我们的朋友遍天下 / We Have Friends All Over the World

铝板背裱艺术微喷、无酸标签 / Giclee-print mounted on aluminum, acid-free stickers,150×150 cm 幅/ each,共计3幅 / a set of 3 panels,2014

作品自述 / Artist text:

旧时北京饭店的大堂照壁上用金字做了两行题词:我们的朋友遍天下,WE HAVE FRIENDS ALL OVER THE WORLD。这一豪迈的口号虽然在我们的常识里紧密关联着中国外交在上世纪六十年代面临的空前孤立的处境,以及冷战格局下国家领导人的战略远见,但放置到今天这个经济全球化的时空里,这一曾经的宏伟壮阔的目标显然已经成为全球经贸往来下的日常现实,并且在资本主义的全球图景之下,也并不为中国人所独享。好在各国都有形容“朋友”的文字,而谷歌地球又能毫不费劲地为人类提供太空视角。在这些条件的激励下,我以联合国承认的主权国家为单位,将整理得来的各国官方语言/文字中的“朋友”字样做成了警示标签,替代了地图上的大小国名,从而在视觉上呈现另一种“朋友遍天下”。

The screen wall in the legendary Beijing Hotel once featured two lines written in opulent, golden Chinese and English script, which read:WE HAVE FRIENDS ALL OVER THE WORLD. Common sense prescribes us to relate this bold slogan to the unprecedented isolation China was faced with during the 1960's, as well as the strategic foresight of the country's leaders amid the power structures of the Cold War. But when regarded within the space and time of today's globalized economy, this erstwhile monumental goal has apparently been reduced to a reality bogged down by global economic and trade relations. Viewed against the global backdrop of capitalism, this adage isn't exclusively enjoyed by the Chinese people.

Fortunately, all countries have coined their own expressions by which to describe the "friend" phenomenon, and Google Earth effortlessly provides mankind with a view from space. Aided by the above conditions, I departs from the sovereign states recognized by the United Nations as separate units. After systematically arranging the official language/script of the countries, I derives from them the written word for "friend", which I then makes into warning labels. These labels are used to substitute the names of countries big and small on the world map, displaying an alternative, visualized take on "Friends All over the World".

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展出履历 / Related Exhibitions:

时间的图景:青年的尺度,第四届三亚艺术季,三亚,2015
土豆烧牛肉,空白空间,北京,2014

Scenarios of Time: Inter-Subjectivity, 2015, The Fourth Art Sanya, Sanya
Goulash, 2014, White Space Beijing, Beijing