Chongqing
The Curse of the Golden Chicken exhibition poster / Didactic
The Curse of the Golden Chicken & Other Chinoiseries.
金鸡的诅咒
Artist statement
艺术家自述
“Chinoiserie is an oddity. It is a wholly European style whose inspiration is entirely oriental. True chinoiseries are not pallid or incompetent imitations of Chinese objects. They are the tangible and solid realisations in the West of a land of the imagination: an exotic, remote country, fabled for its riches, that through the centuries remained cloud-wrapped, obstinately refusing to allow more than a handful of foreigners beyond its gates” - Dawn Jacobson, 1999
“（欧式）中国风（Chinoiserie）是一种奇异的现象。它的灵感来源自对整个东方世界的印象，但是却是完完全全的欧洲风格。真正的欧式中国风并不是病态的或者是对中国物象的无力模仿，它们是可触知的，以及渗透到西方世界现实里的空想象之物：一个异乎寻常的、遥远缥缈的国度，因为它的富裕程度而成为一个传说。尽管时间尽逝，它依旧保持着云雾缭绕般的神秘，顽固地将外来者拒之门外，只有极少数外来人能够进入这个国度，一睹风采。”——道恩·雅各布森写于1999年
Chinoiserie: A French art movement influenced by the Rococo period in 17th Century France and greater Europe.
Chinoiserie（欧式中国风）：受第十七世纪法国及欧洲的洛可可时期风格影响的法国艺术运动
“Chinoiserie” is derived from the word Chinois, the French word for ‘Chinese’ - it is defined as a purely Western concept created in the “Chinese aesthetic”. Chinoiserie became popular in the 18th Century as Chinese trade with Europe grew and developed a desire to experience Chinese culture through the decorative, and fantastical motifs adorning decorative arts, interior design, architecture, garden design, literature, theatre and painting. The popularity of Chinoiserie clearly showed the European thirst for immersing themselves in the exotic and unknown faraway ‘Cathay’ (China).
“Chinoiserie（欧式中国风）”由法语中的中国一词“Chinois”衍生出来，它被定义为创造了“中式美学”的一个纯粹的西方概念。在18世纪，随着中国与欧洲的贸易量增加，欧洲人越来越多地接触到来自中国的装饰品、有着奇异的图案的装饰艺术、室内设计、建筑、园林设计、文学、戏剧以及绘画，从而激发了体验中国文化的欲望，欧式中国风也由此走红。欧式中国风的人气显然表明欧洲渴望自己沉浸在具有异国情调的遥远神秘的泰然之国——中国。
My interest in this movement stems from the intersection of misinformation that occurs when one culture attempts to understand another. As visual decoration is filtered through the hands of artisans and delivered into the homes of another culture, information reality becomes blurred: China becomes a mental construct: The idea of China becomes the new reality, and the reality of China becomes unimportant, and fades away. The Chinoiserie is a simulacrum of cultural ideas, where aesthetic symbols become ‘lost in translation’ and are reduced to form and composition.
我的兴趣点是这场运动中的一个文化在企图了解另外一个文化时所发生的错误理解。通过工匠之手的打造，视觉装饰被过滤，并交付到另一种文化的国度，信息现实也由此变得模糊——中国这个国度成为了欧洲人的一种臆想：欧式中国风里的对于中国的概念变成了新的现实，而原本的真正的中国变得不重要，它在欧洲人的印象中也由此逐渐消逝。中国是一个仿像的文化理念，像是错误理解中的，以及被退减至只剩下形态和组合的审美符号。
Chinoiserie is China, just not the real China. It is a China-of-the-mind.
欧式中国风里的景象就是中国，但不是真正的中国，它是臆造出来的中国。
I am interested in this idea, as my own cultural identity is blurred and exists within a framework of fantasy, storytelling and reality. My Dutch-Indonesian-Chinese-Australian background has been delivered to me through the fragmented stories told to me by my family about historical events and superstition, photographs and print media through several stages of migration, primarily enforced by external political factors.
