The boundaries of reality are the area of play…

Dear all,

To celebrate two events Zen Foto will hold closing drinks from 4pm this afternoon:

1.       the closing of our exhibition “A. Face to Face with Chin-Chin Wu” of works by Chin-Chin Wu and Nobuyoshi Araki;

2.       from the Tokyo Customs Bureau we received a charge of importing material “that could damage public decency” (風俗を害する物品). This relates to our little catalogue of Chin-Chin Wu`s works - why don`t you come and decide for yourself? We value your opinions!

kind regards,

Mark Pearson

Zen Foto Gallery, shibuya, Tokyo

www.zen-foto.jp

In front of Araki’s images © Benjamin Beller (please beware of important perspective distortions)

Finally a brief review of the show by art historian, Art Forum contributor and Waseda University assistant professor Julia Friedman, taken from the blog Contemporary Art Tokyo:

This is the first Tokyo exhibition of the Beijing-based artist Chin-Chin Wu. It features her 2006–2009 project Vis-à -Vis, Portraits of New Women, in which fifty young women from Paris and Beijing posed for their “intimate portraits.” Upon entering the gallery, the viewers are invited to gaze into an aperture in a red lacquered peep-box installed just high enough making it necessary for all under seven feet tall to stand on a small wooden stool. The voyeristic effort is rewarded with a tiny illuminated image set against the back wall of the box. This quick throw back to Marcel Duchamp’s in/famous Etant Donnés, seems to address the elephant-in-the-room inherent in any art featuring female genitalia. Wu questions the inherently voyeuristic nature of viewing nudity just as she asserts the agency of the woman who participated in the Vis-à-Vis shoots by engaging them in a dialogue about the meaning of these portraits. Many of their utterances are featured in the making-of video that is also part of the show. Wu’s photographs are further contextualized by a selection of ten silver gelatin prints by Nobuyoshi Araki, hung in two tight rows. Araki’s work makes for an interesting juxtoposition with Wu’s, in my opinion, because it accentuates the raw sexuality of his work. Next to his, Wu’s photographs, for all their overtness, appear almost chaste: the viewers of her portraits do not need to worry about participating in the predatory visual act, her focus is the aesthetic differentiation.

There are eight large-format inkjet prints on view, with the rest of the project available for perusal in an eponymous publication by GALERIE VEVAIS (edited by Alexander Scholz). The book will be on sale in about one month in both hardcover and softcover versions. You can find additional information about the publication and see more of Chin-Chin’s works on her webpage.

Due to the graphic nature of the show the gallery had to set a series of deterrents for visitors that might seek things other than art enjoyment. If you decide to visit the exhibition (you have to be over 20 years of age), please make an email reservation with the gallery (amanda@zen-foto.jp). When you arrive you will be asked to sign a waver stating that you do not find the contents offensive, and pay an exhibition membership fee of 3000 yen. Once inside you will have your pick of Zen Foto publication to the value of the fee. The show is at Zen Foto Gallery, on view through May 23.

Dear Friends, 

皆さんこんにちは。Zen Fotoのご案内をいたします。次の展覧会 ”A. Face 2 Face with Wu Chin-Chin” が５月14日から始まります。オープニングパーティは同日18:00から21:00で、ウー・チンチンさんも来廊され ます。彼女は中国の若い作家です。アメリカとフランスの教育を受けて、現在北京にお住まいです。今回展示する両氏の作品は ともに女性のポートレートで衝撃的なイメージを含むため、ヌード写真に敏感な方々はご遠慮ください。もしご高覧いただければ一生忘れ られない展覧会になるかと存じます。

なお、今回の展覧会では通常と異なり作品の性質から展覧会の会費を頂戴します が、展覧会場にて会費に相当するZen Fotoの出版物をお渡ししますので、なにとぞご了承ください。

Our next exhibition is titled: “A. Face 2 Face with Chin-Chin Wu ”. We will exhibit the works of Nobuyoshi Araki face to face with the works of a young Chinese photographer. Chin-Chin Wu was educated in the USA and Paris and she is now based in Beijing. Zen Foto is pleased to hold this first major exhibition of her series of intimate portraits of women, entitled “Vis-a-vis: Portraits of New Women.”

