Tag Archives: exhibition

Video interview, TAV, Taiwan. 駐村藝術家/Helen COUCHMAN 駐村訪談

14th February, 2017


Video interview with Helen Couchman at TAV, Taiwan, February 2016. 4:38 minutes

Traveling Together, months 7 & 8. Taipei. 7 January – 5 March 2016
(一起旅行・第 7 與第 8 個月.台北・1月7日 – 3月5日.2016 )

英國曼徹斯特華人當代藝術中心交流計畫 CFCCA Exchange Program /
來訪藝術家 Visiting Artist:
Helen COUCHMAN 海倫・考曼

進駐期程 Residency Period:
2016年第一季 First quarter, 2016

進駐地點 Residency Location:
台北國際藝術村 Taipei Artist Village

Epoch, Beijing 2006 – 2012 at the Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art

13th January, 2017

Epoch, Beijing 2006 – 2012
新时代,北京 2006年至2012年

Works by Helen Couchman, Beijing 2006 – 2012
CFCCA, Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art, Manchester, UK.
27th January – 19th February 2017

(Installation shots of the exhibition can be seen here.)

Helen Couchman lived and worked in Beijing for nearly seven years, having arrived on the Trans-Mongolian Train No. 4 at Beijing Main Station in early 2006 and then leaving for a project in New York City at the end of 2012. In that period, she created a number of works. Some involved printmaking, both etching chine-collé and using a technique traditional to Beijing – woodblock printing. Couchman’s body of work during her time in Beijing also included installation, photography, drawing, collage, performative pieces, giving talks and tutorials, and publishing books. All were in response to her particular surroundings in those years.

Those years. Ask any historian to define a period or an era. They argue endlessly about when one era ends, and another begins and over just what defines an age. How to identify the beginning of an era? What constitutes an epoch’s end?

The question becomes even harder when considering the history of China and where China is today. Did Couchman witness the ‘Post-Mao Era’? The ‘Post-Tiananmen Age’? It was a time of Olympic fever. Was the Beijing of “One World, One Dream” already beginning to fade as Couchman departed in 2012, only to be replaced by the more nationalistic concerns of a new leader for a new era: Xi Jinping and his specifically “China Dream?”

Looking back at the time between 2004-2013 from the perspective of the present, Couchman feels nostalgia for a moment come and gone. Beijing (or at least the nearby city of Zhangjiakou) is getting ready for the Winter Games of 2022. But compared to the excitement and anticipation which gripped the city and its people in the run up to the 2008 Summer Games, the atmosphere feels muted, the excitement less palpable.

In 2008, China reached out to the world and Beijing was radically re-sculpted. The song, “Beijing Welcomes You,” was played almost non-stop that year as the city was made orderly for the games, but some asked who might be excluded from that welcome. An unintentionally prescient question it turns out, as the period Couchman worked in Beijing did constitute a particular era, one that in 2016 many look back upon with the same nostalgia as Couchman.

The air is better in China in 2016 than it was a decade ago and new Internet applications make life for urbanites easier. The country is in a much stronger position internationally both in economic and strategic terms.  No doubt these are successes.

But there are growing restrictions on expression with new pressures on scholars, artists, and non-governmental organizations.  The domestic Internet offers a range of conveniences at high speed, but access to the outside world shrinks year on year. Galleries close. Film festivals cancel. Critiques of the state and society are dismissed as being influenced by nefarious foreign forces. It is as chilly an intellectual and artistic climate as at any time in the past three decades.

Couchman’s chose to work in Beijing, responding to Beijing in a particular period. These pieces represent a window not just into a recent past in Beijing and China, but also to an alternate vision of a future. One that embraces the kind of international cosmopolitanism celebrated in Beijing in 2008 and then again a year later with the Shanghai World Expo. The values of the Olympics, the opening of hearts and minds to friends from abroad, made this a special time for all living in Beijing.

We are all products of our culture, but we are also products of a shared humanity. It is what connects art, subject, and viewer.  It is what gives us common cause to embrace visitors to our home or to reach out across the world to make new friends. It was in this spirit that Couchman made these works, images of what turned out to be a very special era in Beijing.