我对这个概念很感兴趣，因为我自身的文化身份就很模糊，它是基于一个框架内的幻想、亲代的故事陈述以及我对现实的了解。通过由亲代陈述、遗留下来的残旧照片，以及由于外部政治原因而导致不同时代的族人迁移的相关新闻印刷读物，我依稀了解到了关于自己家庭的过往故事，以及认知到自己拥有荷兰、印尼、中国以及澳大利亚的血统和历史渊源。
The works I have created for ‘The Curse of the Golden Chicken’ is a series of new Chinoiserie compositions, intended to carry this idea of the aesthetic experience and the misinformations that occur in-between cultures. The works in this exhibition are an extension of my interest in the evolution of diasporic identities.
我所创造的系列作品《金鸡的诅咒》是一组新的关于欧式中国风的组合品，旨在尝试继续呈现文化之间的美学体验和错误理解这个诅咒。这个展览是我对流散者身份演变进程的一个兴趣点延伸。
My experience of China has been a visual assault, immersed in a cacophony of sounds filtered through the unavoidable lens of commerce: Like the West, we now exist globally in a visual landscape of advertising. Visions of Old Chongqing lie in a state of nervousness, anticipating the new city to replace it. New Chongqing appears to remain in a state of perpetual impermanence. The flux of futurism blankets the city as the habitual rituals of older generations are replaced with Taobao infused enthusiasms.
我的中国之旅变成了一次由于商业原因而不可避免的极具视觉冲击力、时刻处于喧闹杂乱声中的环境体验：像是在西方，我们生活在一个视觉如同广告般的环境里，而重庆的视觉则是处于一种急切想要让新的现代化城市面貌取代老重庆的紧张的状态中。新重庆似乎仍然在一个时刻都在改变的阶段里。老一辈素常的老传被淘宝一类的摩登事物倾注入新一代的热情所取代，统未来主义的不断变动也由此几乎将整个城市重重覆盖。
The invasion of the new cultural product comes in the form of the cute and cool, funny and colourful. The shouting chicken becomes the new icon, idolised for a minute until something new comes along to distract. Shan Zhai 山寨culture represents a modern reversal of the Chinoiserie. Misinformation persists as the East interprets the West in the modern era. Images and signs become the contexts of a new cultural language.
新文化产物以一种机灵可爱却又异常平静、玩味性强并且色彩纷斓的形式渐渐侵扰入人们的生活。惨叫公鸡是一种新的潮流物，但是红不过一分钟，人们又被别的新玩物所转移注意力。山寨文化代表着一种被颠倒的现代中国风，坚持错误地演绎着东方对西方现代的理解。图像和符号成为一种新的文化的语境。
The work in this exhibition is a narrative about the way I have experienced this anxiety during my residency here in Chongqing. Influenced by the aspirational travel advertisements of sweeping landscapes in the subway, I think of the depictions of floating worlds of ancient China in 18th century Chinoiserie wallpapers. The aggressive vying of anthropomorphised snacks shouting for my attention in the supermarket invade my head so I am unable to think: a cerebral Horror Vacui.
As the new geography is transformed into electrically charged ballets of LED resplendency, light becomes the best voice to tell this story and electricity becomes the best fuel to power it.
该展览的作品是我在重庆驻留期间对所体验的焦虑感的陈述。受地铁站里那些壮宏大观得夸张的旅游广告牌的影响，我想起了18世纪欧式中国风的墙纸，其中有一些就是有关中国古代对漂浮在空中的世界（海市蜃楼，详见蒲松龄的《山市》）的描述；再者，当我在超市时，五花八门的小吃选择一下子涌入我的大脑让我无法思考：。随着新地理被转换至插电的起舞霓虹光辉，灯光是讲述这个故事的最好媒介，而电力则是为其提供燃烧能量的源泉。
Luke Warm, 2016.
