{"id":5603,"date":"2017-04-20T07:15:00","date_gmt":"2017-04-19T21:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinaheritage.net\/?p=5603"},"modified":"2018-01-06T06:37:36","modified_gmt":"2018-01-05T20:37:36","slug":"%e9%a1%9b%e5%80%92-downside-up-the-art-of-lois-conner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinaheritage.net\/journal\/%e9%a1%9b%e5%80%92-downside-up-the-art-of-lois-conner\/","title":{"rendered":"\u985b\u5012 Downside Up \u2014 the art of Lois Conner"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

The New York-based photographer Lois Conner’s<\/a> work is featured\u00a0on the masthead of this site<\/a> and on\u00a0that of\u00a0China Heritage Annual<\/i><\/a>, which was launched\u00a0in March 2017.<\/p>\n

Lois and I met in New York in the summer of 1996, and since then\u00a0we have worked together on many projects (a list of our collaborations is given below). She made work in Wairarapa, New Zealand, when I first moved here in late August 2016, a selection of which has been published in these pages<\/a>. In May 2017, she will participate in\u00a0Featherston Booktown<\/a>,\u00a0showing a selection of her work in the Gallery of le Quartier Fran\u00e7ais, home of The Wairarapa Academy for New Sinology<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Lois Conner’s latest exhibition is\u00a0at the Gallery of\u00a0The Temple Hotel \u6771\u666f\u7de3<\/a>,\u00a0Beijing, from the 23rd of April 2017 is a collaboration with the M97 Gallery in Shanghai. The artist\u00a0asked me to suggest\u00a0a title the shows, and to write for the catalogue. She has kindly given me permission to publish\u00a0the\u00a0essay I wrote for her on the eve of the\u00a0Beijing opening. The gallery\u00a0also invited\u00a0a Chinese writer\u00a0to comment on Lois’s\u00a0work, and I introduced them to an old friend, Xu Zhiyuan \u8a31\u77e5\u9060<\/a>, an essayist, publisher and founder of One Way Street<\/a>. Zhiyuan opens\u00a0his mediation\u00a0\u2014\u00a0‘Yesterday and Tomorrow’ \u6628\u65e5\u8207\u660e\u65e5(see below) \u2014 with a quotation from\u00a0Chinese Shadows<\/a>\u00a0<\/i>by Simon Leys<\/a>:<\/p>\n

In handbooks on Chinese traditional painting, an advice commonly given to the artist who wishes to learn to paint trees is to sketch them in winter, for then, without the seductive yet confused and blurry effect of their leafy masses, through their stark nudity they can best reveal their inner structure and specific character.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Xu suggests that Lois Conner’s work reveals the ‘stark nudity’ underlying Beijing.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Geremie R. Barm\u00e9<\/a>, Editor,\u00a0China Heritage<\/i>
\n20 April 2017<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"
The Temple \u6771\u666f\u7de3, Beijing. Photograph by Lois Conner.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

\u985b\u5012 Di\u0101nd\u01ceo
\nDownside Up<\/h3>\n

From a distance the darkling form slowly comes into focus; it appears to be like a Skeksis from The Dark Crystal<\/a>, the 1982 fantasy film designed by Jim Henson of Sesame Street and The Muppets fame. The Skeksis were creatures bent by the burden of their immense age, their elongated and haunted faces always hungry for more. (Henson based the Skeksis on an illustration of crocodiles<\/a> done\u00a0by Leonard Lubin for a book version of Lewis Carroll’s poem The Pig’s Tale<\/i>.)<\/p>\n

\"\"
The artist and ‘Max’, the camera. Still from a video by Andrea Cavazzuti.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Chinese incarnation of this creature, which has for over three decades appeared unannounced in the country\u2019s bustling cities as well as in its rural backwaters, sports two solid hind legs and three spindly forelimbs on which it balances a formidable trunk. The hump between these extended limbs, the thing that first attracts the curious onlooker, flushes forward and culminates in a cyclops-like eye.<\/p>\n

