Mobile Whole and Partial Exhibition—— Zhang Ding | Safe House #3

by Peng Xiaoyang

Artists’s creation usually follows the narrative of their own works and threads provided by exhibitions.

When an artist carries out a site specific project, he can pursue his own narrative and the threads of the exhibition, but he is also able to transform the exhibition space itself and its context into an organic part of the work or even into the entirety of the exhibition. 

Not to mention, it is rare for artists to consider and create a piece of work in response to the specific characteristics of a particular exhibition venue.

"Safe House” is a project where Zhang Ding presents the same concept through three different perspectives and levels. He explores the notion of ”safety“ and related questions through a work with three consecutive parts, hereby forming a structure within the work as well as an observation and communication guiding line. In 1965, Joseph Kosuth's One and Three Chairs presented a real wooden chair, together with its photographed version of the same size, and a definition of the word ”chair“ from the dictionary in order to discuss the concept of a chair. Today, Zhang Ding talks about the concept of "security" using three different physical spaces.

The artist extracted elements from facilities often seen on public squares and connected them together, simultaneously creating a parallel between three physical locations with a upper, middle and lower layer, and a parallel between virtuality and reality. Safe House #1 in the KWM Art Center located on the 2nd floor of an office building makes use of numerous elements taken from reality. Safe House #2 in Wyoming Projects, located in a small hutong, is filled with surrealist dark humor. However Safe House #3 located in an underground bunker, completely evolves into an illusion from the consciousness. Zhang Ding himself describes in an interview: “To explain simply, I am essentially a visual artist, and most of my works tend to stimulate feelings. This time, I have presented three different layers: firstly, the layer of reality; secondly, the combination between figuration and abstraction produced after reality; thirdly complete abstraction. Speaking of the relationship between confinement and safety, if when in a interrogation room, a man enters into a state of emptiness, then he has lost the so-called ability of thinking." [i]

From the intuitive experience, these three geographical locations, physical forms, and cultural environments bear different perspectives of the exhibition, as if the exhibition exists only within the walls of these three spaces. Hence, the transportation between the three spaces is easily overlooked. But it is this distance which can be covered by either cycling, driving, playing, or walking, that adds to the exhibition an even bigger dimension, which is the social environment along the ways between the venues. As social space is introduced, the metaphors within this series of works become ambiguously overlapped. During the process of walking through, viewers constantly reinforce and relive the experience gained in each exhibition. At the same time they are projected into a larger social perspective, thus becoming a broader part of the exhibitions. From a macroscopic point of view, the KWM Art Center, Wyoming Project, and the Bunker are merely three points. Their interconnection, exchange, reciprocal support create a greater, unified exhibition space. Only when considering these three parts as a whole, can this work truly reflects the special significance of this presentation method.

Nevertheless we cannot ignore Zhang Ding’s attention to details in specific aspects of the implementation.

Safe House #3 presented in the Bunker is a site specific conceptual project composed of sounds and light and is part of the “Safe House” series. According to the viewing order set by the artist, it is the final stop, but at the same time, compared to the previous two, it is the most radical and experimental one.

In this section, Zhang Ding responds to the “blackness” and “darkness” of the previous four exhibitions held in this space by using intense white light and white paint to illuminate the entire interior of the space, even the darkest corners.

Immersive scenes are specific to Zhang Ding's creative language. From his early works such as Boxing, Cat, to Enter the Dragon, Devouring Time and later works such as Vortex, viewers can all experience such vivid feelings. In this same vein, the Bunker presents such immersive installation, but the artist doesn‘t use the means as a concept for the sake of illusion. Instead, through the redistribution and organization of audio-visual effects, or even the reverse replacement of a visual mechanism, he conveys the concept and the context of the project into the presentation of the exhibition. The development of its own creation is intentionally or unintentionally pointed towards the already existing narrative of the exhibition space.

In exhibitions held since the establishment of the Bunker, artists have generally made use of its dark characteristic to enhance the effect of their works, and even transformed this element into a part of their creation. Among them, Zhang Peili’s No Network, was the most successful as it completely transformed all the feelings of darkness and confinement into the content of the work, thus becoming a metaphor to the real environment.

The concept of Safe House is also emphasizing an intense anxiety amidst the illusion of security, forming a response to Zhang Peili's work "a space that should not be left for a long time" in terms of concept.

