Shi Jinsong 史金淞 Razor Sharp and Deadly
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White Rabbit Gallery Stage 6 Visual Arts Case Study Shi Jinsong 史金淞 Razor Sharp and Deadly Our behaviour, our ways of thinking, even our values and tastes, are designed and fabricated. This power structure…ravages our souls. (Shi Jinsong) Shi Jinsong, Design 2007 - Instruments of Torture, steel, paint, 123 x 220 x 51 cm, image White Rabbit Collection ‘Shi Jinsong is an artist of violence — not the overt violence of street fighting or war, but the implicit, unacknowledged violence that lurks within any society.’ (Elizabeth Keenan, ‘The Big Bang’) Course Content – NSW Preliminary and HSC Courses Practice – the artist and the critic The Structural Frame: interpreting signs and codes, understanding materiality The Cultural Frame: Artworks in the social, historical and political context of contemporary China and a globalised consumerist world Conceptual Framework: Artist/Artwork/World relationships Outcomes: P7, P8, P9, H7, H8, H9, H10 1 The symbolic China and coding of Structural Frame Cultural Frame material globalisation choices Practice Transforming Social the everyday control Artist/Artwork Artwork/World Artist as The world of Designer, Maker, Social consumer Critic desire Course Content – IB Comparative Study Assessed Criteria for the Comparative Study include: o Analysis of formal qualities o Interpretation of function and purpose o Evaluation of cultural significance o Making comparisons and connections o Presentation and subject specific language o (for HL only) making connections to own art practice For PRELIMINARY, HSC and IB students, this Case Study is focused on: o Reading and analysing extracts of art critical writing to model descriptive writing and critical analysis and interpretation o Understanding ‘visual codes’ and iconography – applying the structural frame to understand how artists create meanings in their works through their choices of materials and their visual language o Understanding how contemporary artists work in ways informed issues in society, and how art historians and critics explain works in their context o Examining how contemporary artists use materials and technologies o Comparative writing – learning how to compare works (by the same or different artists) to make well-supported inferences and deductions For Teachers – Some Information About Teaching / Learning: This Case Study focuses on the practices of the artist and the critic. In the first instance, students encounter the artworks themselves, in the gallery and/or in reproduction and/or online. A sequence of learning activities begins with a discussion of selected works, followed by reading the examples of art writing provided (models of critical practice), and responding to focus questions. Whole class and small group tasks are suggested, with links to other artists, and to other useful resources. An extended response question, with marking guidelines, requires students to develop an argument that demonstrates their understanding of the artist’s practice in his social and historical context. The Case Study may be approached in a range of different ways, depending on the particular interests of teachers and students. Strategies may include: o Independent research or collaborative investigations o Debates or dialogues exploring how Shi Jinsong uses satire to explore the contemporary world o Class or small group discussions focused on the materiality of his sculptural practice A: Individually, students read each of the three texts and answer the focus questions before attempting the extended response. 2 B: To extend this case study, working independently or in small groups, students may choose to investigate: o The relationships between works by Shi Jinsong and other sculptural and design practices o Works by contemporary artists who similarly transform found or manufactured objects – from Duchamp and Warhol to Xu Zhen, Fiona Hall and Mona Hatoum. o How does Shi JInsong’s material and conceptual practice connect with other Chinese sculptors and their works such as Bai Yiluo, Gao Rong, Zhang Huan, Jiao Xingtao, or Jin Shi? Shi Jinsong, Baby Stroller - Sickle Edition, 2007, stainless steel, 116 x 65 x 80 cm, image courtesy White Rabbit Collection Students – Start Here! Shi Jinsong’s sculptures, ‘in black cast iron and shiny stainless steel, purport to be household gadgets, tools and toys, but their normal functions are negated by lethal embellishments: spear points, chains and razor-sharp blades. Shi Jinsong says he “loves to dissect value systems”. When he does, he homes in on the contradictions. Combining technical perfection with an exaggeration so baroque as to be funny, he plays Transformers with the objects of consumer desire, turning them into diabolical engines of slavery and torment.’ (Elizabeth Keenan, ‘The Big Bang’) 3 Look at the photographs of Shi Jinsong’s ‘Gun Shape Baby Carriage’ and ‘Gun Shape Baby Cradle’ on the Designboom website http://www.designboom.com/art/shi-jinsong-gun-shape-baby- carriage/ and explain how he has transformed these ordinary objects into things that embody quite different meanings. What makes these sculptures confronting and disturbing? What do you think are the major themes and ideas that preoccupy the artist? Note: ‘Na Zha / Ne Zha’ is the name of the Chinese god of gambling and lotteries, a prankster in the form of a playful – but powerful – little boy who became an immortal. He appears in everything from mythological tales to movies, from techno dances and video games to classical novels. The name appears in some English translations of Shi Jinsong’s work as ‘Na Zha’ and in others as ‘Ne Zha’. Background Information Shi Jinsong was born in Dangyang County, Hubei Province in 1969. He majored in Sculpture at the Hubei Academy of Fine Arts in Wuhan, where he mastered a range of traditional techniques, including carving and casting. Under the influence of three powerful stimuli – radical socio-cultural change in china; a reading of ‘Madness and Civilization’ by philosopher Michel Foucault; and the birth of his first daughter, he began to investigate ideas of transformation and control. [note: Michel Foucault was a French philosopher, historian of ideas, social theorist, and literary critic.] Through his razor-sharp sculptures and related works, Shi Jinsong initiates a dialogue, at once menacing and ironic, between the forms of mythic Chinese culture and modern day globalization. Including his ‘Ne Zha’, series, a satirical brand — an outrageously unsafe line of baby products. Meticulously assembled in stainless steel from intricate mechanical drawings, they include a deadly carriage; a sadistic cradle; a sinister walker; and a malicious, multi-part toy complete with needle-tipped pacifiers and dismembering abacus. This baby boutique confronts its ‘shopper’ with a radically strange and seductive ‘product’: lethal luxury designed to reveal the forces that dominate our lives in unimaginable ways. Text adapted from: http://www.designboom.com/art/shi-jinsong-gun-shape-baby-carriage/ Essential Terminology for this Case Study Installation Parody Globalisation Consumerism Aesthetics Quotidian Functionality Materiality 4 Shi Jinsong, Left: Na Zha Walker, 2005, stainless steel, 54 x 59 x 66 cm, source: Saatchi Gallery Right: Rocking Horse, 2008, stainless steel, 26 x 34 x 15 3/8 in source: Chambers Fine Art Shi Jinsong, Na Zha Cradle, 2005, stainless steel, 24 x 31 7/8 x 24 3/8 in, source: Chambers Fine Art Above images reproduced with permission of Chambers Fine Art, New York Useful References and Resources http://www.kleinsungallery.com/artists/shi-jinsong/biography - images, a bio and links to other articles on this excellent gallery website http://irenelaubgallery.com/artistes/shi-jinsong/ http://www.artpluralgallery.com/artists/57-shi-jinsong/overview/ http://www.thecoolist.com/tree-motorcycles-by-shi-jinsong/ his ‘tree’ motorcycles 5 Useful Quotes ‘Shi Jinsong pontificates on the contemporary state through his mixed media installations and sculptures that draw on traditional aesthetics. His seminal body of stainless steel work consists of parodies of objects associated with comfort and nurture — baby carriages, a child’s rattle — menacingly crafted in razor-sharp blades. Shi maintains a dialogue that juxtaposes globalisation and consumerism with mythic cultures from the past…’ (Klein Sun Gallery) ‘Shi Jinsong explores the long history and ever-evolving present of China, all the while creating work that humorously challenges the contemporary art market and the roles of artists, viewers, and buyers. His work includes sculptures, installations, mixed-media compositions, ink-on-paper paintings, and digital and participatory projects. These are filled with references to China’s ancient belief systems, crafts and aesthetics, cleverly tweaked by the artist.’ https://www.artsy.net/artist/shi-jinsong-shi-jin-song Shi Jinsong, Baby Stroller - Sickle Edition, 2007, stainless steel, 116 x 65 x 80 cm, image courtesy White Rabbit Collection 6 Readings and Questions Reading #1 – Extract from ‘The Big Bang: Contemporary Chinese Art from the White Rabbit Collection’ by Elizabeth Keenan Design 2007 (2007) presents an ‘entertainment unit’ of the kind that dominates most modern living rooms: a flat screen TV, a stand and two tall speakers. These normally sleek devices are made of stainless steel, and the work’s subtitle, Instruments of Torture, helps explain why. The TV screen holds the black blade of a guillotine, while a row of holes on the edge of the screen looks ready to receive fingers or toes for amputation.