Forest of Imagination 想像的丛林

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Go East Project × UNDEF/NE

第三回展 3rd Year Exhibition

时间:2016.11.26 -2016.12.15

Duration:  Nov 26, 2016 - Dec 15, 2016

展览开幕:11月26日下午4点

Opening: 4 p.m, Nov 26, 2016

地址:UNDEF/NE上海市普陀区莫干山路506号楼105室,近西苏州路

Address: UNDEF/NE ( Room 105, Bldg 6,50 Moganshan Road,near West Suzhou Road,

Putuo District, Shanghai)

参展艺术家:陈荣辉、第五洋洋、姜宇欣、李超瑜、谭羽希、王青山、张家诚、赵谦、周仰

Artists: Chen Ronghui、Diwu Yangyang, Jiang Yuxin, Li Chaoyu, Tan Yuxi, Wang Qingshan, Leslie Zhang, Zhao Qian, Zhou Yang

策展人:何伊宁

Curator:He Yining

主办方:Go East ProjectUNDEF/NE

设计:JZSQ

Visual by JZSQ

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The Go East Project was established on January 1st, 2014. Through consistent, long-term blogging, exhibitions, and publications, the project aims to expose Western audiences to contemporary Chinese photography. The Go East Project seeks to support young talent by creating an international platform that fosters exploration into the infinite possibilities that photography provides. Since the Beginning of 2015, the Go East Project has been run as a column in ZUI Found magazine .  Every month, Go East presents a topic at the intersection of photography and culture; with each of these exhibitions on paper, Go East highlights how China's young photographers respond to the topic on hand, and illustrates their breakthroughs in the use of a visual language. 

The Go East Project is committed to building a platform for photography, and encourages young people to use the medium to dig deeper toward the questions embedded in the daily activities of modern life. For the upcoming show, "Imaginary Forest,” at Shanghai's Moganshan M50, the curator has selected nine young photographers to create works on varied subjects of individual exploration. As its own visual language, photography exists beyond the normal bounds of art. It can become a part of the world around us and can penetrate into any form of discourse. It is within this context that this exhibition discusses the ideas of man and nature, space and memory, violence and depression, and how identity is defined. Stretching across range of formats, the photographs in “Imaginary Forest” manifest themselves in many ways: from photobooks to installations, to videos and performances. 

"The Long March" is photojournalist Ronghui Chen's most recently completed group of works.  Beginning in August, Chen followed the news team at "The Paper" to re-trace route of the Long March. Chen took a month to slowly document the revolutionary remains left on the route, including capturing life in the later years of those who experienced it personally. However, some of the resulting images ended up with a less “revolutionary” shade of red than others. The images of everyday people and scenes presented today on these pages are the direct response of Ronghui Chen, a young person growing up in a new era, to the historical memory of the Long March.

In documentary photographer Yang Zhou's work, she continues create through  "Fearie," a record of the gardens in southern China in black and white. The series seeks to generate discussion on the place of the garden within traditional Chinese aesthetics —a space seemingly separate from the real world. A gradate of the the Xi'an Academy of Fine Arts, Diwu Yangyang's work, "Moving through Changning's Hotels," highlights his interest in people marginalized by urbanization. Instead of relying on traditional methods to document societal issues, Yang Yang #5 cleverly choreographs photos that speak of the violence and sex work that plagues the underworld of urban villages and the fringes of the Chinese countryside, an issue often invisible to most eyes. Through careful direction and staging, the images that present themselves are, in some ways, even more effective than reality; Yang Yang puts pressing societal issues on direct display, forcing viewers to reflect.

"How often have you been bothered by any of the following problems?" is a compilation of young artist Yuxin Jiang’s photographic practice completed in 2015. Through this collection of images, Yuxin brings viewers to consider how and why we understand the concept of "depression" in the way we do. In her work, Yuxin’s personal experience of depression and definition of depression by society are presented alongside one another. Weaving together text, photos choreographed in real scenes, and still life collages, Yuxin Jiang seeks to find the point at which art and real life meet, exploring the realtionship between her work's subjectivity and the viewer’s ability to consciously participate in it. 25 year-old photographer Chaoyu Li's series of pieced together archival material, handmade models, and readymade objects investigate the great inventions and discoveries of the 21st century. These familiar —or unfamiliar— inventions serve as a metaphor within the exhibition. Here, Chaoyu's photography creates a curious interaction: although the topic he is discussing uses a hyper-individualized visual language, it also a type of object or material itself.

        The work of London College Of Communication graduate Yuxi  Tan, "Insider/Outside" is a series of of 7 interconnected photos.  The pieces are a story in suspense, an exploration of how people appear differently when in and out of a specific space. Leslie Zhang's recent work "The Horizon Rule" is an experimental blend of theater and photography. From a historical perspective, photography has always given those privileged to be behind the camera the power to define their own identity. In this piece, Leslie has us watch individuals placed in different scenarios as they go through a process of self-reflection.

