November 8, 2003

San Diego State University

Performance

Artist; Shanghai, China

STATION I: SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA

“The exhibition presented an invaluable opportunity to bring to southern California work that would not otherwise be shown in the region. The project was groundbreaking, as it was the first exhibition to feature the current generation of Chinese photographers and videographers.

The artists’ residencies were extremely significant for the University, as they provided students the incredible experience of working with two of the artists, Yang Zhenzhong and Shi Yong. In the case of Yang, students were involved in the creation of a new work commissioned by the haudenschildGarage, which premiered at the Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego.

The project was also important because it created a network of collaborations with institutions in San Diego, Tijuana, Shanghai, Beijing and Singapore.” – Tina Yapelli Director of the University Art Gallery

Exhibition
October 25, 2003 – April 21, 2004, University Art Gallery, San Diego State University

Organized by Tina Yapelli and Eloisa Haudenschild.

Symposium
An International Discourse on New Chinese Video and Photography

January 31, 2004 – San Diego Museum of Art
Organized by Eloisa Haudenschild and Tina Yapelli (Director, UAG, SDSU)

Moderated by Britta Erickson (Independent Scholar and Curator, Palo Alto)

Presenters included:
-Betti-Sue Hertz (Director, YBCA) Performance, Masculinity and Photographic Approaches in East Asian Contemporary Art
-Barbara London (Curator, MOMA) China Now
-Christopher Phillips (Curator, ICP, New York) New Photography in China: Between Past and Culture
-Xu Bing (Artist) Space Between: The Art of Xu Bing

Video Screening
Chinese Video and Film NOW!
January 31, 2004, Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego

Introduction by Christopher Phillips; Yang Fudong present in cooperation with the Museum of Modern Art, New York. The works screened included Song Dong’s My Motherland Made the Scene for Me, 1999; Wang Gognxin’s Fly, 2000; Yang Zhenzhong’s I Will Die, 2003; Cao Fei’s Rabid Dogs, 2002; and Yang Fudong’s Seven Intellectuals in Bamboo Forest (Part I), 2003.

Video Installation Premiere
“Let’s Pray” by Yang Zhenzhong
January 31, 2004, Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego

Let’s Pray was commissioned by the haudenschildGarage and filmed during his residency with the support of Tina Yapelli.

Artists-In-Residence
October and November 2003

Shanghai artists Shi Yong (November 3 – 10, 2003) and Yang Zhenzhong (October 22 – November 12, 2003) were in-residence at the haudenschildGarage; they were commissioned to produce new work.

Yong’s residency concluded with his performance of the interactive piece Super Angel at San Diego State University. Zhenzhong’s residency culminated in the premiere of the commissioned work Let’s Pray at the Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego. The haudenschildGarage supported Zhenzhong in filming the English and Spanish segments of his piece I Will Die (English, Spanish, and Chinese) while in San Diego and Tijuana. I Will Die was later selected for the 2007 Venice Biennale.

Premiere Performance
“Super Angel” by Shi Yong
November 8, 2003, San Diego State University

Super Angel was commissioned by the haudenschildGarage; he worked with San Diego State University students.

Keynote Lectures
November 8 – 9, 2003 San Diego State University & the Chinese Historical Museum

Hou Hanru, Paris-based writer and curator of Zone of Urgency at the 2003 Venice Biennale, was the keynote lecturer at San Diego State University where he presented Chinese Artists (Digitally) Facing the Globalizing World as well as at the San Diego Chinese Historical Museum.

Video Dialogue: Shanghai/Tijuana
November 1, 2003, Centro Cultural, Tijuana, Mexico

This event was moderated by Norma Iglesias and included presentations by Yang Zhenzhong and Tijuana artists Itzel Martinez (Yonkart), Giancarlo Ruiz, and Salvador Vazquez Ricalde.

Marking many important milestones, Zooming into Focus: Chinese Contemporary Photography and Video from the Haudenschild Collection (2003 – 2005) was the first exhibition of its kind in San Diego and Singapore and the first contemporary Chinese photography exhibition at the Centro Cultural Tijuana, Mexico. It was the first time the Shanghai Art Museum exhibited works on contemporary Chinese video and photography from a private collection and most importantly, it was the first retrospective exhibition of Chinese photography and video ever held at the National Art Museum of China, Beijing.

Zooming into Focus investigated the effects of accelerated change in China through the work of the country’s most talented emerging artists. The swift transformation of Chinese culture is reflected in the work of each of these represented artists who comment on contemporary Chinese urban life with intelligence, wit, foreboding and nostalgia.

The works of Cao Fei, Chen Shaoxiong, Feng Mengbo, Geng Jianyi, Hong Hao, Hu Jieming, Kan Xuan, Lui Wei, Lu Chunsheng, Shi Yong, Song Tao, Tang Maohong, Wang Youshen, Weng Fen, Xiang Liqing, Xu Zhen, Yang Fudong, Yang Yong, Yang Zhenzhong, Zhao Bandi, Zheng Gougu and Zhu Jia were included in this exhibitions. Other artists in the collection include Gu Dexin, Hai Bo, Wang Jin, Zhou Tiehai, Yu Youhan, and Zhao Nengzhi.

Lorenz Helbling and Laura Zhou supported all exhibitions and organized the Hangzhou symposium at the China Art Academy. Shi Yong was responsible for designing the Zooming into Focus catalog and the installation design of Zooming into Focus at the National Art Museum of China, Beijing.

In addition to the traveling exhibitions, two symposia were held: An International Discourse on New Chinese Video and Photography at the San Diego Museum of Art and Envisioning the Future of Contemporary Art from Different Glocal Positions at the China National Academy of Art in Hangzhou, China. Participants included Xu Bing, Waling Boers, Fan Di’an, Huang Du, Britta Erickson, Hu Fang, Yang Fudong, Gridthiya Gaweewong, Wang Gogxin, Hou Hanru, Betti-Sue Hertz, Xu Jiang, Evelyne Jouanno, Mami Kataoka, Martina Koppel-Yang, Pi Li, Barbara London, Zhang Peili, Christopher Phillips, Zheng Shengtain, Karen Smith, Rudolf Stoert, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Li Xianyang, Li Xu, Mo Zhelan, and Qiu Zhijie.

The haudenschildGarage launched their residency program in 2003 which invited Chinese artists and curators for the first time to the United States. Shi Yong and Yang Zhenzhong were the first artists in residence and Hou Hanru, Cao Fei, Yong Fudong, Laura Zhou, Lorenz Helbling, Evelyn Jouanno, and Victoria Lu were also invited to the Garage. Both Shi Yong and Yang Zhenzhong produced new works commissioned by the haudenschildGarage while in residence.

Arts & Collection Series II in Asia Art Archive, July 2004
Born in Buenos Aires and currently residing in San Diego, California, Eloisa Haudenschild, has one of the largest collections for contemporary Chinese photography and video art. “Zooming into Focus: Contemporary Photography and video from the Haudenschild Collection” exhibitions in US, China and Mexico included a [...]

Delivered at the Zooming into Focus symposium “Envisioning the Future of Contemporary Art from Different Glocal Positions”, China Art Academy, Hangzhou, China, March 2004
It was in 1988 when Zhang Peili realized his 30 X 30, one of the first examples of Chinese video art. 30 X 30, a two hour sequence showing the artist breaking [...]

The following text is based on a paper delivered at the Zooming into Focus symposium “Envisioning the Future of Contemporary Art from Different Glocal Positions”, China Art Academy, Hangzhou, China, March 2004
Part 1: The Museum as Paradox

In trying to imagine the future of the museum we cannot ignore the past history of museums and exhibition [...]