First Priority - Security

First Priority - Security



I fastened myself tightly to Yvon’s arm in the dark. Screaming voices and loud noises deafened my ears. People kept lifting curtains in the way, having no idea what they would meet. Besides, the air was loaded with smoke and dirt…



“What does the artist want to convey to us?” the 101st time, I asked myself.



Yet, along the way there were several strange settings. A weird man hid behind the wall, anxiously walking back and forth in a small room, destroying everything around. Some unusual signs flashed on and off, creating the atmosphere perfect for a horror movie or a crime scene.



Fortunately, before losing senses in this terrible and exciting “black hole”, we finally made through to the end, to an open place. Here we discovered every secret along the “dark way”.
Some “luminous” chickens were hanging together with each other. Staff there told me that they were planed to scare people around. Yet, they themselves were scared by dark first.
With the faintest light by my cell phone, I was shocked to find the amount of dirt in the air. If you keep staying there for more than 24 hours, it won’t be any surprise if you die for the dangerous air around.



As I walked out of the exhibition hall, or more precisely, an abandoned warehouse (way poorer than those in Moganshan 50), the 102nd time, I asked myself, “What the hell they want to tell us?”

Safety First

Safety First is an exhibition at the Fei Contemporary Art Center (http://www.feiartcenter.com/en/index.asp) that opened last Saturday (March 15th). For class we were required to attend, and so I did. It's an interesting adventure I'm finding to get to any of these places. It takes me about 15-20 minutes to get to the nearest subway station and then from there it was a 15 minute ride on the subway and then from there a 30 minute walk to the actual place.
The walk was interesting because it was so long, and I wasn't really expecting that because on their website it doesn't really detail the walk as being that long (they just don't mention a time), so I was assuming it'd be relatively quick. But it was interesting and I actually was able to navigate it correctly and find my way there, although the actual location of Fei Art Center is a bit odd itself, it's in a mini-industrial center. Once there, I was able to tell where the exhibition was as I followed the crowd of people and spotted a table full of beer and soda and figured I was in the right place.

Entering you start out in darkness, the corridors are all essentially pitch black with sheets hanging from the ceiling. It's odd and I don't think I could have handled going through the entire piece with no light (people used cell phones and other mechanisms to light the way). The first thing that I remember seeing is the piece where there is a video camera taping into the dark and it's in "night-vision mode" (as you can tell because it's taping in that green way). What you hear is an odd slurping sound and you can't quite figure out what it is and then when you look at the tape you see a man kneeling before another man with his mouth at his crotch and one can assume what's happening. After that another piece was off of the corridor to the left and it was just a small empty room filled with a few strings that were lit ever so lightly with an orange glow (not like the entire string was filled with light, just pieces of it). It ended up looking pretty neat and I thought the room was interesting. After that as you reach the end of the corridor there's a large red flashing 'thing' at the end of the corridor, you can't tell what it is because of the sheets in front of you but every time it flashes it blinds you and makes you shy away because of its shock in the dark. Before you reach it, you see an exit door on your right and I went back to open it later and it doesn't open but a touch (It's essentially locked), which works with the Safety First theme. As you reach the end of the corridor you find out that the red flashing thing is the sickle and hammer logo.

After the long dark corridor you enter a large, open room (just basically the actual factory/warehouse itself). The first thing you notice is there are these hens which are covered in a glow in the dark 'dusting' which makes them appear pretty neat. They just sit there and eat food and glow in the dark. There are warning signs in this room as well, which light up and fade off as well. Along with the warning signs is a wall where there is furniture half sticking out of the wall like it has morphed with the wall itself, or molded with it. The furniture was pretty neat, I thought it looked cool. Along with this you could see into the back of the room with the guy kneeling at the other man, and when one person flashed a large light in the room you could see that the person that was on the receiving end was actually a manikin. If there hadn't been a bright light though, I would have never known, as in the small video camera that you can see it looks entirely real. There is also a small other room where there are taped events. One is where a man was digging a hole in a street and another is of a cup that was filled with liquid that now lies tipped over on the roof of a building.

Some of the art in this exhibition was interesting and just plain cool, but a lot of it I didn't know where it came from or why it was there. I just didn't understand the logic or reasoning behind some of it which makes it difficult for me. Otherwise, I thought the exhibition was interesting and the artist played with the irony of safety through out the entire exhibit but I'd like to know more behind what the reasoning was.

Safety show -----what is real safety?

Mr Tang is trying to present us a new concept of safety by using a various different ways, breaking the routine thoughts in our mind. The whole exhibition is full of those elements common seen in our daily life. Surprisingly, most of them are embodied with some ideas related to the concern of the safety.

Once we stepped into the hall, the darkness embraced us immediately ,a bit like some kind of “spook house” created in the theme park . Crying , tension, curiosity soon conquered me to explore more, that was the beginning of this long journey for safety exploration. We observed an artist did performing art in one small room, blowing on the plastic tent . Then followed with a long long corridor with many curtains hung from the top, adding more mysterious air. Walking through the curtains is really an experience that can recall the time we grouped our way amid the darkness where there is no electricity . Having no idea about what is waiting for you in front and whether to continue the way or just give up. After passing through the corridor, we saw a shining scythe that represents the communist party , and it was a signal that introduced us to another hall.

In the all, there were hens curling up in the corner with fluorescence material so they became the leading role in the hall , attracting the eyes of all persons. Also, a lot of indicators for warnings could be found there, such as “No smoking” “No climbing” “ Poison” etc. Sophie and I were a little confused about these settings and guessed the meaning hidden behind them. Luckily, we met with a journalist who is interviewing Mr Tang during our visit. It was a good opportunity that we can follow the introduction of Mr Tang and it was really helpful for our profound understandings.

Take the “Poison” sign for example, he designed a small spotlight hung in the top,and from the light it lit ,we can easily see dust in the air, floating at a moderate speed. Most of us may have never realized its existence in our their life since is it not easily to be observed by naked eyes. But it doesn’t mean that it can be ignored at all. Just like sometimes we think that we stay in some pure and clean environment but actually it is not as clear as we thought. We think we are in safe state but how can we make sure the safety is actually what we imagined? In addition, he designed an equipment that can generate electricity but it is us who operate the machine with our own hands. I have once tried it , it is not a hard work but the process at least reminds you that electricity is not always there and there is always potential that we will lose it at any time . That is why he mentioned the big catastrophe China encountered one month age. Those curtains as well, inspired you to walk further ,though you were afraid of the obstacles in front of you. Maybe you think it is not safe ahead, but when you across it ,there is another scene.

The conception of safety varies from one person to another. We all have different definition about it and we all have our own solution when we face some dangers. Maybe we should think twice before we make a conclusion or decide whether to take a risk or not. Actually , I am a person who strongly desire for a sense of safety and in the real life it was and maybe will never have enough safety for me.

Ps: The exhibition hall itself locates in a place quite desolate. Sophie and I hesitated and lost for some time before finally find it. It is a coincidence or arranged for purpose? So , what is real safety?