| Catherine Y. Hsieh: It’s been a while since you last showed in China. As Beijing 008 is getting ready to open, why did you choose to do an exhibition this year? Why at the same time as the Olympics? Qin Yu-Fen: Dr. Ulrich Bez, CEO of Aston Martin, suggested the opening time for Beijing 008. I was introduced to the Martin company in 2004 through Stiftung Kunst und Kulture e.V. Bonn, a German foundation. At that time, Aston Martin had already done projects with artists such as Anselm Kiefer and Rebecca Horn |
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Qin Yu-Fen, whose project Beijing 008 debuted at Beijing’s Today Art Museum in August, is interviewed by Catherine Y. Hsieh at NY Arts.
Qin Yu-Fen, Beijing 008, 2008. Installation shot at Today Art Museum, Beijing. Courtesy of Today Art Museum.
Catherine Y. Hsieh: It’s been a while since you last showed in China. As Beijing 008 is getting ready to open, why did you choose to do an exhibition this year? Why at the same time as the Olympics?
Qin Yu-Fen: Dr. Ulrich Bez, CEO of Aston Martin, suggested the opening time for Beijing 008. I was introduced to the Martin company in 2004 through Stiftung Kunst und Kulture e.V. Bonn, a German foundation. At that time, Aston Martin had already done projects with artists such as Anselm Kiefer and Rebecca Horn. When we discussed our ideas, we agreed that this was not merely a promotion stunt for a brand, nor was it a pure contemporary art exhibit. It was an effort by an elite industry and a modern artist—a public art project. I said we should show the project in Beijing. With the assistance of Zhang Zi-Kang, museum director of Today Art Museum, and Nan Nan, assistant director of Today Art, at the end of last year, we decided to exhibit the project at Today Art Museum, and to open at the same time the Olympics open. The timing is important and it shows how much we value this project. Today Art Museum and Aston Marin have been very helpful in making this project come true. We all agree that sports are not the only focus at the Beijing Olympics; contemporary art and culture are necessary for a complete and more developed city of Beijing.
CH: Beijing 008 is a tape measure blown up to 100 times its size. The main casing of the tape measure measures 2.4 meters high with a diameter of 6 meters. People can freely walk in and out of its interior. The giant tape can be pulled out from the center to measure 2.2 meters high, 13 meters long, into an object similar to a giant arched wall, lying across a piece of specially made carpet printed with a map of Beijing that measures 8 meters wide by 20 meters long. To the right of the carpet is an Aston Martin vehicle, with a sculpture of Stephen Hawking, the famous British astrophysicist, suspended in front of the car. What was the inspiration?
QYF: When I was working on the project, there were two factors. First, I tried to utilize concepts that are common to the public and are easy to understand. I chose “Beijing 008” as the name of the project in memory of the Olympics finally taking place in Beijing. It was also because I wanted to remember China in the year of 2008. Secondly, the motivation for this project came from one of Hawking’s ideas, chaos and disorder. He said there was more and more chaos because we measured time in a way of disorder. I think this says a lot about the new century and the world we live in. It says a lot about deconstruction of the world and about facing challenge in reality. Traditionally, peace and calmness are the essence of life and the world. What Hawking said not only re-interpreted the true nature of the world, but encouraged us to be brave. To measure time in a way of disorder—time means the time we live in; it means the very second we are living. To set a goal in uncertainties—this challenges us to measure everything we face with newfound wisdom. I decided to blow up the tape measure 100 times bigger. Once the tape measure became so big, people seemed conspicuously small. Viewers could walk in the tape measure, to measure. This way people look at measuring differently. There are no scales on the tape measure, emphasizing a sense of disorder. People are forced to think outside the box. Everything measurable is actually based on a measure without scales. A measure without scales doesn’t necessarily mean chaos. Chaos means openness in space. It requires our imagination to set us free from linear thinking, to consider all perspectives. That means to consider traditional and modern values, history and present, science and nature, poverty and rich, good and evil. How do I encompass everything in one single piece? It took a lot of deliberation and judgment. In Beijing 008, I used kites, a Chinese favorite, to contrast with the Aston Martin vehicle. Self-made kites hung from the 12-meter-high ceiling are like a group of bizarre flying creatures across the sky. They symbolize a Chinese dream to fly and attention to common people’s lives. Between sky and earth, elite and ordinary, this work embodies our view on difference. Fan Di-An, museum director of the National Art Museum of China, said, after he saw the piece, that artists don’t have the ability to change the reality, but possess the ability to discover problems. Art that discovers problems is intriguing, which is why Beijing 008 is powerful.
