Exit Art is a gallery located at the end of the world. It is far away from the subway, and is surrounded by those desolate industrial building at the west side of Manhattan. Not only marginal in the physical location, as a 25-year-old cultural center in New York City, Exit Art consistently remains its pioneering and quasi-marginal status in the art world to catch the newest trends in American culture as well as to challenge the aesthetical, political and social issues immediately.
I constantly ask myself: in our age, how many artists can still act as public intellectuals to question and seeking potential solution for the vital crux of our society? Obviously, the visit in Exit Art convinces me that there is still someone fighting for the eternal value of art, or, for the ultimate good of human being. And Exit Art is the stage for the rehearsal of these utopian ideas; believe it or not, it’s still supporting those unrealistic artistic dreams in a turbulent age as ours after 25 years. Exit Art is not the kind of fancy gallery in SoHo that one pass by and will walk into it randomly. The surface of the space is humble and unengaging, even without a clear logo outside the space except a large word “change” hanging on the window on 10th avenue where thousands of vehicles and people circulate daily. But it is powerful, powerful in the means of create a dialogue between the space and public instead of using a commanding attitude.
I went to Exit Art for the exhibition called “The Labyrinth Wall: From Mythology to Reality,” Through February 7, the two curators line the space with sixty-two panels, invite fifty-one artists to work on site, and the public could watch the producing process. The event obviously demonstrates again the space’s openness, ingenuity, and closeness to the zeitgeist. But on the other side, the democratic way of passing any rights to the artists themselves and allowing anything on the wall could run the risk of low quality. It is true that some of the works in the exhibition is really not good. I’ve heard similar complains from many of my friends who visited the show during the last few weeks. However, I think the core meaning of the Labyrinth show is not the quality of a single work on a panel but the underlying concept they conducts as a whole entity. We complain the exhibition space for the works are arranged too crowded, too random, not making any sense, or not resonate with one another. This attitude is actually derived from the traditional way of looking at a space as just a vessel for holding the artworks, which should be white, clean and simple in order to create an exquisite background for the works on show. Whereas here in the Labyrinth show, the entire space can be looked as an artwork on the single work on the wall, or, more accurately, the space is the final result all these artists are exploring. The physical structure is as complex as the various works, but it is not really all that puzzling, the real labyrinth exists in the ideological level,-the production and consumption of the different voices coming from the exact moment of American society.
I constantly ask myself: in our age, how many artists can still act as public intellectuals to question and seeking potential solution for the vital crux of our society? Obviously, the visit in Exit Art convinces me that there is still someone fighting for the eternal value of art, or, for the ultimate good of human being. And Exit Art is the stage for the rehearsal of these utopian ideas; believe it or not, it’s still supporting those unrealistic artistic dreams in a turbulent age as ours after 25 years. Exit Art is not the kind of fancy gallery in SoHo that one pass by and will walk into it randomly. The surface of the space is humble and unengaging, even without a clear logo outside the space except a large word “change” hanging on the window on 10th avenue where thousands of vehicles and people circulate daily. But it is powerful, powerful in the means of create a dialogue between the space and public instead of using a commanding attitude.
I went to Exit Art for the exhibition called “The Labyrinth Wall: From Mythology to Reality,” Through February 7, the two curators line the space with sixty-two panels, invite fifty-one artists to work on site, and the public could watch the producing process. The event obviously demonstrates again the space’s openness, ingenuity, and closeness to the zeitgeist. But on the other side, the democratic way of passing any rights to the artists themselves and allowing anything on the wall could run the risk of low quality. It is true that some of the works in the exhibition is really not good. I’ve heard similar complains from many of my friends who visited the show during the last few weeks. However, I think the core meaning of the Labyrinth show is not the quality of a single work on a panel but the underlying concept they conducts as a whole entity. We complain the exhibition space for the works are arranged too crowded, too random, not making any sense, or not resonate with one another. This attitude is actually derived from the traditional way of looking at a space as just a vessel for holding the artworks, which should be white, clean and simple in order to create an exquisite background for the works on show. Whereas here in the Labyrinth show, the entire space can be looked as an artwork on the single work on the wall, or, more accurately, the space is the final result all these artists are exploring. The physical structure is as complex as the various works, but it is not really all that puzzling, the real labyrinth exists in the ideological level,-the production and consumption of the different voices coming from the exact moment of American society.
写了这么多懒得翻译了，总之这展作品质量不高，几乎可以说比较差，但它提出的问题不是单个作品，而是整个展示方式对民主社会的思考和回应。我的感觉是整个展览本身是一个作品，一个完整的疑问，不能单件单件分开看。
直接把大富翁的棋盘挂墙上了，前面摆着一叠“免牢狱一次”的赦免令，观众可以将其带走。
下面是局部，用纸巾在透明塑料板上贴出来的。感觉综绘的小朋友们一
用纸贴全成了吴少君风格，原来黑纸条还可以贴成这样子的。思维僵化啊。
“艺术家联合起来为人民服务！”嘿嘿，怎么听起来像文革
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