Be together for today
The project"Be together for today"attempts to bring the past and the present at a site that has special meaning Through the physical dimension of the city, the building, the apartment; the social dimension of guests and audiences participating in the scene; and the spiritual dimension of sharing collective memory through music, the periodical identity and profound change of a culture are put in relationship to each other creating psychological resonance.
The site of the Diplomatic Residence Compound(DRC)is a place of unique function for Beijing. Since it was put into use more than 40 years ago, the DRC has not only witnessed important events in the recent history of China, but also played a special role in promoting the process of change. It embodies this rich history. It was also the place where my musician friends and I gathered in the 1980s to share music with each other, listening to rock music which had first entered China then, mostly though children of foreign nationals who threw parties at the DRC. This project is inspired by that particular moment in time and role that music had in connecting us to the outside world and imagining our possible futures.
For the project, I invited my musician friends to the DRC in order to share stories from that time and play music together. I left the domestic space of the apartment undisturbed. In a relatively open period of time, the guests (or audience) were able to move freely in the space of the apartment, entering and leaving as they wish, with tables and chairs arranged and rearranged coffee cups and cigarette butts in ashtrays as evidence of the people who came through. This 'scene' was filmed entirely on camera for the duration of these gatherings.
These factors constituted a fuzzy relationship between the stage and everyday life , between the constructed space of the film shoot and the realities of a gathering, creating an atmosphere where the past and present are superimposed, challenging the experience of viewing into human relationship.
Text By Zhu Jia
这里的核心就是尝试在这个特殊的场地将过去的某些曾经的 经验与今天的现实找到一种参照的方式。这里面即包含物理 层面的指向 : 城市、建筑、空间以及参与到现场的嘉宾和观 众 ; 另外的是主观精神层面上的 : 文化的认同感 , 思想深层次 的转变以及人与人之间的心理关系。物是人非 ,“外交公寓” 对于北京乃至整个中国是个有着非常独特功能的场所。自它 投入使用到今天近 40 多年的历史当中 , 这个地方不仅见证了 近期中国历史变革中的一些重要事件 , 同时以它特殊的身份 不断扮演着特殊的角色推动着中国的改变进程 , 甚至改变了 某些历史进程的轨迹。——正是它的这种独特的丰富历史内 容 , 以及在 80 年代我与我的音乐人朋友们一起在这个场所度 过的一些时光 , 都促使我以这样的方式来完成这个项目。—— 正是基于这些历史的沉淀和个人经验主观的思考 , 在形式上 回转到感性的表达就更具有开放性和包容性。
邀请当年曾经与“外交公寓”发生过很多交往的音乐人重回 故地 , 没有任何主题性的漫谈闲聊 , 房间内部在陈设上仅仅是 最基本的咖啡桌、椅子 , 辅以咖啡、酒水。在相对开放的时间段 , 嘉宾与我及观众的自由走动、进场与离场 , 桌椅、咖啡杯、 啤酒瓶、烟灰缸以及现场的工作人员等等 , 这些因素组合成 一种介乎于舞台与观众席或搭建的拍摄现场与现实之间的模 糊关系 , 而这其中的所有的人员及其他因素都与我有关 , 只有 我清楚在当下的时刻他们处在什么位置关系 , 他们之间的彼 此关系是什么。同时 , 在这些叠加的层面之间似乎自然地形 成了另外的一个新的“介质”, 而它实实在在地阻隔着其他层 面彼此之间的渗透与交融 , 令它们彼此胶着 , 形成了一个实实 在在的“现场”。
文|朱加