As others focus on it, the ungainly creature too focusses its attention. It would like nothing better than to disappear into the landscape across which its eye roams; to be free to take in the world in silence and at its own pace. But, by the very nature of its craft, the photographer who is obscured under a focussing cloth \u2014 giving the impression of being a Sino-Skeksis \u2014 attracts the unwarranted attention of crowds. Often, when she unsheathes herself ready finally to make her work, the photographer looks up to find herself surrounded. The game is up.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

\"\"
Shijing Shan, Beijing. Photograph by Lois Conner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lois Conner uses a banquet camera, a modern version of a nineteenth-century camera employed by photographers to make pictures of people massed together at such occasions as banquets because of its breadth of vision. It allowed for an elongated frame that could eliminate the distractions of the ceiling and the floor. First drawn to this format as an arts student at Yale University after she studied the landscape scroll paintings of the Ming dynasty, Conner has been using the format of the panoramic camera to pursue her work in China since 1984. The vistas embraced by the banquet camera allow her to \u2018unfurl the landscape\u2019 in a manner suggested by the scroll paintings.<\/p>\n

The world that the artist sees through the flat plane of the ground glass under the \u2018dark cloth\u2019, as it is also known, be it megalithic limestone formations or intricate manmade structures, ancient monuments, the crowd in the street, or intimate portraits, is a topsy-turvy realm. Here, hidden under the cloth, everything that to the causal eye appears as upright and quotidian is inverted, all that is left-to-right becomes right-to-left. It is the world on the down low.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

\"\"
Beihai, Beijing. Photograph by Lois Conner.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Di\u0101nd\u01ceo<\/i> \u985b\u5012, the term means \u2018upside down\u2019. It frequently appears in the expression ‘turning black and white on their head\u2019 h\u0113ib\u00e1i di\u0101nd\u01ceo<\/i> \u9ed1\u767d\u985b\u5012. In other words, transposing one reality for another, when creating a fake world out of the real and a real world out of the fake.<\/p>\n

From the earliest days that I worked with Lois Conner on a project related to the Garden of Perfect Brightness \u5713\u660e\u5712 \u2014 the ruined imperial garden-palace in northwest Beijing \u2014 when she invited me to peer under the cloth and see the downside back-to-front world of the ground glass of her camera, I have frequently thought of the most famous line from China’s most celebrated novel, The Story of the Stone<\/i> \u77f3\u982d\u8a18, translated by David Hawkes:<\/p>\n

Truth becomes fiction when the fiction\u2019s true;
\nReal becomes not-real when the unreal\u2019s real.<\/p>\n

\u7121\u70ba\u6709\u8655\u6709\u9084\u7121
\n\u5047\u4f5c\u771f\u6642\u771f\u4ea6\u5047<\/p>\n

Although the world seen through Lois Conner’s hooded ground glass plane is inverted and turned around 180 degrees, it still appears under the cloth in all the variegated hues and colours of our everyday reality. Cloaked inside her camera obscura, she focusses, then surfaces from the focussing cloth to put the film holder in place of the ground glass. The image in the ground glass is now drawn on the exposed negative, the light literally turns black and white on its head. When a print of the kind we see in this exhibition is made from these negatives, black literally turns to white and white to black: h\u0113ib\u00e1i di\u0101nd\u01ceo<\/i> \u9ed1\u767d\u985b\u5012. The downside up world is righted once more, and through the process Lois Conner\u2019s artistic vision finds form.<\/p>\n

Some of Conner’s work is literally ‘crowd sourced’, as a scene she has fixed in her sights might turn on her \u2014 that Skeksis-like form of photographer hidden under the focussing cloth \u2014 becomes itself the focal point of the people within the landscape. The downside turns up as what was the order of her art is upended by the unpredictability of the real world. The curiosity can be a boon to the artist in many ways; roiling crowds can create a dynamic all of their own, and it can be hard for the lone artist to pursue a singular vision. Surfacing from underneath her dark cloth, Conner often finds herself surrounded, by faces, smiles and curiosity. Sometimes she responds by making her observers the observed, inviting the impromptu audience to participate as subject-collaborators.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Still from a video by Andrea Cavazzuti.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