In the work of photographer Qingshan Wang, the artist attempts to use images to reflect on a universal experience. By extracting, and sometimes creating, fragments of reality, Qingshan’s photos explore our most innermost emotions, our outward projections, and our relationship to nature. In an "An Introvert's Journey," Qingshan uses a series of portraits and selected details from the natural world and daily life to create a tranquil, meditative space for viewers.  Zhao Qian, is a young photographer now living in San Fransisco. The majority of his work is rooted in his personal life and imagination. His series, "Offcut, the Edge" shows a space constructed by the photographer in which reality and fiction merge. In the pieces that Zhao Qian plucks from daily life –the scraps and corners of spaces— Zhao’s photographs waken a sense of dissipated memory, a feeling that brings audience close, and has them experiencing each work anew every time they look.

*the Go East Project, has an open, long-term call for work from young photographers. Please send CV's and portfolios to 248281825@QQ.com.

         Go East Project于2014年1月1日创立,旨在通过博客、展览、出版等方式长期向西方推广中国当代摄影,并帮助年轻摄影师搭建国际化的摄影平台,探索摄影的无限可能。从2015年年初开始,Go East Project 落户《文艺风赏》杂志新审美栏目,每月选取一个摄影与当代文化领域交叉的议题,通过纸上展览的方式,向读者展示中国青年摄影师对题材的深入探索以及对视觉语言的突破。

        作为一个致力于搭建摄影平台的机构,Go East Project鼓励年轻人通过摄影的媒介去挖掘当代文化活动里的种种议题,在即将于上海莫干山路M50 UNDEF/NE开幕的《想像的丛林》中,策展人选择了九位年轻摄影师所创作的不同题材的作品作为考察对象。摄影作为一种视觉语言,在艺术内外出入自由。它可以与我们周围的世界发生关联,并切入每一种话语机制。正是在这样的背景下,此次展览作品中讨论了有关人与自然,空间与记忆、身份认同、暴力与抑郁等不同主题,表现方式则跨越了从摄影书到装置,从录像到行为表演等不同类别。

       《长征》是青年报道摄影师陈荣辉最新完成的一组作品,他从8月开始随着澎湃新闻摄影团队一同搭上了重走长征之路,并花费一个月的时间在拍摄一些红色遗迹以及一些亲历者后代的同时,也记录了一些不那么“红色”的照片。今天,呈现在页面中的那些平凡的人和景物,正是陈荣辉作为一名成长于新时代的年轻人,对长征这一历史记忆的直接回应。在纪实摄影师周仰持续进行创作的《不朽的林泉》中,她用黑白影像记录了江南各地的园林,试图展现并讨论中国传统风景美学中的园林——这一不同于现实世界的别样空间。毕业于西安美院的第五洋洋以一组名为《长宁旅馆行动》的作品向观众展示出他对城市化边缘人群的关注,然而和传统用纪实手法来展现社会问题的作品不同,第五洋洋巧妙的运用编导的方式来展现出城中村和城乡边缘底层暴力和性交易的隐形主题。在精心的布景和编导下,眼前的图像比真实更打开了观者对社会现实的思考。

      《在过去两个星期内,你有多少时间受到以下问题的困扰?》是青年摄影艺术家姜宇欣于2015年完成的摄影实践,她试图通过一组图像来引发对于如何理解“抑郁”这一概念,以及为何如此理解的思考。在作品中,姜宇欣将对抑郁的个体感受和系统定义并置,用一组包含有文本、在现实场景中编导的照片以及静物拼贴的图像融合在一起,试图挖掘艺术与现实生活的接口,探索作品的主体性与观者的精神参与之间的关系。青年摄影师李超瑜通过一系列结合了文献材料、手工制作的模型和现成品,探讨了20世纪世界重大的发明和发现。那些熟悉或陌生的发明以隐喻的形式被摄影师并置在展览中,在这里,李超瑜创作了摄影神奇的交互作用:即使他讨论问题的个人化视觉语言,也是一种物质与材料的形式。

        英国传媒学院毕业生谭羽希所创作的《Insider/Outside》是由7张照片串联而成的一个完整,但有悬念的故事,探讨了在空间内和空间外,人所呈现的不同状态。张家诚近期创作的《地平线条约》是一组融合了剧场和行为的摄影试验,从历史上来看,摄影一直都是权利拥有者控制固定身份的方式。在该作品中,张家诚允许我们去凝视个体在不同场景中寻找自我并思考的过程。

         摄影师王青山尝试利用图像引发人们通有的普世情感, 通过抽取或创造现实环境的片段来向内探寻内心情绪, 同时向外关照人与自然的关系。《内向的风景》用一系列肖像和截取自自然和生活日常的细节影像营造出静谧的氛围,带给观众以冥想。赵谦是一名现居旧金山的青年摄影师,他的作品大多根植于其个人生活和想象。《边角料及边缘》展示了一个由摄影师所构建的真实与虚构交织的空间。在这个基于赵谦所选取的自然片段、建筑一隅以及日常生活边角料的空间之中,摄影唤起了他消散的记忆,同样为观众带来了不同的观看体验。

*Go East Project从长期向青年摄影师征集作品集,请将个人简历、作品集发至248281825@qq.com.

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