The content is not suitable for people under the age of 20 or for those sensitive to explicit images of the naked human body.

We do not normally charge for entrance to Zen Foto but, due to the nature of the images included, we will invite visitors to become members of this exhibition. Visitors will be given Zen Foto publications of value equivalent to the price of membership. In case of hardship please let us know and we will happily make exceptions where appropriate.

Kind regards,

Mark Pearson

Zen Foto Gallery, Shibuya, Tokyo

www.zen-foto.jp

The front cover of the Book:

The back bear:

Innen - The Inside:

Special thanks to Alexander Scholtz from Berlin, gifted architect and my book publisher, and Susanne Weigelt, an amazing young designer and artist from Leipzig. The dummies of this book will be available for the duo show with Araki-san in Tokyo, opening May 14. Entry strictly by prior reservation. A small catalog for the exhibition will be available in limited editions. A big ‘thank you’ to all the great women who participated in this project. I will have a gift copy for each of you!

ANOTHER NUDE SHOW
April 3 - 30, 2010
D5 Gallery

http://www.robertbermangallery.com/robertbermangallery/exhibitions/nudeshow/selected_nude.htm 

A Group exhibition exploring the imagery of the nude form including works by

Robert Graham, Ruth Bernhard, Horst P. Horst, Man Ray, Joel Peter Witkin, Francesco Scavullo, Chin-Chin Wu, Sante D’Orazio, Raymond Pettibon, The Mac, John Altoon, Ben Talbert, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Frederick Wight, William Tunberg, Ralph Goings, Stephen Verona, John Colao, Ron English, Manuel Ocampo, Jorg Dubin, Ellwood T. Risk, Britt Ehringer, Eliza French & Jeff Charbonneau, Robert Sean Coons, Dennis Mukai, David Trulli, Greg Gibbs, Andrew George, Vic Huber, Rafael Serrano, Jon Cournoyer, Sally Mann, Jock Sturges, Marc Fichou, Ken Aronson, Brett Aronson, Steven Teitelbaum, Randal Haworth, Tiphaine Popesco, Eric Schwartz,Hana Jakrlova, Christina Lissmann, David Ellingsen, Bill Durgin, Toby Burrows, Bill Phelps, Gail Greenfield Randall, Irene Hardwicke Olivieri, Edouard Chimot, Max Turner, Emil Jean Kosta Jr., Mel Ramos, Alejandro Gehry, Thomas Ruff, Nobuyoshi Araki, Tracy Nakayama, Tracey Emin, Vanessa Beecroft, Tom Wesselmann, John Valadez, Frank Romero, Claudia Kunin, Grace Oh and many more.

In conjunction with the MOPLA Month of Photography Awards & XTO Image Awards

Nobuyoshi Araki
Untitled (Nude in front of TV), 1996
Iris Print
Numbered 22/30, Signed and numbered on verso
Image: 8.5 x 12 inches; Framed: 18.5 x 21.5 inches

I’m showing a small series of 15 images called “Flashbacks” in this group show at Inter Gallery, 798 Art District. This exhibition will then move to Shanghai, then travel around the rest of China.

