randian | 燃点

This piece is included in Ran Dian’s print magazine, issue 4 (Winter 2016–2017)

Dear S.,

Have you ever seen an exhibition you enjoyed all the way through? In the middle of an exhibition’s journey, as a curator, all we can do is bear the pain—this accu­mulation of “stuff” mid-way—and hope still to create value before the opening. Right now I am at this mid-point, enjoying the sense of emptiness brought on by the monotony of daily toil. It is pretty terrible for the curator to feel vexed during this time, isn’t it? But people ought not to be institutionalized, and contempo­rary art should not lack a face.

Nevertheless, like a sorcerer in one of those ceremonial proces­sions, I am going through the motions; I lose all sense of time, throwing myself into the exhibi­tion “scene” so far produced, buzzing around, exhausted. The night before the opening of an exhibition, I always feel that a deity ambles through the exhibition space to protect the integrity of every show. All the chaos, hypoc­risy, and barbarism accrued along the way are completely purged by this figure; even when you realize every detail of the exhibition is dotted with holes, this being somehow man­ages to cast a benign light over the entire show. Perhaps this is what we call a miracle, trans­forming mud into diamonds. A few days ago at an opening dinner, a curator I adore said to the artists whose work was on display, “Thank goodness we’ve managed to muddle through with this exhibition.” I can relate to this remark; he is someone who knows how to be grateful.

I am afraid I believe in such miracles. That’s why I’m not that worried about what’s going on right now. This immersion in hard work, though, is all my own doing, and is driven by my own vulnerability. The travails I sub­ject myself to have no particular significance, except that they exacerbate the time pressure to such a point that it becomes impossible for me to sense the emptiness inside.

We tend to exaggerate the con­flicts between curators and artists. But aren’t these just like any conflict between different people? The road map for an exhibition is always clearly laid out, but our thinking fluctuates around it. Are we merely trying to construct arguments against the opinions of others? We always talk about “effectiveness” and “possibility”. And yet, while we might be clearly aware of what the best outcome of the exhibition could be, the impossibilities are doubtless far richer than the possi­bilities we can imagine. Perhaps I shouldn’t say such things, but I don’t want to masquerade as a martyr just by keeping quiet. That is something I am particularly afraid of becoming.

Now it appears that this kind of self-doubting curatorial prac­tice is perhaps all the more persuasive (after all, do we need a “correct” exhibition?). If I truly believe in the deity men­tioned above, I should hold onto that faith despite my own doubts, rather than giving up the struggle and expecting him or her to come to my rescue. If I did, I probably wouldn’t feel astray at this point in time. In this way, the arguments I’ve had with the artists these last couple of days have been a good thing after all—we must be surrounded by impossibilities in order to find a way to ascend. The death of criticism which has perturbed me is unexpectedly remedied through this type of dissent. Curators (critics) reject artists’ proposals in projects with shaky, shifting themes while artists relentlessly criticize curators’ self-righteousness. Proposals are repeatedly amended and pol­ished until all impossibilities are eliminated—following the only flickering light left.

Dear S., between these pedantic and insipid lines, do you sense my determination? Curating is an undertaking of free will, and of predestination. Along the journey of an exhibition, we ought to pause from time to time, looking back at ourselves, and try not to get tied down by mundane work, helplessly being pushed forward.

Yours,

L.

欧文·沃姆，《白痴III》，2004（图片由欧文·沃姆工作室提供）/ Erwin Wurm, “The Idiot III”, 2004. Courtesy Studio Erwin Wurm.

欧文·沃姆，《忏悔室》，2003（图片由欧文·沃姆工作室/西班牙马德里Galeria La Fabrica提供）/ Erwin Wurm, “Confessional”, 2003. Courtesy Studio Erwin Wurm/Galeria La Fabrica, Madrid, Spain.

欧文·沃姆，《精神分析II》，1999（图片由欧文·沃姆工作室/Dirk Pauwel/比利时勒芬的STUK – Kunstencentrum提供）/ Erwin Wurm, “Psycho II”, 1999. Courtesy Studio Erwin Wurm/Dirk Pauwel/STUK – Kunstencentrum, Leuven, Belgium.