Tan Tian: Demonstrations Under Art World's Conventions
Huang Bihe
“How I Become a Contemporary Artist” is a performance project currently being put on by artist Tan Tian. The seemingly straightforward title offers some food for thought: what is a contemporary artist? To answer this knotty question, one cannot avoid the question of what a contemporary artist is. However, after talking with Tan Tian, I discovered that these essential questions were not important to him at all. Just as he implies in the show’s title, what he cares about is not “what is,” but rather “how.” What is important is not how to become an individual contemporary artist, but rather the role he is performing from within the system of art production as well as collaborative relationships with other important players in artistic networks. Thus, by analyzing one’s interiority, one can expand externally. Within this performance, Tan Tian aims to act the role of the “contemporary artist” and thus find his own position and realize his capabilities.
Tan Tian’s experience working in galleries gave him the opportunity to deeply immerse himself in the art world’s mechanisms and also pushed him towards his established form of understanding. Tan Tian has always been mentally aloof from material reality, the image of an “artist” he once believed has always been a loner and outsider. In fact, this image he imagined is considered as a product of the myth of the artist, which constructed by romanticism, genius, modernism, and creationism. The playboy, rebel, the lunatic: these are the oft-repeated artistic archetypes which at the very end become merely stereotypes and performance roles. In the 1970s, American philosopher George Dickie pointed out as part of his influential Institutional Theory of Art that there is no one who can be external to the art institution. For artists, art critics, painters, museum directors, journalists, art historians, and other members of the artworld’s larger networks. All kinds of functions and areas of cooperation, including the preservation of artistic production and consumption, take place under well-established, orderly, and methodical conditions. Moreover, the art institution is not a new invention; a young Picasso drawing portraits for the critic Apollinaire and collector Gertrude Stein remarked that fear and the intentions behind beginning a career are not unrelated. As Andy Warhol, the artist responsible for overturning the image of the artist as sacred, once said: “Why do people think artists are so special? Being an artist is simply a job.”
Tan Tian’s project can thus be seen as a fledgling artist’s way of combatting the conventionalities of the art world. He first collects and organizes materials from first class artists, summarizing their abilities - and then puts it into practice. The work of acclaimed artists gets displayed in galleries, recognized and appreciated by the public as contemporary art, featured in art magazines by critics, and finally, collected by art collectors. The entire time, the artist must rely on the artworld’s conventions of accreditation and recognition. However, Tan Tian’s work intentionally tests this implicit system of mutual understanding and provide a methodical demonstration of what is normally semi-hidden. Please note, however, that this is merely a demonstration. It is institutional criticism of what was already outdated and institutionalized from the outset. After all, even though it is an institutional form of art criticism, it can only be come out and have use within the institution of art; any attempt to escape from the art institution in turn only leads to further expansion of the institution. To loosely quote Andrea Fraser, the art institution depends on the people inside it. The question is not necessarily how to oppose the institution, because we are all the institution. What Tan Tian is demonstrating is just this – artist is the core role of the art institution.
The expansive system created in Tan Tian’s performance piece roughly covers the areas of production and consumption and uses the art database to produce new art work. In the process, it utilizes the market, museum, and media - the art scene’s “three M’s” - for promotion. The art database contains all permutations of the creative elements and techniques from works by first-class artists which are then used to manufacture objects that “resemble” contemporary art work. If we consider this work to be a kind of cultural tradition, then Tan Tian is undoubtedly a traditional learner and practitioner. Intuition gained from long-term immersion has allowed him to easily grasp the line between “resemblance” and “non-resemblance,” or, what Arthur Danto would have called “the atmosphere of the artworld”. Being an artist who works with gallery is enough to confer the power of turning raw materials into artwork. The art institution’s networks various nodes and interactions further preserve the role of credentialism in artwork. In short, everything happens within the boundaries of convention. The segment Tan Tian designed for art collectors is worth mentioning. He produced a certificate of exhibition for every piece which included a map of all previous museums and galleries it had been displayed in. Tan Tian either sent the certificate to collectors along with the art work, or he could also destroy the art work, leaving the collector to rely on the proof of a piece of paper. Like records for painting and calligraphy, every time an exhibition happens within the structures of the art world, it must yet again confirm the legal status of its art works; the certificate of exhibition itself resembles a legal certificate. All this does is to yet again highlight how the artists who are the core actors within the art institution possess the power of conferring recognition.
I threw them a small urinal, yet they said it was very beautiful. The avant-garde has not only destroyed the art institution, but has instead become the institution’s strongest force for integrating and legitimizing itself. From beginning to end, this performance piece concerning institutional conventions avoids mentioning Tan Tian’s personal attitude. Whether it confronts or colludes with the institution is no longer important; the institution is within everyone, and no one can go beyond the limits of themselves. Moreover, what is certain is that through such a meticulous and honest performance, normally ambiguous plans of convenience begin to engage in self-reflection, just as a mirror gives one the opportunity to examine oneself. By allowing the hidden to float to the surface, this kind of institutional criticism constructs the possibility for an institution of criticism itself.
