Waiting

Fang Min'er



This work was exhibited at a show entitled Double-Kick Cracker, which focused on the research and development of Chinese contemporary art in recent years as a global subject. It was held at Tang Contemporary in Beijing's 798 Art District, an important site for Chinese contemporary art. The show was designed in two sections, comprised of an upper and lower level. The artists were then arranged in different booths according to their rank. Rather than waiting to choose a booth, Sun Yuan & Peng Yu mounted a sculpture of an oversized vulture at the top of a ten-meter smokestack outside the gallery. The space's location and relation to other exhibits seemed to have both high and low statuses, as indicated by the title of the show, Double-Kick Cracker. The idea was that the vulture—a bird that feeds on the carrion flesh of dead animals, once targeting a corpse—would observe from its perch high above the situation on the ground and would eventually swoop down on the corpse and eat it. Thus the artists titled the piece "Waiting." What are you waiting for? Who are you waiting for? Facing this question in relation to death, it seems an omen for the situation in the future, or a foresighted reminder, and in response, everybody may have a significant answer.

 

方敏儿

该作品在名为二踢脚的展览中展出,此次展览以探讨近年备受全球关注的 中国当代艺术为主题,地点在中国当代艺术的重地——北京798 艺术区内。 展览分为楼上楼下两个展区,艺术家被等级化地安排在各个展位。等没有在 这两层楼中选择展位,而是将一只体积比成年人还大的仿真秃鹫放在展览 空间以外几十米高的烟囱顶上,俯瞰着整个地区,而观众在遥远的几十米 远处仰望这个作品,它与其它展出作品所形成的空间位置关系,犹如展览 题目二踢脚所令人联想到的一高一低的两声爆竹的炸响。秃鹫,一种以哺乳 动物的尸体为食物的飞禽,一旦发现目标尸体,它便长时间仔细观察在地面 上对方的动静,时机一到,便扑到尸体上狠吞虎咽……艺术家将其极富挑衅 性地命名为等,等什么?等谁?面对这个来自死亡或最终归宿的发问,似乎 是对未来某种局面的预言,也像是一种前瞻似的提醒,而每个人都将会有令 人深思的答案。