The tale of jin nang miao ji (锦囊妙计) describes the famed general Zhuge Liang who, on his deathbed, discreetly gave his trusted colleague Yang Yi a brocade bag. Contained within the silken pouch were secret instructions for use in a time of trouble against a traitorous enemy. Yang Yi carried the bag for some time. Eventually a difficult conflict arose and the pouch was torn open. The instructions inside set in motion a plan that ultimately saved the day.
The Complete Art Experience Project (CAEP) was stirred by the notion of a brocade pouch carrying precious but concealed plans and conceived of a site-specific project for Hartnett Gallery loosely derived from the original story. Eight members of CAEP each packed a 2’x2’x 2’ wooden crate with artworks, raw materials and installation instructions. In August 2005 the eight crates were launched from the port of Beijing, the contents of each known only to the artist who packed it. In October the two remaining artists traveled to Rochester to open each box and interpret, enact and install the plans. The products of their performance were on display in the gallery until the exhibition’s end.
Playgrounds of Authorship strongly addresses issues of translation and cross-cultural exchange both methodologically and conceptually, as moments of translation are made utterly visible through the artists’ performative process. When the crates and their mysterious contents are revealed day by day, the two artists in Hartnett Gallery will be put to task to interpret the instructions given to them by their colleagues in Beijing. As they fabricate the artwork, Hartnett’s purpose will shift from gallery to workshop to gallery again. After the artists have left, their presence will remain in the traces of their handiwork – as much upon the artworks as on the walls and floor. Here, translation functions both as a mode of work for the artists in the gallery as well as a condition of risk for the crate’s original authors. CAEP will challenge its viewers to question the interpretive process unfolding before them as well as its status as art. The play of chance in this project speaks to the inherent instability of authorship, identity and meaning presented in the form of a journey that begins with an ordinary crate from an artist’s studio in Beijing and concludes with the gallery–as–playground in Rochester.
This exhibition took place at Hartnett Gallery in Rochester, New York in 2005.
