X Zine 3

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S P E C I A L T H A N K S TO

| The X Zine Publication + Organization The X ZINE (Non-Profit, founded 2010) was created to serve as a platform to introduce young/emerging artists, whose specialized areas are not limited to contemporary photography, and to create a community of visual art therefrom for ongoing dialogues. With a hope of opening up conversations at the international level, the Zine is in multiple languages.

For more information about ordering fine quality print version of this zine, giving feedback, contributing or making donation, please visit XZINE.ORG/X

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Chen Z he Rashed Is la m S h i s h i r

COVER

Bees, 2010

by Chen Zhe

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If moments came in a torrent like a current of torment, Do not lament over the calories spent, The heart needs the adjustment.

If gestures yield ventures in pr udence, the refraction prisms incoherence.

Being self sufficient is a language of transaction, as if humanity and humility .... are in treason without reason.

If tr uth is a ser um then love is the fulcr um ... that grips the heart with logic and decor um.

The laws of motion r un parallel with emotions, Only frailty creates wrinkles without the applied lotion called ‘ devotion.’

Tr ue love never dwells in obsession.

“MIRRO IMAGE ” , BY R A S H E D IS L A M S HIS HIR

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.. ... .. .. .. . .

FOR E W OR D S

. ... . ... . .. ...

“A vibe within a hive can create a separate tribe, who then jive about the bribe the other offers to prescribe.

一年前，在陈哲得三影堂大奖前我就懒洋洋地跟她 联系上访谈的事情。我感兴趣的是她造的影像，而 对于接下来那么多刊物或媒体对她作品罗列般地宣

Live- in Civics with Gender Politics

传...我真不知道怎么写。

defy Applied logic. ”

六月份，我以简单得不能再简单地跟陈哲做了访

( - Ras hed Is la m )

谈，然后就是一段没有期限地搁置。直到九月份， 在北京，几个短信的一来一往后，我们终于在798

A s the winner of the 2011 The Inge Morath Award by Magnum Foundation, Chen Zhe has been documenting her self-inf licted activities while creating a series of projects focusing on body modification, human hair, post-traumatic stress disorder, identity confusion and memory.

的一个小咖啡店外碰面。打量着影像后面的她，我

Over 300 poems on his public notes, Rashed Islam writes with a passion of life.

思......

Having Chen Zhe and Rashed Islam in this issue is a twist of visual and sensibility.

Sometimes life is about time, and for the miracle of it is about self-healing.

《蜜蜂》一书也上线销售了。她仍然那么地谦虚，

几乎是小心翼翼地，生怕会把什么划破。 后来，我已经不记得她的样子了，只是仍然清晰地 想起着这一瞬——那个见面后的晚上，与卢彦鹏， 杨元元，在望京的一个俱乐部...... 她左手拖着右 手肘，纤细的右手食指与中指间轻轻地夹着根细 细的香烟，嘴角挂着一丝若隐若现的微笑，若有所

她获奖，展览或是出版消息接二连三地传来，最近 说最近不忙，就是看看书，学学做饭。 每次见到Rashed总被他热情的笑容感染。晚上， 他是一所高级餐厅的调酒师，对各种酒精了如指 掌。把菜端上桌的时候，他对每道菜肴的描述让你

Xie Jiankun, 2012.3

能感觉耳朵早已经不听话地抖动。平时，他写诗， 是一诗人。一道阳光，一缕清风，他顺手拈来，行 云流水。 不记得谁说的，好像是北岛，“诗歌是宗教和革命 以外的第三种声音，这声音，并不能真正消除仇 恨，或许多少能起到某种缓解作用。” 一道划开的鲜红，总有愈合消隐的一天。生命之 美，是其自愈之能力。我不必多说，影像本身会述 说所有的一切。

谢建鲲, 2012.3.

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First, tell us about yourself

During the past four years between 2007 and 2010, I documented my own history of self infliction by photography, entitled “The Bearable.” For understanding self infliction, I already had in mind a set of personally constructed order. However, with changes in life, from time to time I felt the order itself had a loophole in need of repairing and even reconstruction. “Why not go out to find those who share with me the same emotions and see how their order is, and to strengthen myself by collision of the two universes?” Thus, shooting of “Bees” started last year. As a type of indirect self-portrait, or, more precisely, as a kind of extended self-portrait, it presents the concatenated identities between the photographer himself and the object photographed.