谭天：惯例下的操演
文 / 黄碧赫
“我是如何成为一个当代艺术家的”是谭天正在进行中的一个长期项目。这句看似颇直白的标题其实颇有玩味。当代艺术家是什么？要回答这个棘手的问题自然绕不过什么是当代艺术。与谭天的聊天中我发现这些本质论问题在他那里并不重要。就像他在标题中所说，他所关心的不是“是什么”，而是“如何”。重要不是作为个体的艺术家，而是他在艺术体制中所扮演的角色，及其与艺术网络中其他重要角色的协作关系。由此，内涵消解，外延扩张。在这个项目中，谭天所要做的就是充当“当代艺术家”这个角色，找准其位置，履行其职能。
画廊的工作经历使谭天有机会深入艺术世界内部运作流程，也因此推倒了他对于艺术家这一形象的既定认识。事实上，谭天心目中的那类生前遗世独立、身后四海名扬的孤独者与局外人，又何尝不是浪漫主义天才论乃至现代主义创造论所建构的艺术家神话的产物。玩世不恭的浪荡子，桀骜不驯的叛逆者，孤僻怪诞的精神病人这些经过反复演绎的经典艺术家形象，最后也不过陷入了一种根植于刻板印象的角色扮演。上世纪七十年代，乔治·迪基（George Dickie）在其颇具影响的“艺术惯例论”中就曾指出，没有人能够外在于艺术体制。在这个由艺术家、艺术评论家、画商、博物馆馆长、报刊记者、艺术史家、观众等角色组成的艺术世界的庞大网络中，各种职能互助协作，保证艺术生产与消费实践在既定的惯例和常规下有条不紊地进行。更何况艺术体制绝非新近发明，年轻的毕加索为批评家阿波利奈尔、收藏家斯坦因等人绘制肖像恐怕与打开事业局面的意图不无关系，而彻底颠覆艺术家神圣形象的安迪·沃霍尔说过，为什么人们认为艺术家很特别？这只是另一个工作而已。
谭天的这个项目可以看做是一位初出茅庐的艺术家对于艺术界惯例性实践的实战演习。收集和整理大量一线艺术家资料，总结当代艺术家的工作职能，并一一付诸实践。一件由公认的艺术家制造的作品被放置在画廊展出，被公众当做当代艺术作品欣赏，被评论家在艺术杂志上当做艺术品头论足，最后被藏家当做艺术品收藏，所有这一切都依赖于艺术界惯例的资格认证，而谭天所作的，就是有计划地将这一心照不宣、却时常半遮半掩的隐性存在进行一次程序化的操演。请注意，仅仅是操演。这就使他与那种早已不觉新鲜、甚至从一开始就已经体制化的体制批判区别开来。毕竟，即便是体制批判的艺术，也只能在艺术体制中产生和发生作用，任何试图逃离体制的努力反过来导致艺术体制的进一步扩张。用安德烈·弗雷泽（Andrea Fraser）的话说，艺术体制内在于人。问题不在于反对体制，因为，我们就是体制。而谭天所操演的艺术家，就是这一艺术体制中的核心角色。
谭天为这一项目所构筑的庞大体系大致围绕生产与消费两块展开，运用艺术家资料库生产作品，通过市场（market）、美术馆(museum)和媒体(media)，所谓艺术场“三M”进行推广和消费。首先在资料库中排列组合一线艺术家的创作元素和方法，制作出“像”当代艺术作品的东西。如果把当下正在发生的艺术看做一种文化传统的话，谭天无疑是一位不折不扣的传统研习者和践行者。长时间浸淫其中获得的直觉，使其能够轻易把握“像”与“不像”的边界，也即阿瑟·丹托所说的“艺术界的氛围”。而其作为画廊艺术家的身份足以授予这些制造物以艺术品的地位，艺术体制关系网上的各个节点的相互作用则进一步保证艺术品的资格认定。总之，一切的一切都在惯例下进行。值得注意的是谭天为藏家设计的收藏方案。他为每件作品制作一张展览证明，其中包含作品历次亮相美术馆和画廊展的现场图，随作品附送藏家，或者亦可将作品销毁，仅以一纸为凭。如同书画著录一般，每一次展览都是在艺术界框架之内对于艺术品合法身份的一次再确认。而展览证明本身则像依照法律认证程序颁发的资格证书，又一次凸显了作为艺术体制核心角色的艺术家所拥有的授予权，甚至包括了对于脱离物质载体对象的纯粹指定。
我扔给他们一个小便池，他们却称其很美丽。历史前卫主义非但没有摧毁艺术体制，而是变成对体制无限整合力量的最高确认。在这个关于惯例与体制的项目中，谭天始终回避自己的态度。对抗或是共谋，已经并不重要。体制就在人们心中，而人却不能超越自身。不过，可以肯定的是，如此细致而诚实的操演本身，如同镜子一般，至少抛给人们一个审视自身的契机，使那些暧昧不明的权宜之计与自我审查一一浮出水面，一种在体制化的体制评判之后，建立批判的体制的可能。