Exhibition: In Beijing
Press release
‘In many parts of China mirrors are placed outside the house to frighten away evil spirits… Mass production of mirrors in the early 20th C. reinforced cosmological conceptions, and mirrors were placed in many different settings to help improve the flow of energy and money, and keep a confined space from becoming dead and stagnant.’
‘Exotic Commodities,‘ Frank Dikotter, pub. 2007
Couchman has been making work about changing landscapes in various places for many years. Since working in Beijing, her practice has often focused upon exploring scale in her images and the mix of old and new she sees around her. She has used printmaking, drawing, photography and installation to communicate these ideas.
Beijing is a huge city in flux, a city that is constantly changing at a rapid pace. Couchman is curious to know what these changes mean to its inhabitants but also to ‘touch’ what it looks like. Recently, she has been working around the perimeter of a new development, in the hutong lanes near Gulou, the city’s historic Drum and Bell Tower Square, on the edges of what has now been permanently removed. This new photographic series seeks the texture and the vistas of the hutongs that have undergone this process of destruction. As Couchman says, the project aims, “to explore what I can see of the land – literally the earth and fabric of the city. It has a performative angle: process, construction, dirt, proximity and distance are all evident in these images. This is what I am working with.”
Couchman has headed out into the streets armed with a camera and three mirrors. The mirrors are used to fuse the different elements of the photographed scenes, both material and immaterial. The result is not the illusion of a cityscape but rather an intimate yet distant exploration of the fabric, and texture of a city whose detail as well as vistas are in flux.
Aluss Art Photography Space, 141 Gulou Dongdajie
19 June – 09 July
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Helen Couchman 最新作品展
“在中国的许多地方，镜子被放置在房子外面以驱魔辟邪……20 世纪初期镜子的大量生产增强了天人观念，镜子被布置在许多不同的方位以促使能量和钱财的流通，并阻止一个特定的空间变得充满煞气和污浊的空气。”
《舶来品》弗兰克·迪科特，2007年出版
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Couchman拍摄关于不同地方的风景变化已经很多年了。自从在北京工作后，她就时常聚焦探索作品里的尺度和身边新旧混杂的风景。目前为止，她已经运用了版画、绘画、摄影和装置多种不同的艺术形式来传达这些所见所思。
北京是个变迁中的庞大城市，一个经常处在快速变化中的城市。Couchman很好奇这些变化对它的居民来说意味着什么，同时好奇地想去感知这些变化的面貌。最近，她开始着眼于鼓楼附近胡同的一个新的发展项目：对这个城市历史意义重大的钟鼓楼正处在被永久搬迁的边缘。这些新鲜的系列影像试图探寻经历了毁灭之后的胡同的实质与远景。如Couchman所言，这个项目旨在 “探寻这片土地上，我能看见什么——不夸张的说，就是这个城市的土地和结构。从陈述事实的角度出发：进程、建设、尘土、亲近和疏离都在这些影像中清晰可见。这就是我在利用的因素。”
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Couchman总是带着一个照相机和三面反光镜进出大街小巷。反光镜是用来融和拍摄场景里的不同元素，包括物质的和非物质的。与其说最后拍摄出来的是城市风景，不如说是对这个细节和未来都在不断变化中的城市结构和实质即亲近又疏离的探索。
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展览开放 6月19日-7月9日
阿鲁斯艺术摄影空间
北京鼓楼东大街141号，2楼
电话：8400-2628，开放时间 下午4点-营业结束
