A Continue Rage: Video Screening at Bronx Museum, NYC
Video Screening at Bronx Museum, NYC
For the video lounge at the Bronx Museum and in occasion of Smart Project Shanghai, Arthub Asia is happy to present a series of short films and videos that portray the city of Shanghai. Starting from an anthology of images from the past, the program draws to mind the image of a city which is persistently raising questions and seeking answers: Where is the city going to? How will the acceleration of the last two decades affect the contemporary society? Where does art stand in this tidy mess?
Although the responses to these questions remain open, we called on eight artists, to try to provide different paths of interpretation through their work: whilst uncertain of its own future, Shanghai wavers between nostalgia, irony and a (forceful) renovated energy.
Curated by Zoe Zhang Bing and Davide Quadrio of Arthub Asia.
1. Ma Liang
White on White, 12′, 2010
Ma Liang (Ma Leonn) is a photographer and video artist who creates multi-layered studio works (both photographic and video). He collects fragments of the complex images of contemporary Shanghai. This video depicts a poetic eulogy of the recent past (erased, yet still alive) and sets out on a journey to discover the city in eight chapters.
2. Zhang Ding
Great Era, 14’, Video, 2007
Zhang Dings’s film Great Era (2007) is a surrealistic Fellini-inspired voyage, using Shanghai as its theatrical backdrop. The protagonist rides along staged tableaux with his bike (disguised as a horse) in scenes perfectly synchronized with the film’s sound score.
3. Lou Nanli (aka B6)
Sound of City-Shanghai, 7’ 20’’, 2010
Lou Nanli (b6) is a composer and artist who describes Shanghai through a poetic and intense soundscape, echoed by his watery photo shoots of the city’s harbor.
4. Yang Yongliang
Phantom Landscape, 3’23’’, Blue Ray HD DVD, 2010
Young photographer Yang Yongliang is one of the first artists in recent years who tried to connect with the past of the literati’s tradition via innovative technique. His recent works ranges from ink jet photographs into digital animation: a landscape of mountains that hide complex urban scenery. The result is an image of the city which is aesthetically pleasant, but still powerfully controlled and revealing.
5. Song Tao
Pride, 16’44’’, Video, Single Channel, 2004
This rarely shown video by Song Tao is a beautiful introduction to his work, that in later years gave birth to the collective Birdhead. A truly poetic hymn to Shanghai, the video features a group of youngsters looking for the perfect stage for their rock gig. They wander the city until they find the perfect spot at the top of a skyscraper, just before a hurricane blows through…
6. MZMO and Wang Taocheng
Pigs In Zen, 3’30’’, Short Film, 2011
This work combines traditional Chinese ink-wash painting with computer animation to create a unique and dark comedic view on the historic relationship of animals, disease and civilization. What if the great plagues didn’t just happen, but instead, were a part of a deliberate biological warfare conspiracy?
7. Zhu Xiaowen
Harmony is Coming, 1’, 2010
The logo of Expo 2010 is taking over the city. Zhu Xiaowen, a young filmmaker, takes this symbol that the city of Shanghai was obsessed with for years and she turns it into a monster. The short, sarcastic video, shot almost like a TV commercial, counterbalances the Shanghai government’s serious attitude and obsession toward the Expo 2010. During this important event, the city was literally transformed, according to the slogan “better city better life.” Zhu Xiaowen wants us to consider: did Shanghai really become a better place?
8. Lu Yang
The Anatomy of Rage, 14’48’’, 2010
Courtesy of the FarEastFarWest Collection
The epilogue of this selection is a symbolic animation: an analysis of rage, the ultimate state, the omen of a possible revolution? Lu Yang calls for Tibetan deities to find an answer of the ultimate rage. She explains the beginning of this work saying that in Dharma-ending times, when all living things are unruly, afflicted with hubris, kindness and morality fade, evil and sin prevail. The wrathful deities, beholden to their duty, shall vanquish all demons, and with their merciful fire, destroy all evil beings, leaving none behind.
