杨勇：在海边做“新”

 

采访：钟刚

编辑：钟刚、田露思

相关项目：“欢乐港湾及滨海廊桥艺术计划”，宝安，深圳，中国

 

 

由上启艺术策划的“明日边际（Boundaries Ahead）——欢乐港湾艺术计划（OH Bay Art Project）”于2020年12月6日在深圳欢乐港湾启幕，项目邀请了艺术家与建筑师在地创作了13件长期保留的作品。

 

欢乐港湾位于深圳近年大力发展的前海新区，作为在新区新建的公园，它带着激活区域生态的任务，并面对着未知的人群。以艺术吸引公众对一个地方的关注是区域开发中越来越常见的手段，尤其是与周边环境紧密联系的公共艺术，在旧城活化、乡村复兴等项目中起到了很好的催化作用。但对于公共艺术本身而言，若在一个有在地文脉的地方发生，则通常会有一个较为明确的对话语境，而欢乐港湾是填海而建的全新区域，它既不肩负历史任务，也没有必须面对的问题，它开放且面向未来。随着城市化的加速，深圳乃至全国不断扩张的新城区催生出对公共艺术的急切需求，如何在新的区域做公共艺术？这是当下公共艺术策划者们时常需要面对的问题。

 

以这个问题为出发点，我们采访了“欢乐港湾艺术计划”策展人杨勇，他阐释了自己对新区域的认知以及公共艺术在新区域中的机遇与挑战。我们以小标题的形式呈现杨勇的十个观点，问题已隐去，发表前经过受访人审校。

 

需求推动

 

深圳当代艺术的发展，源于“后高速发展时期”的一种对艺术的需求，是需求推动了美术馆的建设，也是需求推动了我们在欢乐港湾这个新冒出来的区域做公共艺术。深圳经历了四十年的经济发展，对文化艺术的需求越来越强烈，这在全球城市发展史上，其需求之强，可能都是非常罕见的。正是因为它的高速发展和它作为城市之“新”，对文化的需求也就非常急切。 我们如何面对这种“需求”，就成为一个很重要的问题。我们被需求推着走，还是在当中重塑我们行动的主动性，将艺术的表达作为“私货”夹带在当中？这就决定了这个城市的艺术发展究竟是一种浅层次的消费，还是能够耕作好一块土壤。我觉得只有把土壤耕作好，土壤中才能不断长出新东西来。 过去五年来，上启艺术作为一个立足本土的艺术机构，很多工作都是被这种需求推着走的，但我们很明确一点，我们在这个当中要能够留下一些有价值的印记，要能够推动本土艺术生态的生长。只有这个城市的肌体自身强起来，壮硕起来，它才能有发展，才能有能量的输出，我们在当中作为同行者，也才能走得更远。城市对艺术的需求本身也不是一成不变的，它也需要在这个运动的过程当中往前走，会遇到新的问题，我们需要在这个过程当中不断寻找解决新问题的方法。

 

“新”作为问题

 

我们过去前后策展了五次深港城市\建筑双城双年展（UABB）的主展场和分展场，主要在不同的城中村以及城市边缘的模糊空间中让艺术与环境、建筑发生关系，所在的空间及其所在的区域，都有很深的城市发展的印记和在地文脉，艺术介入其中，会有一个对话的语境。 这次在欢乐港湾，它是一个凭空出世、降落而生的空间，周围的环境，地块上的建筑，都是新生的。这个新的区域，是一个没有记忆的地方，是一个对未来进行想象和解读的场所。在这样一个新地方来考虑公共艺术的介入，非常有挑战，我们所面对的问题，与过去在南头古城和桥头全然不同。全新的区域既考验城市管理者们在硬件上的规划，也考验其在艺术文化上如何对未来进行预判。这里没有要复兴的对象，也没有要找回的传统，它就像是一场没有终点的、未知的马拉松，跑到哪是哪，所以我们开始这个公共艺术项目非常兴奋，觉得“开始”就是“实验”。

