Those are some badges hanging in the white exhibition hall. The so-called "badge" is not worn, but traditional needlework with wooden hoops around it. The words on the embroidered surface are: Madonna, martyr, Madonna, beautiful girl, black girl, super girl, shining girl ... These are some words with feminine characteristics since written records, and some can only be found in Ci Hai. These badges are exaggerated in size and messy in thread. A week ago, workers rushed to embroider these 60 "badges" in Lin's studio (also her home). Their production process is traditional, but the form is modern. Lin quipped like this.
Some critics say that Lin's work style has "sharp, sensitive and direct femininity". Her famous work is to wrap thousands of daily necessities with cotton thread. The long white line is twisted nervously, reminding people that women are tired of all kinds of tedious housework. Later, in Braid, Lin himself made a 4-meter-high image, hanging high, with one end tied to the canvas with a white rope and the other end irregularly dragged on the floor.
Lines and female bodies are two media that Lin has been using. The former comes from her childhood experience. At this time, mother tore off Lin's old sweater and the wool ball wrapped in it. The latter comes from Lin's own experience. Middle-aged women have lost their charm, but they have added a lot of life responsibilities. Lin once joked that if you want to use other models, you must be fatter than yourself.
Lin told the reporter a story that happened in America. On the eve of graduation, the professor asked the students to draw lots to decide their grades. Only one person is a, and everyone else fails. The professor said that this is the reality. Only 1% of artists are likely to succeed, and 99% will fail. The professor broke the rules of the art world in one sentence. Finally, all the students who drew lots passed because they dared to catch them.
1988 Lin was twenty-eight years old when he went abroad. In new york, in order to make a living, she engaged in design. Set aside one or two days a week to go to exhibitions, concerts and bookstores. She often goes to a small restaurant whose boss is a talented artist.
After returning to China from 65438 to 0996, Lin lived in seclusion in the suburbs of Beijing, did not meet with any art societies, and rarely went out to socialize. From the station to her home, there is no transportation, and it takes half an hour to walk. Only one security guard rides a bike on the road occasionally.
B= Bund Pictorial
forest
A plump middle-aged woman.
B: You often use plump female bodies, while Xiang Jing likes to use adolescent girls. Why choose a plump, not so beautiful female body?
L: I've used girls, too, but it must conform to my idea. Now, I mostly use middle-aged women like me. From the general sense of appearance and men and women, she has lost some sexual charm, but she carries more, such as childbirth, midlife crisis, menopause, the departure of children, the failure of marriage and so on.
At that time, before making sculpture, I took a lot of photos, which were particularly ugly, but I was surprised that it was something else.
B: Do you project yourself on plump women?
L: there must be. It is very sensitive because it is our own life and we understand it. Maybe when you get old, the female body in the work will slowly age. Maybe after a long time, I won't need it. B: Full female figure, cotton yarn and so on are all your symbols. It seems easy to say that you pick up a symbol and put it down.
L: Maybe tomorrow I'll use marble, steel plate, paper and silk. Artists cannot be limited to a certain material or a certain symbol. In 2009, I made "Looking at each other", which is my first time to do outdoor public art. Artists should grasp this scale.
I admire those artists in Zhang Xiaogang. They have an inertia. If I do that, I may go crazy and lose interest, but they still use it and keep talking about it. I haven't talked to them in depth, and I don't know what they think.
B: Do you create by intuition?
Li: Not exactly. I use female posture to express sex. First of all, I don't think we are inferior to others as women. I never think that art is divided into male art and female art. I think art is art and a standard. For example, the female body, everyone has to go through this process. Must be a certain * * * sex, * * sex is a person's own business.
B: Your new work badge in B:2009, like your work shit in 2008, is all about women.
L: I don't have to stand from a woman's point of view. I am mocking. I am political and critical of contemporary culture. From writing to now, there are more than 200 words with women. Many female words in Kangxi Dictionary and Cihai are no longer used. Now new words keep appearing every month, and then disappear quickly.
In recent years, 80-90% of the words are male before female. For example, there is a phoenix man first, and then a peacock woman; There are otaku first, then otaku; There are leftover men first, then there are leftover women. This is a social phenomenon, and I will continue to do it.
B: You are often regarded as the representative of Chinese feminist artists, but you once denied being a feminist artist.
L: The argument itself is meaningless. In fact, I don't particularly understand the specific meaning of women's rights. There are many schools of thought in the west, mainly against it. In our time, the society with men is antagonistic. Now, many women are making things. They don't emphasize this point, but they do well.
Women's rights are spontaneous, not half the sky, not politics. There is no such sport in China. I didn't mean to emphasize these things. I am very sensitive and irrational to explain my life and situation, and it is over. B: Your work is very sad.
