the city. We can't explain the problem of urbanization clearly in 40 minutes. So we decided to write a book to help it. The content of movies and books is independent. Even the video part, we are out of the lens in the process of shooting, and each has its own shooting. The exhibition is to illustrate the content of Sanyuanli as a creative group behind a collective creation. They are both related and independent. This is a complementary relationship.

Information Times: Can you tell us something about the book? This book includes a lot of pictures and short background information, supplemented by words. Can you elaborate on the creation of this book? How do you judge the value of this book in the whole plan?

Ou Ning: From the beginning, we set two directions: movies and books. This project is more than just a movie. For me, it is a sociological investigation and research. Video is just one of the means. In the image part, we hope to highlight its visual effect and show its influence on hearing and vision. In the part of the book, we focus on some explanatory things and put all rational things in.

Participation and screening records:

50th Venice Biennale, June 2003.

The premiere of the film festival, Guangzhou Bookstore, July 2003.

Pearl River Delta Image Exhibition, Guangzhou Bookstore, August 2003.

In September 2003, Beijing Box Coffee Anthropological Image Exhibition was specially screened.

2002-2003 China Independent Image Annual Exhibition, Nanjing Art Institute/Nanjing Red Classic Art Museum, September 2003.

Public and Individual: New Vision Art Exhibition, Kampnagel Art Space, Hamburg, June 5, 2003 to 10.

Pearl River Delta Image Exhibition, Shanghai Dongdaming Art Center, June 2003165438+1October.

Special screening of "South of the Cloud" anthropological image exhibition, Shanghai Film Studio 10 1, 2003, 1 1.

10 Geneva Image Biennale, Geneva Contemporary Image Center, June 2003 165438+ 10.

June 2003165438+1October, Le Pavis Art Center, China Contemporary Art Exhibition.

MK2 (National Library) was specially screened in June165438+1October, 2003 in Paris, France.

In June, 2003, the French local foundation for contemporary art (FRACQUUITAINE) held the 24th summer campus tour.

2002-2003 China Independent Video Annual Exhibition, Macau Pozaiwu Art Space, 2003, 165438+ 10.

Pearl River Delta Image Exhibition, Peking University Film and Television Association, June 5438+February 2003.

Difference and Similarity: Contemporary Art Exchange Exhibition, Duolun Art Museum, Shanghai, June 5-4, 2003.

Tradition and conflict: New Asia video, special program of IMPAKT Film Festival in the Netherlands, June 5-38, 2004+10.

Through the window: Asian Contemporary Art Exhibition, Asia Center of Japan Foundation for International Exchange (Tokyo), June 5, 2004-10.

China Contemporary Image Exhibition, MoMA, February 2004.

Tradition and Conflict: New Images of Asia, Argos Art Center, Bruxelles, February 2004.

Through the window: Asian Contemporary Art Exhibition, Darling Art Foundation, Seoul, Korea, March 2004.

April 2004 Special screening by Hong Kong Map Office

Open attitude, Guangdong Art Museum, April 2004.

Tatig|sein, NGBK, Berlin, May 2004

China people: Contemporary photography and video recording in Wolfsburg Art Museum, China, June 5, 2004 to1October 38.

June 2004165438+1October, San Diego Art Museum, USA, East Asian Contemporary Art Exhibition.