Art is Poison?

by Gu Zhenqing

The Chinese Contemporary Art has been being among the hottest and fastest-growing in the world, and this situation has inaugurated one kind of a mode of massive production of art. Since 2005 China’s art scene has witnessed a very intense frequency of exhibitions. Many artists have to be confronted with all kinds of opportunities and urgent tasks under tight timelines, which burden them with high possibilities of self-repetition and aesthetical tiredness. It can’t wait the paint to be dried, when art works have been pushed to showcase in front of public. Exhibitions were installed rashly as well. And then many art spaces are filled with the smell of formaldehyde. Is art poisonous? This is not an artificial question. It is by all manners related to the realistic context of Chinese contemporary art, in this era of bubble, which wait badly to be washed out, a mighty wave is foremost needed.

Media age under the globalized circumstances has made the Art Star Making System look like a running horse lantern, which means each single artist is possible to be well-known for 15 minutes before they disappear. Is the art made by the media poisonous? The answer is clear. Those who have experienced the transience would know.

A large number of such artists have turned themselves to be producers of pop artists’ product, once they gained the short term of success. Therefore, someone named this kind of product as “Made in China”. The sake of art is originality and innovation. “Made in China” refers to producing and manufacturing, which absolutely has nothing to do with the innovation of method, format and conception of art, nor creativity. Is the art “Made in China” poisonous? Everyone steps into Yang Qian’s solo exhibition will face this question, after they set themselves in the environment.

Again, is art poisonous? The answer is “yes”.

There surely are some art works helping you to realize the poison and get rid of it. However, the key of recognizing these rare high-arts requires audience to acquire a perception and sense, which particularly linked to the art.