Don't Stop: Doing Art Potluck Style by Carol Yinghua Lu

8/7/2019 Don't Stop: Doing Art Potluck Style by Carol Yinghua Lu

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Carol Yinghua Lu

DonÕt Stop:Doing Art

Potluck Style

I recently received a call from a young artistbased in Guangzhou. He spoke excitedly about aspace he is launching soon with two artistfriends from the same region. At a time when

more art venues than ever are shutting down,such a move really seems to go against the tide.Further discussion revealed the simplicity oftheir vision: to establish a platform upon which

they can put their thinking into practice, without

being bound by anything other than their owncreative urges, without having to measure resultsaccording to any pragmatic criteria.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊAptly named ÒThe Observers Association,Ó

such an initiative sets itself apart from theconsiderable number of lofty galleries and artspaces that have mushroomed throughout Chinaover the past five years. Their rent is low. Their

budget is minimal and consists of contributionsfrom each of the three founders. They have evenreached an agreement by which whoever sellshis or her work elsewhere will voluntarily

contribute 10% of the income to the operation ofthe space. There is only one goal: to keep thespace going so that they can exhibit their ownwork, make their own projects, and have a spacefor free experiments and intellectual exchange.

The three founding members are two artists andone curator, all of whom look forward to treatingthis space as the playground for their ownpractices. They contribute equally to the spaceand share responsibilities in accordance with

their individual strengths. They emphasizefairness, so that each has an equal opportunityto use the space. Although Guangzhou seems farremoved from the dominant gallery systems of

its northern counterparts in Beijing andShanghai, the artists from this area can still feelthe commercial forces and pressures that haveshaped the art world in China. ÒItÕs a prospect alltoo familiar and foreseeable. I can imagine what I

would become and what I would receive if I werewilling to become a gallery artist,Ó this artistremarked. ÒI want to find a new way.ÓÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊSuch reflections would have beeninconceivable ten years ago. Even one of the

earliest darlings of the Chinese art market, Fang

Lijun, admitted that he had not had anyexperience working with a gallery and didnÕtknow a thing about the art market when he was

picked up by a gallerist after appearing at thefamed China Avant-garde exhibition in 1989. Theburgeoning art market has produced anenormous amount of optimism and temptation inthe past decade surrounding the production and

dissemination of art in China, yet theunconditional passion for art found in the earlymovements and artist groups, and in heateddebates across the country in the 1980s, has

been all but drowned out by the noise of thatmarket. Founded on idealism and innocence

e-flux journal #5 Ñ april 2009 Ê Carol Yinghua Lu

DonÕt Stop: Doing

Art Potluck Style

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The HomeShop stoop sale brings neighbors and friends to HomeShop. Courtesy HomeShop.

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Another Flyer for a Small Productions event featuring their motto ÒSmall Productions, DonÕt Stop!ÓCourtesy Small Productions.

Flyer for a Small Productionsbarbeque. Names of theparticipating artists are listed onthe hot dogs.Courtesy Small Productions.

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prior to the introduction of monetary interests inart, that passion seems somewhat remote today,now that we are more sophisticated and aware ofthe intricate makeup of the art system and the

kind of power games money fuels within it. Suchawareness provides us with a completelydifferent set of dynamics for artist initiatives andautonomous art projects, and at the same time

poses a new set of questions and challenges.

ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊTake the Observers Association, forinstance: the model might not be new Ð itÕs anartist-run space Ð yet it was born as a responseto the specific situation in China, where there is

on the one hand an obsession with constructingthe physical infrastructure for large exhibitions,museum structures, and state-of-the-artfacilities; on the other, there is a staggering

shortage of theoretical engagement and context-specific artistic experiments at all levels. As therush to write the ultimate contemporary arthistory for China continues to play out in shows

claiming either to define the masters or to offer acertain historiography of the last few decades, apower-hungry and somewhat functionalistambition is, more often than not, coupled withignorance regarding the special nature of art and

knowledge production as something lying beyondactual and material production. After all, art is aspecial language, with regard to both itsacquisition and to its role in communication, andit is not enough to give it a well-adorned physical

home. Rather, it requires in-depth intellectualinput and engagement Ð it must be criticallyexamined, challenged, debated, redefined, andreinvented. The fundamental drives to make and

work with art have somehow become lost in theglamour and power bestowed by the market onits active players. Such a loss has becomeespecially glaring amidst the recent collapse ofthe art market. The market has stopped

providing artists with a constant affirmation oftheir success. ItÕs real: it has become harder tosell work and the number of studio visits hasdropped significantly; many are confused andanxious. What now?

ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊWhere money might once have offered a

solution, now the answer might be less tangible.Small Productions, an autonomous artistinitiative based in Hangzhou, was started by a

small group of recent art school graduates andyoung artists out of frustration with thepressures of exhibitions, production budgets, theformality of presenting artwork, the market, and,above all, the dearth of real exchange and debate

amongst artists. First announced in December2008, Small ProductionsÕ manifesto is written ina personal, earnest, and quietly inflammatorymanner.1 Choosing to remain collective rather

than individual, anonymous rather than self-important, the founders expressed their

heartfelt desire to overcome the obstacles toartistic practice presented by cutbacks infinancial support or sporadic productionbudgets, by having their artistic aspirations

short-changed by external limitations.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÒSmall Productions, DonÕt Stop!Ó is themotto they propose and stick to. In a mere fewmonths they hosted seven events in which young

artists came and brought any work of art they

made. Most of these were just one-day events,with no overriding themes or fixed venues.Sometimes artists gathered casually overbarbeque or a potluck dinner, and artworks were

just something they brought along. There are nocriteria for, or pre-selection of, works in theseexhibitions. They take place in artist studios,deserted warehouses, galleries, or on the Web.