L: My expression is natural, and so is my sadness.
When you held a solo exhibition of silk installation "Mother's" in 2008, it was said that the situation was very difficult?
L: My husband had a heart attack and needed a new heart. The survival time after heart change is usually very short, only a few years. My husband almost lost it. The child is only ten years old, and I am under great pressure. I won't share it with my friends, and I have no friends, only one or two good friends, all in America.
B: You once said that shit learned some feelings from the female friends around you.
L: I never thought there were many problems with women's rights. I am very excited by the experiences of my friends. These are social and legal issues that cannot be changed.
B: You once said that the work shit will continue, and maybe more and bigger things will happen. Any followers?
L: Not necessarily, it may be shorter, because your life has changed, your mind has changed, the materials you choose have changed, and what you want to express has changed, so it will change.
B: Your works are getting smaller and smaller, and the volume changes. what do you think?
L: I'm very sensitive to materials myself. Tired of doing big things, try to play small things. It is difficult to do small things, but it is necessary to bear the weight of big things and be meticulous. It has been in the space for a long time, so it should stand upright, be delicate and have every detail.
Your work looks international, but its roots seem traditional. L: My father draws meticulous paintings and writes calligraphy. Father doesn't paint flowers and birds, but landscapes, which is particularly delicate. Every detail can be opened for a closer look, which is very beautiful. Every detail of my work is very meticulous, which I inherited from my father.
My father is very romantic. His handwriting is very beautiful. Unlike some calligraphers, he pays attention to tolerance and strength. He pays attention to interesting structure and composition. So is my job.
When I was sixteen or seventeen, my father often took me to the Forbidden City to see the paintings and calligraphy of Badashanren and Ren Bonian. In fact, I saw many original works by Badashan people in America. Our literary literacy is particularly low, but when we see a lot of calligraphy, we can immediately appreciate a beautiful thing, just like taking drugs, and we are dizzy and grasp the essence at once.
Can you read words or figures?
L: Look at the shape. Read the words. Dad often writes and draws, and I am watching. When I didn't go to college and was unemployed at home, I copied almost all the stone carvings of Yangshao culture with a pen and got dozens of copies.
I especially like collecting stones. I don't know the stone, but I can tell which dynasty it belongs to at a glance, and I can't make a mistake. For example, this is the Song Dynasty, and that is the Northern Wei Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty (Lin points to the surrounding rocks).
I especially like Beijing opera. There is no background and no props on the stage. When the gongs and drums rang, a martial artist came out with a whip. You really feel that he rode out on a horse, riding a red horse, very imposing. As soon as he entered the door, there was no door at all. He opened the door, his hands were so elegant and his clothes were so delicate. In fact, some of the stories it tells are very dull, but they can make you divorced from reality. Society needs this illusion.
B: What kind of works do you think are good works?
L: I went to 798 to see the exhibition a while ago. An artist's work is quiet, and we all call it "cool". It can calm you down and you won't forget it for a long time. Many artists forget that occasion as soon as they go out.
There are many works abroad that are particularly practical. With visual language, face-to-face touch and on-the-spot feeling, I feel something irreplaceable by words. For example, marble has the language of marble and cloth has the language of cloth, creating more visual things. I pay great attention to this kind of thing.
Nowadays, in the cultural and artistic circles, ideas have become ideas, and the charm of vision itself has not been deeply studied.
In my opinion, we must first have a good idea, and then use more energy to create visual things. These are two necessary conditions for a good work.
B: You and your husband, Wang, haven't cooperated since they collaborated on Here or There at the Shanghai Biennale.
I find it strange to see other couples working together. We are very different, for example, I am willing to ask someone for help, and he is willing to do one thing on his own. His stuff is humorous and social, while mine is self-centered. The media we use are completely different. We had a fierce argument in the process of cooperation, which was quite annoying. We can't avoid it, and we can't compromise, so we have never made up our minds to cooperate again. B: In B: In B:2009, you participated in public art projects in OCAT and Pujiang OCT, and held an exhibition of "Looking at each other". Among them, "Birthday" and "Looking at each other" are both based on the old, but when they are placed in the public space of Pujiang Huacheng, they feel trapped by buildings, and the intensity is much smaller. what do you think?
I don't think so. I am very moved by the design of the whole OCT, which provides an exquisite lifestyle and takes everything into consideration, unlike Pan Shiyi, who just plays with tickets and an idea. Every detail of it, such as small bridges, flowing water, Little Square, small gardens, kindergartens, parking lots, how to turn around, the relationship between neighbors and the privacy of the garden-can't be seen from the outside, but it is very clear and thoughtful from the inside.
