WAN LI
2019年9月28日晚7点直至午夜，加拿大萨斯卡通市迎来了“Nuit Blanche”(“白昼之夜”)的艺术活动。来自中国的雕塑家万莉，作为萨斯卡通“Nuit Blanche”邀请的第一名中国艺术家，在城市中心展出了别具匠心的“错乱空间（Rebellious Space）”的公共空间装置。“Nuit Blanche （白昼之夜）”是全球性的夜间城市艺术节，2002年创始于法国巴黎，发展至今，每年都会有包括欧洲于世界各地的30多个城市共同响应。“白昼之夜”根基于“都市创新”及“公共空间设计”两大核心概念，为市民提供亲近艺术及城市的场域。早在1989年，南特 (Nantes) 市长Jean-Marc Ayrault为了翻新城市中心建设和设立“当代遗产” (contemporarypatrimony) 项目，让Blaise创立一个深夜文化节，命名为“LesAllumées” (意为TheLight Up，点亮)。这个文化节一办就办了六年，还延伸到巴塞罗那、圣彼得堡、布宜诺斯艾利斯、那不勒斯和开罗。这个艺术节一年换一个城市，每年都汇聚上百名艺术家参与。直到1995年在哈瓦那，古巴政府拒签了300名艺术家签证，这个活动才取消。
2002年，该艺术节被恢复，同样沿用“Les Allumées” 的概念——但原本为期一个周的活动被浓缩到一个晚上，而且所有的艺术展示都集中于表达巴黎特色文化。
经过一晚的活动，被重命名为Nuit Blanche的“深夜文化节”迅速在全球120多个城市里蔓延开来：如欧洲地区的巴黎、布鲁塞尔、罗马、马德里、里加等，又如美洲的加拿大。有北美“小巴黎”之称的蒙特利尔于2004年推出了北美第一个Nuit Blanche，随后立即被传播到了多伦多，渥太华，埃德蒙顿，卡尔加里，哈利法克斯和萨斯卡通。华人艺术家韩笑与孙齐鸣代表着萨斯卡通华人艺术家小组“Kyuubi Culture（九尾•萨艺）”，成功地申请了本次的展览机会，并邀请了来自中国的艺术家万莉来进行艺术之夜作品的设计与制作。万莉是长期活跃于国内与国外的公共艺术家与雕塑家，以极为细腻的艺术表现手法与富有人文精神的态度，在中国、丹麦、加拿大和波兰，都做过规模较大、公众参与人数众多、互动性极强的公共艺术作品。该展区的策划人与艺术家都是华人，所以艺术品的创作理念也采取了很多中国元素。由于来此参加艺术之夜活动的观众群体比较多元，因此他们将这个看似固定的空间作品发展成为了一场有层次时间效应的公众互动作品，时间将成为这组三维作品中的第四个维度。公众参与的活动有舞狮（萨省大学孔子学院舞狮团）、旗袍秀（萨城中国舞俱乐部)、现代舞（KSAMB Dance Company) 等活动，最后是最主要的手机FLASH互动环节。 在六月初次递交上空间展览的提案的时候，万莉计划选择萨市市中心一所普通的建筑，并将这个建筑的外立面的轮廓线整个用木制结构重新制作出来，重新改变其透视变化，再次依附在建筑实体本身，形成一种空间上的错视感。但随着选址的变更，她的展览空间位于一个市中心的前后通透的巷子，周围都没有相应的建筑可以拉出立面结构出来。因此，根据有限的空间，万莉及其团队对方案进行了相应的调整。
其实，巷子空间对于一个做公共空间艺术的艺术家来说，无疑是一个非常具有挑战以及新鲜的好机遇。前后贯通的狭长空间，相对光线较为昏暗，这也是有利于艺术材料——夜光胶带的发挥的。因此一切都是那样的顺利。万莉于九月完成丹麦的项目后马不停蹄地直飞加拿大，与策展人团队开始准备材料与工作室设备，开始宣传与志愿者招募工作。
在这里要着重介绍一下此次活动的策展团队。“九尾•萨艺”由有着多年艺术创作与策展经验的艺术家组成，是一个在绘画、雕塑、摄影、行为、空间装置艺术上有着高度专业性的艺术团队，由策展人及独立艺术家韩笑和独立艺术家孙齐鸣于2017年创立。九尾•萨艺曾成功策划了多个加拿大本地以及国际的个人和团体艺术展览，并多次举办中加文化交流及专业学术交流活动。