The Curse of the Golden Chicken - Exhibition Review
Written by Wen Wei - Organhaus Gallery
Curatorial Assistant
December, 2016
English Translation
On the Past, the Present, and the Future
— Review of Luke Warm’s Solo Exhibition “The Curse of the Golden Chicken”
Written by Wen Wei (Curatorial Assistant)
In this exhibition, the artist demonstrates great ambition. During a brief one-and-a-half-month residency, he created seven series of works, totalling thirteen pieces, transforming the vast space of 器·haus into what felt like a group exhibition. However, this exhibition does not have the sense of being overly cluttered. Each piece is a carefully crafted work of art, and through thoughtful arrangement, the best possible layout was achieved.
The works in the “Curse of the Golden Chicken” series include videos, photographic collages, sound, light installations, and sculptures. The foundation of the works revolves around light and electricity, which reflect the characteristics of the contemporary era: ubiquitous neon lights, amplified promotional sounds from loudspeakers, and electronic products that require charging, among others. The artist uses time as a thread to express his reflections on the past, present, and future. At the same time, he explores complex issues related to history, culture, commerce, and both personal and collective identity, compressing the metropolis of Chongqing and his residency experience into a compact but extraordinarily intriguing exhibition.
On the Past: A Subtle Exploration of Personal Identity
Due to his complex family history and heritage, the artist persists in the exploration of his own identity. Through stories passed down by his parents, fragmented clippings, and photos left by his family, the artist discovered that his identity encompasses historical connections to countries such as China, Australia, the Netherlands, and Indonesia. He is determined to represent this history, which might otherwise be overlooked, and this led to works like “The Conimex Diaspora (Batavian Persistence)”, “The Headhunters Come on Friday”, and “Cat Noodles (Floating Composition 1)”. These works present concepts related to his family’s history. The Batavian spice brand “Conimex” is originally Dutch, and continues to be produced, dominating the local market even after Indonesia gained independence from Dutch rule. The artist recreated the logo of this spice brand using a lightbox, creating “The Conimex Diaspora” as a way to commemorate his Dutch/Indonesian historical roots. “The Headhunters Come on Friday” directly explores the oral histories that have been passed down from his families migration from Indonesia to Dutch New Guinea (Papua New Guinea as it is known today). Due to his family’s Dutch heritage, they were forced to flee newly independent Indonesia following the Second World War. The artist places a Papuan tribesman on a roasted barbecued chop, exploring the stories told to him by his family of their fragmented history. This work is not intended to criticise the indigenous cultural practices of Papua New Guinea, but is merely to investigate the mapping the artist’s own diasporic cultural heritage. Additionally, the artist subtly incorporates his family’s private history into the works, which would be unnoticed without further context. Family photos appear in “Cat Noodles (Floating Composition 1)”. In these three works, the artist reflects on or commemorates his personal history through related objects or themes. Interestingly, all of these works are tied to food, as the artist has mentioned before: no matter how history changes, taste memory always endures, and food is the best medium for understanding history, as it carries the original memories of a time.
On the Present: The Overwhelming Anxiety of Information
In December 2016, the artist created two installations that brought a grand, European-style Chinese aesthetic from a two-dimensional plane into a three-dimensional space, turning the non-existent into something tangible. The European-Chinese style is an aesthetic but also a cultural misunderstanding, a point the artist is deeply interested in. Many of the works in this exhibition are extensions of this exploration. Information on Chinese culture obtained from books, newspapers, the internet, or through others’ words always lacks the impact and intensity of firsthand experience. The artist’s journey in China became an inevitable part of his art, as he sought cultural misunderstandings and aesthetic symbols.
The artist created a series of photographic collages displayed in lightbox installations, inspired by the elaborate billboards in subway stations. He attempts to present his thoughts, experiences, and observations from his residency in this commercial style. The floating mountain range represents his impression of China, in line with his exploration of the “European-Chinese style.” However, the European-Chinese style here is not the grandiose fantasy typically associated with it; instead, it presents real, authentic China. The curious and warm-hearted Chinese people on the streets, the elderly staring at him, the young people obsessed with selfies, the street porters carrying large, astonishing loads, and foods like noodles and pig’s feet, are all depicted through collage or conceptual creations, attached to the floating mountains. These works combine European-Chinese style with true Chinese culture, presenting the absurdity of cultural misunderstanding vividly.