 

长期 

 

历届UABB都有尝试逐步介入到城市不同类型的空间，每次都像在打游击。我们这次在欢乐港湾的公共艺术计划，想转换一个方式，将“游击战”转变为“持久战”。这次展览的作品都是长期落地的，比起空降一波作品、艺术家、观众和媒体，展览结束后全部撤退，这一次我们决定将“扎根的公共艺术”作为核心来考虑这个计划本身。我们今天的行动，终究还是需要留下“物证”，而这些“物证”，可能会构建出城市文化的某些部分。 也正是因为如此，我们对作品的尺度、材料、制作工艺的考量是非常严格的，我们希望这些作品能够长期陪伴一个地区的成长，观众不是去打卡，而是去见证它的变化，见证艺术在时间的作用下所激发出来的魅力。 在这个公共艺术计划的实施当中，所有的出图、盖章都在一个非常严格的标准里；材料上也会考虑到长期在户外存放是否存在安全隐患；过程中也有结构工程师来协助，判断其安全性；在作品的后续维护上，我们也会提供一些基本的建议和技术支持。所有这一切，都是围绕公共艺术的时间性问题，都是希望作品能够在这里永久存在，不断生长。

 

艺术要提出问题 

 

中国的公共艺术都会面临一个问题，它会与景观构筑物共处于一个环境当中，在欢乐港湾也是一样的情景。艺术家的作品和景观设计师的作品混合存在于这个公共空间当中，但二者在语境上是不一样的，建筑师、设计师是在回答和解决环境问题，艺术家则是在提出问题或解构问题。艺术家的工作是把一个完整的东西“敲碎”，让公众去想象它“敲碎”前的面貌，然后发挥自己的创造力去重新构建它的形式与语言。 公共艺术与室内的作品展示非常不同的是，它面对的是一个变化的、复杂的环境，艺术家除了考虑周围已有的建成物，还要考虑到户外空间的运动状态，户外的天气、光线、人群、花草无时无刻不在变化，作品要跟环境保持运动的关系，在这个运动当中，作品不仅不能被环境“吃掉”了，它还要不断释放自身的能量。 

 

未来的缝隙

 

在一个全新的区域做公共艺术，我们需要面对未来的多重可能。未来可能会涌现的问题，这些问题在当下没法回答，我们只是为更长远的回答提供一点推动和可能性。 当我们开始在这个区域工作时，我们会和艺术家一起多角度地分析公园的地理位置、自然环境、区域规划等已有的特征，欢乐港湾处于海洋与大陆、城市与自然的边界，这既是它的环境优势，也呼应深圳这座城市滨海的特征，因此，“自然”成了一部分参展作品的主题。欢乐港湾的“自然”，是一种生长状态初期的“人工自然”，我们对自然生长的未来状况的想象，对于一个填海区域的建筑与新自然的关系的思考，都成为这个区域的公共艺术都要面对的问题，而对这些问题的回应，就是这次艺术计划不断面对的工作。

 

润滑剂 

 

一个新区域横空出世时，大家难免会觉得突兀、陌生，它需要一个进入的方式和桥梁，公共艺术恰恰能起到一种润滑剂的作用，让公众和新区域顺畅地产生关联，艺术能给这里填充温度和趣味。 新建的欢乐港湾非常具有开放性，不是一个有相对固定的周边社群的地方，它会吸引各种各样的公众来，因此这里的公共艺术作品要能顾及到不同群体的需求和接受度。这些作品要能让专业的艺术观众认可，也能让小孩子寻找到乐趣，还能启发市民的一些想象或思考，甚至满足网红拍照的愿望。我们希望这里的公共艺术是可以让全市的游客和公园发生关系的粘合剂，这意味着对作品的要求是综合性的。 在旧区域做公共艺术可能会有一个比较明确的目标或指向，但新区域则要面对更多不确定性，虽然公共艺术会引导公众对一个区域的认知，但公众反过来也会用他们的方式来回应公共艺术。

