Text / Peng Xiaoyang
Abstract: This paper intends to discuss the original intention of the independence of independent space, the clues of its evolution in the domestic context, the existing problems and the relationship with the internal institutional setting of the space, combined with the practice of the institutional setting of No. 12 Diplomatic Apartment.
Keywords: independence, internal institutional setting, public ownership of space
Although the concepts and boundaries of contemporary art are still described and defined in various theoretical discussions and social practices, one phenomenon is evident, as described by art critic, curator and historian Guatmoc Métina: "As the various intellectual traditions of the Left seem to be losing their place in the political realm and social discourse, and despite the fact that the way of art is entangled with the social fabric of capitalism, the loop of contemporary art is the only remaining space for leftist ideas to circulate as a public discourse." (Edited by e-flux journal, translated by Chen Peihua and Su Wei, What is Contemporary Art? (Jincheng Press, 2012, p. 11)
Contemporary art itself needs to establish a more free and independent way of artistic presentation and a field that is different from the past, and it is this demand that makes the form of independent art space come into being.
The "independent space" mentioned in this article is also referred to as "alternative space" in some theoretical discussions and artistic practices. The term "alternative space" originates from the translation of "alternative space", and the meaning of "alternative space" in Europe and the United States in the sixties and seventies of the 20th century was more of a reflection and distinction on the mainstream art system and the existing art museum and gallery system. There are two main reasons for using "independent space" in this article: first, in response to the topic of "multiple possibilities of independent art space"; The second is to consider the urgent problem facing such space in China at this stage is how to survive and express independently. In addition, the independent space discussed in this article is limited to the physical space with a specific place and place, and those discourse and communication spaces that are abstract or only exist on media tools are not included in the scope of this article.
The first attempt at independent space in China appeared in the 70s of the 20th century, mainly because some painting artists outside the system were confined to the society and did not provide any official opportunities for the display of their works, so they spontaneously gathered in a specific place to show their paintings to each other. One example is that on December 31, 1974, the artist Zhang Wei and his 10 artist friends held an exhibition of their paintings of eleven people at his home in the Fusuijing Building in Xicheng District, Beijing.
From December 2022 to March 2023, the exhibition of He Chi's "Former Residence" at No. 12 Diplomatic Apartment
From the late 70s to the early 90s of the 20th century, the staff of some Western countries' diplomatic missions or news agencies in China also used their residences, especially those in the area of the diplomatic apartments in Beijing, to regularly hold exhibitions of artists and works from outside the system. All of these can be regarded as the practical explorations of the early independent art spaces in China.
From the late 90s to the early 21st century, there were indeed some art spaces with specific physical sites and one or more people-initiated art spaces, but they generally did not criticize the existing white-box space of the museum and gallery system, nor did they intend to draw a clear line with the system, mainly because the boundary between artists within the system and artists outside the system was not so clear during that period. The main feature of this type of space is that it is unofficially initiated or established, and that it is completely privately owned, and although it starts out as a non-profit model, it soon turns into a gallery or other form of commercial operation. This in itself is a vague echo of the global neoliberal epidemic between the second half of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century.
Until around 2008, some independent spaces in a relatively complete sense appeared in China, such as the Arrow Factory Space in Beijing, No. 12 Diplomatic Apartment, Bunker Space, Salt Space, Wyoming Project, etc. Their common feature is that there is a specific place that is different from the white box form, initiated by an individual or a group of people and thus independent of the system and large capital, non-profit, stimulating the occurrence of creativity in contemporary art in a more experimental way.
It can be seen that independent space, as a kind of physical space that exists in reality, is independent or alternative because of its "independent" pertinence. This pertinence is determined by the needs of contemporary art itself. Contemporary art needs to present free expression and creativity based on criticism and scrutiny, which undoubtedly conflicts with existing and entrenched institutions and art systems at all levels.
In 2019, Liu Xinyi's "due applause" project at No. 12 Diplomatic Apartment
First of all, the white box space form of the museum and gallery system and the production process of contemporary art are aimed at independent spaces, which inherit the critical tradition of art institutions that emerged in Europe and the United States in the sixties and seventies of the 20th century. In the 80s of the 20th century, the exploration of space outside art museums, especially in the development period of site-specific art, explicitly took the local characteristics of works as part of the works, and encouraged more artists to leave the space of art museums and find places with special properties in daily life for creation and exhibition. In China, the artistic explorations that began in Europe and the United States thirty or forty years ago in the 20th century are still not outdated, on the contrary, they are in line with breaking the state of the state of the Chinese art museums and galleries that have never been able to get out of the addiction to modernism. From the spatial form of the white box to the institutional operation mechanism, the focus of the art museum and gallery system is still on the exhibition, research, collection, publicity, education and promotion of the works of artists that are relatively recognized by the art system, and rarely stimulates the creativity of artists at the source of contemporary art production.
Second, the pervasive control of capital brought about by the proliferation of neoliberalism is also directly opposed by independent art spaces. The traditional gallery system is dominated by the market, and profit maximization is the most profound demand of capitalism, which makes galleries focus more on promoting artists and works with market potential, and the market demand is basically determined by the aesthetic taste of collectors and the consideration of return on investment, which is contrary to the initial motivation of artistic creation. The reality is often that galleries cue or even ask artists how to cater to market preferences or trends based on market research and analysis. This forms a kind of inducement and even restriction on the artist, and therefore fundamentally restricts the artist's creativity. Although art museums are non-profit public institutions in the strict sense, there is a reason why they are increasingly constrained by capital. In other words, the initiators of art museums are mostly large industry capitals, and in order to maintain the operation of art museums, increase box office revenue, and expand their own influence, they need to get as many visitors as possible, so they must strive to cater to the aesthetic taste and understanding of the public. However, a large proportion of contemporary art is a critique and transcendence of objects that have been accustomed and accepted by the public in the past, from ideological concepts to formal language. In this way, in the link of artistic production, the role of capital is bound to form a constraint on artistic creativity and revolution.
