Zhu Xiaowen’s Edited: 40 + 4, Art is Not Enough! Not Enough!
40 + 4, Art is Not Enough!, Not Enough! is a documentary, by Davide Quadrio, Lothar Spree and Zhu Xiaowen, in cooperation with Xu Jie (in the role of professional interviewer), with forty Shanghai-based artists, dealing not with artwork per se, but rather with how artists perceive their own activity, their role and position in a changing, post-conventional society. It seeks to “map out” some of the contours of the city’s artistic imagination, providing cartography of the force fields of its subjectivities. The interviews offer a dynamic anthropological insight into the urban panorama of modern Shanghai.
From August 29th to September 17th the Chronus Art Center exhibited 40 + 4, Art is Not Enough! Not Enough!, in addition to hosting a panel discussion moderated by the film’s makers, Arthub’s Davide Quadrio and video artist Zhu Xiaowen. CAC is a non-profit art organization in Shanghai’s M50, focused on new media art experiments, production, exhibition and education.
Zhu Xiaowen has edited a new preview of 40 + 4, which can be seen here:
Background on Interviews
Arthub originally presented 40+4 at Final Cut–Processing New Media in Public Space, a five-day program of live performances, site-specific installations and video screenings as a part of Shanghai’s eArts Festival in October of 2008.
The 40 artists interviewed were asked the same questions, each of which were printed on a flashcard; there were 27 cards in all, divided into four colors, along with a set bearing famous quotations about art made by historical figures. The interview got underway with four general and autobiographical questions about the artist, and moved on to questions that were philosophical or psychological, followed by questions that were of a political or sociological nature, and winding up with questions about art as a product. The conversation ended with the artist choosing one last card from the pack containing dozens of quotations by various personalities, concerning the meaning of art. The artist was asked to comment on the card he or she had drawn out loud, and propose a personalized version of the quote if he or she so desired.
Interviewed Artists: Ding Yi, Gong Yan, Gu Wenda, Hu Jieming, Huang Kui, Huang Yuanqing, Jin Feng, Li Shan, Li Xiangyang, Li Lei, Liang Yue, Liu Dahong, Liu Jianhua, Lu Chunsheng, Luo Yongjin, Pu Jie, Qiu Anxiong, Qiu Deshu, Shen Fan, Shi Yong, Song Haidong, Song Tao, Tang Maohong, Wang Nanmin, Wang Tiande, Wang Xingwei, Xiang Liqing, Xu Longbao, Xu Zhen, Xue Song, Yang Fudong, Yang Hui, Yang Zhenzhong, Yu Xiaofu, Yu Youhan, Zhang Ding, Zhang Enli, Zhang Haitian, Zhang Peicheng, Zhou Tiehai, Zhu Julan