Lisson Gallery is honoured to present their first solo exhibition in China with American artist Lawrence Weiner. Widely regarded as a trailblazer in the development of Conceptual Art in the 1960s, Weiner saw himself as a sculptor and defined his sculptural medium simply as ‘language + the material referred to’, by referring to language as a material for construction. Presenting a selection of wall-based texts dating from 1972 – 2013, alongside two video installations, the exhibition in the North Gallery of Lisson Gallery Beijing is Weiner’s first presentation in China since the 2008 exhibition, ‘TO ALLOW THE LIGHT’ at the UCCA, Beijing, offering a chance to trace the contours of a career that spans over 50 years.
A central figure in the formation of the Conceptual Art movement, Weiner rigorously constructed an oeuvre that reflects and encourages the interaction of both linguistic and artistic themes, having worked with a multitude of genre that include installations, videos, films, books, sound works, sculptures, and performances. Weiner presented his art in language form, asserting that a construction in language can function as sculpture just as adequately as a fabricated object. Throughout his career, he investigated the nature of language as a three-dimensional material. While believing that the value of his practice exists within the language itself, rather than within a unique physical presentation, the artist provided guidance on how to present his words; Weiner wrote a DECLARATION OF INTENT in 1968, which established the conditions for serving his work:
THE ARTIST MAY CONSTRUCT THE WORK
THE WORK MAY BE FABRICATED
THE WORK NEED NOT BE BUILT
EACH BEING EQUAL AND CONSISTENT WITH THE INTENT OF THE ARTIST THE DECISION AS TO CONDITION RESTS WITH THE RECEIVER UPON THE OCCASION OF RECEIVERSHIP.
While Weiner never strayed from these guidelines, the forms and contexts for Weiner’s works continue to develop, given the ever-expansive nature of language-as-material. Without restricting metaphors, Weiner believed that a work’s existence requires a readership and social engagement rather than a physical presence, which leaves viewers with an interpretative autonomy. This concept radically reimagined the relationship between viewer, artist, and artwork, allowing the possibility for multiple iterations of the same piece.
Weiner insisted that the material concerns of the sculptures transcend the particularities of any one language, and can exist, and do exist equally, in any language. Thus, the four works featured in this exhibition are both rendered in their original English as well as in Chinese, including the earliest work in this presentation HAVING ROLLED BEFORE INCARCERATION... (1972), noting Weiner’s response to labour protests happening at a printing plant in Turin, Italy.
Also featured in this presentation is an 18-minute, cartoon-styled video entitled SINK OR SWIM (2003). Combining live footage with animated drawings, text and diagrams, this collaged sequence comments on the relationship between knowledge, perception and language with recurring visual and linguistic references to water and the sky. The other video in this presentation is a recording of an early interview with CBC Television in Halifax, Canada in 1969, where Weiner enacted ONE STANDARD DYE MARKER THROWN INTO THE SEA (1968), articulating both the intention and function of his work.
Driven by a strong belief that art should be accessible to all, Weiner’s interest in public art led to a substantial body of work produced in a variety of urban spaces throughout his career. To accompany the exhibition, beyond the gallery space, one large-scale participatory work by Weiner will be presented at the 798 Art District as part of Gallery Weekend Beijing’s public programme (26 May to 4 June).
As curator Kelly Taxter wrote in the essay to accompany this presentation, “Weiner’s contribution to Conceptual art was much more than a material innovation, it was a rebuke of institutional constraints that separated artists from their public. He also hoped that our role – as viewer, audience and public of his work – was to find a use for it.”