 

刺激 

 

其实新的地方也有很多可以刺激艺术家发挥的点，尹秀珍的作品《传送带》就是一个例子，尹秀珍是一位举重若轻的艺术家，我们邀请了她为这次艺术计划做创作，她实地考察后，很快就形成了方案，她决定给公园的摩天轮制作一个“影子”。 “湾区之光”摩天轮是欢乐港湾地标式的景点，尹秀珍的作品纳入了整体的观光环境。因为摩天轮体量很大，让这个“影子”的范围延伸得很开，人在地上是看不到作品的全貌的，只有坐上摩天轮才会发现这是它的“影子”。同时，作品用了传送带的形式，传送带是机场、海关这种边界区域常见的设施，一定程度上也与公园的边界属性形成关系。《传送带》因面积广，起起伏伏地穿过了公园大理石路面、草坪、水域各种路段，表达了万物互联的概念，部分路段的《传送带》还可以让人坐下休息，实现了公共功能。尹秀珍的这件作品既让作品和环境完美地契合，也帮助这个全新的公园发掘和呈现出它的区域特质。

 

此外，我们邀请的日本犬吠工作室对欢乐港湾也有自己的解读和表达，他们看了场地选点的视频和照片以及艺术计划的整体资料后，抓住这里滨海的地理特点，结合公园里的阳光与风，设计了一个可供公众休憩、演奏音乐的音乐亭。目前，这仍是一个进行中的计划，观众尚未能在现场看到完整的作品，闭幕的时候音乐亭将完整呈现。

 

趣味 

 

做公共艺术项目要有一套自己的价值判断和艺术趣味，项目中的合作双方也需要知道彼此擅长什么，相互尊重彼此的专业领域。合适的推进模式是，一部分是自己的判断，一部分要留给合作双方共同讨论生长。 上启艺术这些年来合作的艺术家让我们慢慢形成自己的艺术趣味和专业积累，当然，这个趣味是在不断积累和变化中的。我总会把自己的趣味作为判断的一部分，另一部分留给自己的好奇心，对于一些我看不懂的作品，我也愿意接受并好奇于其背后的内容，通过讨论将它的可能性摊开，最终实施和落地的作品才能有让大家都感到“惊奇”的部分存在。

 

介入阶段 

 

公共艺术在什么阶段介入，会是很多创作者都关心的问题。介入的阶段决定了落地后的作品与周围环境的关系。公共艺术是关于“关系”的艺术，而介入时间塑造了“关系”的形态。 理想的状态，当然是在一个场所设计的初期，就有艺术家介入，艺术家跟建筑师、委托方、政府一起勘查场地，那么艺术家就要考虑自己在其中扮演的角色是什么？他跟建筑师、景观设计师的关系和分工又是什么？如果在建设过程中让艺术介入，那就需要分析已有的是什么，艺术还能做什么，有时候可能会发生艺术家和设计师互相争夺一个场所的主导权的情况，这种当中的讨论，甚至是博弈，就变得非常重要。艺术家要考虑自己的作品与周围环境的关系构建，它可能是对抗式的，也可以是退隐式的，但它不能可有可无的，它一定要成为环境当中必不可少的一部分而长期存在。 

 

迭代 

 

深圳在城市雕塑上很早有了明确的发展规划，并在国内率先将雕塑院改制为城市公共艺术中心。在城市的公共空间当中，分布着不同时期留下来的雕塑作品。深圳还在1990年代就策划推出了深圳国际雕塑展，是国内非常早就开始在公共空间当中考虑艺术介入的问题。在深圳，公共艺术是物化的城市精神，也是城市发展过程当中物证。 深圳是一个不断变动、不断刷新自己的城市，这就意味着公共艺术也要在这个运动的轨迹当中来形成节点和线索，这些“节点和线索”事实上也回应了城市对未来的判断和想象。从这个角度来看我们在欢乐港湾的公共艺术计划，这些作品不只是关于时空的“审美”，而是一种带有未来主义的提示和象征。 深圳的未来靠什么塑造，我觉得不只是经济，而是一种对没有边际的未来的想象。“深圳想象”并非虚无缥缈，它往往昭示着某个具体行动的展开，这一点，正是深圳非常“狠”的劲头之所在。

