Yang Jiechang: Another Turn of the Screw

After a decade's transcultural exploration in the West and ten days of labor-intensive installation, Paris-based artist Yang Jiechang opened his recent unconventional new exhibition, Another Turn of the Screw, The show was unconventional because this was not an exhibition about painting or sculpture per se,nor even an installation, but a multi-media project incorporating objects as diverse as two-dimensional ink-works, handwritten text. a plywood carpet, and plywood tickets for each visitor.

At the reception, each visitor was given a piece of plywood that had been signed by the artist in black pen. Visitors were asked to sign their own names on the "ticket", to which two sharp screws and a plaster were attached. Only by using the plywood ticket could viewers gain entry into the exhibition rooms.

The first room featured six ink works that both appeared as Western collage and modern Chinese ink painting. Wrinkled and fully ink-dyed rice paper was glued to a canvas that was supported by a frame, At first glance, the ink appeared as pure black, but was in fact strewn with tiny gray "errors" that headed in random directions. The rippled texture of the rice paper presented a sensation of great subtlety. But in some cases this quality was offset and tension was generated by the physical structure of the works, which had a more rational, solemn. and grandiose feel to them.

In another exhibition room was a large panel with multi-layered handwritten test mounted in the center. Two small boards were placed on each side. The writing consisted of roughly 6,000 names of different people, in Chinese or English, that had been written using ink and brush onto the big panel. Through the layers of ink only some of the names were legible. According to the artist, these were the people whom he had met and still remembered - his "clues to life"- documenting the trajectory of his 44 years. The other six smaller panels featured well-known figures from the Western world, such as Ernest BLoch, Adolf Hitler, and Martin Heidegger.

A striking feature of Yang's project was his renovation of the Galley floor, which had been carpeted with plywood and roughly fixed using nails and screws. The pointed end of some screws and nails poked up through the floor but were thankfully too small to cause any damage to visitors' shoes. Together with the screws on the entry ticket, as well as in the form of signs on the paintings, screws literally penetrated all aspects of the show. This created an awkward and uncomfortable feeling, when visitors were asked to hold their tickets or when they walked on the "sticky" and undulating floor.

The numerous screws - the key word of the title - and its metaphorical significance here perhaps suggests both former socialist convictions and the changing character of contemporary China. More than 30 years ago, Chairman Mao called on the Chinese people to learn from Lei Feng who saw the individual's role as being as a screw in the construction of a huge socialist machine. The screw in this new context has become a sharp point signifying aggression and ambition. This is an effective trope for the transformation of socialist ideology - from Communism to individualism - over the past two decades. As a returned overseas artist, Yang believes that China is a huge, hectic construction site, where tradition is being eclipsed and where life is messy and disordered. The screw, as an emblem for the individual, is finding a new identity in the construction of a new China.

dd