On September 2, 2016, CAFA Art Museum launched the first solo exhibition of the famous photographer Roger Ballen in Beijing. The exhibition is hosted by the CAFA Art Museum, the Director of CAFA Art Museum Wang Huangsheng serves as the exhibition director, the Associate Researcher of the Department of Curatorial Research of CAFA Art Museum Dr. Cai Meng serves as the curator, to present the photographs and 2 video pieces created by Roger Ballen in the past 20 years.
“It Started from the Understanding of the Absurdity of Human Nature, Life is So Absurd, It Really Is.”The theme of the exhibition “Theater of the Absurd” displays typical photographic works by the artist Roger Ballen: the square black and white photographs, the cluttered dramatic scenes and graffiti, wires, ropes, rags, light bulbs, switches, newspapers, graffiti, small dolls … the spatial dimension is ultimately ended by a “wall”. The strong sense of closeness and compression exude an absurd, empty and silent atmosphere, showing a mysterious, wild and absurd sense.
“Absurdity is an integral part of human nature,” Roger Ballen talked about his understanding of the "absurd", he said that, “in the 1960s, I began to have a strong interest in the theater of the absurd as I came in contact with the works by Samual Beckett, Harold Pinter and Eugen Lonesco.” Since the mid-1990s, Ballen had started to use photography to express the absurd theme – “people’s behavior does not have any reason, direction or ultimate purpose.” Under this theme photography is connected with tragedy and madness, until it becomes normal, “Until now, the aesthetics of the theater of the absurd has completely dominated my work.”
Curator of the exhibition Cai Meng believes that, the present reality of China is covered by a super-large-scale landscape “Enormous Absurdity”. Absurd actions exist in the current lifestyle and we can say that, the current stage is an unprecedented epic absurdity for humans, “In my opinion, this ‘huge absurd behaviour’ can be seen as an important cultural proposition of contemporary China.” Perhaps in the face of the rapid earth-shaking changes brought by the urbanization movement, we need to have in-depth thoughts on the “absurdity of nothingness”.
At the opening ceremony, Roger Ballen said that, “When we think about absurdity, we imagine that it is ridiculous, but it’s not funny; there are many things that are worth laughing about but we do not laugh … it is very important for us to face and understand ourselves.”
How Was “Absurd” Staged in the Art Museum Space?Sun Hua was invited to design this exhibition hall, Sun said that: “It is a challenge for the conventional sense of a photography exhibition”, and also a challenge for the museum space, and moreover it is a challenge for the work of Roger.”
The designer reveals Roger’s favorite black, white and gray tone fully and the whole hall looks like grand and mysterious “theater of the absurd”. Some works are placed on the square wooden supports standing on the floor, and some are hung overhead, or directly laid on the ground, the black-painted exhibition wall echoes the floor covered by a variety of black, white, gray materials, the special presentation perspective gives the audience a different visual experience.
“I have been a photographer for 50 years, and it is the best photographic exhibition site I have ever seen.” The artist Roger Ballen gave a high evaluation of the show.
“The Concept is Fuzzy, Which is a Good Thing for Me.”We can say that Roger Ballen’s “Theater of the Absurd” has crossed a bridge with the photography itself and it is not only a photography exhibition. All photographic works are enclosed within a space, people can’t help asking: Is it a photographic show or an installation show? When photography is presented in the art museum space which is like a production of knowledge between them it forms tension with the discourse how does a wonderful relationship happen? The design of the exhibition hall is beyond the expectations of the photographic exhibition, will it blur the impression for the audience? When the designer applies the “theater of the absurd”, what role does photography play?
Roger Ballen replied that, “Sun Hua has created the ‘art of art’, which is actually the best interpretation of my work.” Whether it is a photographic exhibition or an installation exhibition? As for the fuzzy boundaries, Roger Ballen said that it was not necessary to distinguish them, “the concept is fuzzy, which is a good thing for me. Photography is as an artistic form, installation is as an artistic form, and video is also an artistic form, while our created “theater” is another artistic form, there are four artistic forms co-existing, together creating an artistic reality. I hope the combination of these four forms or one form of them is able to enter your mind, staying in your mind, and even change your mind.”
From the early style of documentary photography to the present “photography installation” which has led him to win international honors, Roger Ballen has always used his artistic sensitivity to excavate the most real nature in life, and his works look like black and white dreams, impacting on the eyes and thought-provoking, Roger Ballen said that, “I prefer to present a visual relationship, putting truth and fiction together, which is more compulsive.”
Roger Ballen’s “Theater of the Absurd” opened at gallery 3B of CAFA Art Museum on September 2. On the opening day, President of CAFA Fan Di’an, Director of CAFA Art Museum Wang Huangsheng, curator of the exhibition Cai Meng and the artist Roger Ballen, etc., were present. The exhibition continues to September 23.
Text by Lin Jiabin, Photo by Hu Sichen/CAFA ART INFO
Translated by Chen Peihua and edited by Sue/CAFA ART INFO
