“Why not ask again?” raises a provocative question. What to ask? Ask what again? Who asks whom? At the same time, Raqs mention in the curators’ notes that there are different perspectives, different rhythms and different spaces in the traditional miniature of South Asia. As the 11th Shanghai Biennale also reflects different perspectives, the narrative is no longer linear. Each perspective dialogues with another; numerous narratives exist spontaneously. Seemingly, Raqs tries to plan a platform that is different from the general biennial form. Nevertheless, without a rigorous structure, it would cause some complications, and a loose framework cannot build a constructive conversation. That is to say, the 11th Shanghai Biennale has criticized and attacked the Biennial’s mechanism/institution with its own platform. The scenography and visual effects of the whole exhibition are surrounded by an external anxiety and internal agitation, reflecting the restlessness and darkness of the real world outside the space of the museum.
The Shanghai Biennale is mainly composed of a large number of installations and video works (this can be considered characteristic of most of Biennials nowadays). The author would like to discuss only the moving image work in the 11th Shanghai Biennale, and will take several video works spread over three floors as examples to capture the outline of the Shanghai Biennale.
Talk About Body, Tao Hui, video, 2013
Most works are commissioned for the Shanghai Biennale, and some videos particularly impress me:
Undercurrents/Level 1:
On level one of the Power Station of Art, there are several video works related to the body, from Hao Jingban, Tao Hui and Yang Zhenzhong. In the vague language of the moving image, Hao Jingban explores the physical and political complexity of the relationship between personal experience and collective memory; Tao Hui carries out a self-analysis as he pretends to be an anthropologist; Yang Zhenzhong uses masks to reveal the restrictions and hypocrisy of the body. Overall, the artists analyze the delicate relationship between self and body, and the sense of controlling and being controlled by an exterior force.
- Hao Jingban, Off Takes, 2016
Hao Jingban has done field research on international ballroom dancing in Beijing for many years. As this form of dancing was suppressed in the past, many dancers claimed at that time that they did not know how to dance, and were not willing to share their talent of dancing. Hao Jingban collected excerpts of old amateur movies and shot many dance party scenes. She also interviewed dancers at ballrooms in Beijing. These dancers use their bodies to express, but they were not allowed to do so during the Cultural Revolution. The majority of the footage that Jingban shot was left unused. She just drew fragments from it, examining the memories and histories that it contains. Off Takes shows not only her absence, but also her presence within this hidden history, and demonstrates the vulnerability of historical footage. The dancing bodies are ultimately left suspended in the form of undecided historical events.
Disguise, Yang Zhenzhong, 5-screen video installation, 2015
- Tao Hui, Talk About Body, 2013
The artist, dressed as a Muslim girl, analyzes and narrates his own body in the tone of an anthropologist. In this abandonment of emotion, his cold voice makes the process of constructing a narrative feel like a ceremony. Through speech and ritual, this video work surpasses the constraints of tradition, and demonstrates innovative self-creation.
- Yang Zhenzhong, Disguise, 2015
In Disguise, people wear white masks, disguising their hypocrisy; they skillfully manipulate machines, but at the same time, they are alienated by machines as their superficial appearance controls them.
Mao Chenyu, Paddy Films 2003-2016, 2016, curated by Liu Tian
Infra-Curatorial:
The ghost hunter, curated by Liu Tian, Paddy Films 2003–2016, by artist Mao Chengyu
Mao Chengyu’s installation explores the mysteries of moving images and the relation between phantoms and cinema. This huge installation with numerous videos reminds me of Ken McMullen’s film Ghost Dance, in which Derrida talks about the figure of the ghost in the science of ghosts. Derrida coined the term hauntology, arguing that Marxism haunts Western society from beyond the grave. However, the notion of the ghost in China is extremely different from that of Western society. The ghost hunter, Liu Tian’s collaborative project with Mao Chengyu, blurs the West-East boundary, making ghost-hunting more mystic.
With the dawn of the post biennial, no one can really figure out to whom we can address our questions; we don’t know whom to ask again. In the uncertainty of visiting the biennial, moving images seem to resolve the physical and time/space constraints. In the end, the author wants to ask a question: Can the biennial become a virtual interface with any physical platform in the age of the post biennial?