Finally, the intervention of various powers is also resisted by independent spaces. The intervention of power tends to be more direct than the influence of capital. Power intervention comes from public power on the one hand, and from the independent space itself on the other. So far, independent spaces in China have been initiated and owned by individuals or several people, and such spaces are all individual decisions or collective co-governance in terms of operating mechanisms, and are more a reflection of personal preferences and personal artistic cognition in the selection of exhibitions or projects. It is understandable that this kind of space exists only as an artist's personal studio, and can be a place for personal artistic understanding and practice, but as an institution with the purpose of promoting the creativity of contemporary art, it is obvious that this decision-making mechanism is missing.
In 2016, No. 12 Diplomatic Apartment, Wang Youshen's "Diplomatic Apartment" project
At the present stage in China, how to ensure the independence of independent space and give full play to its function and role in contemporary art and even social construction is actually a complex social issue, involving many issues such as the reform of the management system and the establishment and improvement of the public utility funding system. The above problems are all problems of the external environment of space, and there is no hope for solving them in a short period of time. However, the governance structure and institutional settings of the space itself and within the space will also help to achieve the independence of the space to a certain extent. At the same time, it is also a way to cope with the external environment and seek survival, and it is also an attempt to actively intervene in social practice with contemporary art as the content and spatial activities as a means. Taking the spatial practice of No. 12 Diplomatic Apartment in Beijing as an example, this paper discusses the role of the internal system setting in the maintenance of the nature of independent space and the role of the internal system in the spatial efficiency by combing the development and evolution of its internal system.
Launched at the end of 2015, Diplomatic Apartment No. 12 is an apartment space located in Jianguomen Diplomatic Apartment, Beijing. Diplomatic Apartment 12 attempts to use this specific spatial context to inspire and stimulate artists to break out of the white box mode of thinking and presentation, focus on problems, and unleash creativity. After a year of exploration and experimentation, the space has set up an academic group system, and the founder of the space no longer intervenes in the exhibition content of the space. The founder serves as the host of the space, responsible for the implementation of space exhibitions, activities and publications, the external liaison and publicity of the space, and the management of daily affairs of the space. The content of exhibitions, activities and publications, the selection of artists, and the academic direction of the space are all collectively discussed by the academic group, and a resolution is formed and handed over to the space host for implementation. At the same time, a donor council was established to seek financial support for the space, but this council did not replace the founder's ownership and actual control of the space, and the council did not interfere with the work of the academic group, could not influence the judgment of the academic group, and the board did not formally communicate directly with the academic group. This kind of academic group, moderator, and board of directors (sponsors) basically ensures the academic independence of space exhibitions, activities, and publications, and blocks the channels for capital to directly penetrate into space exhibitions, activities, and other contents. At the same time, the space is open to the outside world by invitation, and its legal status in the existing management system is equivalent to that of an artist's private studio, so that the content of the exhibition can not be included in the industry management system, ensuring that the content is not controlled by the system to the greatest extent. In this way, the relative freedom of artistic expression of artists is guaranteed.
In 2023, Zhuang Hui, No. 12 Diplomatic Apartment, "The Road to Self-Study" exhibition
However, after 8 years of space practice, it is still found that there are certain problems in this institutional setting, that is, the founder of the space serves as the moderator and is the actual controller who owns the space, which makes the space have a strong personal color, which is also reflected in the selection of academic group members. There is also a logical disagreement between the private nature of the space and the public nature of the funding from social donations. In view of the above problems, from 2024 onwards, a new round of institutional reform will be initiated at 12 Diplomatic Apartments, starting with the establishment of a new board of directors, whose members are public intellectuals in the contemporary art world and related fields who agree with the concept of independent space. This tenure system also fully denies the attribution of spatial power to individuals or to the collective of a few, and also distinguishes it from the self-organization and self-management of artists. Once formed, the new Council takes over the ownership of the space from the founders of the space and reselects and appoints the moderators and panelists. The institutional perfection of the institution was promoted by the withdrawal of the founder and current moderator of the space, so that the first real independent space system was established.
It should be added that because of the non-profit nature of independent spaces and the fact that they are funded by social donations, many people emphasize the public nature of such spaces, and some people narrowly understand the publicness as the degree and scope of openness to the public. In fact, the most essential content of public nature is precisely that the ownership of the institution is public, and the degree and scope of openness to the public are determined by the nature and professionalism of the industry in which the space or institution is located, and not all publicly-owned institutions in all fields are open to the whole society. For example, basic scientific research institutions in various countries are mostly public institutions, but not only are they not open to the public, but on the contrary restrict access. Its public nature is reflected through its social commonality of ownership, its funding comes from social fundraising, and its research results are indirectly applied to society. In the same way, the experimental exploration of contemporary art is largely a part of society that most people cannot understand and accept, and the responsibility of independent space is more to stimulate the exploration of art and stimulate creativity. The task of allowing independent space to carry the burden of art popularization and art education is actually to apply the institutional standards of art museums to measure a space that exists for the museum system, which is in essence a kind of resistance to institutional criticism. In a given context, the maintenance of the independence of an independent space is likely to be achieved at the expense of some publicity.
Peng Xiaoyang is the founder and host of No. 12 Diplomatic Apartment, Bunker Space, and Tattoo Parlor Experimental Art Space
(This article was originally published in Art Observation, Issue 4, 2024)