An Archaeological Tour of Revolutionary Romanticism and the Metaphor of Camouflage

Before the interpretations of the two groups of recent works by Ms. Lei Yan - “Frozen Series” and “Camouflage Cloth-making”, we should know of two relevant background factors. One is that she has been a female soldier in the army for 30 years (1970-2001) and then joined the Kunming contemporary art community “Chuangku” to set up her own studio after retiring from army. Lei Yan has experienced the transformation from the traditional art practices on creation of military subjects into the use of pictures, equipment, videos and other media for the creation of contemporary art works, and each article and event could sufficiently constitute the main raw material for her current creation. Secondly, the retrospection and reflection on the Mao Zedong era (mainly during the last 1950s-1970s) by the Chinese contemporary artists have never ceased. In each period Mao and his era’s symbols and images will be appearing in these artists’ narrative methods, which not only is the historical fact of the” Passion Burning Years” that the artists can not shun away from during the time when belief was absent, but also a kind of inquiry about the future. After knowing about these backgrounds, we can proceed with the interpretations of the latest works by Lei Yan.

“Frozen Series”: An Archaeological Tour of Revolutionary Romanticism

Lei Yan’s “Frozen Series” have frozen some military articles and the typical items of the Mao era, such as sleeve emblems, leader badges, the Little Red Books, the Red Guards shoulder badges, military uniforms, red flags, and female soldiers’ photographs etc., which are photographed and can be seen dimly under the ice. By getting the typical symbols and items of the special years frozen and sealed, the artist is staring at the historical samples from a nebulous distance with a tinge of desolation, and arousing a reflection on that period of time.

As we can see, there are two clues in the “Frozen Series”, one is the “Frozen Reds”, which uses the typical items of Mao era and military articles as the narrating subjects that include sleeve emblems, leader badges, the Little Red Books, the Red Guards badges, military uniforms, red flags etc., they are not merely logos or decorations, but they also carry the spirit of that era. As a person who was filled with ideals and passions regarding the collective values under communism, each had to possess these materials and contents, which represent a miniature of the people’s political life in that period of time, and a miniature of the” Passion Burning Years”. They are also a miniature of Lei Yan’s 30 years of military life. However, since the factors of refraction, distance, and temperature, the items, which are put into the ice body by Lei Yan, display a much unacquainted historical texture and shape. The partial deforming and distortion, blurring and dimness, chilliness and out-of-touch feeling created by the isolation of the ice layer. They seem like keepsakes from a previous existence. The archaeological-like association of ideas inspired by the sealing under ice. All of these have built a sort of sadness for the time of revolutionary passions, and a reminiscence of the disappeared spirit and resplendency.

The other is “Frozen Youth”, whose narrative subjects are female soldiers’ photographs including personal portraits, busts. Some are Lei Yan herself, but most of them are her comrades in the army. These girls of youthful spirit, each with tenderness, some seem a little depressed, some only being lost, and some with a poise that is typical during that period of time with a bag on shoulder or a machine gun in hands, head high and standing erectly with a passionate face under the willows. Among these photographs are several of military groups, and in these the pure eyes are filled with the young girls’ ideals and longings, smiling with tenderness and without the slightest hesitation for the future which is the typical expression of revolutionary romanticism. However, all of these various expressions and spirit states, with the addition of the classic poise, have been frozen into the cold ice layer and forced to drop in temperature, cold as well as out-of-touch, the high enthusiasm and innocent ideals are suddenly disappearing far away in the cold ice, which is just like a group of archaeological samples from the Mao era displayed ifor all to see.

Most of the above mentioned frozen objects, which were collected during Lei Yan’s military career, are well preserved. To most of us, these items and photographs are merely conceptualized image memories of a certain period, but those specific faces and temperature, are more like the family belongings in some box underneath grandmother’s bed, which are kept by mother for her daughter. When these objects and photographs are seen through the frozen ice, they have been endowed with new concepts, which are the memory of the public images and history of a female soldier, her private memory and feelings, and the reminiscence of ultimate issues such as faith to the land, spirits and resplendency.

If political pop art is “using the shock waves made by the western consumption culture in China, and turning the ’sacred politics’ of the Mao era into a popular and ironic political idea” as suggested by Li Xianting, and with current political pop art walking down a dead end via commercial obsequiousness, then artists, including Lei Yan, are going back to the starting point for art and soul by using a personal and poetic narrate of the Mao era. Let the real impression be explained via personal language instead of following the established groups style, it is a response which surpasses current political pop art.