I am very concerned about real estate. In Beijing and Shanghai, I think it is one of the best. There are many large buildings in Shunyi, Beijing, all of which are the same concept. Playing with tickets to show off wealth is particularly impersonal and rarely cares about these things from the heart.
At that time, our idea was not to put the work in such a big space, but to put it at the entrance of the kindergarten and next to the pier. However, in the process of implementation, funds are particularly limited, and the price we give them is one-sixth of the market price, so there is no way to realize the original idea in a short time. Magnificent works of art are not suitable for this space. I hope my works can withstand scrutiny and deeply touch the hearts of residents and tourists here like my own private works of art. I really hope that they can look carefully and quietly and have a psychological reaction instead of making a huge sculpture against the building. Does this confrontation really work?
I mainly look at it from these angles, so I do it more accurately. I don't want my work to interfere with this building. I am somewhat in awe of this building, and hope that the works can be integrated into it, become a part of the building, and enhance the building.
B: If it's really like what you said, it's really good to put the works at the entrance of the kindergarten and beside the pier.
Yes, but there are also some security considerations.
B: Afraid of being stolen?
Yes, once it was stolen, Sui Jianguo lost it. At present, the installation position of the work is too high for people to reach it. When installing, I don't want to put the work in a very high position, hoping that people can touch it. For example, in "Looking at each other 3", the sculpture boy is sitting there with a belt in his hand, and I want to install it at the height of the stool. But for the sake of safety, it was denied. At the opening ceremony, only 65,438+05 people can enter the exhibition hall of the badge at a time, also to avoid damaging the work. I also have to compromise, because the loss and damage of the work is a huge loss.
I am not confident to a large extent.
Are you from Taiyuan?
My father is a rightist. My parents always put me in Taiyuan when I was a child. Until I was a teenager, life was hard and depressing. I started working at the age of 14 or 15, doing shadow play. I like the strong contrast of Shanxi culture, the wildness of the Loess Plateau, the exquisite architecture and simple culture there, and there are few impetuous things. Up to now, I have verbally said that I am a descendant of Hunan people, but the culture of Shanxi has a great influence on me.
Do you like Jia's movies?
Not at all. A while ago, I watched a movie in which a poor French guy killed a woman and extracted fragrance from her. This movie is very psychedelic. As a work of art, it has improved some things. China can't make this kind of film. I didn't see Jia have such a thing. His things are too white. B: You B: 1984 graduated from Capital Normal University, 1988 went abroad. What have you been doing these four years?
L: I have nothing to do with the Capital Normal University where I study. I got married as soon as I graduated and started my own business. At that time, everyone wanted to find a job, and no one started their own business. I didn't have the confidence to cooperate with others, so I became a self-employed. Everything I do now, I can't cooperate with others. I can control myself, control myself, and give up if I can't. Before I get married, I usually have no reaction. When I got married, I suddenly felt I had to take care of myself. I think getting married is still a good thing.
B: Did you return to China for a better creative environment besides having children?
Li: Yes. For us, the creative environment abroad is not very good. In a foreign country, you have to cope with life first, and you can only do one thing, either be a wife or a mother, or abandon your family and become an artist, so that you can really survive. A person doesn't have that much power.
After returning home, the labor force is cheaper. I don't want to hold my baby in my arms every day. I asked my aunt to do housework. When doing a large project, someone helps.
In addition, American culture is very strong, so it is particularly difficult for us to capture American mainstream culture. I didn't go to America until I was twenty-eight or nine years old. When I am working, I will naturally consider my immigration status, so it is difficult to think about myself. My English is ok, but I can't read and write. I am particularly insensitive to languages, so it is quite difficult to understand American cultural background.
After returning to China, the livelihood of the United States was broken and there was no source of life. We opened a small shop and were very tired. If we can sell a little later, our life will be better.
Your work is sensitive and delicate. Has anyone ever told you that you are not confident?
L: I am not confident to a great extent, but now with the creation of more things, I am more confident and more sure of myself. This is related to life experience. There are many children in my family. My sister is more like my parents than my parents. My sister is good at flattery, and I am caught in the middle. Coupled with the hard and depressing life, I was not confident since I was a child.
B: Over the years, your home has grown bigger and bigger. From the quadrangle in the city center to the attic in Yanggezhuang, you have just moved to the existing villa. The living environment has changed. How has your creative thinking changed?
Now that I have more space, what I do is smaller. Now the living conditions are good, but I still miss the things of that era, with less embellishment and more essential things. At that time, I lived in Bawangfen, and friends came and went, treating my home as a battlefield. At that time, many people didn't understand that art was underground and was to be caught. We can't hold an exhibition at all. We have to shut it down in two hours. If something happened in Beijing at that time and everyone in the circle came, there would be three or four hundred people. Now there are three or four thousand artists in Songzhuang alone, which is particularly strong.