The emphasis is clearly on involving as manypeople as possible, encouraging artists to makeand show work without inhibition or practicalconcern, giving all works and ideas a place to be

seen, and, more importantly, a place for theexchange of opinion. Exhibition openingsbecome artist gatherings and venues fordiscussions concerning both exhibited works andissues artists seek to address in their own work.

ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊSmall Productions is all about creating arelaxed, open, and stimulating environmentwhere young artists can test their ideas withoutconstraint or fear of failure. The works shown atthese gatherings tend to be modest in scale,

production cost, and appearance Ð fragile,ephemeral, humorous, everyday,unsophisticated, and even a bit nave, oftenresembling what schoolchildren might make in

handicrafts classes. Yet these small ideascontain an unstoppable enthusiasm that isexactly the starting point for this concept. Theseartists believe in the power of doing and inexploring possible models of working and

exhibition-making without the idea of art as aÒbusiness.Ó Forget about having to show workproperly and in the right context. Go with instinctand look for new coordinates by which to situateand substantiate artistic experiments.

ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊWhereas Small Productions seems to be a

conceptually fluid experiment taking place in anexplicit art context, HomeShop in Beijing wasborn with a very specific physical and conceptual

framework, providing a stage for a series ofcommunity-based, outward-reaching projectsrelated to its unique urban residential setting.Working out of the twelve-square-meter livingroom of her storefront in Xiaojingchang Hutong,

an alley in the old part of the city, Elaine W. Ho, aChinese American artist currently based inBeijing, uses the everyday life of this specificlocation as HomeShopÕs point of departure and

subject matter, engaging a diverse range ofcontributors. Architects, theorists, visual artists,


DonÕt Stop: Doing

Art Potluck Style

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Next door neighbour Zheng helps put up the sign inviting participants for HomeShopÕs ÒSpeakÓ activity. Courtesy HomeShop.

HomeShopÕs street party in celebration of Olympics' losers. Courtesy HomeShop.

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writers, musicians, and, above all, the localresidents each bring something to the pot: theopening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Gamesis projected on HomeShopÕs fa•ade for the local

residents; a reading and discussion group isinvited to have their event in HomeShop; Chineseherbal plum juice is shared with the hutong

residents; Cassidy Cui, a curator and writer,

invites anyone to speak with her about anything

for five minutes; a selection of movies isscreened; a journal entitled ÒWearÓ is publishedto document the complexity and richness ofHomeShop projects. HomeShop is as elastic as

nylon stockings, stretched as far as its projectsallow. Some of its events are extremelyambiguous in nature and seemingly far-fetched:are they art events or something else? Maybe

they can be both, just as HomeShop is itself botha private home for Ho and a public space ofproduction for those involved. HomeShop is yetto receive much recognition and acclaim within

art circles, but there is definitely space for suchan endeavor.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊExcitement is building, with no formal pressrelease, no art jargon, no market glamour, nohierarchy. HomeShop in Beijing, Small

Productions in Hangzhou, and the ObserversAssociation in Guangzhou are all self-sufficient,independent, conceptually ambitious, low-budget, and flexible. They are immune to thecommercial uncertainty of the art system and

empowered by new artistic visions andachievements. However, though they maysuggest alternate paradigms for artistic andexhibition models, the market remains very much

the primary site for the production andcontemplation of art in China at the moment, andthis obscures initiatives that fail to generate anyimmediate commercial activity or profit. Mostcurators and critics here are unable to engage

with such practices, and tend to dismiss them astoo marginalized and vernacular for theirrejection of mainstream forms. But just as themanifesto of Small Productions suggested,ÒSmall Productions is a big them.Ó Such

productions respond to very specific concerns

arising from artistsÕ and curatorsÕ practices,connecting them to specific contexts, whethergeographical or theoretical. Their existence

doesnÕt affirm common knowledge, but raises asmuch doubt as it does interest. After all, this isonly the beginning. We hope that it doesnÕt stophere.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ×

Carol Yinghua Lu is an independent curator and art

writer based in Beijing. She is the co-editor of

Contemporary Art & Investment magazine and a

frequent contributor to a number of international art

magazines such as Frieze, Contemporary , and Today

Art. Her texts on contemporary art have appeared in

many art catalogues, books and magazines. A

graduate of the Critical Studies program at the Malmš

Art Academy, Lund University, Sweden, she was the

China researcher for Asia Art Archive from 2005 to

2007. Her curatorial work includes ÒThe Temperament

of DetailÓ in Red Mansion Foundation, London,ÒForeign ObjectsÓ in the Project Space of Kunsthalle

Wien in Vienna, ÒThe Weight of RealityÓ in Marella

Gallery, Beijing, two curatorial projects in ARCO'06 and

ARCO'07, Madrid, ÒCommunity of TasteÓ at The

Inaugural Exhibition of Iberia Center for Contemporary

Art, Beijing, and ÒThere is No Story to Tell: An

Exhibition of International ArtistsÓ in Tang

Contemporary, Beijing. She has co-taught the 2007

summer course for BA and MA art and architecture

students from the California College of Art, acted as

the art consultant for the Olympic Museum Lausanne

on a major exhibition about China, and is on the jury

for Pro Helvetia Swiss Arts Council for selecting

cultural projects for its "China 2008Ð2010" Program.


DonÕt Stop: Doing

Art Potluck Style

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ÊÊÊÊÊÊ1Read Zhang Liaoyuan's SmallProductions manifesto here:http://www.shoppinggallery.cn/en/news.asp?caseg=xzz2


DonÕt Stop: Doing

Art Potluck Style

07/07

08.20.10 / 22:19:28 UTC

Don't Stop: Doing Art Potluck Style by Carol Yinghua Lu

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