Here’s a sneak preview of a few images that caught my interest:

王久良的《垃圾围城》系列
From the series “The Great Wall of Trash,” © WANG, Jiuliang

许宝宽的《新风景》系列
From the series “New Landscapes,” © XU, Baokuan

杭鸣峙的《移山》系列
From the series “Move Mountains,” © HANG, Mingchi

蒙超的《新景观》系列
From the series “New Scenaries,” © MENG, Chao

游莉的《寂静的纬度》系列
From the series “Silent Altitudes,” © YOU, Li

Looking forward to seeing friends in Beijing at the opening! © Post-Modern China Doll

不一样的风景

Another Landscape

主办：色影无忌网

Host：www.xitek.com

参展摄影师: （按 姓氏笔画排名）王久良、卢彦鹏、区志航、任曙林、许宝宽、陈焕庭、何宜昌、吴沁沁、辛冈、张晓、杭鸣峙、佬京、罗凯星、徐永春、黄 觉、矫健、储楚、塔可、蒙超、游莉、潘钺。

photographers: Wang Jiuliang, Lu Yanpeng, Ou Zhihang ,Ren Shulin, Xu Baokuan，Chen Huanting, He Yichang，Chin-Chin Wu，Xin Gang，Zhang Xiao，Hang Mingzhi，Lao Jing，Luo Kaixing，Xu Yongchun，Huang Jue，Jiao Jian，Chu Chu，Taca，Meng Chao，Eris Yo ，Pan Yue

策展人：那日松

Curator：Na Risong

顾问：（按姓氏笔画 排名）任悦、林路、尚陆、顾铮、鲍昆、颜长江

Consultants :Ren Yue, Lin Lu, Jean Loh, Gu Zheng, Bao Kun, Yan Changjiang 

开幕时间:  2010.03.27  下午3点

Opening:  27.03.2010 / 3 pm

展览时间:  2010.03.27 – 2010.04.5

Duration:  27.03.2010 – 05.04.2010

展览地点:  映艺术中心（北京市朝阳区酒仙桥路4号“798艺术区”七星中街）.

Venue:  Inter Art Center and Gallery. Sevenstar Main Street 798 Art Zone No.4 Jiuxianqiao Road Chaoyang District Beijing

Bravo Robert!!! Source: http://www.juxtapoz.com/Top100

Insiders probably already know that Gayographic (大城小同) is holding the first ever Mr. Gay China beauty pageant on Jan. 15, 2010 at the Lan Club. The winner will represent mainland China in Oslo, Norway, vying for the title of Mr. Gay World Ambassador. This is of course a monumental event in the history of the Chinese LGBT community. I finally did some test shots with 3 candidates last Sunday, courtesy to Gayographic organizers Ben Zhang, Ryan and Niu Niu.

So here is the scoop:

1) Xuefei. Calm, laconic, and mysterious.

What I especially appreciated about this candidate was his timeliness (first to arrive), patience (always a plus in the eye of a photographer), and a certain forlorn, other-worldly quality. This definitely sets him apart from any kind of visual stereotype. He’s not the first one you notice when you enter the room, yet there’s a sense of mystique and intrigue that will slowly draw you in.

2 ) Emilio. Handsome, upbeat, winsome.

Emilio’s good looks have a mass appeal by most societal standards, gay or straight. He also possesses the kind of physique that gives strength, hope, and inspiration to all health-related New Year resolutions. Potentially the poster boy of Mr. Gay China, I think this beauty pageant could be the perfect opportunity for him to fine-tune and deepen his already hugely likable character and personality.

3) Simon. Charismatic, uninhibited, fun-loving.

Simon is a ball of energy, capable of proposing 60 dramatically different poses per minute. There’s definitely a bit of an artist’s soul in him, not to mention an off-beat fashion sense. I trust that what he lacks in physique, he will amply make up by creativity and enthusiasm!

Finally, a rather dignified group portrait:

I look forward to meeting the other candidates. Their courage is a constant inspiration. It’s one thing to come out of the closet to one’s friends and family; it’s another thing to participate in such a highly publicized event, obliging each to clearly broadcast his romantic and sexual preference. Let’s face it, China is still an immensely traditional and limelight-shy society, deeply steeped in the Confucian culture of modesty (中庸) for the sake of (outward) harmony. These men are the first (hopefully of many) to break these barriers.

This contest is about community. It’s about beauty. It’s about identity. It’s also about the lessons of self-conquests, the phoenix rising high from the ashes.

