Beijing's 798 Biennale Kicks Off With Controversy

2009年北京首届798双年展8月15日开幕。据展览组织者说，这项持续到9月12日的美术展旨在加强北京作为国际艺术之都的地位，有100多位艺术家参展，其中三分之二来自国外。Photo courtesy of Wang Jun“范跑跑”在798艺术区的户外上了一堂历史和政治课在原定参展的中国艺术家中，有一位是高中教师范美忠，他的“范跑跑”绰号可能更为人知，去年四川发生地震时，范美忠弃课堂内的学生于不顾，抢先跑出了教室，因而有了这个绰号。范美忠在其博客中对自己的行为做了辩解，称自己是一个“有着非常强自我保护意识”的人。他写道，每当有危险，我都会迅速做出反应并快速跑开。这番话使范美忠成了人们猛烈抨击的靶子，愤怒的中国网民送给了他“范跑跑”这个绰号。当时正值强烈地震发生后整个中国都在搜寻抗震英雄之际，范美忠因他的话变成了一个如此有争议的人物，以致于他很快丢掉了教授中国语言文学的工作。(去年12月，他终于在北京的一个语言培训中心找到了新工作。)在798双年展上，范美忠原准备参加一个题为“社会魂VS网路魄”的行为艺术展。除范美忠外，其他知名参与者还包括重庆妇女吴萍，她曾努力制止开发商推倒她家住房，此后便以“历史上最牛的钉子户”而闻名，以及知名的博客作者/律师刘晓原。这项行为艺术据称涉及一些作者如何凭借当今社会的科技进步，使得其个人努力获得社会关注。上月早些时候，范美忠受邀参加798双年展行为艺术展览的消息一传出，立即成为了诸多中文媒体的头版新闻。网民们开始就这一话题在网上展开争论，一些人嘲笑范美忠，其他人将他参展归结于蓄意引发公众争议的媒体策划。798双年展的艺术总监朱其刊登在今日艺术网(artnow.com)的一篇文章回应这场公开辩论说，允许范美忠等人参展的理由有两个：其一，当代艺术要向中国的现实学习。范跑跑勇敢的自我表态要比许多艺术家活得真实。其二，双年展不一定是个优秀艺术品的集锦展，它也可以成为一个讨论问题的平台，让当代艺术参与中国社会的进程。但在上周六下午，就在双年展即将开幕之际，展览行为艺术单元的负责人却在798艺术区突然宣布，他们将退出798双年展，因为这一展览已经丧失了其独立性。身为双年展行为艺术单元负责人的北京独立艺术家王军在一封致媒体的公开信中说，双年展组织者决定拒绝范跑跑和钉子户吴萍等更具争议的参展者进入会场。行为艺术单元的参展艺术家们没有像原计划那样在展厅内表演，他们在798艺术区的室外进行了表演。范跑跑戴着他镜片厚厚的黑框眼镜，给观众上了一堂历史和政治课。Juliet Ye（“中国日志”（China Journal）关注全球第一人口大国的发展变化，《华尔街日报》获奖团队数十位记者倾情献稿，Sky Canaves主笔。欢迎读者发送邮件至[e-mail]或在下面评论栏中发表评论和建议。）相关阅读“范跑跑”上岗？难！ 2008-12-30“范跑跑”将重上讲台 2008-12-26


Saturday saw the opening of the first Biennale in the 798 Art Zone. According to the organizers, the biennale, running through September 12, aims to reinforce Beijing's position as an international art capital, with more than 100 artists participating, two-thirds from outside China.Among the Chinese artists slated to participate was high school teacher Fan Meizhong, who is perhaps better known, infamously, for having run out of his classroom during last year's Sichuan earthquake, leaving the students behind.Mr. Fan defended his actions on his blog, describing himself as someone 'with a very strong sense of self-protection.''Whenever there is danger, I react quickly and run fast,' he wrote. The comments made him the target of fierce criticism, with angry Chinese Web users nicknaming him 'Fan Paopao' ('Running Fan'). At a time when the whole country was searching for heroes following the devastating earthquake, Fan became such a controversial figure that he was soon fired from his job teaching Chinese language and literature. (In December, he finally found a new job with a language training center in Beijing.)At the 798 Biennale, Mr. Fan was slated to be part of a performance art exhibition titled 'the Soulful Society VS the Net Spirit'. In addition to Mr. Fan, other well-known participants included Wu Ping, a Chongqing woman who held out against developers seeking to knock her home down, and subsequently became known as 'the toughest nail house owner in history' and noted blogger/lawyer Liu Xiaoyuan. The performance piece was described as involving 'writers who have garnered attention through individual efforts given the technological advances of today's society.'Early last month, when the news first came out that Running Fan had been invited to participate in the performance art segment of the 798 Biennale, it made headlines all over the Chinese-language media.Web users started an online debate on the issue, some mocking Fan, others chalking his participation up to a media ploy designed to generate public controversy.Zhu Qi, artistic director of the 798 Biennale, responded to the public debates in an essay posted on the artnow.com Web site explaining the rationale for including the likes of Mr. Fan. 'There are two reasons. For one thing, contemporary artists should learn from China's reality… Running Fan's brave frankness is more real than many artists,' he wrote, 'On the other hand, the biennale should not necessarily be a constellation of art works only, but also a platform for discussion and for allowing contemporary art to participate in the process of China's social development. 'But on Saturday afternoon, just as the biennale was kicking off, the curators of the performance art unit made a sudden announcement at the 798 Art Zone, declaring that they were dropping out of the art event on the grounds that 'the Biennale has lost its independence.' Wang Jun, a Beijing-based independent artist and curator of the performance art unit, said in a public letter to the media that the Biennale organizers had decided to deny entry to some of the more controversial participants including Running Fan and the nail house owner.Instead of performing in the exhibition hall as planned, the assembled artists in the performance art segment moved to an open area in the 798 Art Zone to carry out their performance. Running Fan, wearing his usual thick black glasses, gave a lecture on history and politics.Juliet Ye