 

 

 

Yang Yong: Doing “New” Stuff at the Seaside

 

Interviewer: Zhong Gang

Editors: Zhong Gang, Tian Lusi

Related Projects: OH Bay & Baywalk Art Project, Bao’an District, Shenzhen, China

 

 

Boundaries Ahead – OH Bay Art Project, curated by Shangqi Art, was launched at Shenzhen OH Bay on December 6, 2020 and presents 13 permanent pieces created by artists and architects on the site.

 

OH Bay, located in a new waterfront area in Shenzhen’s major development list in recent years, was a new park in the area facing an unknown group of people with the mission of activating the ecosystem of the area. It’s getting more and more common to draw public attention with art in area development, especially with public art closely connected to the surroundings, and art is a very good catalyst in revitalizing projects for old cities and rural areas. In the case of public art, if it happens in a place with local context, there will usually be a rather definite context for dialogue, but Oh Bay was a brand-new area reclaimed from the sea, so it shoulders no historical missions, has ho must-face problems and is open and designed for the future. Accelerating urbanization is giving birth to more and more urban areas in Shenzhen and even the entire country, which means a soaring and urgent need for public art, so how to do public art in a new area is a question that public art curators often have to face in current times.

 

Revolving around this question, we interviewed Yang Yong, the curator of OH Bay Art Project, for his understanding of new areas and the opportunities and challenges that face public art in new areas. We summarize the ten points made by Yang Yong below subheadings instead of interview questions, and the text has been proofread by our interviewee for later publication.

 

The Drive of Need

 

The development of contemporary art in Shenzhen originated from a need for art in this “late era of high-speed development”, and the need started to propel the construction of art museums, and it propelled us, for example, into this OH Bay project of equipping a new area with public art. After forty years of economic development, the city is now facing a stronger and stronger need for culture and art, a need so strong that it may even be very rare in the global history of urban development. A “new” city that develops so fast is bound to have a dire need for culture. So it becomes very important how we face such a “need”. Whether we are purely driven by the need or recover our initiative in action in the process to express what’s in our “private” mind with art determines the development of art in this city: is it going to be a form of superficial consumption or can it properly cultivate a piece of land? I think only well-cultivated soil can facilitate the growth of new stuff continuously. Over the past five years, Shangqi Art, as an art organization based locally in Shenzhen, has been driven by the need oftentimes in our work, but we know for certain that we must leave some valuable marks in the process and help advance the growth of the ecosystem of local art. Only with a healthy, strong body can a city develop, yield energy, and allow us, companions in the journey, to go further. A city’s need for art is not immutable. It also has to evolve as things move on. New problems will come out, and we must keep finding new solutions for them in the process.

 

“Newness” as the Problem

 

We have curated five main venues and sub-venues of UABB over the past years, mainly about connecting art to the surrounding environment and buildings in different urban villages and marginal fuzzy spaces of the city. The spaces in question and the areas they’re located in all have a very deep mark of urban development and their local context, and the intervention of art in it will bring about a context for dialogue. In the case of OH Bay, it’s like a space born out of nowhere or formed in the void, so its environment and the buildings on the lot were all new. This new area is a place without history, and it’s designed for imagination and interpretation of the future. It’s really challenging to bring public art into such a new place. The problems facing us were totally different from when we were doing with Nantou Old Town or Qiaotou Community. A brand-new area is a test of the ability of city administrators not only to plan the hardware but also to predict the future of art and culture in it. With nothing, like tradition, to revitalize, it’s like a marathon with no destination or an unknown destination; it’s up to us to decide which way to go and where to stop. So we were really excited to start this public art project, as we believed our “start” was an “experiment”.

