Jiang Cheng: Concealment and Revelation
Text / Lin Lin
Upon entering the space of AIKE, one is unabashedly aware of being stared at by numerous pairs of eyes. At first glimpse, Jiang Cheng's artworks predominantly evoke the sensation of numerous, intently staring eyes. However, after touring the exhibition, it becomes evident that these so-called eyes may not be staring at all; they are merely "open"—or perhaps, the eyes you see are not actual eyes.
This is the case when one attempts to interpret the artworks through familiar experiential lenses and established professional knowledge systems, only to realize that they are "incomprehensible." Yet, there is a palpable authenticity to this experience; when one attempts to articulate this feeling, they find themselves merely opening their mouths, struck dumb. This is not to suggest an absence of speech, but rather to underscore that true appreciation, understanding, and deeper engagement with art can only be achieved through direct interaction with the artworks—being "present" and "in motion."
Jiang Cheng, "The Hour We Know Nothing of Each Other", installation view
Therefore, what Jiang Cheng might also be implying is this: face the artwork directly, where all is communicated without words.
In the painting, robust and rugged brushstrokes construct facial features—the eyes, nose, and mouth—in an abstract and seemingly arbitrary manner. However, with a few steps and a change in distance, the eyes blur, the nose skews, and the mouth elongates... The original facial features become disordered. In another canvas, numerous faces may overlap, with crowded colors distorting the features; a turn, and one might encounter a face with an indifferent and lonely expression... This inconsistency provides no clear rules, leading viewers to wander repeatedly through the gallery, encountering various people and emotions without understanding; attempts to grasp something tangible prove futile.
Jiang Cheng, U-08, 2018, oil on canvas, 150 x 170.5 cm
At this moment, the artist withdraws from the gallery, opposing interpretation; he intentionally disrupts the narrative of the paintings—or rather, suggests there is no narrative.
Fragmented, like a mirage in the fog—the surface beneath another surface, akin to the metaphor of echo chambers in the social media era.
Compared to the interpretation of the imagery, I find myself more intrigued by the artist's creative method and process. Consequently, I perused the exhibition documents, which did not elucidate the imagery. However, I learned that this "U" series emphasizes the body as its core, representing a primary creative trajectory for Jiang Cheng since 2018, linking the subconscious self with others. The "U" can be interpreted as an abbreviation of the subject "You," referring during creation to the canvas facing the artist, laden with traces of the creative process; conceptually, it directs to a more primal world faced by an "I" beyond self-awareness.
Therefore, Jiang Cheng's artistic language is inevitably very intimate. His refusal of external interpretation is not due to arrogance but a form of clarity, recognizing the unique and essentially unrelated perspectives of each individual. We often emphasize communication, yet the echo chambers persist, unbreakable, with each individual tending to select and construct their own worlds from the information they perceive, deriving satisfaction therein.
Jiang Cheng, U-74, 2021, oil on canvas, 255 x 220 cm
Consequently, numerous self-satisfied individuals constitute the diverse states of society. However, due to the lack of communication and interaction, and despite the bustling crowds, people are becoming increasingly isolated... Hence, this fragmented scenario forms an allegory of postmodern society, representing the current state of urban jungles. Jiang Cheng has a profound understanding of this; he introduced the concept of "The Shiver." During his creative process, due to factors such as size of the canvas, distance, time, and physical endurance, the artist's gaze relinquishes its habitual fixation on the image and control over the bigger picture. Simultaneously, the control and subjugation of hand and body achieved through vision are also severed. The discord caused by this breakage is akin to a shiver, awakening the artist from the dreamlike flow of art history. This momentary tremor of awareness is what the artist terms "The Shiver"; he has said, "The Shiver is the essence of consciousness that transcends self-consciousness, awakened at the moment of shivering, a deep-layered awareness of humanity. It is a resistance to the inertia of consciousness, a return. It is the arch-enemy of ideology." — Without the artist's description, it might be difficult to perceive this beneath the intricate and disordered brushstrokes depicting eyes or facial features—that is, how the artist adeptly hides the most authentic self beneath layers of surfaces. He does not expect feedback or resonance from the audience, nor does he display the seemingly benevolent, open, and egalitarian patterns often found in contemporary art, which reminds me of Lu Xun's saying, "The joys and sorrows of people do not communicate; I only find them noisy."