Best of luck to all the candidates! If you wish to get involved with this event, please contact Gayographic. Mr. Gay China needs all of your support!

I met sculptor Chen Fei at a little craft shop in Old Beijing nearly two years ago. She was living near Nanluoguxiang and had been experimenting with making masks with paper maché and I was immediately drawn to the expressive possibilities of these hutong characters come alive. Over the span of two years, our friendship grew as we saw the surroundings of our neighborhood demolished and rebuilt at a jaw-dropping rate. As old businesses move out, new businesses settle in; Chen Fei was forced to move with the construction of the new metro line… This series is inspired by the simple people who inhabit here and whose lives are constantly affected by the mass exodus in the face of modernization. It is an elegy to the perishing traditions and lifestyles that made Old Beijing such a unique place.

This work is on show at CNEX as part of the annual Greening the Beige art show. All prints are for sale and the proceedings go to the art collective Greening the Beige. Please contact organizer Carissa Welton for detail.

In April 2010, we are holding another art show with a stage performance involving a new series of masks at CNEX.

It jumps out of its gentrified, chic daytime envelope, vibrates at a new intensity, shrieks of new textures and emotions audible only to ears attuned to a different language. Images from my nocturnal prowling in Prague and its surrounding area, June 2009:

Jennifer Lin:

I was recently going over some lines of inquiry I’ve previously explored regarding the state of art and I came across something I wrote awhile ago…please feel free to comment, I’d really love to see what you guys think about my question..it would be really quite interesting to me to see what people think, since I am inextricably implicated in the art world, have a read…. again, would love to know what you guys think of the question I’ve posed. xoxo Jennifer

Adorno, Horkheimer and MacDonald, in brief, put forth the argument that popular culture is merely a manufactured commodity; that is, mainstream cultural products like Hollywood movies, music etc. are bereft of any originality and creativity. MacDonald in particular argues that the avant-garde movement escapes the dilemma of commodification, for it “simply refuses to compete”. Furthermore, MacDonald articulates that “[the avant-garde movement] created a new compartmentation of culture, on the basis of an intellectual rather than a social elite” (MacDonald, 63). MacDonald’s point is highly debatable given that modernists like Picasso, T.S. Eliot and Stravinsky belonged in fact to a very exclusive group, that was determined by social and intellectual status.
Furthermore, avant-garde art was made distinct from products of popular culture because they are imbued with originality. Yet T.S. Eliot, an artist who is emblematic of the avant-garde movement was reputed to say that “Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal”. So originality becomes a moot point, and a very inconcrete benchmark in identifying creativity and the status of non-commodification in any given cultural artifact. So by what measures in contemporary culture are we able to distinguish between the kitsch and the avant-garde, and by the same token, between the kitsch and academicism, when the lines between these categories potentially overlap? Is it possible to draw the lines between these categories at all? Are not all works that are produced in our culture in danger of being kitschy as long as it had the time to evolve or better yet, digress? Look at for instance, Pollack’s abstract expressionist art, or Van Gogh’s Sunflowers. These previously avant-garde works are now squarely within the domain of popular culture, as they are seen often hanging the the dorm rooms of college students or in the waiting rooms of dentist offices. Is it possible for any artistic or non-artistic works to remain “before the vanguard”?

 

Post Modern China Doll:

The avant-garde movement(s) rises from the spirit of questioning, so for me the earliest avant-gardists were Heraclitus, Socrates… The impulse of questioning is by nature uncommodifiable, however, once the process is objectified/commodified (into an object, a painting, a book, a movie, a record), it is always made so with the intention to enter some sort of circuit/market. Can we draw a parallel to Zen Buddhism and say that the spirit of the avant-garde movement is always in a double bind once it’s articulated?

Contrary to Greenberg, I do not subscribe to the idea that the kitsch is the necessary fate of the avant-garde. It seems either too optimistic or too pessimistic of a view of humanity’s general ability to digest great avant-garde ideas. I’ll have to think about that one.

