“Song Dong: 36 Calendars” was a solo exhibition of Song Dong who is a Beijing-based artist. This project record what was happening in the past 36 years of history from 1978 to 2013. And all sketches of calendars are hand-drawn from a personal perspective of the artist with a short description written recording each month a significant historical event. From the exhibition we get to know how the artist views political history, major art revolutions in China and how the artist express his own feelings and viewpoint on thing however trivial in all those old days.
We were given a booklet to read during the visit but I just randomly flipped through several pages as we got a very professional guide Hilary to explain everything for us.
She was looking at the camera!
Hilary said Cola at that time was not introduced to China.
Steve's life was too short, yet extraordinary!
The artist was thinking why Western countries could had all Facebook, Twitter, Google and Apple invented but not the Asia. It is all about freedom.
Facebook was gaining more worldwide popularity in 2004. Seeing this, I quickly check the time I had my Facebook account created. The result was quite disappointing! I had my account created four years later!
Teresa Teng, a famous Taiwanese singer, the artist loved her soft beautiful voice and I guess my mum loves her too.
Andy Warhol in Beijing Tiananmen Square. At that time China was becoming more open.
Every Hong Konger should be able to distinguish them. They were the most famous male singers in 90's. It was ironic that the artist love them after watching their movies but not their singing.
The comedian was so depressed that the public had been exerting pressure on him after his acting in a controversial movie. Why can't a comedian frown?
The artist's wife was particularly interested in Hawking's Black Hole Theory.
Osama bin Laden was killed in 2011. It marked as a end to the 911 issue in the US.
2003 was a year of SARS. The sketch shows two people kiss through the masks. People at that time was afraid of direct contact with others but the masks wont separate us from our loved ones. (Guess that was the meaning the artist conveying.)
The tainted milk scandal in China was directed by unscrupulous milk manufacturer. Since the issue, people lost their confidence on Chinese exported food. When can they regain the lost trust? Or when can these despicable people regain their ethic?
Avatar-the movie of this century! It marks the breakthrough of 3D movie. I didn't watch the movie but can still understand what the artist is saying. Instead of imagining a better place to live in we should be more aware of the harms we do to the planet. Stop scrambling for more resources and don't fight!
In China, a person can be sinister like Devil and kind as Angel, all depending on the media. This confused the artist.
People were sent to jail for stealing now, but a woman can be denounced in the public for dating several men. The scene of the artist's accused neighbor.
The above two pieces were telling the politics in China that time. People all had uneasy life under the autocratic China.
In 1994, performance art was getting well-known. The scene of two pigs with Chinese words and English words having sex engraved on the artist's brain.
The artist was trying to form a layer of ice on the floor of Tiananmen Square with his exhaled gas.
The artist used water and a piece of stone to write his diary. When all water evaporates the words evaporate too. We write diary only when we got words to say to ourselves. Its more convenient to write on stone than bury words on tree holes.
The exhibition has most sketches about the artist's family. The artist was trying to put orange to his mother's mouth. They were so poor that his mum leaves everything to her son.
The artist thought this was the best meal in his life. His future wife buy the meal for him and he cried not because of the meat but the love he found in the meal.
Later when the artist started relationship with his wife. Originally, their parents disagree on the relationship as the girl was three year older. It's time and mutual support keep their faith.
After their marriage, they gave birth to their daughter. This changed the artist's attitude. He started to understand why his parents love him selflessly.
Hilary said Song persuaded his dad to do the "Touching my Father" as he this piece will make him famous. The artist's purpose was not getting famous, he wanted to interact more with his dad.
The artist's mum fell from ladder when trying to help a trapped birds. His mum passed away later and the artist went back to the tree to free the bird. When he sees birds he immediately thinks of his mum afterwards.
The artist and his sister would hold their mum's photos and talk as if their mum was still alive.
Song’s sketches, inspired by his daughter’s sketch book, are simple yet direct. However the exhibition is more that black and white. The second part of the exhibition is works done by over 400 representatives, each assigned one month. Through adding, changing, or editing individual months according to participants’ own memories of historical events they can showcase their creativity and talents and get connected to their audience through more dynamic interaction.
This is the work of a participant.Death should not be an end of anyone's life. The passed away just no longer live on the Earth. They live in a new place called our hearts.
Mayan apocalypse is what sparked his idea to create “Song Dong: 36 Calendars.” The artist does not believe in the apocalyptic prediction.
Every end is a sort of new beginning.
‘That which goes undone goes undone in vain.
That which is done is done still in vain.
That done in vain must still be done.’
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