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May 13, 2013

Shanzhai Biennial: Dark Optimism

The Genre-Splicing Artist Trio Subverts Notions of Authenticity and Design at MoMA PS1’s Summer Festival

Chinese model Wu Ting Ting lip syncs to an opaque cover of Sinead O’Connor’s “Nothing Compares 2 U” while wearing a sequined gown emblazoned with a deliberately misspelled shampoo logo in this new video from Shanzhai Biennial. The New York-based artist trio, comprised of Cyril Duval, Babak Radboy and stylist Avena Gallagher, has described itself as a “multinational brand posing as an art-project posing as an multinational brand posing as a biennial.” Taking inspiration from China’s infamous and rich culture of “Shanzhai” imitation goods—faking products from supermarket stock to high-end luxury items—the project seeks to liberate branding from the obligation to make a sale. “Selling things is always a drag on the aura of a brand,” says Radboy, who also works as Creative Director of Bidoun magazine. For ProBio, a group show curated by Josh Kline as a part of this summer’s large-scale Expo 1: New York at MoMa PS1 that is dedicated to the theme of “dark optimism”, he and Duval, who has exhibited internationally under the moniker Item Idem, reached out to Helen Feng of the Beijing musical act Nova Heart (the “Debbie Harry” of China, as she’s been called) for the Chinese rendition of O’Connor’s 90s classic, which they adapted from an amateur online production. “The relevance of the song is right there in the title,” says Radboy. “We were searching desperately for a version in Mandarin and finally found a recording on an obscure and outdated Chinese social networking site by a pretty busted looking queen in his 40s—so there are four levels of separation there.” The result couldn’t be truer to the illogical form embodied in Shanzhai products. “It’s a very Shanzhai production!,” says Duval.

ProBio, part of EXPO 1: New York, is on view at MoMA PS1 through September 2, 2013.

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Spotlight

Tim Walker: Story Teller

The Fashion Photographer Reflects On the Secrets and Lies in His Imaginary World

From a flying saucer invading a foxhunt to floating dinner tables, photographer Tim Walker’s fantastical images tantalizingly blur the line between fiction and reality. For over 15 years, the east London-based Walker has contributed his singular brand of fashion photography to British, Italian and American Vogue, as well as Vanity Fair, W and The New Yorker. Formerly an assistant to Richard Avedon, Walker draws inspiration from children’s books, films and illustrations, amassing them in scrapbooks which he uses to create his “imaginary places that never existed.” “I started using the camera as a way of capturing a mood I wanted to express,” he says. “To me, a photograph is far stronger when something is suggested rather than defined. If you define it there is nowhere for your imagination to go.” Ahead of a forthcoming exhibition at London’s Somerset House supported by Mulberry, and an accompanying book out next week from Thames & Hudson, Walker talks to NOWNESS about chance encounters on set and how the camera often fibs.

Your work often involves creating huge sets and a cast of models. Is it about setting up everything and then being open to chance?
Absolutely. It’s fundamental to what I do. A lot of gestures and expressions happen when the models experience something during a shoot—the wind blowing through the set or something falling over, for example. They need something to react to. A “mistake” can liberate a photograph and prevent it from looking over-choreographed.

Many of your images are surreal in some ways—is this a conscious decision?
The surreal in my work is instinctive, I think. I’ve always veered towards fantasy, dreams and magic. For me photography is a window to another world. I love things that are somewhere they shouldn’t be, for example the outside inside and vice versa. I find the notion “the camera never lies” really interesting because the place where it lies more than anywhere else is in fashion.

In 2010 you made a short film called The Lost Explorer. Why did you want to work with moving image?
I’ve always found film inspiring. As a photographer you always aspire to achieve something extra that you can’t achieve with still images. I decided to make a film out of curiosity and I naively thought I could draw on my knowledge of photography, but you can’t; they’re two very different things. I would love to make another film. I’m working on some ideas now but it’s an enormous process.

Tim Walker: Story Teller opens at Somerset House, London on October 18.

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Spotlight

Electric Signature

Neon Rainbows Evoke the Iconic Geometry of Tod’s Signature Collection

A pulsing grid of fluorescent lighting replaces imprinted leather in fashion filmmaker Bart Hess’s new short for Italian luxury leather label Tod’s. Taking the brand’s iconic circles-and-diamonds pattern as inspiration, the maverick Dutch director created a futuristic neon cityscape to explore the interplay of light on material. “I wanted to see the pattern reflected in all kinds of materials, because it can tell you a lot about surface and quality,” explains Hess. Shooting in Eindhoven’s cutting-edge Temporary Arts Centre, Hess crafted an installation of 81 light tubes to illuminate the exclusive next-season pieces by the cult leather maker. “In the film we show the light cycle of a day, from sunrise to sunset. At the moment when the girl decides to go to the pool a blackout takes place,” he elaborates. “When the lights turn back on there has been an upgrade and now everything is in multicolor. The city comes alive.” Best known for the otherworldly slime outfits he created for Lady Gaga, Hess has made sculptural costumes for the likes of American Vogue and AnOther Magazine, Parisian art center Palais de Tokyo, and photographer Nick Knight, as well as collaborating on textiles with fashion designers such as Walter Van Beirendonck, Iris van Herpen, and Ann-Sofie Back.

STATS FROM ON SET

Location
Temporary Art Centre in Eindhoven, Netherlands.

Shoot duration
Two days.

Cast
Seventeen people: director, model, cinematographer, four people for hair and makeup, two people for styling, and eight set assistants.

Pool water temperature
Approximately 68°F.

Time spent in water by model
Twenty minutes.

Number of plugs that overheated
Five.

Number of mirrors on set
Eighteen.

Total area of mirror surface
581.3 square feet.

Number of light tubes used
Eighty-one.

Length of each tube
23.6 inches.

Total length of light tubes
159.3 feet.