Land scape
Stephen Chen
CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW
successful attempt to produce a dialectical fusion that operates as a system of symbols creates a compelling non linear narrative that, walking the thin line between conceptual and literal meanings, establishes direct relations with the viewers. German multidisciplinary artist Thomas Demand once stated that " nowadays art can no longer rely so much on symbolic strategies and has to probe psychological, narrative elements within the medium instead ". What is your opinion about it? And in particular how do you conceive the narrative for your works?
I totally agree with that statement as contemporary art practice and criticism has moved beyond the production of a singular art object into building and understanding a body of work respectively. As a result art is no longer“ pure”, viewed in isolation on a separate plane, but within a larger context.
Even in my early photographic work, I was cognizant of the problematic“ purity” inherent in the art form passed down since the early masters such as Ansel Adams and Edward Weston( especially when the medium inherently fetishizes the idea of an iconic moment). If you were to go to an exhibition of their work, you will see a wall of beautiful photographs; each perfectly contained that does not speak to the next, nor collectively build into something larger than the sum of their parts. I think it is this containment that leads to the sort of ritualized seeing e. g. where people pick out their favourite pieces, offer bland compositional“ critiques”, or consider how it would fit in their décor.
To counterpose that, to try and make viewers engage in the work as a whole, I structure my photographic projects like a musical score; whereby each photo( like a musical phrase) loses something when taken in isolation. Your observation on how the work creates a non-linear narrative is both perceptive and correct; I don’ t think most people are consciously are aware it is what I set out to accomplish.
My musical / narrative inspiration is the Passacaglia form which is non-linear, as opposed to the Sonata form, which is linear( having a distinctive exposition and development). I see linear narrative as both ritual and tyranny. From children’ s fairy tales to corporation press releases, linear narratives dictate meaning – there is only one way to think( and one way to behave). In contrast, the Passacaglia form( which itself has so many variations that scholars can’ t agree on the distinctions) is a set of continuous variations over a bass; and it is this structure of shifting meanings over a base that makes it especially suited for allegory. By layering and varying conceptual and literal meanings, I hoped to convey and encourage the viewer to see beyond the manifest, to uncover hidden references, and even create new unintended symbolic connections for themselves.
You are a versatile artist and over these years you have gained the ability to cross from one media to another: in particular, we wouls like to spend some words about another interesting piece entitled THE SCHOOLING OF DESIRE. We have appreciated the way your approach reveals such incessant search of an organic symbiosis between a variety of viewpoints. So we would like to ask you if you have you ever happened to realize that such multidisci-