Group Exhibition A Myrica Village, Hangzhou, 134 Qianlong Road, West Lake District, Hangzhou
"Cup Play" Series; "Decorative Cup" (Construction Site)
"Decorative Cup" (Construction Site) was carried out in Myrica Village, located in Yang Mei Ling Village near the West Lake Scenic Spot in Hangzhou, China. Currently, this rather small building is undergoing rigorous construction. Masons, carpenters, painters, welders and electricians are all working together and utilizing their specialties to speed up the progress of the project. The workers take orders from the architects or project managers and perform their work step by step. The whole project is a way in which to convey the implementation of the capital employment relationship between architects and the workers, and the influence of workers, as artists, on the whole of a project.
For us, construction is based solely on material. In this case the personal and internal emotion of the worker becomes paramount in the development process; a form of artistic expression. In the incomplete industrialization of China, many decorators emerge in an attempt to transition from rural life to urban. Their practice is primarily dependent on independent thinking, with the exception of obtaining basic knowledge from a master teacher. In the progress of a project, each worker may have their own ideas; however, there is a fierce conflict that arises between the professional or technical characteristics of a building and the functional ones. This is especially apparent in the aesthetic interest of the architects, which always leads to an endless competition with the engineers. The “labor emotion” that is generated in the process and fueled by the conflict is eventually visible in every corner of the building.
When "Decorative Cup" entered the construction site, artists came to realize that the workers who made this building have plenty of creativity and imagination, so much so that artists invited them to join in on the project. Artists believe that construction workers have their own independent ideas on visual aesthetics, and the process of construction can activate their own creativity. Meanwhile, project participants obtain raw material locally, everything, for example workers, materials and time, can be useful during the project.
As project goes on, the construction workers experience a temporary change in their identity and original employment status. The workers are liberated from the social norm and given full respect and power. The artists, at this moment, as motivators, have contributed to this series of events. At the same time, they themselves discover new roles and relationships in the realm of employment.
Exhibition Dates: July .24-Aug.31.2013
Opening: 7.30 pm. July .24.2013
Participants: Cai junlin, Deng jibin, Gao guohua, Han hongsheng, He bogang, Hong shaohua, Jin yanan, Liu yongliang, Lu zuqiang, Shao yi, Shi qing, Shu muxing, Tang maohong, Xia feiyan, Xu xun, Zhang yikun, Zhang jianhong, Zhang qing
Address: No.134 Qianlong Rd. Yangmeiling Village, (nearby Manjuelong Rd, Enter at Yangmeiling Memorial Gateway), Myrica Village, West Lake District, Hangzhou.
Organizer: Myrica Village
Co-organizer: ShanghART Gallery
More Pictures:
Cup Play: A Sequence of Activities Projected by SHAO Yi & TANG Maohong 04.29, 2013 -02.01, 2014
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