 

CFCCA exhibition. Helen Couchman 2017

CFCCA website: Above, WORKERS, below, interview filmed at TAV, Tiapei, Taiwan

 

新时代,北京 2006年至2012年
Epoch, Beijing 2006 – 2012

Helen Couchman的作品,2006年至2012年,于北京
CFCCA, Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art

2006年初Helen Couchman乘坐着横穿蒙古的第4号列车抵达了北京火车总站,便在北京生活并工作了七年,此后于2012年底离开,前往纽约的一个项目。在北京的那段时间里,她创作了许多作品。她运用了版画技巧,既有蚀刻版画,又有雕版印刷(即北京的传统技巧,但对她来说却是一门新技术)。Couchman在北京期间的工作还包括装置艺术、摄影、绘画、抽象拼贴画、表演艺术作品、讲座及教学,还发表了一些书籍。所有这些都来自于她在那些年里对周围特殊环境和事物所作出的反应。

那些年。让任何一个历史学家来给一个时期或一个时代下定义。他们会就一个时代何时起止或仅仅是就由什么来定义一个时代而争论不休。如何去辨认一个时代的起始呢?是什么标志了一个时代的终止?

当考虑到中国历史和今日中国所处的位置时,这个问题就变得更加复杂了。Couchman是不是见证到了“后毛泽东时代”?“后天安门时代”?那个时候正是奥林匹克运动热的时期。北京的“同一个世界、同一个梦想”是否在Couchman2012年离开时就已经开始逐渐消失?取而代之的是一位新领袖所带来的一个更重视民族主义的新时代:习近平和他所提出的“中国梦”?

从现在的角度回顾2004年至2013年那段时期,Couchman的怀旧之情时起时伏。北京(或者说,至少是旁边的张家口市)正在为2022年的冬季运动会着手准备。然而,与2008年夏季运动会开始之前遍布整个城市和人们心中的兴奋与期待之情相比,现在这个气氛逊色了许多,兴奋之情也更不易察觉了。
2008年中国把手伸向世界,北京也被彻底地重塑了。这个城市在那年为了奥运会而变得整齐有序时,那首《北京欢迎您》的歌曲也被没完没了地播放着,但有些人问道,谁会被排除在了这个欢迎之外。一个无意间地提问却是有先见之明的,因为Couchman在北京工作的这段时间里确实包含了一段特殊的时期,这段时期让许多人在2016年时回想起来,都会产生与Couchman同样的怀旧之情。

2016年中国的空气与十年前相比要好一些,而且新因特网应用程序也让都市人的生活更加容易。从经济及战略角度来看,这个国家在国际上处在了更为强大的地位。毫无疑问地,这些都是成就。

但也出现了越来越多对表达的限制,对学者、艺术家及非政府机构施加的新压力。国内互联网以很快地速度提供了一系列便利条件,但通向外部世界的入口却逐年缩小。美术馆关闭。电影艺术节取消。对国家和社会的批评被认为是受到外部邪恶势力的影响而不予理会。知识与艺术氛围就跟过去三十年中的任何时候一样寒冷。

Couchman选择了去北京工作,以响应北京的这一段特殊时期。这些作品代表了一扇窗,不仅仅是通向北京和中国不远的过去,而且是对另一种未来的憧憬。一种欣然接受2008年在北京所欢庆的那种国际性世界主义的未来,这一点也在后来的上海世博会体现出来。奥林匹克运动会的价值观,即对海外友人们敞开心扉,给所有生活在北京的人带来了一段特别的时期。

我们都是各自文化的产物,但我们也是同一个人类的产物。这就是连系着艺术、主题与观众的东西。就是这个给予我们同一个理由将访客迎入家门,或是我们走遍世界、四海交友。就是在这样一种精神下,Couchman创作了这些作品和图像,其所描绘的也是北京一段非常特别的时期。

UCCA from the website, Self portrait with Long Life Earrings

Poster on the UCCA, Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art, Beijing website. The image used is ‘Self portrait with Long Life Earrings’ by Helen Couchman for the artist’s talk, ‘China Stories – Collecting and Dropping, China.’ 2011.

