| If we translate the Chinese title of this exhibition word for word (“Have fun, play” and “Gallery”), we come close to the above formula and title of this text. In English, the title is a slightly shorter thought than when translated into Chinese. The reason for this is simply that we came up with the English title first, and then had to think of a proper Chinese translation, which proved more complicated. My partner in this, Fengboyi, believed this Chinese title idea should be shorter and more to the point, so, in this way, the English title became a subtitle indicating the main feeling of this exhibition. |  |
Fun+ Gallery=Fun Gallery? – Snejana Krasteva
If we translate the Chinese title of this exhibition word for word (“Have fun, play” and “Gallery”), we come close to the above formula and title of this text. In English, the title is a slightly shorter thought than when translated into Chinese. The reason for this is simply that we came up with the English title first, and then had to think of a proper Chinese translation, which proved more complicated. My partner in this, Fengboyi, believed this Chinese title idea should be shorter and more to the point, so, in this way, the English title became a subtitle indicating the main feeling of this exhibition. At the same time, it also expressed my own curiosity, as a part of the gallery system myself, as to the answer to this question. Can you have fun in an art gallery?
As a preface to this exhibition, I would like briefly to share the process of putting together this particular show—from the birth of the idea to our last day of preparation. Looking back at it all, I believe that the reason things happened the way they did serves as the title of the show’s very embodiment.
In the beginning, it all came to me in a thunderbolt. Fengboyi and I happened to be at an opening together in Korea and we suddenly had the idea of creating an exhibition of young artists’ works to bring some new life into the BTAP Gallery—something, as we described it, “fun and cool.” Afterward, we met again to choose the artists by viewing examples of their artworks alone. Imagine our surprise when we realized that the selected artists were almost all female. Apologies to the one male in the show, but I believe he too will enjoy all this, somehow.
For the design, we decided to set up a competition: we asked four different and very young designers to present us with a proposal, and within a very limited amount of time. Two out of the four actually followed through and, since we found that both of their designs were surprisingly creative, we asked them if they would work together. We gave only one condition: the process must be fun for them. They agreed, and, for me, it was especially interesting to watch the ways in which they ended up collaborating.
Many of the participating artists said that they quite liked the title and theme of the exhibition. I guess they enjoyed the feeling that they could play in an otherwise typically formal gallery space like ours. It was more about this concept than the actual creative output, in some ways.
I hope that giving these bits of background information will make for a less dry presentation of the resultant artworks. Mainly, the exhibition is an attempt to direct attention to the role of an art gallery in the context of the larger art world, but still set against the background of the Chinese art scene in particular. A gallery, as a complex system composed of many internal factors, remains a commercial organization, and one that often engenders a certain degree of seriousness in terms of its exhibitions. Finding new artists, giving them a space in which to develop their ideas and, most importantly, a space in which to experiment—this is the fun of the art gallery. The question is: Can a gallery just have fun and get away with it?
