EXPECTATIONS? INTERPRET-ATIONS?
Keyword: BEING PRESENT
OU: "I believe that being present is the utmost. Participating on site is the premise for understanding and interpretation."
Keyword: FORM
WANG: "I have recognized a common tendency between Pilgrims and my poems... "
Keyword: CUNNING
WANG: "... Ou in real life is ‘cunning compensation,’ whereas...in Ou’s art is ‘cunning indulgence.."
Ou's artworks are characterized by one-time showcases in spaces, which means that the live performance marks the end of the artwork. He places great importance on the audience's physical presence, as he believes that being present is necessary for understanding and constructing meaning. Ou recognized Wang attending the piece Pilgrims to be still in performance status. For Ou, the minimum and only expectation he has for the audience is to be present, "I believe that being present is the upmost. Participating on site is the premise for understanding and interpretation." He explains, "During the pandemic, we can actually do a lot of things without going out. In fact, many physical things can be replaced by online experiences in this era. However, if I want to see the Mona Lisa, I still think the experience of seeing it in person is indispensable to all other second-hand experiences. Therefore, I thought to encourage people to come by augmenting the importance of being present in my works.” Consequently, instead of discussing his expectations for the audience, Ou believes that it is more important for the audience to participate. He values creating an experience for the viewers that is different from the norm, hoping to trigger a unique experience in the audience's minds.
As Ou stated, "The most fundamental aspect of art appreciation is 'seeing.' What I see is what I see. Every audience member maintains this 'seeing,' but sometimes this act of seeing is an experience in itself. Take, for instance, the exhibition I held at Yongfu Art Space. When one enters the space, one may see a bunch of shelves and have no idea what is going on. However, they can tell others that 'I went to an exhibition, the artist gave me a key, and I went in by myself. I had never entered a space like this by myself before. Perhaps the artist wanted me to have this experience, although I don't know what this experience is.' This kind of dialogue sounds like 'I really don't know what the artist is doing, but I seem to have discovered something.' Undoubtedly, they discovered something that I have no idea what that could be, and this is crucial. That is why for that show, I placed some papers in the space for them to organize and share their 'lost' experience.”
In reflecting on Wang’s experience of viewing Ou’s artwork, Wang concluded that he believed that he felt the same way about Ou’s struggles in the creative process. Wang expressed, “I have recognized a common tendency between Pilgrims and my poems, that they both focus on the form of expression rather than the content. Instead of generating something new in the content, the creation is focusing on the form of expression. I feel this is sometimes dangerous.” He felt anxious about the scrutiny of form and worried that it might become a constrain. He also questioned what the general audience could gain from appreciating Ou’s work, especially if they have no expertise in art. He even raised the point that even if the audience did gain something, how could they be sure it was truly "new." This highlights Wang’s pursuit of innovation in his artistic creations.
Regarding Ou, he once expressed concern about his professor judging his work as too audience-focused. Although this is a dilemma he faces, he still values audience participation. This could be his current response to this issue. When I shared Wang's explanation of “feeling the same dilemma” with Ou, he had a slightly different perspective. He said, "The dilemma comes from the community you need to face. Who do you expect to see your artwork? If you want to be recognized by the academic circle, then the work being too hard to understand might not be a problem. To me, the dilemma is that I still cannot decide or judge what kind of community I am facing, but what is certain is that it must not be the unselected public." Therefore, although he is still dealing with this dilemma, it does not appear to be holding him back.
Last but not least, through Wang’s observation and interaction with Ou as a friend, Wang expanded his reasoning of saying Ou to be cunning. He noted how Ou is a very kind person who tends to be overly considerate, but he realized that this thoughtfulness can also be a form of "cunning compensation”: this is a pre-action of supposing what you might need. Wang stated, “I believe the aspect I saw Ou in real life is ‘cunning compensation,’ whereas what is presented in Ou’s art is ‘cunning indulgence.’ I really appreciate how art has empowered Ou with the freedom to express himself.” In addition, Wang also referred to Ou as "the person who gave space," emphasizing his belief that Ou was more than just an exhibition organizer or participant, but rather the embodiment of the art institution. This has further connected to his understanding of Ou as a friend, “Ou has this tendency to give up his own subjectivity and create a space for others. I identify such a ‘vacancy’ as the place where Ou is doing the work, and where his characteristic appears.”
In conclusion, Wang tied together visual art and the academic circle by emphasizing the importance of audience participation in creating good artwork. He explained, "I believe that good works require us to participate more. Artists need to leave space for the audience to fill in their own meanings. While they provide clues, we connect them with our own effort, and we gain more meaning from it. This is what makes a good artwork. A good artwork doesn't provide a puzzle with clear questions and answers. Both questions and answers have to be sought by the audience, and there is no correct answer. The questions are open-ended.” Wang acknowledged that visual language is difficult to understand, which makes it harder to gain meaning from it. However, he values the same aspect of art-making that Ou is creating: constructing the proper "gaps" for viewers to fill in their answers.
Interestingly, Ou has also coined the term "reserved gaps" to describe the “gaps.” He explained that "the authority I give to the audience is not completely open. I deliberately leave blank spaces in my work to prevent it from becoming a closed loop between the author and the work. This way, I also consider the audience in my creation, which is related to my belief and expectation of art." In essence, Ou sees himself as "a double-sided mirror that reflects different identities," which resonates with Wang's perspective on the value of art and connects to his values on Ou as friends.
Review
Ou's art