TOWARD A VERTICAL UTOPIA a drawing manifesto in representing the post-Olympic Beijing during pandemic Politics of Drawing Eva Yuehua Wang
ESTRANGED VERTICALITY
This series of photography, drawing, and digital simulated experimentation that I produced has been largely influenced by Michael Young's Estranged Object (2015). The relationship between realism photography and the hidden aesthetics will be discussed at the beginning of this submission in rather brief writing form. Digital reproduction will be introduced in the later stage to experiment on the bizarre aesthetics of realism and surrealism to prospect on a realisation and open discourse in post-Olympic Beijing from the audience with their telepresence.
fig.1. own image
fig.2. Staircase at Villa Garnese II (Sugimoto, 2016)
In his famous work The Work of Art in the Age of Its Technological Reproducibility, Walter Benjamin (1935) firstly introduced photography as a means of replication, following the evolution of reproducing techniques from woodcut (engraving and etching) to lithography, and the advances of photography. The work of art, in the age of mechanical reproduction, as Benjamin manifested, has caused the decay of the “aura” from the artwork, missing the trait of “the here and now”. Presence, dimension, sense of scale are removed from the seemingly indifferent process of mechanical reproduction. The original lost its authenticity at the age when “technological reproduction is more independent of the original than is manual reproduction” (p21). The replica can “copy the original situation which the original itself cannot attain”. On the other hand, it can bring out aspects that differ from the original, or ways of seeing. The way we see and perceive information has been changed via transmitting information onto other media, leading to a subtle shift on viewpoint or subjectivity. When it comes to photography, as Baudrillard agrees, the subjectivity of us when viewing a photography work implies how the photographic object is taken as the object on our subjectivity. Ruskin (Scharf, p95-102) criticised this idea in his late age that the reproductivity nature of photography prevented us from directly connect to nature. It just copied but could never touch the nature of nature. His affection on naturalism reflects on the fact that the nature of photography was still recognised as a mechanical recording and observing device, yet never been taken into the field of imagination. Barthes (1981) in his Camera Lucida: Reflections on Photography, argues how photography can produce a strong imaginaire ability. They can contain and construct another scene space of unconscious so that the “autre” (another) truth can appear. In late 19th century, photography as an art form has been legitimizing from merely being seen a recording device of representing the nature or the real, as a mediator, to an artistic signifier that has it autonomy in revealing a multiple reality and imaginations beyond just reproduce a physical presence it signified.
fig.3. Morning Cleaning (Wall, 1999)
fig.4. detial of the morning cleaning (Wall, 1999)
REALISM AND SURREALISM
In the Estranged Object, Young and Ayata analyzed Jeff Wall's photographic art Morning Cleaning, which is an almost 1:1 size cinematographic photograph taken at Mies Van Der Rohe's Barcelona Pavillion. The scene in this realism photographic work depicts a cleaner mopping the floor in the morning. It is an digital production of photos that was finally represented in a large scale display with lightbox luminaire installed at the back. To reveal the unseen and overlooked daily mundane (tate, n.d.), the artist deliberatly manipulated the almost imperceptible focal point in the whole picture, that created a sense of strangeness from the viewer's eye, which Young believed as the significance to it's aesthetics of realism. In addition to this, I would argue that this gesture artist place the viewer to the place that they are unaware of viewing the artwork - it requires a reinvestigation on looking at the artwork in detail to detect the weirdness thus would shift the photography from an object to be looked at, to a real-time scene that one has to place themselves in.
fig.5.hanging in the gallery
fig.6. Chrysler Building (Sugimoto, 1997)
fig.6. Seagram Building (Sugimoto, 1997)
Deploying digital-post production is where the strangeness came from. In this particular instance, the effect is created through the real-life effects of soap on glass, as orchestrated through the digital post-production of the photo-composite. This strange feeling emphasizes the information that the image wants to express, juxtapositing to the realistic effect with a gesture of unnaturalness and artificial. Without a verbal description, the viewer would be attracted by this spectacular yet subtle piece of expression, provoking the desire to look at it closer. In other realism photographies, small changes in details, or the manipulation of objects to produce strange effects, change the subjectivity of the focus on the object (fig. 6, 7), making a realistic or almost real picture to produce theses stranged feelings that is almost surreal, Even as a simulation to realism, an experience of surreal is obtained, which adds complexity and stimulate contemplation on the object.