“九尾•萨艺”活跃于海内外各大艺术院校，致力于打破艺术与工艺之间的障碍，运用展览、交流、社区艺术活动等形式以弥合不同文化之间的差距。通过展出传统和当代创作语境下的艺术作品，从而支持当代艺术并教育广大民众。韩笑与齐鸣都是在这里呆了很多年的优秀艺术家，组织与策划过很多加拿大本地的艺术展览以及中加艺术交流展览与活动，有着丰富的策展经验与艺术圈人气，这也是为本次能与中国艺术家万莉成功申请到“萨斯卡通白昼之夜”艺术展的最为重要的综合基础。
在展览的前期，“九尾”策展团队一直在“萨斯卡通白昼之夜”的总策展方以及万莉之间做着联络与安排工作，其中包括了组织与安排艺术家去往当地大学艺术学院的不同系部课堂上进行演讲，以及举办艺术之夜活动的宣传工作。在宣传工作期间，他们唤起了各类艺术生的关注，同时也普及了关于该艺术之夜的知识，为团队后期的制作招集到了强有力的来自不同专业的志愿者。摄影系的学生Haffermehl Leigh从头到尾都一直在跟踪团队创作的全过程，雕塑与绘画的学生张羽含，以及机械化专业的刘静宇，以及已经毕业的刘帅一直在制作的环节里出人力与智力支持。除了志愿者，萨大的雕塑实验室老师Todd Lynn从一开始为我们提供材料，到帮助团队切割木材，运输以及上门指导安装的这一系列的过程之中，无私地为这个项目做了巨大的贡献，体现了萨大艺术学院雕塑系对我们的极大的支持，让来自中国的艺术家感受到了加拿大艺术家卓越的专业性与人品。萨斯卡彻温大学孔子学院在此次艺术项目中给予了强大的支持，让中国艺术家在初冷的加拿大夜晚，感受到了来自深扎海外的祖国文化交流组织的温暖。
与此同时，萨斯卡通市的华人团体，不论是大学里的访问学者还是长期生活在这里的华人，都从四面八方赶来与艺术家见面，并提供了方方面面的人力与物力的无私支持。在艺术品实施的这十来天里，策展团队在与他们保持着良好的沟通，他们的一些能力与才华与艺术家的创作理念有着极为契合的合作关系，并因为当地华人团体的参与 ，使得艺术作品的空间感与互动性在一开始就被积极地调动了起来。公共艺术的魅力，就在于互动参与精神所带来的人与人的关怀。
在距离Nuit Blanche 白昼之夜还有十二天左右的时间里，九尾策展团队为艺术家万莉提供了工具完备的木作工作室，在这里大家齐心协力，具体分工，有条不紊地进行着艺术作品的制作。几乎每隔二天就会有不同专业的志愿者来到这里协助艺术家，一切都积极地有序进行着。
在制作的过程中，团队保持着高度的紧密度，策展人韩笑与孙齐鸣在对外宣传与沟通工作上一直保持着严谨性与积极性，使艺术家在展览前期对作品制作，运输与安装都有着非常大的信心。
经过了将近十天的作品的制作环节，Nuit Blanche 白昼之夜的空间装置作品终于在艺术团队与志愿者的努力工作下完成了，策展人韩笑请来了她的当地好友，二位木作达人Josh Vrinten, Mitch Paton,开来卡车来准备运输。布展当天，萨斯卡彻温大学GORDON SNELGROVE GALLERY 的馆长Marcus Miller与摄影专业的研究生Haffermehl Leigh也来到现场，全程协助艺术家进行作品的运输及安装工作。
Nuit Blanche Saskatoon 2019在2019年9月28日晚，于萨斯卡通市的市中心及河岸分布进行。艺术之夜从这天夜里的七点持续到夜里12点，中国艺术家万莉的艺术装置被安装在正市中心的街区。
万莉的艺术装置作品“错乱空间”被安装在萨斯卡通市中心的街区。万莉从中国传统园林建筑中的空间回廊的形态得到灵感，对萨市巷落空间进行了创作。
整件作品是由14个由小到大的五边形结构组成，由最大的300厘米的边长到30厘米边长的框架形成曲曲折折的由远及近的空间雕塑结构。整个作品从巷子的一端延伸至巷口——本来只有十来米的狭长通道，由于折叠变化的空间纵伸关系，以及从大到小的同等形状的结构的变化，形成了“视错觉”，将这个直来直往的巷子在视觉上延伸得更长，空间显得层次丰富而深远。
在这里，由于通透的空间关系，借景、分景，都是通过布置空间、组织空间、创造空间、扩大空间的种种手法，丰富美的感受，创造了艺术意境。这令人联想起明代沈复所说的：“大中见小，小中见大，虚中有实，实中有虚，或藏或露，或浅或深，不仅在周回曲折四字也”(《浮生六记》)。