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2007-2010这过去四年，我以影像记录了自己的自伤 史，名为《可承受的》。当时对于自伤的理解，我心里 已有一套个人搭建的秩序。然而随着生活变化，不时感 到这秩序本身存有漏洞，需要修葺甚至重建。我为什么 不出去找与我共享情绪的人，看看他们的秩序是什么样 的，通过两个宇宙的碰撞来强健我自己呢？就这样从去 年开始了《蜜蜂》的拍摄。作为一种间接的自拍像，或 者更准确地说，作为一种延展的肖像，它展现出摄影师 本人与被拍摄对象之间共通的特质。

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When did you start doing photography; what does it mean to you?

In 2007 I began to receive formal photography education at the Art Center College of Design. In essence, photography to me in the past four years meant overcoming fears.

Aside from photography, I also made an experimental short film, tried installations, audio and text. As I look back now, all projects were about the same matter, the same status of mind, the same kind of burning. A thought often came across my mind: When we try to articulate views or present minds, what is it that images can do more than words (or other media) ? All the time as this question grew longer and bigger, photography was my company that I cherished along the way.

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2007年我来到Art Center College of Design，开始正式的 摄影教育。过去四年摄影于我的本质即是战胜恐惧。除了摄影 我还拍过一部实验短片，尝试过装置，音频和文本。现在看回 去，所有项目说的都是同一件事，同一个status of mind，同 一种燃烧。 我常常在想，当我们试图表述观念，或者展现心灵时，图像可 以比文字（或其它媒介）做得更多的是什么？在这个问题越长 越大的时间里，摄影作我沿途的陪伴，且行且珍惜。

Everyone can drive an automatic, but the manual relys on the f luidity of the clutch; relative to the shift on the stick.

The hand and eye are parallel to the perception of motion; like the foot and its relative pressure on the accelerator.

Introspection can only be achieved through self ref lection.

Retrospection is rather a thesis on self, not self realization.

Ambition must answer to soul’s own conviction.

Diopter depth and awareness cannot be fixed ... without the sense of perspective apertures.

Just do, and let the pretenders be.

Open yourself to the one who Inspires.

Or forever dwell in intellectual celibacy ...

With a degree in ‘Upstairs’.

Logic is math based psycho analysis.

By- pass the obvious System Loss.

“ S E LF P ORTR A IT ” , BY R A S H E D IS L A M SHIS HIR

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Have you thought about “beautiful� in your photographs? Are they beautiful, or not?

Why?

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I think that all my photographs are beautiful. They all documented expressions of real emotions. Real is beautiful. I always believed so until when I participated in the exhibition and my works were exposed to the public. Then I suddenly realized their social significance and other possible interpretations, which certainly were not my original intention.

我以为自己的照片无一例外尽是美的，我的照片记录的都是确 实情绪的外溢，而情绪是真的，真就很美。我一直这样确信， 直到参加展览，作品一下子曝光在大众面前时，才突然意识到 它的社会意义和其它的解读可能——那当然都不是我的初衷。

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What do you see the connection between you, the emotion and the images you made?

For me, “The Bearable� is a stroke-by-stroke journal of my four-year life without pretense. I truly hope that, at the first glance, the work is about secrets and emotions; in the meantime, it is full of revealing information, just like a catalogue listed for questions impossible to answer. There is no way for viewers to confront expressions of the subject in the photographs. What they can see is only photographs, and what they can read is only words. What is a brilliant summary of men being men? I have a sense of responsibility for this kind of presentation.

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对我来说《可承受的》就是日记，它记录了我四年的生活，一 笔一划，毫无矫饰地。王牌希望作品第一眼看上去是关于秘密 和情绪的，同时它富有揭示性的信息，像是为无法回答的问题 所列的目录。观者始终无法亲面影中人的表达，他们看到的只 是照片，读到的只是字。怎样才是对人之为人的精彩概括？我 对这种展现有一种责任感。

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Why “Bees”?

The title comes from a poem by Virgil on bees, “They left their lives in the very wounds they had created for themselves.” Bees sting people to protect themselves, but end up losing their lives. That is a particularly true contradiction. “Bees” documented a group of people in China who left traces and marks on their bodies when confronted with chaos, violence, alienation and irredeemable loss in life. In so doing, they seeked affirmation and preservation of a poetic mind. They were “an invisible race who shared with me or completed my unfinished history.” In 2010, having “The Bearable” as my passport, I had the opportunity to develop a close relationship with some of these obstinate souls – the bees. In the course of exchanging stories with them, I encountered possibilities that I had not been able to fulfill or had once worked hard on. I was touched by the willful reactions the people had towards intense emotions, and the never-failing efforts they made to recover afterwards.

