xU TAN | Ebbs and Flows - Situational Sociability and Conceptual Sociability | review
徐坦《河东/河西——情境的社会性/概念性的社会性》回顾
From June 22 to 23, 2024, DRC No. 12 presented Xu Tan's special project Ebbs and Flows - Situational Sociability and Conceptual Sociability. The special project is centered around Xu Tan's ongoing project Egret, Please Stay, Let's Have a Heart-to-Heart Talk (2020-present), juxtaposed with his video series Made at Home in China (1996-1999).
Amidst the contrasting presentation of these two sets of works spanning three decades, the artist engaged in open dialogues with the attending audience on issues ranging from the origins of the “Egret” project, contemporary mental distress to perceived broader societal depression. He also touched upon his own experiences and reflections as an artist in dealing with social issues – in his opinion, whether using conceptual or situational interventions, the two seemingly opposing approaches are not necessarily contradictory. As part of the artist-viewer exchange, Xu Tan also presented his own work – Question-1, which is contemporaneous with Made at Home in China but addresses social reality from a purely conceptual perspective, as well as Zheng Daoxing Concert Hall (2004), which oscillates between performance and situation – providing a richer historical context for the discussions revolving around his engagement with socially relevant issues.
2024年6月22日至23日，徐坦的特别项目《河东/河西——情境的社会性/概念性的社会性》在外交公寓12号呈现。此次特别项目依托于徐坦正在进行中的项目《白鹭，请留下，让我们谈谈心》（2020—至今）展开，并置展示他拍摄于90年代末的系列影像《在中国的家里制造》(拍摄于1996-1999）。在对照呈现这两组间隔近三十年的实践的同时，徐坦从“白鹭”项目的源头谈起，与到场观众就当下个体所面临的精神困顿和可能的社会性抑郁进行了开放的交流。他也谈到自己作为艺术家在处理社会性议题时的经验与反思——在他看来，无论是采用概念性的还是情境性的介入方式，两者看似矛盾实则并行不悖。作为现场交流的一部分，徐坦还补充展示了与《在中国的家里制造》同时段但完全从概念角度切入社会性议题的《问题-1》，以及另一部创作方法有所差异的《郑道兴音乐厅》（2002-2004年），为讨论艺术家对于社会性议题的关注与实践等议题提供了更丰富的历史语境。