“Camouflage Cloth-making”: The Metaphors Related to Camouflage

If the “Frozen Series” is the reminiscence and sadness of the long gone Mao era and its spirit and resplendency, then the “Camouflage Cloth-making” is the specific intervention in the current daily situation. Just like before, Lei Yan keeps on using the military goods as subjects, which are very familiar to a person who has 30 years of military service. However, the use of military goods in this series is different from that in the “Frozen Series”. The military goods in the “Frozen Series” belong to the section of borrowing, directly getting the existing goods embedded into ice to make them bring about the changes of concept, context and visual texture, but the “Camouflage Cloth-making” is the conversion and extension of military camouflage uniforms and patterns.

In this series Lei Yan uses camouflage fabric to make some hand-sewn items and scenes, items such as: camera, computer, teapot, vase, cup, tray, telephone, high heels, five-pointed star etc., which are daily mundane items. Setting up the items’ basic outline shape, the sewed items have more plasticity and flexibility. This series of work cross the boundaries between handicraft and sculpture. What is more, the symbolic features owned by the camouflage patterns themselves, give the remodeled daily goods the feeling of being covered by the camouflage with aggression and delusion.

In one group, the metaphor relating to camouflage is more obvious. Lei Yan has sewn with camouflage material into an ordinary family scene: a square table, a bench, a vase, two blurring persons in the picture frame and a crouching dog. The other one is the scene of a dressing table. These two scenes are modeled like reliefs, which simply present any day in our ordinary life without any dramatic moment. Persons, goods and scenes are covered by camouflage, mixing into the background, and therefore they are endowed with the meaning and metaphor of camouflage itself, the edges of people, goods and scenes are disrupted and guided by the camouflage patterns and become indistinguishable, characterless and without personality. So a metaphor related to camouflage, related to women’s identity, family and self-pity, can start. How should women live out their own unique vitality in the trivia of various household affairs? How should women be more visible in society? This is the metaphor and reflection of “Camouflage Cloth-making” by Lei Yan.

As a strong symbol of the military patterns, camouflage has been absorbed into the conceptual art of the female artist, Lei Yan. She would never have had such a profound reflection if she hadn’t had her own deep experience of the military. It is precisely because of this experience that we can see the double metaphors generated from the modeled objects disappearing into the camouflage, in addition to the interference and thawing from external forces. It also points at the internal crisis of the modeled object: a person may be defensive of their own identity, but to some extent they also face the risk of assimilation, of losing their personality and unique vitality. Maybe this is Lei Yan’s thinking in this exhibition. However, as a female artist, Lei Yan has not been assimilated; on the contrary, she has gained the unique vision and creativity. During a conversation with Lei Yan she said: “wherever we are, we should leave a window for our soul, facing the most real place of the heart to talk with your own soul and hold onto the innocence and passion found there.” And with her experience of the years of revolutionary enthusiasm and the attention to other people’s needs during her military career, not only does this become the source material and concept of her art, but it also expands her life experience. She does not rest on the complexities of this material and the hand-sewing but creates a deeper experience.

Written by Luo Fei(TCG Nordica Gallery Curator)
Translated by Liu Weiqiang

About Lei Yan’s Solso Exhibition

Lei Yan’s solo exhibition 2007

Lei Yan’s Solo exhibition 2007:Frozen Series and Camouflage Cloth-making

Exhibition duration:9 November-22 November,2007
Openning:9 November,8:00pm(Friday)
Curator:Luo Fei

For the first Solo Exhibition in the newly renovated TCG Nordica gallery, we proudly present the recent art works from Leiyan, one of our old friend, loft female artist.

Leiyan was born in 1950s, she cultivated a special life experiences in the army for 30 years. As a sensitive and exuberant creativity female artist. Rigid military life formed tension with her personality , naturally this period constructed the special resources and thoughts of art creation. There are army stuffs often appearing in her arts over and over again,as the uniforms, the badge, te Red star, even some events of histories. Interesting is that she got inspiration from army stuffs and history stories. But, meanwhile she didn’t stop pace from these Materials, Conversely, she prestige all of these stories, to recall the privacy and romantic Feelings and more broad daily emotions.

After she left the army, she trys to use new creation language in her arts. From Traditional Prints, oil painting, Transition to photos, videos, installations and handcrafts. She is not only a generalist in art styles and forms, but also in the topics that her focus on. Included: process of Urbanization, female identity, and throughout leiyan’s works from the early army career.