In terms of rendering, it is similar to the inverse relationship of black and white images.

Zhang Ding’s Safe House #3 uses strong white light and whitewashed walls and floors in contradiction with the usual darkness of the space. Through reciprocal reflections, a conversion is formed based on the contextual background of previous shows, thus strengthening the site-specific characteristics of this exhibition.

The similarity between the five small rooms in the Bunker constitutes a challenge for the artists. This spatial structure can easily lead to segregation and repetition within the exhibition. Among all the artists who have exhibited in this venue, Zhang Peili and Zhang Ding have both chosen sound as a medium to cover the entire space, or used sound as a method to combine the five rooms into a coherent and whole experience. Zhang Peili's No Network had a countdown that appeared in an irregular pattern in each room, and this time Zhang Ding set five sound tracks in the five rooms, growing from low to high as viewers move deeper into the room. Can this be interpreted as a response to the bunker's past exhibition? Due to the volume change, the ensemble of the five sound tracks can be heard as one enters the space. Eventually, parts of the ensemble diminish at the deepest location of the exhibition space, yet the volume continuously increases, and the sound evolves into a high-frequency white noise. The sounds of the five tracks are mostly composed of different noises from the universe. There is only a small section of piano music, which brings the viewer from illusion to reality for a short period of time. The artist uses the penetrating sound to overcome the division and repetition of the internal structure of the space. The order of the sound and volume participate to the building of the atmosphere in the space, thus increasing the perception of the concept.

Looking back at the exhibition “Safe House #3”, as the sensorial feelings formed by the sound and light gradually subside, the narrative of the exhibition‘s presentation method clearly emerges: firstly, the structure of the work - the relation between virtuality and reality presented in the three venues - and the walk-through experience brought by the geographical location of the three different spaces; secondly, the artist's own creative practice - the “contextualization”; third, the exhibition’s narratives accumulated by the space itself - the use of darkness and sound. These three general threads are intertwined; in different timelines, the reality and history of the spaces, the social context, all form a mobile whole and a continuous experience.

[i] From: "Zhang Ding: When "Safety" becomes a nihilistic thing", August 4, 2018, ARTSHARD
Translator: Tina Tang , Translation proofreading: Alexia Dehaene

移动整体和部分展示——张鼎｜安全屋#3观后

文 / 彭晓阳 

艺术家的创作通常遵循着自己作品的脉络和展览线索。

当艺术家实施在地性项目时，可以在延续自己作品脉络和展览线索的同时将展览场域的上下文关系转化成作品的有机部分甚至展览的全部。

除此之外，艺术家针对特定展览场域既有的展览线索进行思考和创作就殊为难得。

《安全屋》项目是张鼎将同一观念在三个不同场域和层面予以呈现，共同探讨当下关于“安全”的主题及问题性、三个部分共同构成的作品。这样，就形成了一条作品自身结构及观看交流方式的线索。1965年科索斯（Joseph Kosuth）的《一把和三把椅子》把一把真实的木椅、一张等同大小的这把椅子的照片和字典里关于椅子的解释复印并置在一起，探讨了椅子的观念。今天张鼎把“安全”的观念分置于三个不同的物理空间来探讨。

艺术家挪用广场公共设施上截取的原素将其串联在一起，既是三个空间地理位置和上、中、下结构的串联，又是虚实关系的串联。写字楼2层金杜艺术中心的《安全屋#1》较大比例地使用了现实的元素，市井胡同中怀俄明计划的《安全屋#2》充满了超现实的黑色幽默，到了地下掩体的《安全屋#3》完全演变为意识层面的一种虚幻。张鼎自己这样描述：“如果庸俗一点讲，我是一个特别视觉型的艺术家，大多作品偏向很强的感受性。我这次表达了三个层面：第一，是现实的层面；第二，是在现实之后产生的具象和抽象的结合；第三，是完全把它抽象化。说到封闭和安全的关系，如果在一个审讯室里面，人的状态就是一种很虚无的情形，他已经丧失了所谓的思考”。[i]