作为一名公共艺术家，万莉希望她的作品的目的能让公众身临其境地介入进她营造的一个空间气氛里。因此公众参与环节是这件作品最为重要的动感的一个环节，起着“点晴”的作用。因此，围绕该作品的活动安排分为几个部分。由萨斯卡彻温大学孔子学院舞狮队CI Lion Dance Club开场。舞狮队的华人身份，使“舞狮”起到了热场与身份亮相的作用。劲爆而热情洋溢的开场，让在场所有观众的心都沸腾了起来。
随后是萨城中国舞俱乐部Saskatoon Chinese Dance Club的旗袍秀。在即将迎来第一场雪的萨斯卡通市，夜里的温度虽然只有零下，但萨城中国舞俱乐部的华人女士们穿着美仑美奂的锦绣旗袍，在空间装置作品里优雅地踱步。她们曼妙的身姿与曲折通透的空间交叠穿梭，让路人倍感惊艳。
旗袍秀结束以后，大家正回味着空间装置里的中国味，来自萨斯卡通市本地的现代舞艺术家们身着桔色的鲜艳工装，披着灰白色的织物，成群来到装置作品前。他们在观众毫无准备之时，便进入到层层递进的装置空间里，开始表演舞蹈。史诗般的剧场情景，在一个寒冷的加拿大冬夜里，被舞者与空间装置的良好互动高调地烘托起来。舞者们用一种异常沉静的无音乐声效的舞蹈，用织物与雕塑的块面与线条的穿插，用激烈地奔跑与宁静的依偎，活跃着夜间这个静止的城市空间。
现代舞者们离开后，万莉要求工作人员将现场空间的灯光都关掉，开始用手机FLASH灯光在装置上绘画。这个过程是这件作品最为核心的环节。这个空间装置作品长达15米，宽度从前方“300厘米*300厘米”的大结构，渐渐演变为最后的“30厘米*30厘米”的小结构。作品整体都是用夜光胶带包裹而成，此时夜光胶带的即时吸光作用得以全面的发挥，展现出材料本身与周边光线的互动性。当灯光暗下来的那一刻，雕塑通体在黑夜的深巷里闪烁着淡然的莹光色。就在大家沉静思考的时候，万莉打开手机FLASH，开始在结构上绘画，人们看到光线在这件作品上留下了长达数秒的笔触后，非常兴奋，纷纷掏出自己的手机FLASH灯光，开始进入到这样一个有趣的瞬间绘画环节。
夜幕逐渐降临，萨斯卡通市中心的人群却并未消褪。一年一度的白昼之夜吸引了大量的市民或其他城市的市民前来参与活动。聚集在“错乱之夜”空间装置作品前的人们越来越多，有一家人带着孩子来到，有情侣，有大学里结伴而来的同学们。大家来到作品前，惊叫着“喔，太酷了”，并纷纷先后加入到在装置中用手机FLASH绘画的过程中，并拍下照片留念。人们在装置上写下文字，画下对方的样子，抑或是写下一些有意思的句子，由于灯光在夜光胶带上保留的时间大概是10秒，因此人们对瞬间保留下来的绘画倍感珍惜，写完一根再写一根。闪耀着莹光绿色的种种图案被欢乐地写下，随即又渐渐消逝。这就像暗示生命是短暂的，却有不一样的精彩。万莉在最前面的结构里，不断地写下不同的语句，来告诉大家这件作品的互动操作。她写下了大量的中文，吸引了很多人驻足观看。这些闪耀的文字与绘画，如同烟花与汽泡一般，在这暗夜里闪耀，然后渐渐散去，而后重又聚集。
在公共艺术作品里，艺术事件和公共空间里即时存在的艺术作品，是一种非常直观的与公众交流与沟通的方式。在时间上，艺术事件的具体发生，在物理性上并不会持续很久。但这个事件在公众与社会上的艺术效应将是持久而日渐散发的。“白昼之夜”艺术项目发展至今，所吸纳参与的城市数目不断地扩大，参与的艺术种类不断地丰富，这体现了城市化进程中不断高涨的文化诉求。在空间上，艺术事件的设计与安置，都是被艺术家严格控制在整体效应之内的。不管是在广场空间，或是在公共室内空间——如美术馆或图书馆，都要将公共艺术巧妙地设计进我们的公共空间里。艺术家始终要思考，如何传输一些能够与大众共情的、唤发人们感受的公共空间作品。而这样的公共艺术机会，绝对是提供艺术家和公众进行互动的最佳温床。
在周末，在月圆之夜，在不同国家的秋季城市，让我们点亮人们心里的那盏路灯，迎接更多的城市之子，让艺术前行。
晚安，白昼之夜。
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Nuit Blanche Saskatoon 2019
Rebellious Space, Li Wan
Nuit Blanche returns to Saskatoon for the 6th consecutive year on September 28th.
