Rehearsal 798 Art Space

“One World, One Dream”, Exhibition 798 Art Space

This is what Shu Yang’s curatorial note says about the “One World, One Dream” exhibition that I found in the 798 Art Space:

‘“One World, One Dream” is the title that the “Vision Testers” is using for its 2007 Photo Show, exactly the same as that of the official slogan of the 2008 Olympic Games….
“One World, One Dream” depicts the otherwise indoor wedding shoots in the outdoors setting – newly weds posing for their best shots in the midst of real-life scenes. What makes these works different from just wedding photos is that accidental bystanders and thrill-seeking onlookers as well; as the real world that surrounds the set become part of the show….

Dragons and phoenixes are imaginary critters, non-existent in real life, They have been however, our nation’s totems. Drawn side by side, they stand for harmonious matrimony. In other cultures, though, they are nothing more than demons that appear only in nightmares. Now, think about this: Wouldn’t it be horrible if the slogan “One World, One Dream” materializes across the globe? Whether we are talking about wedding gowns or Olympic Games, the idea is to interface with Western culture. Our modernization drive, which dates back to a hundred years ago, boils down to our efforts to align ourselves with the West. To date, we have alignments in some areas and misalignments in others, thus this freak that bears resemblance to nobody. Of course, this is not unique to China only. Many non-Western cultures on the globalization bandwagon face the same problem, which is the most difficult issue troubling globalization itself. The realities in present-day China are awkward, because we have not used our brains well to think, to explore and to address issues. Instead, we have only managed to chaotically react. At the offset of China’s modernization drive, Mr. Lu Xun advocated the “Copycat Approach”. Over the decades we have copied from all over, albeit piecemeal, but have somehow misplaced everything we have copied. Perhaps we put too much emphasis on superficial things in he modernization drive and have not nurtured new wisdom, ending up with this hotchpotch with a bit of everything that do not go together. Against this background, the works in “One World, One Dream”, created by the “vision Testers”, seemingly poke fun at our lives but nevertheless serve as a wake up call.’

What the exhibition housed was in fact a series of sets, a pink boudoir, a chateau ballroom, a communist square, a Japanese cherry blossom – all accessorised with costumes and props for member of the public to dress up and be photographed in. It reminded me of a tourist trap in the Yu Gardens in Beijing which encourages visitors to have their photos taken in what look like Gilbert and Sullivan ‘traditional Chinese’ costumes. And it reminded me of end-of-pier fairground cut-outs. These sets all referred to the wedding photo sets that had been created in public spaces and shown on the photographs on the gallery wall.



But I didn’t see so many people look at the photos. They were having much too much fun, dressing up and being photographed. Some people didn’t need the props or the sets to work their angles a la America’s Next Top Model. And I did wonder whether the artists’ intention to create a dissonance between the aspirational artiness of the wedding photos and the less aesthetically polished ‘real world’, as Shu Yang called it, might have been irrelevant to many of the viewing/interacting public. In their real world (young 798 district national holiday crowd), aspiration and the glamourising photographs are all of a piece. The success of this exhibition is to have drawn a public in and in doing so drawn this out of them.

798 Art Space: Just arrived for the Dadao Live Art Festival 2007

Arriving in Beijing for the Dadao Live Art festival, I’m aware that this third trip to China is on the surface at least, a bit easier. That may have something to do with being collected from the airport or perhaps it’s the extra special effort Beijing is making for the Olympics or maybe it’s just that I recognise something this time around.

But I’m suspicious that this familiarity is superficial at best. When I made my way to 798 Art Space to meet Shu Yang, the curator of the Dadao festival, I introduced myself and was greeted by a helpful man who said he was Shu Yang. I wasn’t convinced, as I had remembered Shu Yang from a previous visit and this man didn’t look like my memory of him. Still I’d just flown overnight half way around the world and it seemed impolite to be sceptical. I said I was there to look at the space where I might be performing and he said go ahead (I make these sound like straight forward exchanges when in fact they were delicate negotiations in my poor Mandarin and his passable English). I looked around and enjoyed the exhibition which Shu Yang has curated but decided I needed to know if the exhibition would be there when the performances took place. So I thought I’d ask ‘Shu Yang’. It was at this stage that my helpful friend made clear that he had no idea who I was and what the Dadao Live Art Festival might be. If this was Shu Yang then I was in trouble.



Fortunately he did now know who the real Shu Yang was, or maybe I managed to pronounce it in a way that made his name recognisable. He called Shu Yang who came immediately to collect me. Take nothing for granted and keep calm.

Though it’s clear from meeting the friendly and dedicated festival organisers that this is a big challenge for them on limited financial and administrative resources, I think that the work I’m bringing is sufficiently sure of its core identity to be able to adapt to whatever circumstances it might have to face: it seems like there’s an opportunity for me to perform in either a gallery, a street or a studio theatre. I want to perform in all three locations and let the reiteration of Cosán Dearg gather new experiences and memories to its already evocative score.

'Covent Garden' in Docklands

I made Cosán Dearg in collaboration with Jason Byrne and Julie Feeney in 2005. Bernadette and I have revisited the material in various guises since then and each time it's a different experience, determined by who we are and where we place our new encounter. This section is called 'Covent Garden' because we made it in a studio at the Opera House. We're investigating the work again because it's strong enough to face whatever our trip to the Dadao Live Art Festival in China may ask of it. Experiencing it alongside the smokers and pedestrians of this walkway in Docklands is good practice too.
The music is by Julie Feeney. (see www.juliefeeney.com for her wonderful award-winning album 13 songs)

Rock and Roll Minotaur - for the smokers

I hadn't realised, not being a smoker, the new relationship that smokers have to the buildings in which they work. They are often to be found huddling in niches, porches and doorways or on this occasion enjoying the sun from a convenient wall. I'm sure there's potential in developing work for this temporary audience - though I wouldn't want anyone to think I was encouraging their smoking.

Perching near the power cables

We did go behind the protective/prohibitive barriers to do this perching sequence and a security guard came to warn us of the exposed power cables, but when I said we were dancing he left us alone.

Match in Bassano

Performing on a soccer pitch in Bassano is kind of stretch of the bodies and buildings concept. However the idea of bringing dance outside of its protective glasshouse to be tested in a public space links the research and manifestation of this project. The performance in Bassano was at the invitation of the Roberto Casarotto who curated the B-Motion Festival as part of the Operaestate Festival in the region. I was excited to participate and to attend because much of the work he has assembled i by independent artists and its reassuring to see the possibilities for such work to reach a wider audience without compromising its idiosyncrasy.

For Matthew and me, the challenge was to deal with the huge space which the football pitch presented. I took the material from the film and extended it from one goal post to the other. Sunshine and the sandy ground made it an effort but that effort is already part of the truth of the material and didn't need to be denied. Performing in that kind of public space where the work isn't sealed off from outside influence requires a particularly sturdy kind of piece but it brings with it a potential for beautiful additions: we gained the shouts of elderly gentlemen playing boules and the voices of a gospel choir practising nearby. One cannot rely on these chance additions but one can be grateful for them and for serendipity.

There's an interview and more photos on the b-motion blog - a great idea that records and deepens the festival experience:

http://www.bmotion.splinder.com/tag/fearghous_oconchuir