 

Long-Term

 

In its previous editions, UABB has been trying to intervene in different types of urban space one by one, but every attempt is like fighting the guerrilla way. This time we want to try a different way with our public art project at OH Bay, a “long-term” way to be exact. The exhibits this time are all permanent parts of the site, different from those that only stay for the limited duration of an exhibition and retreat in the end with the artists, audiences and press. We have decided to revolve this project around “root-taking public art”. What we do today will eventually remain as “physical evidence”, which may contribute to the enrichment of urban culture. That is also why we were so strict with the size, material and craftsmanship of every work. We hope that these pieces can accompany the growth of the area, and that visitors come not just for some photos but also to witness its change or the charm of art aroused by time. During the implementation of this public art project, we had a very strict standard for drawing and sealing; we would consider the potential safety hazards of various materials when they are placed outdoors for a long time; we even invited structural engineers in the process to assure the safety; and we will provide some basic advice and technical support for the follow-up maintenance of the works. All these efforts above are to solve the time-related problems of public art, so that the works can stay here forever and grow continuously.
 

Art Must Bring Up Questions

 

There’s a problem that faces all public art in China: the coexistence with landscape structures in an environment. This is also the case with OH Bay. Although works by artists and landscape designers share the public space, the two groups are different contextually, as what architects and designers do is to cope with environmental problems while artists are there to bring up questions or deconstruct problems. Specifically, artists are the ones to “smash” something complete so as to give the public a chance to imagine what it was like before, and use their creativity to rebuild its form and language. A big difference between public art and indoor exhibits is that the former faces a complicated environment full of change. Apart from the buildings around, artists also have to consider the dynamic state of the outdoor space – the weather, light, visitors and vegetation constantly change in the outdoors, which requires an artwork to maintain a dynamic relationship with the environment, and, instead of being “eaten” by the environment, the work must keep exerting its inherent power in the process.

 

Future Possibilities

 

Doing public art in a brand-new area requires us to face the various possibilities of the future. We will also face many questions in the future, questions that we cannot answer at the moment, but we can work to provide a little help and possibility for future responses. We started to work in this area by analyzing the location, natural environment, area division and other existing features of the park with our artists from different perspectives. OH Bay is located at the border between the sea and the continent, the city and nature, which is not only its environmental edge but also echoes the feature of Shenzhen as a coastal city, so “nature” became the theme of some exhibits. The “nature” in OH Bay is a kind of “artificial nature” in its infancy, and what all public art in this area has to face is our imagination of what nature will grow into in the future and our thinking over the relationship between the architecture in an area reclaimed from the sea and the new type of nature. To answer these questions is a recurrent task for this art project.

 

Lubricant

 

When a new area emerges, everyone will feel abrupt and strange about it. It needs a way or bridge to blend in, and public art happens to be a good lubricant that can connect the public to the new area smoothly, since art can fill it with warmth and interest. Newly built with great openness, OH Bay is not surrounded by rather fixed communities; it attracts all sorts of people from the public. So the public art here must be able to cover the needs and acceptability of different groups. Specifically, the pieces must win the approval from professional audiences of art, bring children fun, inspire people to imagine or think and even fulfill internet celebrities’ wish for photo taking. We hope that the public art here can serve as an adhesive that connects visitors from every corner of the city to the park, which means a comprehensive requirement for the works. Those who do public art in old areas may have a rather definite goal or direction, while the case with new areas brings more uncertainties. Public art can guide the public understanding of an area, but the public may also respond to the public art in their own ways.