Omani Women on exhibit at Athens Photo Festival

21st July, 2016

Omani Women on exhibit at Athens Photo Festival. The Photobook Exhibition at the Benaki Museum, the Hellenic Centre for Photography, Greece until 31/07/16. #APhF16

by Helen Couchman, Omani Women, exhibition, the Photobook, Athens, Greece, The Benikai Museum

Thanks to Jasmine for making it to see Omani Women at The Photobook Exhibition at The Benaki Museum, Athens

Thanks to Jasmine for making it to see ‘Omani Women’ at The Photobook Exhibition at The Benaki Museum, Athens

常日.行旅 Travelling within Everyday Life, T.A.V. Taipei

21st February, 2016

TAV exhibition invite. 27 February 2016

 

「常日.行旅 Travelling within Everyday Life」

展覽日期 Exhibition Date : 2.27(Sat.) 3.20(Sun.) 11:0021:00 (週一公休,Closed on Monday)

開幕茶會 Opening : 2.27(Sat.) 16:00. Runs until until 3.20(Sun)

展覽地點 Venue : 台北國際藝術村,百里廳 Taipei Artist Village, Barry Room

 

策展人 Curator : 林珮鈺 LIN Pei-Yu

參展藝術家 Artists : 海倫‧考曼Helen COUCHMAN、池田剛介Kosuke IKEDA、郭立亭KUO Li-Ting、瑪麗亞‧朱莉安娜‧拜克Maria Juliana BYCK、昆‧范圖Quynh VANTU、戴翰泓TAI Han-HongThe Island、王佩瑄WANG Pei-Hsuan

特別感謝 Thanks : 胡氏藝術Hus Art、双方藝廊Double Square Gallery

 

 

當我們出發去旅行,一步一步逐漸拉開與日常生活的距離,在陌生的環境中,一花一草一木,彷彿都閃爍著迷人耀眼的光芒。這份悸動感與期待感,正是旅行最吸引人心之處。然而,旅行與日常,並非對立的存在,在異地的生活,是旅行與日常的交界不斷彼此跨越、融合的過程。

2016年1月來到台北國際藝術村駐村的藝術家,在我的眼中,是處於不同旅途階段、各有不同目的的旅人。有人正在進行亞洲之旅,台北是亞洲文化故事中的一個篇章;有人已在台灣各地進行一段時間的觀察與田調,作品中揉雜了對這片土地的深層思維;有人是以世界為家的藝術游牧者,正開始嘗試發掘這座城市不起眼的角落風景與聲音地景;有人正與肚子裡的孩子一起展開第一次的兩人之旅,在台北的經驗片段充滿了對未來的期許;有人原本就以台北為家,如今在這座熟悉的城市中尋找著新的路徑。藝術家的展出作品,各自映照出他們在旅行與日常的交互作用之下,從生活經驗中所淬煉出的體悟與觀點,以及重新思考物理空間與心理空間的內與外、不斷重新劃定界線的狀態。

普魯斯特曾說﹕「真正的發現之旅,不是尋找新的風景,而是擁有新的雙眼。」當你在旅途上,無論是多麼稀有壯麗的絕世美景,亦或是多麼平凡無奇的生活風景,在你眼前都是如此鮮明而美麗。讓我們用旅人的雙眼看世界,用旅行的態度過生活。當旅行成為日常,當常日成為行旅,此時此刻就從此處出發吧!

 

As we embark upon our journey, we are gradually pulling away from our everyday life. In a strange environment, everything we see seems to blink in the dazzling light. This sort of excitement and anticipation is the most attractive part of travel. However, travel and everyday life are not two opposite ends of existence. Living in a strange place is a constant integration process across the border between travel and everyday life.

The artists visiting Taipei Artist Village in January, 2016, in my eyes, are all travellers in different journey stages for different purposes. Among which, someone is travelling around Asia; Taipei represents one chapter of the story about Asian culture. Someone has conducted some observation and fieldwork for some time in different parts of Taiwan, creating the work with a mixture of deep insights into this island. Someone is a nomadic artist who considers the world as home and starts to explore the city’s landscapes and soundscapes in obscure corners. Someone is carrying out the first trip for two with a baby in her belly. Those fragments of her life experience in Taipei are filled with expectation for future. Someone has found himself/herself at home in Taipei and is currently seeking for a new path in this familiar city. These artists’ works on display reflect their own understanding and perspectives growing out of the experience under the interaction of travel and everyday life. They review both inside and outside of physical and mental space and the status that the borderline is constantly redrawn.     

As Marcel Proust put it, “the real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” When you are on the road, no matter how magnificent and rare the stunning view is, or how ordinary and dull the daily life landscape is, both can be equally splendid and beautiful. Let’s see the world with the traveller’s eyes and live everyday life with the attitude to travel. When travel becomes everyday life and everyday life becomes a journey, let’s depart from here at this moment!