Jiang Cheng, U-18, 2022, oil on canvas, 230 x 195 cm
Nonetheless, this does not preclude the engaged observer from profoundly engaging with the artist's linguistic expressions and narrative intentions. Additionally, the duration of one's engagement with the space at AIKE directly correlates with an escalating fascination with the conveyed messages and a deeper deciphering of the narratives concealed within the disordered imagery.
The exhibition's title, The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other, explicitly references Peter Handke’s work by the same name. Handke's plays meticulously investigate the intricate relationships between the 'external manifestations of the internal worlds of the external realms.' His characterizations and scenic designs are crafted to meet the demands of profoundly abstract thematic requirements—each play presents a catastrophic microcosm of an entire societal structure, with each character exhibiting a highly nuanced and fragmented self-awareness.
"The stage is an expansive area illuminated by dazzling lights. An individual dashes across swiftly, signaling the commencement of the performance. Another person, from a different direction, similarly sprints across the field. Subsequently, two individuals diagonally traverse the area, each trailed closely and equally by another.
...
Sheets of newspaper flutter across the ground, rolling and drifting, followed by another. A remote-controlled toy car suddenly emerges from a corner, surging wildly across the field before swiftly departing. A colorful kite wobbles down, drags across the terrain, and then, like the newspaper, is swept into the alley. The resonance of a falling iron rod echoes persistently.
...
Everyone simply remains here: some observe with their eyes, others listen intently; thus, they watch each other, alternately transforming into one another, traversing the vast expanse.
...
In the broad daylight, an owl hoots; a person walks in silence, tears falling, then morphs into someone sobbing and beating their chest; an individual, overwhelmed, breathes heavily then continuously adds objects to themselves, subsequently walking away with a relieved smile; a person awkwardly moves down and up with a branch wedged between their legs; another carries a model bridge across the field, comparing it with the surroundings; Death is carried across the field in a sedan chair; a hunter transports 'Snow White’s heart' enclosed in a glass jar; the cat in boots strides boastfully; charred scraps of paper drift from the sky; a woman exits a laundry shop, her clothes draped under a plastic sheath; herdsmen in rubber boots head home; a pedestrian holds aloft a sunflower; a woman tosses her keys high in the air while crossing the field.
...
Back and forth, to and fro.
Afterwards, the site becomes dimmed."
(This passage is adapted from excerpts of The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other.)
Since drama is mentioned here, I would also like to share the story of another theater group, which emerged in the 1980s in New York's East Village. Their performances continued the Cagean aesthetics of blurring the boundaries between art and life, creating a continuum between theater and daily existence. Consequently, theater became a component of the scene, integrating into the social fabric of this new Bohemian community. Later on, the Wooster Group further dismantled traditional relational networks. The modernist conception of a singular ideal spectator and the unified notion of an art piece were abandoned. In their place, fragmented objects were presented in diverse ways to different audiences. What differentiated them, more than thirty years ago, was their commitment to keeping the art and discursive systems open; in contrast, more than thirty years later, we might prefer to retreat into our own 'cocoon rooms'—certainly an attitude of 'coolness' or, one might say, of independent thinking and cautious action.
Jiang Cheng, "The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other", installation view
Returning to the works of Jiang Cheng, I believe that certain elements are being obscured, while others are revealed—his works serve as allegories for the individual consciousness of our generation. Recalling the perspective of Professor Chen Jiaying on the notion that "artworks manifest," he stated: "Artworks are not merely reflections of reality. They are constructions from the outset. By such constructions, what was once invisible becomes visible, what was unclear becomes clearer. ... Artworks manifest. However, if one says that language constitutes a foundational construction, then artworks display through a higher-order construction."
