[Artron.net interview, 2012.9]

Introduction

Prof. Jiang Jiehong, Director of Centre for Chinese Visual Art, Birmingham Institute of Art and Design, Birmingham City University, is the general curator of the 4^th Guangzhou Triennial. He elaborates the organizing notion and strongpoint of this exhibition.

“See the Unseen” needs no explanation

Artron:  Would you please give an explanation to the exhibition theme “see the unseen”? How do you come up with this idea?

Jiang: What’s interesting about this theme is that it needs no explanation. It is not a professional “ism” term; even an illiterate can understand it. In my opinion, the most fascinating aspect of this exhibition is that it will stimulate audiences’ imaginations.

Nowadays, many exhibitions are endowed with various theory labels. They may arouse quitea lot of discussions and debates among professional insiders, but can’t get much resonanceamong common spectators. An exhibition can of course be presented in various ways, but I have been wondering whether it is reasonable to require spectators to be theoretically-prepared before feasting their eyes upon the artworks. That’s why in this exhibition, rather than “theory-first”, I chose to make an artistic probe in a different way, that is, “practice-first”, taking “visual imagination” as a major motivation. In so doing, the number one issue to tackle is the exhibition itself rather than the theory. This is how “see the unseen” works out.

Artron: As one of the two curators of this exhibition, how did you win a common view with Jonathan Watkins? Did you have any disagreement in this process?

Jiang: We’ve been cooperating with each other very well. As the general curator, I didn’t begin hunting for a cooperator until the exhibition scheme and topic were ascertained. I noticed that Jonathan is concerned with this issue as well, and then I invited him. There wasn’t a “running-in period” between us, so to speak.

Abandon Theorization, Highlight Practice and Visual Imagination

Artron: Do you think the quality and influence of Guangzhou Triennial is descending? As the general curator, have you felt any extra pressure in this respect?

Jiang: Is it? Maybe that’s before this exhibition. Of course I feel pressure on me; lack of funds, various drawbacks and even “sufferings”. It is perhaps not due to somebody or someinstitutions holding me back, but because of lack of academic passion and hope.

Artron: What’re the relationship and difference between the theme exhibition and the inauguration exhibition and project exhibition of this Guangzhou Triennial? Compared with the previous three triennials, what is the unique feature of this one?

Jiang: My scheme was decided as early as in 2009, so actually this theme exhibition was born before the Inauguration and Project ones. Curator Luo of GDMOA has his own interpretation for the logical relationship between this three parts, I am just trying to achieve the Theme Exhibition through curatorial study and practice.

My intention in setting up this exhibition is to express a different idea of exploration distinct from the previous three Guangzhou Triennials. The first Guangzhou Triennial ---Reinterpretation: A Decade of Experimental Chinese Art (1990-2000) is about China, a retrospective and historical one. The second one---BEYOND: an Extraordinary Space of Modern Experimentation is about the Pearl River Delta area, an exploration into local culture.If you say the first triennial centers on domestic things, then the second one stresses local things. The third triennial---Farewell to Post-Colonialism, is indeed a global one, but what it probes is still a regional cultural issue, for post-colonialism is not a global topic. By comparison, the theme exhibition of the 4^th Guangzhou Triennial is practice-oriented and lays stress on visual imagination; on the other hand, it is truly global, applicable not only to China, but also to other countries. Or you may say it is a “non-China” one, absolutely different from the previous triennials. “Unseen” is a topic exempt from confinement of space or time, which could be an idea for creation long time ago as well as far into the future. This is the most important connotation this exhibition presents to the public.

Artron: Globalization and practice are two aspects this exhibition highlights; is this also the criteria for participators and their works?

Jiang: Right. Some artists value practice, others turn to conceptions. Participators and their artworks in this exhibition were all ascertained after thorough consideration and selection.The exhibition scale is not so large, but is absolutely the best in curatorial study andpresentations.

For example, Giuseppe Penone, an artist from Italy, is also a participator in this year’s Documenta Kassel; Susan Philips, a sound device artist from Scotland, is winner of Turner Prize 2010. We have also scientists to attend the exhibition, such as Harold Edgerton, professor of MIT; he is the inventor of the stroboscopic flashbulb. He successfully captures the situation of a bullet flying in the air with scientific devices, which is in fact an “unseen” state. In my view, “unseen” is not only beyond time, space and area, but also beyond media and disciplines.

Artron: Besides the above characteristics, are there any other special aspects about the artworks and exhibition?

Jiang: I borrowed a set of old photos about Guangzhou which was taken in 1860. This is the very earliest and the sole image of Guangzhou in the world. I managed to get the original copy. On the photo is the old street view of Guangzhou, which is now nowhere to find, or “unseen”. The urbanization in China is too fast, even revolutionary; and old scenes are disappearing all the time. Maybe someday, Guangdong Museum of Art will evaporate as well, and turn into another different thing. China is changing constantly, which hinders thecontinuity of Chinese culture.

Artworks exhibition is subject to various limitations. An example is that, we borrowed a piece of oil painting by B. E. Murillo, an artist in the 17^th century. It is about the miracle of Jesus turning water into wine. There are two “unseen” notions here, one is that the miracle is “unseen”; the other one is that Jesus is “unseen”---even by the painters of Jesus. Unfortunately, the painting failed to turn itself up due to the insufficient “hardware”conditions of the museum.

Art communication has nothing to do with “understand” or “don’t understand”.

Misunderstanding is also a communication.

Artron: “Unseen” attaches importance to interaction with spectators, but many people coming to the exhibition say they are unable to “understand”. How do you look at it?

Jiang: The “interaction” we emphasize doesn’t mean “understanding”, because you can’t say you “understand” or “don’t understand” art. For example, you tell me something, which Icomprehend just as you expect, that’s “understand”. Art is about what happens and what you experience. We see something, hear something or smell something, and that experienceresults in cognition.

Misunderstanding, in my view, is also an interaction, or artistic communication. The way spectators comprehend artworks can well be different from artists. “Unseen” is aboutcreations of artists as well as that of spectators.

Mr. Sui Jianguo presents an artwork this time---One Cubic Meter Absolute Darkness--- a sealed box made of steel plate as thick as 16mm. He says it is dark inside, do you believehim? Maybe there is a big secret inside the box, but you don’t know it because it is sealed up. In front of this simple artwork, spectators can have their own imagination and creation absolutely different from the artist.

In many exhibitions, labels explaining the creation idea are put next to the artworks, in hope of helping audiences understand. I have been wondering the function of these labels. Theycan surely serve as an explanation, but also can be a confinement. I am inclined to let audiences feel, experience, understand, imagine or even misunderstand the works themselves.Among the three places for this theme exhibition, Grandview Square is a truly public space, a shopping mall of visual feasts. The artworks presented there are without any labels, lurking there as an inseparable part of the surrounding---life should move on as usual.

Artron: Will you deliberately resort to some disputable artworks to catch eyes in this exhibition, such as the so-called Goushixiang (dog's dung spicery) in the inauguration exhibition?

Jiang: I don’t see any. We are obedient people (laughing). Like I said just now, I have my own views upon the previous two exhibitions. As for that piece of artwork, I can only say it can’t participate in my exhibition. We need pioneering spirit in contemporary art, but it does not mean to do some sensational things, which only indicates an inability in creation, and has nothing to do with art.