***<\/p>\n

\"\"
Le Shan, Sichuan. Photograph by Lois Conner.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Di\u0101nd\u01ceo<\/i>, Downside Up, the term also occurs in the expression b\u01ce b\u00e8i di\u0101nd\u01ceode l\u00ecsh\u01d0 z\u00e0i di\u0101nd\u01ceo gu\u00f2l\u00e1i<\/i> \u628a\u88ab\u985b\u5012\u7684\u6b77\u53f2\u518d\u985b\u5012\u904e\u4f86: ‘upend a history that itself has been turned on its head’.<\/p>\n

Over the decades that Lois Conner has been creating work in China, she has witnessed the transformations wrought in that country by the policies of the Open Door and Reform. It is an era that has seen the People’s Republic literally, and physically, turning history on its head. Starting with the years of the 1980s during which many of the distortions of the past were set right, or at least turned downside up; through the 1990s when policy-induced poverty was gradually replaced by expanding prosperity; in the new millennium when the physical heritage of the past has been codified, cleaned up and made more accessible, and acceptable, as the vision of an impossible future has too often been realised in the steel and concrete of massive cities and their conurbations. History has been upended and reality transformed; a once static world has become dynamic and mutable. Conner\u2019s captured visions include transient moments as much as stories of longevity.<\/p>\n

Much of the work in this exhibition was made in North China. It was, however, in the southern landscapes of Guangxi province, in particular amidst the monumental karst mountains near Guilin, that Conner was able to expand her original vision of Ming dynasty China through the lens of the modern panoramic camera.<\/p>\n

Chinese historians have remarked that over the millennia it has often been the case that while ‘imperial power expands from the north to the south; cultural change moves from the south to the north’. That has certainly been the case in the China that Conner has worked in and grown with as an artist since the early 1980s. She has travelled from south to north and back again numerous times as she weaves the worlds of China \u2014 modern and traditional, natural and manmade \u2014 into an ever-growing body of work that embraces the past, constantly touches on the present, and addresses itself to the future.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Di\u0101nd\u01ceo sh\u00ecf\u0113i<\/i> \u985b\u5012\u662f\u975e: it is a famous formulation dating from the time of the Tang-dynasty writer Han Yu \u97d3\u6108 in the eighth and ninth centuries. It is has been in currency ever since: \u2018Truth and falsehood are turned on their heads\u2019. A commonplace expression in colloquial Chinese, it is also an encapsulation of the upended world of modern times. Under Lois Conner\u2019s focussing cloth, however, the upside down, left-to-right inverted world is put to rights; her artistry creates a falsehood that tells the truth.<\/p>\n

\n

Note<\/b><\/p>\n

The quotation is from Cao Xueqin \u66f9\u96ea\u82b9, The Story of the Stone: The Golden Days<\/i><\/a>, translated by David Hawkes, vol.I, p.55. This book is also popularly known as The Dream of the Red Chamber<\/i> \u7d05\u6a13\u5922.<\/p>\n

\"\"
West Lake, Hangzhou. Photograph by Lois Conner.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

\u6628\u65e5\u4e0e\u660e\u65e5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u8bb8\u77e5\u8fdc<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n

\u5728\u56db\u5341\u5e74\u524d\u7684\u4e00\u672c\u4e66\u4e2d\uff0c\u6d1e\u5bdf\u529b\u975e\u51e1\u7684\u6c49\u5b66\u5bb6\u674e\u514b\u66fc\uff0c\u66fe\u8c08\u5230\u4e2d\u56fd\u4f20\u7edf\u7684\u7ed8\u753b\u624b\u518c\u5bf9\u4e8e\u60f3\u63cf\u7ed8\u6811\u6728\u7684\u827a\u672f\u5bb6\u7684\u5efa\u8bae\uff0c\u4ed6\u4eec\u5e94\u8be5\u5728\u51ac\u5929\u52a8\u7b14\uff0c\u56e0\u4e3a\u201c\u8302\u76db\u7684\u6811\u53f6\u867d\u7136\u8bf1\u4eba\uff0c\u4f46\u5b83\u4e5f\u4ee4\u4eba\u8ff7\u60d1\uff0c\u770b\u4e0d\u6e05\u5b83\u7684\u771f\u5b9e\u9762\u76ee\u3002\u53ea\u6709\u53bb\u753b\u90a3\u4e9b\u5149\u79c3\u79c3\u7684\u6811\uff0c\u624d\u80fd\u628a\u5b83\u4eec\u7684\u5185\u90e8\u6784\u9020\u3001\u7279\u8d28\u8868\u73b0\u51fa\u6765\u201d\u3002<\/p>\n