The annual art festival includes 20 large outdoor installations distributed throughout the city centre. This year's Saskatoon Nuit Blanche features the very first Chinese artist Li Wan. Wan has her public art installation Rebellious Space set up at downtown Saskatoon. The piece is inspired by traditional Chinese architectural design and spacial concept. Developed exclusively for Nuit Blanche 2019, Rebellious Space utilizes luminous materials, twisted wooden structures that defy logic and geometry, and eccentric performance art to create a surreal space within an otherwise mundane and familiar alleyway.
About Nuit Blanche
Nuit Blanche is an annual all-night art festival that revolves around the two core concepts of “urban innovation” and “public space design”, was established to close the gap between artists and the general public. In 1989, the largest Finnish art festival Helsinki Festival established its Night of the Arts, “when every gallery, museum and bookshop is open until midnight or later and the whole city becomes one giant performance and carnival venue”.
A year later, the mayor of Nantes, Jean-Marc Ayrault's program included renovating the central city and establishing a “contemporary patrimony”, which led arts programmer Jean Blaise to create a late-night cultural festival, “Les Allumées”(Things Alight). His concept was to have an arts festival in Nantes, from 6 pm to 6 am, over six years with artists from six cities.
After this series of festivals, the late-night cultural festival now renamed Nuit Blanche quickly spread in more than 120 cities across Europe. Later on, it came to North America. In 2004 Montreal launched the first Canadian Nuit Blanche, the cultural phenomenon was then immediately spread to Toronto, Ottawa, Edmonton, Calgary, Ha. Halifax and Saskatoon in the following years.
Preparation
Kyuubi Culture, the curation team behind this project, is an interdisciplinary art collective consisting of artists experienced in various artistic practices and with diverse cultural backgrounds. Founded in 2017 by artists Xiao Han and Qiming Sun, Kyuubi Culture has successfully curated numerous solo and group exhibitions both locally and internationally and has hosted several cultural, academic exchanges between China and Canada.
Working across continents, Kyuubi Culture strives to break the barriers between art and craft, and bridge the gaps between cultures. By exhibiting artworks that utilize both traditional and technological creative processes, the collective seeks to support contemporary art and educate the general public.
This year, Kyuubi Culture is joined for Nuit Blanche Saskatoon by well established China-based artist Li Wan, who has received numerous awards in sculpture, installation, and public art, and has her large-scaled, oftentimes highly interactive installations exhibited in China, Canada, Denmark and Poland.
At the early stage of the development, the two leaders of Kyuubi Culture, Xiao and Qiming has been doing seamless connections and arrangements between the programming committee of Nuit Blanche Saskatoon and the artist Li Wan, including organizing artist talks in different classes within the department of Art and Art History at the University of Saskatchewan, advertising the event through multiple social network platforms and local communities, educating general public about Nuit Blanche, overcoming all different kinds of unpredictable changes and obstacles, and gathering a team of capable volunteers to help the artist throughout her endeavour.
Work in progress
Haffermehl Leigh, a photography student, has been following and supporting the artist throughout the entire creative process. Our tiredness student volunteers including Darwin Cowell, Yuhan Zhang, Jingyu Liu, and Shuai Liu provided us with great support both physically and intellectually. In addition to the volunteers, Todd Lyons, the sculpture technician at the University of Saskatchewan, made a huge contribution to the project by providing the team with materials, helping with woodcutting, and offering expert guidance on installation and construction of the artwork. Professor Jennifer Crane from U of S along with a group of her senior photography students made excellent and highly detailed photo documentation of the project. The Confucius Institute at the U of S has and the Chinese community members living in Saskatoon also given the team a considerable amount of assistance.
The tremendous support and consistent encouragement from the Department of Art and Art History at U of S demonstrate the genuine friendship and palpable bond between Canadian and Chinese artists.
Twelve days prior to Nuit Blanche, Kyuubi Culture has provided the artist with a well-equipped studio, where everyone worked together in an orderly fashion. There were volunteers with different skillsets showing up to assist the artists every other day, and everything is carried out smoothly.
In the course of production, the team maintains a high degree of closeness. Xiao and Qiming have always been meticulous and enthusiastic in the scheduling, publication, and communication department so that the artists could keep on working with complete assurance.