※展覽FB活動頁 https://www.facebook.com/events/480648205476283/

www.artistvillage.org

For further details and images of the project Travelling Together exhibited click here

Residency at T.A.V. Taiwan

7th January, 2016

TAV artists in residence Jan-Apr 2016

Helen COUCHMAN moved to London in 1991, where she completed a BA in Fine Art at Sir John Cass in 1996, and an MA in Critical Fine Art Practice at Central St Martins in 1998. She was more recently invited to pursue a period of post graduate research at Chelsea.
Couchman has exhibited widely, both in the United Kingdom and internationally, often producing new bodies of work during residencies. Amongst these are Cyprus (2003), Vermont (2005), China (2006), London (2015) and Taiwan(2015).
Moving to live in Beijing in early 2007, Couchman published her first book there, WORKERS , in June 2008. Portraits from the series have been exhibited in London (2008), Hong Kong (2008) and Beijing (2012). Couchman’s second book, Mrs West’s Hats, was published in November 2009.
Couchman’s solo exhibitions also include Mrs West’s Hats, Yerevan, Armenia (2004) Gift, Beijing (2006) and There was no single reason for me to be there at first, London (1999). The artist has contributed to a number of group exhibitions, including The Artful Scriptorium, New York, (2010),There and Everywhere, London (2009), China in Motion, London (2008), Solutions for a Modern City, Hong Kong (2008), Future Landscapes, Shewsbury, UK (2005), Uncommon Ground, Sway, UK (2004), Sodium Blindness, London (2000), find(found),London (1997), and Contemporary Chinoiserie, London (2008).

 

Resident Project:

I plan to make new work in response to my stay in Taipei. In my practice I often make art projects in direct response to the location I work in. In the past they have been referred to as self-made residencies. I spent nearly seven years, 2006-2013, working independently in Beijing initially as it fulfilled a persistent curiosity I have regarding fast changing landscapes and how they reveal the politics and economics of the people in those places. In the last three years I have been working independently on a project in Oman making expeditions across the country to meet women and collaborate with them on portraits.

TAV website - English version

Helen COUCHMAN於1991年移居倫敦,1996年獲得Sir John Cass藝術學院的學士學位,1998年獲得中央聖馬丁藝術實踐評論的碩士學位,近期她被邀請到切爾西進行碩士後研究。她在英國以及國際多處舉辦過展覽,駐村期間常製作新的作品。駐村地點有賽普勒斯(2003)、美國佛蒙特州(2005)、中國(2006)、倫敦(2015)以及台灣(2015)。Couchman於2007年初移居到北京,2008年6月,她在北京出版了她的第一本書《工人》(Workers),這一系列的肖像照在倫敦(2008)、香港(2008)以及北京(2012)展出。Couchman的第二本書《西方女士的帽子》(Mrs West’s Hats),也於2009年11月出版。Couchman的個展包括Mrs West’s Hats(亞美尼亞,葉里溫,2004)、禮物(北京,2006),以及There was no single reason for me to be there at first(倫敦,1999)。藝術家參加了許多聯展,包括The Artful Scriptorium(紐約,2010),There and Everywhere(倫敦,2009), China in Motion(倫敦,2008), Solutions for a Modern City,(香港,2008), Future Landscapes(舒茲伯利,英國,2005), UncommonGround, (英國Sway,2004), Sodium Blindness(倫敦,2000), find(found)(倫敦,1997), 以及Contemporary Chinoiserie(倫敦,2008)。

 

駐村計畫:

我計劃製作新的作品以回應我在台北的駐村,在我的實踐中,我通常會製作直接回應計畫所在地的藝術計畫。過去被視為是自行駐村的計畫,我花了將近7年的時間(2006年至2013年)在北京獨立創作,最初是滿足我固有對快速發展的地景,及其如何揭露該地人民政治和經濟情況的好奇心。過去3年,我持續在阿曼獨立製作一項計畫,在該國各地認識女性,並與她們用肖像照共同合作。

 

TAV website profile - mandarin

Omani Women – About a journey – lecture at Gallery Sarah

31st October, 2015

Dear Guest,

Greetings from Gallery Sarah

Our current exhibiting photographer, Helen Couchman will be giving a lecture at Gallery Sarah this Saturday morning at 11.30 am about her photography journey through Oman and her book ‘Omani Women’.

If you would like to join us please email your name and we will reserve a seat for you.

Thank you.

Gallery Manager
Gallery Sarah

Helen Lecture Invite, 31 October 2015