 I’ve been relatively absent from the blogosphere as I notice subscription rates go up. But really I’m unable to see statistics on this site when I’m in China because of some Internet glitch. Meanwhile, I’ve been busy commodifying (rather shamelessly shall I say) my artistic discourses and yes the book is coming!

I will be in Paris in about a week, then London. I am happy to announce that the English Edition of www.photographie.com will resume under video format, and we will be examining the mutations of the photographic imagery (interviews, discussions, etc) so be on the look out.  In April, Soldiers During the Time of Peace will be showing in Art Shanghai, and I will be there. At the end of May, I will have two workshops with Austrian students from the Vienna Fotoschule-Filmschule school. The art boom is over, but art lives on! 

P.S. Like the mean professor or the masochistic first-year art student, here’s two pieces of reading that I (self) assigned. I really need to read the stuff that I talk about instead of being found furiously photocopying Chinese art magazines in B&W (btw why isn’t there a Reader’s Digest for the thousands of magazines out there?). I suppose this is the gap that’s likely to be left in your education when you went to a film school but picked up the theory bug on the way from sensitometry 102 to creative thesis-related fictional theory write:

Greenberg: Avant-Garde and the Kitsch:

http://www.sharecom.ca/greenberg/kitsch.html 

New York Times Article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/15/arts/design/15cott.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&emc=eta1

Robert Berman Gallery Presents:

«VIS-À-VIS, PORTRAITS OF NEW WOMEN»

«对视 : 新女性肖像 »

Pigment print, Edition of 5, 120×160 cm
© Chin-Chin Wu, 2006-2008

Catalog available upon request

photo MIAMI
Wynwood Art District, Miami, FL
(Enter on Midtown Boulevard)
BOOTH #304
Robert Berman GALLERY
www.robertbermangallery.com

December 3 - 7, 2008
Opening December 2th, 6 - 10 pm

Upcoming exhibitions:

photo LA
January 21-29, 2009
Downtown Convention Center, Los Angeles, CA
BOOTH #C109
laartshow.com

30th Anniversary Exhibition, Part 1

Robert Berman GALLERY
At Bergamot Station Arts Center, Santa Monica, California
January 24 - February 21, 2009

 

Group exhibition of selected photography and photo based works featuring:
Alex Prager, Jeff Charbonneau & Eliza French, Andres Serrano, Rafael Serrano, Man Ray, William Wegman, Robert Rauschenberg, Ed Ruscha, Dennis Hopper, Edmund Teske, Shirin Neshat, Christopher Felver, E.T. Risk, Harry Bowers, Lauren Marsolier, Marc Fichou, John Colao, Marla Rutherford, Dietrich Wegner, Cameron Gray, Gerald Slota, Chin-Chin Wu, Hana Jakralova

Are you looking to push boundaries of your body and mind? Interested to get to know your body better? Want a better nude portfolio but haven’t found the right photographer? See how an artist works?

I am a Chinese-American artist living in between Beijing and Paris. Currently seeking women of all background and ethnicity for a large-scale conceptual art project – portraits of the female genitalia. The identities of the subjects will remain entirely anonymous and I offer to make other nude photographs or portraits in exchange. Length of time is estimated at around 1 1/2 hours (please plan extra time for other photo shoots).

My studio is in the historical center , 2 minutes from the Drum Tower（鼓楼) subway station, very close to Nan Luo Gu Xiang（南锣鼓巷）, Hou Hai (后海）， and other major tourist attractions. You can find information for this project on:

http://www.chinchinwu.net/?page_id=98

including a making-of video where the models who have participated talk about their experience and their views on the subject matter. You can also find some pictures and background info on the site. There’s a Chinese article in the magazine Hope／希望杂志报导 about the project:

http://www.chinchinwu.net/?page_id=191

39 women world-wide have already participated in this project. I hope that you will decide to participate in this very important project! This work will be edited into a book published by Trolley Books (London, www.trolleybooks.com) in May 2009 and exhibited in Photo Miami, Photo LA, etc.