Installation
After nearly ten days of intense production, Rebellious Space is finally ready for installation. On the day of the exhibition, Xiao invited her friends, Josh Vrinten and Mitch Paton, to drive parts of this sizeable piece to the exhibition site. Meanwhile, Haffermehl Leigh and the director of Gordon Snelgrove Gallery Marcus Miller also came to the scene to assist the artist in the transportation and installation of the work.
NUIT BLANCHE • NIGHTFALL
Installed in the alleyway at downtown Saskatoon, Rebellious Space is inspired by the ever-changing traditional Chinese architecture. The installation consists of 14 free standing pentagon structures of various sizes arranged from large to small. The largest frame stands 3 meters tall and the smallest one measures 30 centimetres. The entire installation spreads from the end to the beginning of the alley, forming a zigzagging tunnel alongside the alley walls. Due to optical illusion, the 10 meters long alleyway got visually elongated by the artwork. Although the structures formed a linear tunnel, each individual frame was deliberately shifted to a different angle, which introduced multiple perspectives into a single space, thus manipulated the space into a cubist dimension with various layers and vanishing points.
Shen Fu, an architecture scholar of Qing Dynasty describe this spacial manipulation technique as “ To put the small within large, to place the large within small; the tangibles are hidden within the intangibles, just like the intangibles intertwines with the tangibles; it could be hidden or be exposed, it can sink deep beneath or float on top, that is something couldn’t be fully described in merely four words. ” ( 浮生六记, Six Records of a Floating Life,1877 )
Aside from the intricate space maneuverability of the installation, another crucial element of Rebellious Space is audience engagement.
As a public artist, Li Wan wishes to create a unique space with her artworks for the viewers to interact with. Therefore, Kyuubi Culture arranged multiple performances at the installation site. The mini-events started with a spectacular lion dance brought to us by CI Lion Dance Club from Confucius Institute of the U of S, the energetic dance immediately hyped up the audience.
Shortly after, the ladies from Saskatoon Chinese Dance Club gave us a mesmerizing cheongsam runway show. The bone-chilling wind of late September didn’t waver the ladies a bit. Accompanied by the mysterious ancient Chinese orchestra, they gracefully prancing through the wooden structure, the resplendent silk cheongsam, the elegant female figures, and the installation complements each other perfectly. The entire audience was captivated by the classical Chinese beauty.
While everyone is still relishing in the lingering fragrance of the cheongsam runway, the dancers from KSAMB Dance Club entered the installation site. They were wearing bright orange inmate suits, covered by grey blankets, maneuvering silently among the structures. Their theatrical performance transformed the installation into an epic stage, their fluid movements projected unique energy into the cold air of the autumn night.
After the contemporary dancers left, Li Wan asked the staff to turn off all the lights in the alleyway, revealing another hidden feature: the installation radiates ghostly green glow.
Every inch of the wooden structure was covered by luminous tape that can be charged with any light source and glow in the dark. As the audience was astounded by such dramatic change, the artist pulled yet another trick up her sleeves: Li turns on the flashlight on her phone, place the light bulb close to the structure and started moving the phone slowly. Where ever the flashlight glided through, the spot gets charged, leaving a trail of glowing patterns that slowly fade away like shooting stars in slow motion clips. The audience burst into delightful screams, excitingly turns on their flashlights and started writing their glowing messages on the structure.
It’s well past midnight, yet the crowd gathering around Rebellious Space only gets larger. There were couples, groups of friends, families with children… They all came to the installation, doing their creative works on the luminous structures. The artist herself never stopped drawing and writing on the structures, as a demonstration of the interaction. The beautiful Chinese letters she wrote also attracted countless passing by pedestrians to participate.
Since the glow only lasts couple seconds after such a short time of light exposure, everyone’s works became more precious than ever, just like fireworks, they shine brightly for a brief moment, the fades into the night sky. However, the beauty, the precious memories, and the joy of this night will forever remain in people’s hearts.
In public art, art events and interactive artworks are very intuitive ways of communication, they go beyond the boundaries of cultures, nationalities, and verbal languages. Public art is ephemeral, art events wouldn’t have prolonged duration. Yet the cultural impact caused by public art is eternal and will keep growing and evolving. Nuit Blanche can become such a global cultural phenomenon today is the living proof that the development of art events ties in directly with a city’s cultural evolvement. In terms of the creative process, the public artist is trying to break the boundary between the artists and their audiences by transforming the mundane living space into a gallery space. And art festival like Nuit Blanche is the epitome of public engagement and artists-audience dialogues.
On the late autumn night where the moon shines bright, no matter where you are from or who you are, let us rejoice and celebrate, and remember this magical night of art and culture.
Bonne nuit, Nuit Blanche!