No matter how different our life seemed to be, we undoubtedly shared the same psychological experiences.

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题目源自维吉尔评蜂的一句诗：“它们把生命留在了自己制造 的伤口里”。 蜜蜂刺人，目的是保护自己，结果是牺牲生命，这是特别真实 的一个矛盾。《蜜蜂》记录了这样一群人，当面对生命中的混 乱、暴力、疏离与无可避免的失去时，他们在自己的身体上留 下痕迹，以此确认并保存诗意的心。他们是“与我共享、或完 成我未竟历史的隐形的种族”。在与他们交换故事的过程中， 我与自己没能做到的和曾经努力过的可能性相遇，并感动于人 们是如何执拗地对激烈的情绪做出反应，又如此不懈地复原自 己。无论各自的生活多么不同，但我们确定无疑地共享了同样 的情绪。

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To jeopardize existence for existence itself: “Bees” recorded a marginalized group of people in China, who, faced with chaos, violence, alienation and irredeemable losses in life, feels propelled to leave physical traces and markings on their bodies, in order to preserve and corroborate a pure and sensitive mind from within.

In 2010, having “The Bearable”(a photo series documenting my own self-infliction in the past 4 years) as my passport, I had the opportunity to develop a close relationship with some of these obstinate souls – the bees. During the process of exchanging secrets with them, I crossed path with certain possibilities that were formerly unachieved but towards which I had struggled greatly in my personal life. I’m struck by the unyielding actions and reactions they carry on with while encountering sudden and acute emotional fluxes, and moved by the recurrent effort they make to recover themselves afterwards. No matter how different our lives seem to be, we undoubtedly shared common psychological experiences.

Chen Zhe

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What are the references or inspiration of your work? (Such as photographers, poets, musician, etc.)

They changed too much in the past few years. I felt like riding a roller coaster. The only enduring influence on me is the Japanese culture - I can relate to everything from the pop animation to classical literature, from Shamisen to post-heavy metal rock. Haruki Murakami said, “Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional,” which can both be used to describe me in self-infliction and seen as the aspiration of the “normal” me.

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这点在过去几年变化太大，跟过山车似的。唯一持续对我产生 影响的，该说是日本文化。从流行动漫到古典文学，从三味线 到重金后摇，都能通感。就好像村上春树说，“Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.”，这句话既可以用来形容自残中 的我，也可以是“正常的”我之心声。

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What else do you do besides photography?

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Fine foods. One of the major pastimes in life is cooking.

Starting from this year I jog and play badminton every day.

I hope I have a healthy body to go with my current balanced mind.

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Selective screening for a long lasting meeting keeps One pondering.

A scripted screen play for an ex tended foreplay is neuro plastic.

Chemistry happens with statics and dynamics in perpetual balance.

Alpha-Beta roles alternate and never stall, Catch me if I fall.

Have your own theories on love and lust, despite any proven hypothesis.

In sweet surrender, is there confident solace in petulant impatience?

Lift, look, point and pull ... improvise with compromise.

Let love deposit its silt.

With joy and sorrow We enrich the heart’s marrow.

Hope bleeds iron ore !!!

“ KIR E J I A N D KIGO W ITH H E MO GLOBIN FLOW ” ,

BY R A S H E D IS L A M S HIS HIR

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AWARDS + Exhibitions The Inge Morath Award, 2012

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he Magnum Foundation and the Inge Morath Foundation announce the 11th annual Inge Morath Award. The

annual award of $5,000 is awarded by the Magnum Foundation to a female photographer under the age of 30, to support the completion of a long-term documentary project. One award winner and up to two finalists are selected by a jury composed of Magnum photographers and the director of the Inge Morath Foundation.

Inge Morath was an Austrian-born photographer who was associated with Magnum Photos for nearly fifty years. After her death in 2002, the Inge Morath Foundation was established to manage Morath’s estate and facilitate the study and appreciation of her contribution to photography. Because Morath devoted much of her enthusiasm to encouraging women photographers, her colleagues at Magnum Photos established the Inge Morath Award in her honor. The Award is now given by the Magnum Foundation as part of its mission of supporting new generations of socially-conscious documentary photographers, and is administered by the Magnum Foundation in collaboration with the Inge Morath Foundation.