Contact me at:
mail@chinchinwu.net with your phone number and I will call you.
Also Skype handle: chinchinlive

Thank you,
Chin-Chin Wu

Translation of the original German text

For my brothers Carl and [Johann] Beethoven

O you men who think or say that I am malevolent, stubborn or misanthropic, how greatly do you wrong me, you do not know the secret causes of my seeming, from childhood my heart and mind were disposed to the gentle feelings of good will, I was even ever eager to accomplish great deeds, but reflect now that for six years I have been a hopeless case, aggravated by senseless physicians, cheated year after year in the hope of improvement, finally compelled to face the prospect of a lasting malady (whose cure will take years or, perhaps, be impossible), born with an ardent and lively temperament, even susceptible to the diversions of society, I was compelled early to isolate myself, to live in loneliness, when I at times tried to forget all this, O how harshly was I repulsed by the doubly sad experience of my bad hearing, and yet it was impossible for me to say to men speak louder, shout, for I am deaf. Ah how could I possibly admit such an infirmity in the one sense which should have been more perfect in me than in others, a sense which I once possessed in highest perfection, a perfection such as few surely in my profession enjoy or have enjoyed - O I cannot do it, therefore forgive me when you see me draw back when I would gladly mingle with you, my misfortune is doubly painful because it must lead to my being misunderstood, for me there can be no recreations in society of my fellows, refined intercourse, mutual exchange of thought, only just as little as the greatest needs command disposition, although I sometimes ran counter to it yielding to my inclination for society, but what a humiliation when one stood beside me and heard a flute in the distance and I heard nothing, or someone heard the shepherd singing and again I heard nothing, such incidents brought me to the verge of despair, but little more and I would have put an end to my life - only art it was that withheld me, ah it seemed impossible to leave the world until I had produced all that I felt called upon me to produce, and so I endured this wretched existence - truly wretched, an excitable body which a sudden change can throw from the best into the worst state - Patience - it is said that I must now choose for my guide, I have done so, I hope my determination will remain firm to endure until it please the inexorable parcae to break the thread, perhaps I shall get better, perhaps not, I am prepared. Forced already in my 28th year to become a philosopher, O it is not easy, less easy for the artist than for anyone else - Divine One thou lookest into my inmost soul, thou knowest it, thou knowest that love of man and desire to do good live therein. O men, when some day you read these words, reflect that you did me wrong and let the unfortunate one comfort himself and find one of his kind who despite all obstacles of nature yet did all that was in his power to be accepted among worthy artists and men. You my brothers Carl and [Johann] as soon as I am dead if Dr. Schmid is still alive ask him in my name to describe my malady and attach this document to the history of my illness so that so far as possible at least the world may become reconciled with me after my death. At the same time I declare you two to be the heirs to my small fortune (if so it can be called), divide it fairly, bear with and help each other, what injury you have done me you know was long ago forgiven. To you brother Carl I give special thanks for the attachment you have displayed towards me of late. It is my wish that your lives be better and freer from care than I have had, recommend virtue to your children, it alone can give happiness, not money, I speak from experience, it was virtue that upheld me in misery, to it next to my art I owe the fact that I did not end my life with suicide. - Farewell and love each other - I thank all my friends, particularly Prince Lichnowsky and Professor Schmid - I desire that the instruments from Prince L. be preserved by one of you but let no quarrel result from this, so soon as they can serve you better purpose sell them, how glad will I be if I can still be helpful to you in my grave - with joy I hasten towards death - if it comes before I shall have had an opportunity to show all my artistic capacities it will still come too early for me despite my hard fate and I shall probably wish it had come later - but even then I am satisfied, will it not free me from my state of endless suffering? Come when thou will I shall meet thee bravely. - Farewell and do not wholly forget me when I am dead, I deserve this of you in having often in life thought of you how to make you happy, be so -

Heiligenstadt October 6,1802 Ludwig van Beethoven

For my brothers Carl and [Johann] to be read and executed after my death.