 

Stimulation

 

New places actually mean a lot of stimuli to the practice of artists. The Conveyor Belt by Yin Xiuzhen is an example. Yin Xiuzhen is an artist who works on complicated subjects in a very easy manner. At our invitation to make a piece for this art project, she came for an on-the-spot investigation and soon came up with a plan to make a “shadow” for the Ferris wheel. The “Bay Glory” Ferris wheel is a landmark sight of OH Bay, so Yin’s work is involved with the entire sightseeing environment. The magnitude of the wheel means the great width of the “shadow”, so the work cannot be wholly seen by anyone on the ground, and only those riding the Ferris wheel will discover that it’s a “shadow” of the wheel. And, by adopting the form of a conveyor belt, a common apparatus in border areas such as airports and customs, the work reflects the border property of the park in a way. With such a width, The Conveyor Belt circulates across different parts of the park including the marble ground, the lawn and a water area, implying the concept of the “Internet of Everything”. Part of The Conveyor Belt can even perform a public function by being a spot for people to sit and rest on. This piece by Yin Xiuzhen not only blends in perfectly with the environment but also helps explore and present the area features of this brand-new park.

 

And the Japanese firm we had invited, Atelier Bow-Wow, also had their own interpretation and expression of OH Bay. After they went through a collection of photos of the site and the material about the art project, they married the coastal feature of the area with the sun and wind in the park to design a music pavilion where people can relax and enjoy a musical feast. For the time being, this is still an ongoing project, so visitors cannot see the whole work in the park, and the music pavilion will be fully displayed when the show comes to a close.

 

Interest

 

Any practitioner of public art projects must have his own value judgments and artistic interest, and both the parties cooperating in a project must know what each other is good at and respect each other’s expertise. The best mode to push these forward is to combine our own judgment with the discussion between and the growth of the two cooperating parties. Through all the cooperating artists over the years, Shangqi Art has gradually developed our own artistic interest along with accumulation of expertise, and, certainly, this interest is in constant accumulation and change. I always judge based partly on my interest and partly on my curiosity. For some pieces I don’t understand, I will also learn to accept them and get curious about the content behind them. By discussing its possibilities, we will try to implement and land the works so that everyone can feel what’s “wondrous” about them.

 

The Time of Intervention

 

When to intervene with public art may concern many artists. The time of intervention determines the relationship between the landed work and the surroundings. Public art is art about “relationship” and the time of intervention shapes the “relationship”. The ideal situation is that the artist intervenes at the beginning of a site’s design by joining the architect, the entrusting party and the government in the reconnaissance of the site, so the artist must consider what role to play in the process, his relationship with the architect and landscape designer and what they are assigned respectively. If art intervenes in the middle of construction, we must analyze what we already have and what can art do at the moment. Sometimes the artist and the designer may fight for the leading role at the site, so the discussion and even the battle in the process become very important. The artist must consider how to connect his work with the surroundings. It can be antagonistic or recessive, but it can never be dispensable; it has to be an essential part of the environment that exists permanently.

 

Iteration

 

Shenzhen have clear planning for the development of urban sculptures since a very early period, and pioneered the reform of Shenzhen Sculpture Academy into an urban center for public art in China. In the public space of the city, we can find sculptures from different periods. As early as the 1990s, Shenzhen planned and launched Shenzhen International Sculpture Exhibition, making it one of the first cities to consider intervention in public space with art. In Shenzhen, public art is the embodiment of urban spirit and the physical evidence of urban development. Shenzhen is a city that keeps changing and refreshing itself, which means the nodes and clues of public art also have to form along such a changeful trajectory, and they are also responses in fact to the city’s judgment and imagination of the future. When we look at our public art project in OH Bay from this point of view, the pieces are not only “aesthetics” about time and space but also a futurist type of hint and symbol. As I see it, the future of Shenzhen is being shaped not only by its economy but also by a kind of imagination of the infinite future. “Shenzhen imagination” is no illusion, as it often indicates the unfolding of a particular action, which is the very source of Shenzhen’s great momentum.