Introduction of the artist:

GAO Shiqiang (China)

Born in 1971, Shandong Province, China. Lives and works in Hangzhou, China.
Selected solo exhibitions: 2011 Century, Iberia Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China; 2010 Oxygen-sickness, Hanart Gallery, Hong Kong, China; 2009 Time of Place, Iberia Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China; 2008 Max Bo Tachi Gallery, New York, USA;
Selected group exhibitions: 2007 Story, Device and Video Art Hermes Gallery New York, USA; 2011 Video Art in China: 1988-2011, Minsheng Art Museum Shanghai, China; 2009 2nd Antarctic Biennale, Ursua, Argentina; 2008 7th Gwangju Biennale, South Korea; 3rd Guangzhou Triennial, China; 2006 the 6th Shanghai Biennale, China.

Introduction of works:

QingBang, vedio, 26'00'', 2011

Qingbang is an island that is situated in Dongji, a place-name meaning ‘limit of the east’. Rooted in the sea, it is isolated in a vast expanse of blueness. Its previous vibrant life was clearly marked by the compelling residential buildings stacked up on the island, which is said to be the ‘Potala of the Sea’. To Gao Shiqiang, it seems to be familiar from previous life-times – “like a maiden visit, but also like returning to a hometown” or “a utopian land to rest my soul”.

Forced by the rapid urbanisation and economic development in China, the peace and gratefulness of Qingbang people are no longer there. The daily life on the island has become a trap from which the young generation want to escape, to fly across the sea that separates their dreams towards the neon lights shining on that distant mainland. Today’s Qingbang is only remembered occasionally as a tale of a remote island. Dilapidated school buildings, unloved cinemas and ruined houses shape a state of desolation, together with the old folks, whose faces were carved as rocks by the sea breeze. In the artist’s lens, we perceive their gaze, austere and quiet, perhaps too tired to tell a lifetime of weariness, but longing to hear from their children from the other side of the sea.

“Whatever you pass through is a temporary homeland”, as the narrative says in the video. “Today on the way to Qingbang, a grand view of ocean, beyond that, a view of the bank. From an undetermined empty future I seem to return to a past settled out like a lump of iron. For people who come and leave here by boat, this may be a dwelling place, or a scenic spot, but all are passing travellers, whoever we are. Being here in the world is the same way. I’ll climb for a view, where bank fronts ocean. This place stands watch for a hundred generations; I show up for this rendezvous; we hold nothing back from each other.”