The aesthetics of juxtaposing overlooked objects and unseen activities were represented through almost weird artificial expressions would emphasis the true real reality has been withdrawn from the conventional ways of seeing, forms a complex reality of the artwork that highlighted a perceivable realism to the viewer that arise a further discourse and emotions. The aesthetic and tension of realism is that the notion of reality that is drawn to the viewer, where the observer is fully aware of the art work is rooted on a sharing reality, that provokes a deeper affection to the art piece.
fig.7. Narkomtyazhprom (Melnikov, K. (1934) )
fig.8. digital analog with realistic simulation and hand drawing
fig.9. digital analog with shift on focus point and lighting effect
fig.10. Digital analog and collage with realistic simulation, photo collage, and drawing. Testing out the idea of consitituting realism with both real and simulation, familarity and unfamiliarty.
fig.11. Serious Game I-IV (Farocki, 2009)
fig.12. Serious Game I-IV (Farocki, 2009)
fig.13. Serious Game I-IV (Farocki, 2009)
ABSTRACTION, SIMULATION, THE REAL AND THE UNREAL
Let's imagine an opposite case, when reality appears to be weird or alien enough, as the familiarity has been withdrawn from the object that is being represented, would photography, as a medium, still an ideal way to achieve the realism effect? When the scene itself is being abstract enough, it may lose its power to the emotional connection to its viewer. Rather, although conveying the real aspect of the issue, it would still appear to be distant and irrelevant to the viewer that failed to arise emotional connection and tension of realism. Harun Farocki's Serious Game (fig. 11-13) is a media installation documenting on how the US military uses game scenes to simulate real war combat. In the game scene, one immersed in the digital simulated scenes made the war scene as a distant object, where the participant, the subject, would treat the living matters indifferently without emotional or sensory connection. The violence and killing in the game appear equally abstract. In this case, when the actual scene itself is fully abstract and unreal, almost like a game scene or a surrealism piece, even if we use the most advanced device to document or restore all these realistic feelings, it will still feel distant.
fig.14
fig.15 fig.14. Circulation Tank of the Hydraulics Laboratory (Leo, 1968-1975) fig.15-17. Surrounded Islands (Javacheff, 1980-1983) Juxtaposition of colour with its realitic context could also bring out a strangness that create the sense of unreal in the aesthetics of realism
Our feelings about the work will be elevated from reality, having a sensory of unreal, being indifferent, or as if it has nothing to do with us – apart from the aesthetic and visual allure, it would be hard to evoke empathy and compassion. Thus, imagine the Morning Cleaning as a fully artificial piece with all unfamiliarity and strangeness of representation, it would be unlikely to arise the realism response from the viewer and connection to reality. Therefore, I would argue that it is the intertwin of unfamiliarity and familiarity that appears together, that would finally achieve the most in both visual tensions and sensual realism. The juxtaposition of a fully realistic scene would emphasis the reality that it signifies (fig. 14-17).
fig.17
fig.16
fig.18 own image
THE POLITICS OF VERTICALITY AND MASSIVENESS
I chose to experiment on collaging the real versus simulation, drawing versus modelling on a chosen case that is in a notion of strangely surreal in the reality around me. The observation tower of the Beijing Olympic Center is particularly conspicuous in the midst of winter. This biomimetic architecture, which seems retrospective, was built in 2017. It symbolizes the nearly futuristic vision of Beijing, a vision of ecology, green, and verticality, as a manifesto and monument of this socialist country.
fig.19. own drawing simulated with real-time rendering engine
It is worth noting that this big block of architecture cross form the tower is the Chinese Academy of Culture and History. The history of 5000-year is cultural symbolic to the Chinese and the state. Sino-renaissance as propaganda to the national strength and nationalism. Symmetrical, low in height (in Chinese interpreted as modest and dignified, seen as other classical political architecture in china as the forbidden city and Tiananmen square) in simple geometric structure in grand, rising with ramp and stairs, make him full of the power of national power.
fig.20. own image on the unseen
Mass and height constitute the future of Beijing, representing the powers structure and supremacy in this sociality country that has begun its phase in capitalism for almost 40 years, and in between this vertical curtain is where the rest belongs.
fig.21. own image on the unseen
In front of the low building are countless trees whose crowns have been cut down. I interviewed local workers, and ask why did they cut down these trees. The answer was that perhaps it was to prevent them from being an obstruction to the building. Why do you think this building shouldn’t be covered? I continued to ask, and they responded by refusing to say anything further. The reason for trimming the trees may be very simple and not even political relevant – perhaps it’s just to prevent the danger of falling branches.