\u5f53\u89c2\u770bLois Conner\u5173\u4e8e\u5317\u4eac\u7684\u4f5c\u54c1\u65f6\uff0c\u6211\u60f3\u8d77\u4e86\u8fd9\u4e2a\u63d2\u66f2\u3002\u5979\u7684\u5bf9\u8c61\u4e0d\u662f\u51ac\u65e5\u4e4b\u6811\uff0c\u800c\u662f\u4e00\u4e2a\u4eba\u7fa4\u6563\u53bb\u7684\u5317\u4eac\u2014\u2014\u7d2b\u7981\u57ce\u7684\u4e00\u89d2\uff0c\u5706\u660e\u56ed\u7684\u76db\u5f00\u83b2\u82b1\u3001\u56fd\u8d38\u5199\u5b57\u697c\u4e2d\u4e00\u4ef6\u7a7a\u529e\u516c\u684c\uff0c\u8fd8\u6709\u5e72\u9762\u80e1\u540c\u91cc\u56db\u5408\u9662\u7684\u5c4b\u9876\u2026\u2026\u5373\u4f7f\u5076\u5c14\u51fa\u73b0\u4eba\u7269\uff0c\u4ed6\u4eec\u4e5f\u662f\u4ee5\u4f5c\u4e3a\u666f\u7269\u51fa\u73b0\u7684\u3002\u800c\u5317\u4eac\u57ce\uff0c\u5b83\u7684\u5bb9\u8c8c\u4e0e\u60c5\u7eea\uff0c\u4e5f\u5728\u8fd9\u6837\u7684\u955c\u5934\u4e2d\u9010\u6e10\u6d6e\u73b0\u51fa\u6765\u3002<\/p>\n

\"\"
No-name Lake, Peking University. Photograph by Lois Conner.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u8fd9\u662f\u4e00\u4e2a\u600e\u6837\u7684\u5317\u4eac\uff1f\u5bf9\u6211\u800c\u8a00\uff0c\u518d\u6ca1\u6709\u5317\u4eac\u5927\u5b66\u7684\u672a\u540d\u6e56\u7684\u89d2\u843d\uff0c\u66f4\u4ee3\u8868\u8fd9\u4e00\u5207\u3002\u5728\u7167\u7247\u4e2d\uff0c\u6709\u5c9b\u4e0a\u7684\u677e\u6811\uff0c\u5bf9\u5cb8\u7684\u6b8b\u5b58\u7684\u82b1\u795e\u5e99\u95e8\uff0c\u8fd8\u6709\u4e00\u65c1\u7684\u81ea\u884c\u8f66\u3002\u8fd9\u5f20\u7167\u7247\u6444\u4e8e1998\u5e74\uff0c\u90a3\u6b63\u662f\u5317\u4eac\u5927\u5b66\u5efa\u6821\u4e00\u767e\u5468\u5e74\u4e4b\u9645\u3002\u8fd9\u5ea7\u6821\u56ed\u53ef\u4ee5\u8ffd\u6eaf\u5230\u4e7e\u9686\u65f6\u4ee3\uff0c\u82b1\u795e\u5e99\u6b63\u662f\u4ed6\u7684\u5ba0\u81e3\u548c\u73c5\u6240\u5efa\u30021919\u5e74\uff0c\u7f8e\u56fd\u4eba\u53f8\u5f92\u96f7\u767b\u5728\u5efa\u7acb\u4e86\u71d5\u4eac\u5927\u5b66\uff0c\u800c\u5982\u4eca\u6b63\u5728\u5e86\u795d\u767e\u5e74\u7684\u5317\u4eac\u5927\u5b66\u5219\u662f1952\u5e74\u79fb\u5c45\u6b64\u5904\uff0c\u5b83\u662f\u56fd\u5bb6\u529b\u91cf\u5f3a\u5236\u6027\u7684\u201c\u9e20\u5360\u9e4a\u5de2\u201d\u3002\u5982\u679c\u6211\u8bb0\u5f97\u6ca1\u9519\uff0c\u82b1\u795e\u5e99\u95e8\u4e0d\u8fdc\u5904\u8fd8\u6709Edgar Snow\u7684\u5893\u7891\u3002\u8fd9\u4f4d\u7f8e\u56fd\u8bb0\u8005\u66fe\u5728\u71d5\u4eac\u5927\u5b66\u4efb\u6559\uff0c\u4ed6\u7684\u300a\u7ea2\u661f\u7167\u8000\u4e2d\u56fd\u300b\u4e00\u4e66\uff0c\u6781\u5927\u7684\u5e2e\u52a9\u4e86\u4e2d\u56fd\u5171\u4ea7\u515a\u653f\u6743\u7684\u5174\u8d77\uff0c\u8fd9\u4e2a\u653f\u6743\u53c8\u6700\u7ec8\u5173\u95ed\u4e86\u71d5\u4eac\u5927\u5b66\u3002<\/p>\n

