Exhibition offers insight into Chinese video art

Jessica Cuthbert talks with The Knifes Edge: video curator Erin Coates about the upcoming exhibition showing at the Vancouver Arts Centre from June 16 – August 6.

Art on the Move is giving venues and galleries around the State the opportunity to showcase an eye-opening exhibition that provides an insight into contemporary video art practice in China.

The Knife’s Edge: video, recently seen in Beijing, features the work of seven Chinese artists who use video as an art form and who all live or actively exhibit in Beijing.

Perth-based curator Ms Coates developed the exhibition during a six-month residency in Beijing in 2010.

The exhibition provides a unique insight into contemporary video art practice in China and the processes of transformation, time and the everyday.

The exhibition was first shown at Fremantle Arts Centre in 2011 and includes works by Kan Xuan, Jin Shan, Li Ming, Li Yongbin, Morgan Wong Wing-fat, Wang Qingsong, and Zhao Yao.

'Can you tell me about the exhibition, what’s it all about? '

The exhibition is a snapshot into the world of contemporary Chinese artists living in Beijing who have chosen video as an artistic medium.

There is not a single theme in the show; the common thread is that all these artists work with video and are based in this city.

These seven artists in The Knife’s Edge are all choosing to turn away from conventional, traditional artforms as they want to share experiences of contemporary China using a contemporary medium.

They are interested in the nature of time in a fast-paced megalopolis like Beijing, and playing with simple, everyday rituals.

There is a strong presence of the body in these videos and of exploring personal space and private mediations.

All of these artworks are really a very interesting way of resisting mass culture and mass social patterning in China and carving a space for personal reflection and expression.

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''''''Where did the inspiration come from for the exhibition?

I spent six months living in Beijing and experienced the city from the middle of winter to the middle of summer.

I met many people, explored everywhere I could and visited lots of artists’ studios.

I was constantly amazed at human movement in such a huge city, and the way that urban space is occupied differently over the seasons.

I was most interested in artists who have turned away from traditional forms and want to make art that speaks of the human condition today.

There is a sense that we are increasingly saturated by technology and media, especially in large cities; this is apparent everywhere in the world.

We can relate to these artists because they are sharing something common to all of us today.

I was inspired to bring together these seven artists into an exhibition as I feel each of them faces a maelstrom change and flood of information; living in one of the world’s most populous and rapidly transforming cities, and yet they have each found a space for personal expression through video art and a way of connecting with audiences and sharing their personal observations and concepts.

These videos are very different to film or TV works, they are not about mass entertainment, but rather about individually and finding an original way of reflecting on ideas of change, time, the everyday, the body and personal space.

''''''How is the audience engagement different to a visual exhibition rather than still?

Watching video art is very different to experiencing sculpture and painting.

It can be challenging for audiences, not just because it often demands more of our time but because we can’t rely on the same visual language to understand it.

It is often not about beauty, but about ideas.

I chose these seven artists because I feel they use a range of techniques and explore ideas common to us all; time, transformation, the body and the everyday.

Hopefully everyone will find a way to connect with at least one of the works.

Some artist have created slow, meditative imagery that accumulates over time; like Li Yongbin’s dripping refection video, which draws on his background in Zen Buddhism.

Others create fast-paced imagery and rapid transformation, like Wang Qingsong’s meaty video Chop.

Some are even quite humorous, and others a little disturbing.

Kan Xuan’s spider video gets me every time.

Even though I realise for some audiences that video art can be difficult to appreciate, I feel it can draw us in and convey the artist’s ideas in ways that static media cannot.

Considering how ever present screens are in our lives today, it seems only fitting that artist wish to video as an evocative medium.

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''''''Why would you encourage Albany locals to take a look?

I encourage people to see this exhibition as I believe it will offer them a unique insight into hidden elements of contemporary life in Beijing.

These artists are not telling large historical narratives or recreating cliched imagery that we are already familiar with, they are sharing personal reactions to living in Beijing, and video is a very intimate way of connecting with an audience.

''''''Who is involved in the exhibition?

I curated this exhibition after finding and meeting with each of these artists in Beijing.

They agreed to let me show their work in the original exhibition at Fremantle Arts Centre, where I work.

After the first show the great little organisation Art On the Move then became involved in touring the show, so it has been presented at a number of regional venues in Western Australia.

I am really thrilled about this as I think it is important for rural audiences to have an opportunity to see new, challenging and original artworks, and The Knife’s Edge is a rare insight into video art in China.