Blog Post #2 (for the State of Emergency <\/i>exhibition)<\/p>\n
A black and white spreadsheet envelops an entire wall, each row representing a young victim of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Chinese characters denoting name, gender, and birthdate fill the cells. The language prevents me from being able to speak these words, making the incident seem foreign and distant, but the length of the list alone is disturbing. A startling number of the cells have been left blank, representing unidentified victims. Ironically, what\u2019s distinct about these victims is that nothing is known about them. They have been given their own space on the spreadsheet yet remain indistinguishable.<\/p>\n
Ai Weiwei\u2019s \u201cNamelist\u201d demonstrates a grim dichotomy between individuality and anonymity. The piece is as much a list of information as it is a work of art, and viewers are inclined to see it as both. When observed as information, viewers interpret the data and focus intensely on a small portion. But when observed as art, viewers observe the entirety of the piece and their focus is scattered. The victims are represented with individuality in the former approach, but with anonymity in the latter. \u201cNamelist\u201d is both commemorative monument and a provocative message in this way. I feel some reverence for the victims of this disaster, but am mostly unable to connect with them. Instead, the sanitary, apathetic presentation and sheer vastness of the piece disgust me as much as the wreckage probably would have.<\/p>\n
A second piece accompanies the first. In \u201cRemembrance\u201d, voices read off the names of the victims. Each name is read by a different voice. After listening to the track play for a while, the names and voices both become indistinguishable. Much like the spreadsheet did, \u201cRemembrance\u201d pays homage to each victim individually, but they are all eventually forgotten in the multitude. Also like the spreadsheet, my inability to understand the language restricts my ability to feel sympathetic for each victim. Because the sounds are meaningless to me, each name blends into the next. I cannot identify one name from another, and I do not have friends or family with these names. Once again, I feel both reverence and indifference simultaneously.<\/p>\n
In his essay \u201cDisaster: A Useful Category for Historical Analysis\u201d, Jonathan Bergman explains that a disaster is \u201cubiquitous yet indescribable\u201d (Bergman 934). He tries to pinpoint a definition for the term by examining its origins and evolution, but ultimately determines that broadness makes the term a useful category for historical analysis. The grim dichotomy between individuality and anonymity seems consistent with Bergman\u2019s conclusion: this dichotomy is easily recognizable in Weiwei\u2019s work, yet escapes verbal definition.<\/p>\n
Disasters are interdisciplinary subjects that span the fields of environmental science, sociology, history, and more. They can be quantified in terms of physical damage, casualties, or psychological impact. They can be defined as natural, unnatural, or a combination of the two. Only art can project sensations\u2014like Weiwei\u2019s dichotomy\u2014that are complex enough to accurately represent the complexity of disaster. Like disaster, art is \u201cubiquitous yet indescribable\u201d and therefore better suited to tell the story.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Blog Post #2 (for the State of Emergency exhibition) A black and white spreadsheet envelops an entire wall, each row representing a young victim of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Chinese characters denoting name, gender, and birthdate fill the cells. The language prevents me from being able to speak these words, making the incident seem foreign … <\/p>\n