The exhibition will show Leiyan’s recent art works, it is also related to about her army career. the one group, she took photos about the fozen army stuffs in the ice, the other one is the conceptual works of handcrafts. it will be the surprise from her. All of these army stuffs, history events, and handcrafts, like as the treasures stored in somewhere of grandmother’s box under her bed. We can feel a female artist how to thoughtfulness from private to public.

—writer:Luo Fei,translator:Liu Jun

Related articles:
An Archaeological Tour of Revolutionary Romanticism and the Metaphor of Camouflage written by Luo Fei
Memorywritten by Tang Zhigang

Exhibition Openning:

Frozen Red Series

Frozen Youth Series

Frozen Red

That was a memory of red, a memory of hotness and also a memory of youth.

In China, everyone who has ever lived in that time would be impressed by the frozen red. That was an age, an age had been frozen — for everyone, there could be only one faith, one idea and one dream — as pure as ice, and also as white as ice. The life though seemed to be simplified and repressed, everyone could have a stable life everyday. Since each one, living in that time, had one faith and one objective, and therefore the red then became hallowed.

However, when I watched the red under the ice, such a strange feeling, like a star far from the earth could not be reached, had rush into my mind. I’m not sure that was the illusion from the ice, or the result from a past age, but a feeling just told me, the red has left us, had left our life, had left the unfathomable age…… All I have seen was the lack of faith, was the disappearance of trueness, was the lost and confusion of soul. How fast the time flies! The world has been more and more untraceable – someone has lost his ethic in the face of money, someone has dropped his honor in the face of fame, and also someone has abandoned his dream in the face of power – the red was leaving us.

The frozen red, which would be better to consider as the protection to the past, as the thinking to dream and faith more than just frost to that time. I have a brief, we could review the past through the ice, and we also could seek for the red we ever had through the ice, because the red remain its brightness in my heart, because the age needs red!

Lei Yan
August 22, 2006

Camouflage Cloth-making

Chen jia

Dance Teacher’s CV
Chen Jia (Sara Chen)

Education

Jia Zuo Guan Dance Highschool, Beijing, China 1997-2000

Chinese classical Dance,

Chinese minority Dance

Yunnan Normal University, Dance Department, Kunming, China 2001-2004

Dance performance

Yunnan Normal University, Dance Department, Kunming, China 2004-2006

Dance Education

“Elene Fitness Centre”, Chong Qing, China 2004

Hip Hop, Jazz

“Dream Factory” Dance Company, Shanghai, China 2005

Jazz, Streetdance

Hyllie Park Folkhögskola, Malmoe, Sweden 2006-2007

Swedish, English education

Dansstudio No 1, Malmoe, Sweden 2006-2007

Jazz, Modern Dance, Ballet

Danscentrum Syd, Malmoe, Sweden 2007

Ballet, Modern Dance
Dance Exchange

“Dans Forum”, International Dance Exchange, Viksjöfors, Sweden 2003

“Writing on the wall”, Norweigian-Chinese Exchange, Kunming, China 2004

“Writing on the wall”, Norweigian-Chinese Exchange, Oslo, Norway 2005

“Young Music”, Swedish-Chinese Exchange, Kunming, China 2005

“Young Music”, Swedish-Chinese Exchange, Malmoe, Sweden 2005
Dance Performance

“Dans Forum”, Viksjöfors, Sweden 2003

“Writing on the wall”, Kunming, China 2004

“Writing on the wall”, Oslo, Norway 2005

“Young Music”, NORDICA, Kunming, China 2005

“Young Music”, Malmoe, Sweden 2005

Work Experience

Volounter, NORDICA, Kunming, China 2003-2006

Guest Teacher, Malmoe Academy of Music, Malmoe, Sweden 2006

Guest Teacher, ITM Folkhögskola, Huskvarna, Sweden 2006

Guest Choreographer, Avensis Dancegroup, Malmo, Sweden 2006-2007

Luo Ting

She graduated from Music College of Yunnan Art Institute. in 2005,in the same year,she started to work as a teacher in Wen Hua College of Yunnan Art Institute. She is membe of Yunnan Choir as well,

Li Qi

Li Qi
Began to play the violin with his father at a very young age, He graduated from Kunming Art College in 2004. Based on his excellent academic achievements, he was accepted as a student and went to Orchestra department of Yunnan Art Institute.

Next Page »