Heiligenstadt, October 10, 1802, thus do I take my farewell of thee - and indeed sadly - yes that beloved hope - which I brought with me when I came here to be cured at least in a degree - I must wholly abandon, as the leaves of autumn fall and are withered so hope has been blighted, almost as I came - I go away - even the high courage - which often inspired me in the beautiful days of summer - has disappeared - O Providence - grant me at least but one day of pure joy - it is so long since real joy echoed in my heart - O when - O when, O Divine One - shall I find it again in the temple of nature and of men - Never? no - O that would be too hard.

I can’t help but to be totally delighted by my brilliant friend Pierrot’s theoretical musings every single time (I definitely won’t fail to bring a notebook for our date on Wednsday!). This one on the title of my series “Vis-à-vis”:

dimanche 1 juin 2008

Tathata / sur Chin-Chin Wu

” Pour désigner la réalité, le bouddhisme dit sunya, le vide ; mais encore mieux : tathata, le fait d’être tel, d’être ainsi, d’être cela ; tat veut dire en sanskrit cela et ferait penser au geste du petit enfant qui désigne une chose du doigt et dit : ta, da, ça ! Une photographie se trouve toujours au bout de ce geste. Elle dit : ça, c’est ça, c’est tel ! […] La photographie n’est jamais qu’un chant alterné de “voyez”, “vois”, “voici” ; elle pointe du doigt un certain vis-à-vis, et ne peut se sortir de ce pur langage déïctique.”

Barthes, Roland, La chambre claire, Paris, Cahiers du cinéma, Gallimard, 1980, p.15-16

Extrait de la série “Vis-à-vis”, Chin-Chin Wu, 2006-08

Mon amie Chin-Chin Wu est l’auteur d’une série de photographies qu’elle a rebaptisé récemment “Vis-à-vis”. Je m’interrogeais jusqu’à ce matin sur ce nouveau titre sans trouver de réponse particulière. Connaissant le grand soin qu’apporte cette artiste à fonder son propos sur une série de photographies qui rencontre, j’en suis certain, des réactions très variées, je déduis que ce titre fonctionne comme une petite annexe, une note de bas de page. Sans chercher à l’enfermer dans un sens particulier, ce qui serait de mon point de vue réducteur pour la série, le titre “Vis-à-vis” me semble être néanmoins un indice donné par Chin Chin sur les spécificités photographiques de son travail. Car il s’agit bien d’un pur travail photographique ; inscrit dans son histoire, conscient de ses codes, malmenant une tradition picturale, et jouant avec ce que l’outil photographie peut faire de mieux : brouiller les pistes, faire se superposer les grilles d’analyse du spectateur. L’érotique (la pulsion libidinale au centre de l’acte photographique), le pornographique (la tristesse de la chair offerte dans un éclairage uniforme, morcelée, défigurée), le médical (le point de vue clinique sur la femme et son appareil génital) et le politique (la connaissance des femmes de leur sexe, dans une approche féministe) dialoguent pour une fois dans un travail qui n’exclue aucun de ces champs, qui au contraire s’appuie sur la force polysémique de la photographie et s’enrichie par tous les discours qui y cohabitent.

Vis-à-vis, donc, est un terme qui suppose un échange, un dialogue, fait intervenir la notion du spectateur, du regardé-regardant plus précisément. On dit d’une vue qu’elle est sans vis-à-vis pour marquer l’absence d’un regard de l’extérieur vers l’intérieur, mais aussi pour signifier l’impossibilité de notre regard (puisque supposé voyeuriste) à pénétrer chez l’autre. Le vis-à-vis est un pacte silencieux du regard.

Et c’est précisément le regard, plus que le sexe, qui est au centre de cette oeuvre “Vis-à-vis”.

Currently listening :
Beethoven: Complete Sonatas for Pianoforte & Cello
Peter Wispelwey, Paul Komen
Release date: 1993-08-17