Cover news reporter Yang Fan
Recently, the "Childhood Happens" art exhibition was held in Chengdu Yiwen Cube, as the third phase of the AC Youth Art Promotion Program, the scene exhibited a number of creative and ingenious installation works of young artist Ma Jun. Although Children's Day has not yet arrived, Ma Jun used these works about childhood in advance to express his concern for left-behind children.
According to the organizers of the exhibition, the reason why this exhibition is called "Childhood Happens" is to present the childhood in the eyes of the artist. "Childhood is a vocabulary with a sense of memory for everyone: free, happy, childlike, happy, simple, and it should be. However, with the rapid development of society, a series of problems have also emerged in the rapid development of the economy, such as the emergence of many left-behind children in remote areas. ”
"Childhood"
Ma Jun's "Childhood" is a highlight of the exhibition, a large-scale comprehensive installation that occupies an exhibition hall. The audience opens the curtain and enters, as if entering a strange world, with dozens of small scarecrows overhead, stepping on the rattling straw under their feet, smelling the fragrance of straw at the same time, as if they have come to the field where rural children are playing. In the middle of the exhibition hall, two puppet children are "playing" the wooden piano, all of which look dreamy.
Artist Ma Jun
Artist Ma Jun said he wanted to make the work an immersive "theater space." Therefore, he did not take the conventional stacking, patchwork and superposition of materials, existing objects, and media, but in the "box" with directional significance. In the seemingly chaotic and trivial space, a targeted association is formed, which directly points to the effective embodiment of the theme and content, so that the theater can firmly control the personal methods and experiences. Therefore, when the audience is immersed in it, the emotions and emotions implied in the scene are integrated into everyone's body with invisible forces, bringing a deep shock to the depths of the heart.
"When The Age"
The work "Time" appears in the public space outside the art museum, and the marshmallow-like cloud envelops the children, and Ma Jun hopes that through this work, the love of all walks of life can take care of left-behind children. "Childhood" is another thoughtful installation, which Ma Jun has created from long-term research and collection of children-related objects. The interior of the installation presents the stage effect of the spotlight through the theatrical scene, and these material materials, images, installations, etc., create a dramatic sensory space.
Exhibition curator Wang Yuting told the cover news reporter that she hopes that through such an immersive theater exhibition, Ma Jun's multi-media based on in-depth social investigation, interview, collection and collation will be used as the carrier to restore everyone's feelings about the "authenticity" of childhood. "We hope that through a series of multi-media art installations, we can interact, pay attention, think about the people we ignore, and feel the emotional resonance that belongs to everyone."
Curator Wang Yuting
(Image courtesy of the interviewee)