Making History – Exhibition of RAY 2012 Fotografieprojekte Rhein/ Main

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AKING HISTORY is the main exhibition of RAY 2012 Fotografieprojekte Rhein/

Main. The exhibition highlights outstanding international

contemporary

photography

and video art that debate the power of public images: How do historical events express themselves in images today? How do we experience and consume them? How do photographs influence our view of history? What images are presented to us and what images are withheld? 38 artists from over 12 countries collected here explore pivotal questions regarding the historical image of the present.

visit: ingemorath.org/index.php/2012/02/inge-morath-award-2012-guidelines

Bodilization: New Chinese Female Art in the Past Decade Over the past three decades Chinese contemporary art has had a profound impact on the contemporary art world. Yet, outside of China, this impact has been predominantly through the work of male artists. Chinese female artists have been quietly working across a similar range of artistic forms as male artists. While they often share a socio-political conscience with their male contemporaries, they have not always shared their grandiose viewpoint. Instead, Chinese female artists open themselves to both the shifting contemporary situations and the haunting traditions that still define their existence. While some suggest that there is no feminist art in China, female Chinese artists have been exploring their experience of gendered embodiment. For example, many artists have examined how the new marriage of money, power, and sex in state-capitalist China has altered the gilded “Half-the-Sky” ideology of gender relations. Among contemporary Chinese women artists, there is an urgent need to understand women’s situations, to create new gender identities and to express themselves through art – whether or not that search for understanding is done through an explicitly feminist lens. visit: goo.gl/HPjC9

v 20 April­–8 July 2012 Reception: 19 April 2012, 7 pm Exhibition sites MMK Museum für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt am Main and MMK Zollamt Domstraße 10, 60311 Frankfurt am Main Frankfurter Kunstverein Steinernes Haus am Römerberg, Markt 44, 60311 Frankfurt am Main visit: ray2012.com

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Spring exhibitions at UCCA

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he Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA) presents three new spring ex-

Patrick Keiller: The Robinson Institute, Tate Britain Commission 2012

hibitions opening this weekend. “Beyond Words: Photography in The New

Yorker” is an exhibition of more than 100 works by 65 photographers across the globe. Although the material has been gathered from a wide range of sources— including studios, galleries, archives and private collections—and periods (from 1890 to 2010), every image was published in The New Yorker from 1992 to 2010, a formative period in the magazine’s history. The exhibition follows photography’s evolution in this iconic weekly magazine, as the small group of photographers originally commissioned to shoot on a regular basis expanded to a larger group of practitioners, including journalists and contemporary artists. As the source and genres of the magazine’s photography diversified, the role of photography became progressively more idiosyncratic and potent, at once an illustrative medium of support for the articles and an independent medium for art. The co-curators of this exhibition are both known for their work as publication editors: Elisabeth Biondi from journalism as a 15-year veteran of The New Yorker, and Cay Sophie Rabinowitz from art as a founding editor of the photographic quarterly Fantom.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a discussion between the curators and mediated by Beijing-based New Yorker correspondent Evan Osnos as part of the smart Artists’ Talk series on April 15.

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atrick Keiller’s The Robinson Institute is unveiled at Tate Britain on 27 March – the first Tate Britain Commission made in response to Tate’s Collection of British and international art, supported by Sotheby’s.

The Robinson Institute is an exhibition that considers the origins of the current economic crisis. Throughout The Robinson Institute, images of landmarks and locations in the English landscape are employed to illustrate the development of capitalism.

Tate Britain Commission 2012 27 March–14 October 2012 London, SW1, Free. | visit: tate.org.uk

Physicality of the Visual Image

T 15 April–10 June 2012 Jennifer Wen Ma: Hanging Garden In Ink 15 April–27 May 2012 “Curated by MadeIn Company” GUEST: Standing on the Shoulders of Little Clowns 15 April–27 May 2012 Ullens Center for Contemporary Art 798 Art District, No. 4 Jiuxianqiao Lu, Beijing, China visit: ucca.org.cn

he fourth edition of Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Vision, also known as Yebizo, was held at Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography and Yebisu Garden Place from 14 to 25 February. Taking place annually since 2008, the festival explores the notion of the visual image through programmes that include museum exhibitions, screenings, public talks and symposia, and live performance events. The Partnership Program extended the festival this year, with 15 facilities in the Ebisu area, including galleries and bookstores co-hosting exhibitions and various events to correspond with the festival. visit: goo.gl/rDD3C

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| The X Zine Publication + Organization X Z IN E. ORG / X

FAC E BO OK . COM / X Z IN E. ORG

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