fig.22. own image on the strangeness
However, the gesture of silence arise my attention - why and how would these architecture having the power that concerns them. The incarnation of symbolic regime power is conveyed through these scenes where the architecture performs as a media of invisible deterrence. I walked along with the trees to the tower. In front of this tree-shaped tower, the trees whose crowns have been cut off appear dying. The bizarre dying trees seems surreal yet it represent the real.
fig.23. own image on the unseen
fig.24. own image simulated with real-time rendering engine
A VERTICAL UTOPIA
I continued shooting along the path. What disappears along with the perception of a realistic scene is the reality of its context. In this seemingly contradictory situation-how to restore the reality of the (abstract) scene from a realistic perspective? Here I want to test what I discussed earlier of familiarity and unfamiliarity, mundane and strangeness. So I chose to use photorealism rendering. In a real scene, juxtapositing seemingly surreal pieces, with digital post-production, distorted scale and perception, misguided “the here and now”, emphasis details of the object that are easy to overlook to substitute and shift our perception of subjectivity when viewing. Pay attention to restoring the strange and weirdness that I saw on my visit. Together, compositing and constitute my work with these factors.
fig.25. own image on the unseen
fig.26. own image of the utopian version of verticality simulated with real-time rendering engine
fig.27. own image of the utopian of massiveness, simulated with real-time rendering engine
Reproducing these scenes through misplacement of "the here and now", realistic and artificial, the aim is to recreate the strangeness by deploying digital rendering to address a re-position of the viewer's subjectivity and their attention on realism. The main point is not to provide answers nor a conclusory political statement, but to, as mentioned above, to experiment on exploring the potentiality of observation through embedding strangeness into a drawing, that creates the duality of realism and surrealism, and to arise further discourse.
fig.28. conceptual collage and simulation on the strangenss of the vertical city.
APPENDIX 1. SIMULATION
APPENDIX 2. A DOCUMENTATION ON REALITY
LIST OF REFERENCE
Barthes, R. (1981). Camera Lucida. Macmillan. Baudrillard, J., & Willaume, A. (2009). Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared? Seagull Books Pvt Ltd. Benjamin, W. (1935). The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. Retrieved from https://web.mit.edu/ allanmc/www/benjamin.pdf Harman, G. (2018a). Object-Oriented Ontology. Penguin UK. Harman, G. (2018b). Speculative Realism. John Wiley & Sons. Scharf, A. (1979). Art and Photography. Penguin Books, New York Smith, R. G. (2020). Baudrillard’s Photographic Theory, ISSN: 1705-6411. Young, M. & Ayata, K. (2015). The Estranged Object. Retrieved from https:// static1.squarespace.com/static/53d133fee4b088cc18049660/t/56ffe600b09f95bfee62494b/1459611151715/Young+%26+Ayata_The+Estranged+Object_X.pdf
LIST OF IMAGE
1. own image 2. Sugimoto, H. (2016). Staircase at Villa Farnese II, Caprarola, [photography] retrieved from https://www.mariangoodman.com/artists/65-hiroshi-sugimoto/ 3. Wall, J. (1999). Morning Cleaning, Mies van der Rohe Foundation, Barcelona [photography]. Retrieved from https://walkerart.org/collections/artworks/morning-cleaning-mies-van-der-rohe-foundation-barcelona 4. Wall, J. (1999). Morning Cleaning, Mies van der Rohe Foundation, Barcelona [detail of photography]. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/walkerart/4115627480/lightbox/ 5. Wall, J. (1999). Morning Cleaning, Mies van der Rohe Foundation, Barcelona [hanging the photography] Retrieved form https://www.flickr.com/photos/walkerart/4115627480/lightbox/ 6. Hiroshi Sugimoto, H. (1997). Chrysler Building (Architect: William van Alen). Retrieved from https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2017/photographs-l17780/lot.66.html 7 Melnikov, K. (1934) Narkomtyazhprom [photo of drawing]. Retrieved from https://bashny.net/t/en/19973
8-10. own drawing 11-13. Farocki, H. (2009). Serious Games I–IV. Retrieved from https://www.frieze. com/article/serious-games-de 14. Leo, L. (1968-75). Circulation Tank of the Hydraulics Laboratory (1968-75) of Technical University Berlin, Retrieved from https://www.bmiaa.com/five-projectsfrom-1960s-west-berlin-ludwig-leos-drawings-at-the-aa/ 15-17. Javacheff, C.V. (1980-83). Surrounded Islands [environmental art]. Retrieved from https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/christo-artist-dead/index.html 18-28. own photo and drawing