根据直观感受，三个地理位置、物理形态、文化环境不同的空间承担了展览的不同方式的表达，仿佛展览只是存在于三个空间中。可三个空间之间游走的观看方式却很容易被忽略，正是这种无论骑自行车、驾车、打的、步行的方式形成的三个空间之间的穿行，将另一个更为巨大的空间引入到了展览中，这个空间就是观展路径串联起来的社会环境。社会空间与三个物理空间的作品所隐喻的现实真正地重叠、并峙。观者在穿行的过程中不断强化、回味着每个展览部分获得的体验，同时观者被安排到了观展的过程中，被投放到了社会环境里，成为了另一个更为广阔的展览空间的作品部分。从宏观的视角看，金杜艺术中心、怀俄明计划、掩体三个展览空间只是三个点，它们之间相互联系、相互提示、相互印证，共同营造了一个更宏大的统一的展览空间。只有将展览三个部分作为一个整体看待，这个作品才真正反映出呈现方法的特殊意义。

但我们仍旧不能忽视张鼎在特定部分的实施细节。

《安全屋#3》是张鼎在掩体空间实施的一个集观念、声音、光线的场域性项目，是整个《安全屋》作品的一个部分。这个部分按照艺术家设定的观看顺序是项目最后一部分，同时相对前两部分的作品，在创作在地性和艺术实验性上表现得更为激进。

在这个部分中，张鼎针对掩体空间既往的展览“黑”、“暗”的特点，将整个空间刷白，用强光把空间内部照得毫发毕现、角落通明。

场景化是张鼎创作语言惯常的特征，从早期的《拳击》、《猫》，到《龙争虎斗》、《风卷残云》再到后来的《漩涡》，观者都能获得这种鲜明的感受。《安全屋#3》仍然延续了场景化这条语言线索，但艺术家并没有为了炫技而把手段作为观念，而是通过对这种视听效果的重组和分配，甚至是一种视觉机制的颠倒置换，把想要表达的观念和项目发生的语境转换为了展览的呈现。自我线索的发展有意无意地指向了空间既有展览形成的脉络。

掩体空间自成立以来举办的展览中艺术家普遍利用了空间自身黑暗的特征强化作品的效果，甚至将黑的元素转化为自己作品的一个部分，其中将黑暗推向极致的是张培力的《没有网络》，它把黑暗带来的全部感受完整地转换为了作品的内容，从而形成对现实环境的隐喻。

《安全屋》的概念同样在强调现实虚幻的安全感中强烈的不安。在观念上和张培力作品“一个不宜久留的空间”形成了前后呼应。

在呈现语言上像是黑白影像的反转关系。

张鼎《安全屋#3》运用强烈的白光和刷白的墙壁、地板对应空间常态的黑暗。通过相互映照的方式，在既往展览已实现的语境转换基础上再度转换，由此强化了特定场域展览的“在地性”特征。

掩体空间结构上5个小房间的类似，通常对艺术家是一个不小的挑战。5个房间物理结构的雷同很容易让展览的呈现割裂、重复。在掩体做过展览的艺术家里，张培力和张鼎都选择了声音作为贯穿整个空间的介质，或者说运用声音把5个房间融为一个整体来形成体验。张培力的《没有网络》中提示剩余时间的声音是以不规则的方式在不同房间跳跃出现的，而此次张鼎在5个房间设置了5个声部，这5个声部由外及里逐渐由弱到强，是按顺序出现的，这是否可以理解为对掩体既往呈现的一个回应呢？由于5个声部递进的音量变化，刚进入掩体时听到的是5个声部的合声，随着继续深入，听到的合声中声部递减，但音量在不断增强，到最里面一个房间的声部发展为一个高频白噪音。5个声部的声音大都由宇宙空间的杂音构成，只是其中一小段钢琴，仿佛把观者短暂地从虚幻带回了现实，艺术家运用声音的贯穿性克服空间内部结构的割裂和重复，同时通过声部、音量的顺序设置强化了场域氛围的营造，进而强化了观念的可感知性。

回看《安全屋#3》展览，当声光形成的感官感受逐渐消退，艺术家展览呈现方法的线索却清晰浮现：一是作品结构的线索——三个场域呈现的虚实关系以及展览的整体性带来的三个不同地理位置间的游走穿行；二是艺术家自身的创作线索——场景化；三是是空间自身积累的展览线索——黑暗和声音的利用。三条线索相互交织，在不同的时间轴中，共同作用于空间的现实与历史、社会语境，形成了一个移动的整体和不断体验的展示。

[i] 选自：《张鼎：“安全”变成了一种虚无主义的东西》

翻译：唐一琪，译文审校：关超群

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