\u6e05\u5e1d\u56fd\u3001\u4e2d\u534e\u6c11\u56fd\u3001\u4e2d\u534e\u4eba\u6c11\u5171\u548c\u56fd\uff0c\u51e0\u4e2a\u4e16\u7eaa\u7684\u5386\u53f2\u4ee5\u53ca\u5b83\u4eec\u7684\u5185\u5728\u8109\u7edc\uff0c\u5c31\u8fd9\u6837\u5b89\u9759\u3001\u4e0d\u7ecf\u610f\u7684\u91cd\u53e0\u8fd9\u5f20\u7167\u7247\u4e2d\u30021998\u5e74\u65f6\uff0c\u6211\u662f\u5317\u4eac\u5927\u5b66\u8bfb\u4e66\uff0c\u5e38\u9a91\u7740\u7167\u7247\u4e2d\u7c7b\u4f3c\u7684\u81ea\u884c\u8f66\uff0c\u5728\u672a\u540d\u6e56\u65c1\u6e38\u8361\u3002\u6211\u5f88\u5c11\u5bf9\u8fd9\u91cd\u53e0\u7684\u5386\u53f2\u53d1\u751f\u5174\u8da3\u3002\u6211\u8fd9\u4e00\u4ee3\u4eba\u63a5\u53d7\u7684\u201c\u53bb\u5386\u53f2\u5316\u201d\u7684\u6559\u80b2\uff0c\u5c3d\u7ba1\u4e60\u60ef\u6027\u7684\u5938\u8000\u4e94\u5343\u5e74\u7684\u5386\u53f2\uff0c\u4f46\u6211\u4eec\u5374\u5bf9\u6b64\u4e00\u65e0\u6240\u77e5\uff0c\u4e5f\u6beb\u65e0\u5174\u8da3\u3002\u5438\u5f15\u6211\u4eec\u7684\u662f\u672a\u6765\u3002\u672a\u6765\u53c8\u662f\u4ec0\u4e48\uff1f\u5bf9\u6211\u7684\u7236\u8f88\u662f\u82cf\u8054\uff0c\u5bf9\u6211\u4eec\u6765\u8bf4\uff0c\u662f\u7f8e\u56fd\u3002<\/p>\n