Another point of interest is the artist’s focus on “counterfeit” or “Shanzhai” culture, as this is often a topic of conversation when people think about China. The artist is fascinated by the concept of “Shanzhai,” which involves both copying and creating something new. Through works like “The Curse of the Golden Chicken”, he explores the concept of counterfeits and their innovation. The series of golden chickens were copied from a plastic toy called the “screaming rooster”. The sculpted golden roosters, made of resin and chemically gold-plated, have lost their original purpose of making noise, transforming into entirely new conceptual works. The artist tries to explore this cultural concept of “Shanzhai”: not a complete copy, but something that inspires innovation and creates new things with new copyrights. In a sense, “Shanzhai” culture represents a misinterpretation of the East by the West, similar to how the West imagines the East and creates “European-Chinese style.” Another layer of meaning behind this work is the idea that what is trendy and popular today may be forgotten tomorrow, as the pace of change is so fast. “Shanzhai” culture may be seen as opportunistic, but in a rapidly developing country like China, its commercial nature makes it inevitable. Though “Shanzhai” objects may quickly disappear, the concept is likely to persist for some time.
If the earlier works explored the “true” appearance of the European-Chinese style, the next set of works reflects the artist’s personal experience of “the present” during his residency. In “New City”, the artist created lightbox installations resembling Chinese characters, which, when viewed from afar, evoke an impression of familiar characters. However, upon closer inspection, viewers are unable to identify the exact characters. This work represents the artist’s impression of Chinese characters—he doesn’t understand their meanings, but the omnipresent advertisements featuring these characters on the streets are simply visual elements, much like paintings or photographs. For the artist, aside from their visual impact, they hold little other significance. The lightbox format serves as a reflection on the relationship between culture and commerce in the rapidly developing city of Chongqing. Another series of sound works was created in collaboration with five other sound artists. During his residency, the artist recorded external sounds that disturbed him and combined them with electronic music, resulting in a series of sound installations that were played on a loop in the gallery. These sounds, reworked and infused with art, retain the oppressive and anxious atmosphere that the artist experienced in the commercial and everyday sounds of life.
On the Future: An Ambiguous Imagined Contradiction
“Laptop Intelligentsia (The Fading of Yanziyan)” is the quietest work in the exhibition, with no loud music or striking colours. The video shows the decaying Yanziyan (translated meaning: ‘Swallow Rock’), seemingly out of place in the fast-developing city of Chongqing, yet persistently existing within this bustling metropolis. The most interesting aspect is that in the sky above the dilapidated scene, floating objects from the artist’s imagined ancient China gradually appear, reminiscent of mirages. In this tranquil setting, these strange images feel almost sci-fi, as though extraterrestrial visitors have finally arrived. This work perfectly captures the artist’s sense of the tension within the city—the urgent desire of the new city to replace the old. As viewers stand in front of the screen, watching the video, the past and the fictional future of the city unfold before them, while they themselves remain in the present, experiencing a fleeting peace amid the hauntingly subtle music. It’s as though they have become a road—a passage from the past to the future. The history and future presented in the video seem both ours and not ours, creating an intriguing contradiction.
The works created during the artist’s residency were highly engaging for the local people, allowing them to glimpse a foreigner’s impression of China and Chongqing. Through this exhibition, the artist presents a genuine China—not the European fantasy of the exotic. His fresh, real, passionate, and sometimes odd experiences in Chongqing are showcased here, as the artist hands over his impressions of the city and China to the audience. Whether good or bad, it doesn’t matter—because it’s precisely this point that makes the work so interesting. Art, after all, is about pursuing that which is intriguing.
Wen Wei (Organhaus Curator’s Assistant)
December 2016