里森画廊荣幸地宣布呈现美国艺术家劳伦斯·韦纳 (Lawrence Weiner) 在中国空间的首次个展。韦纳被公认是1960年代观念艺术发展的开拓者，他本人则自视为雕塑家，把自己雕塑的媒介定义为“语言+所指的材料”，将语言作为建构作品的媒材。本次在北京空间北展厅的展览带来了一系列创作于1972至2013年、基于墙体的文本，以及两件影像装置，我们由此得以追溯他50余年的创作生涯。这也是继2008年在北京尤伦斯当代艺术中心的个展「以邀光」之后，韦纳再度于中国推出个展。
作为观念艺术运动的核心人物，韦纳的作品涵盖了装置、影像、电影、书籍、声音、雕塑和表演等多种形式，毕生实践以严谨的态度推动和展现语言学和艺术主题之间的互文。韦纳用语言的形式来表现艺术，在创作生涯中始终探讨着语言作为三维媒介的特质，他认为由语言建构的雕塑具备和实体构造一样的功能性。艺术家相信他实践的价值在于语言本身，而非实体的存在，但也针对他作品的呈现方式提供了指引。1968年，韦纳撰写了《意图的陈述》(DECLARATION OF INTENT)，阐释其作品展示的条件：
艺术家可构建作品 (THE ARTIST MAY CONSTRUCT THE WORK)
作品可被制造 (THE WORK MAY BE FABRICATED)
作品无须被实现 (THE WORK NEED NOT BE BUILT)
每件作品都是平等的，并符合艺术家的期许 (EACH BEING EQUAL AND CONSISTENT WITH THE INTENT OF THE ARTIST)
作品的状态由观者在接收到作品时自行决定 (THE DECISION AS TO CONDITION RESTS WITH THE RECEIVER UPON THE OCCASION OF RECEIVERSHIP)
韦纳从未偏离这些准则，但基于语言作为媒介的无限延展性，作品的形式和语境得以不断发展。由于韦纳不为他的文字附加隐喻的限制，认为艺术作品的存在是基于阅读和社会参与，而非实体，因此他赋予观众自主解读作品的自由。这一概念彻底重塑了观众、艺术家和作品之间的关系，让同一件作品拥有多次演绎和展示的可能。
韦纳坚称他雕塑中的材料性超越了任意单一语言，并且平等地存在于所有语言。因此本次展览中的四件文本作品都以英文原版及中文翻译版本呈现，包括了其中最早创作的《禁锢之前滚动过...》(HAVING ROLLED BEFORE INCARCERATION..., 1972)。在青少年时期，韦纳曾于纽约曼哈顿的码头当装卸工人以赚取额外的收入，他也曾积极参与美国民权运动的游行，因此他对工会和工人权利抱有一份共鸣和同情，而这件创作于1972年的作品则是响应了当时意大利都灵一家印刷厂发生的一次工人罢工活动，作品名称有暗指印刷机器运作的意味。
本次展览还呈现了一部时长18分钟的影像《沉或泳》(SINK OR SWIM, 2003)。以卡通风格和拼接镜头为特点，作品融合了实景片段、动态绘图、文本和图像，与水和天空有关的视觉及语言符号反复出现，探讨着知识、感官和语言之间的关系。此外，展览还展出了一段来自1969年的采访录像，影片记录了韦纳在加拿大哈利法克斯接受CBC电视台的访问；而在同一影片中，观众还可以看到韦纳演绎他的表演作品《一支被扔进大海的标准染色剂》(ONE STANDARD DYE MARKER THROWN INTO THE SEA, 1968)，以及艺术家阐释他作品的意图和功能。
出于对艺术普及的坚定信念，韦纳一贯钟爱公共艺术，并在许多城市空间留下了大量作品。在本次展览期间，韦纳的作品还将出现在画廊以外的场域——作为画廊周北京公共单元的一部分，他的一件大型参与式作品也将于798艺术区的户外区域的地面展出。
韦纳艺术遗产的顾问、纽约非盈利艺术机构 Artists Space 的副馆长凯莉·塔克斯特 (Kelly Taxter) 在为本次展览撰写的文章中写道：“韦纳对观念艺术的贡献远不止于材料上的革新。他诘问机构将艺术家与公众阻隔开来的约束，他也希望我们作为他作品的观众、受众和公众，能为作品找到它的用途。”