\u5317\u4eac\u4e5f\u6210\u4e3a\u4e86\u672a\u6765\u3002\u57282008\u5e74\u5317\u4eac\u5965\u8fd0\u4f1a\u4ee5\u4ee4\u4eba\u77a0\u76ee\u7684\u767b\u573a\u540e\uff0c\u5b83\u53c8\u6210\u4e3a21\u4e16\u7eaa\u56fd\u5bb6\u8d44\u672c\u4e3b\u4e49\u7684\u8c61\u5f81\uff0c\u4e00\u80a1\u4e0d\u53ef\u963b\u6321\u4e4b\u52a8\u529b\u7684\u4ee3\u8868\u3002\u5728Lois Conner\u7684\u955c\u5934\u4e2d\uff0c\u5174\u5efa\u4e2d\u7684CCTV\u5927\u53a6\u6b63\u5f0f\u8fd9\u80a1\u65b0\u52a8\u529b\u7684\u8868\u8fbe\u3002\u4e00\u4e2a\u53cd\u53db\u6027\u7684\u8377\u5170\u5efa\u7b51\u5e08\u5b8c\u7f8e\u7684\u9576\u5d4c\u4e8e\u4e00\u4e2a\u6709\u56fd\u5bb6\u610f\u5fd7\u4e0e\u8d44\u672c\u4e3b\u4e49\u5171\u540c\u6784\u9020\u7684\u3001\u65e0\u6240\u4e0d\u5305\u7684\u6743\u529b\u7cfb\u7edf\u4e2d\u3002<\/p>\n

\"\"
The CCTV building during construction. Photograph by Lois Conner.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u4f46\u8fd9\u4e2a\u672a\u6765\u80fd\u591f\u6301\u7eed\u591a\u4e45\uff1fLois Conner\u949f\u7231\u7684\u5706\u660e\u56ed\u66fe\u662f18\u4e16\u7eaa\u6700\u8f89\u714c\u7684\u5efa\u7b51\uff0c\u4ee3\u8868\u7740\u4ee4\u6b27\u6d32\u4eba\u60ca\u53f9\u7684\u201c\u4e2d\u56fd\u6a21\u5f0f\u201d\u3002\u4f46\u5982\u4eca\uff0c\u5b83\u6210\u4e3a\u4e86\u4ee4\u4eba\u54c0\u4f24\u7684\u5e9f\u589f\u3002\u6628\u65e5\u4e0e\u660e\u65e5\uff0c\u7ecf\u5e38\u8c61\u662f\u786c\u5e01\u7684\u4e24\u9762\uff0c\u5b83\u4eec\u770b\u4f3c\u622a\u7136\u4e0d\u540c\uff0c\u53c8\u6bd4\u80a9\u800c\u4e34\u3002<\/p>\n

\u674e\u514b\u66fc\u5728\u56db\u5341\u524d\u7684\u90a3\u672c\u4e66\u540d\u4e3a\u300a\u4e2d\u56fd\u7684\u9634\u5f71\u300b\uff0c\u4ed6\u5728\u88ab\u897f\u65b9\u6c49\u5b66\u5bb6\u3001\u65b0\u95fb\u8bb0\u8005\u6240\u8d5e\u8a89\u7684\u6587\u5316\u5927\u9769\u547d\u4e2d\u770b\u5230\u4e86\u5de8\u5927\u7684\u9634\u5f71\u3002\u4eca\u5929\uff0cLois Conner\u5219\u8ba9\u6211\u770b\u5230\u4ea2\u594b\u3001\u6269\u5f20\u3001\u81ea\u4ee5\u4e3a\u662f\u7684\u5317\u4eac\u7684\u53e6\u4e00\u9762\uff0c\u5b83\u88ab\u9057\u5fd8\u7684\u5f80\u6614\uff0c\u5b64\u72ec\u3001\u9759\u8c27\u4e0e\u6ca1\u843d\u4e4b\u7f8e\u3002<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

This is the original, unexpurgated version of Xu Zhiyuan’s essay.
\nThe author’s use of Simplified Chinese Characters has been respected.
\n\u2014 The Editor<\/i><\/p>\n

\n
Qingzhou, Shandong, 2016. Photograph by Nancy Berliner.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

Lois Conner and Geremie R. Barm\u00e9 collaborations\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n