A Very Modern Take on a Classic Chinese Painting
By Amy Qin

For a visual survey of recent headline-grabbing events in China, look no further than the latest photographic project by the artist Dai Xiang, inspired by the 12th-century scroll painting “Along the River During the Qingming Festival.”

Mr. Dai borrows the visual and conceptual framework of that painting — not to mention its title — to produce a patchwork of meticulous vignettes of everyday Chinese society. But in a bid to channel the spirit of the times, he swaps out the sentimental depictions of urban life in the Song dynasty for scenes that are far more familiar to modern-day residents of Chinese cities: chengguan, or urban management officials, bullying local vendors; rapacious real estate developers mapping out plans to forcibly evict residents; government officials in dark suits on inspection tours; propaganda banners; crackdowns on prostitution; and snap-happy Chinese tourists wielding cameras.

“I’ve always wanted to make a scroll that depicts a slice of Chinese contemporary society in a way that combines traditional and contemporary methods,” said Mr. Dai, who unveiled the work last week at the Lianzhou International Photo Festival, in the southern province of Guangdong. “The vibrancy of real life is the source of inspiration for my creativity.”

Mr. Dai said he chose for the piece events that were representative and involved different levels of society. The project took about three years to complete, he said, during which he shot about one terabyte of images and processed almost 10,000 composite layers for the final photo. Most of the costumes and stage props for the nearly 1,000 characters depicted in the tableau he made himself or rented. (He also stepped in to play about 90 of the characters.)

The finished work, which is 82 feet long and about 3.5 feet high, contains more than 30 different scenes. Some show common features of Chinese society today: high real estate prices, disgruntled hospital patients and black Audis.

Others refer to specific news events, such as an episode in 2009 in which three university students died while trying to save two drowning children. Reports that fishermen on a nearby boat demanded 12,000 renminbi, or almost $2,000, to hand over each student’s body prompted outrage among many Chinese.

Another scene depicts the son of a senior police officer in Hebei Province who tried to flee the scene of a fatal car crash in 2010 and evade responsibility by shouting to an angry crowd: “Sue me if you dare. My father is Li Gang!”

“Every era will encounter new societal and cultural problems,” Mr. Dai said. “I hope that by tapping into reality, the work can provoke thought within a new context, and play a role in the progress of society.”

“Along the River During the Qingming Festival,” attributed to the artist Zhang Zeduan, is arguably China’s most famous scroll painting, known for its detailed, multilayered depiction of everyday life in the flourishing 12th-century Chinese capital of Bianjing, now called Kaifeng. Mr. Dai, who is based in Tianjin and Beijing, said he felt a certain attachment to the painting after attempting to copy it while studying Chinese traditional painting at university.

Earlier works by Mr. Dai include a satirical series of photographs called “The New Lei Feng Stories,” which reimagines the People’s Liberation Army hero performing fabled good works in the context of contemporary Chinese society.

Mr. Dai’s work will be on display at the Lianzhou International Photo Festival through Dec. 22. The annual festival, which was founded in partnership with the Lianzhou municipal government in 2005, has become an important platform for Chinese and international photography.

“Contemporary photography often contains a critique,” Duan Yuting, the art director of the festival, said.

“Artists want not only to offer a simple representation of society or certain phenomena, but also to encourage people to understand contemporary problems,” Ms. Duan added, citing Mr. Dai’s work as an example.

大陸怪事 匯集新清明上河圖

最近一幅現代版的「新清明上河圖」在大陸網路暴紅，該作品中把大陸近年的社會事件和怪象，諸如「我爸是李剛」、「城管打人」、「徵爹求包養」等，以劇情方式呈現，引起網友熱議，評價兩極。

這一全長廿五公尺的現代版「新清明上河圖」的創作者為戴翔，他以古畫清明上河圖為背景，以新聞圖片為原型，呈現當代大陸社會市井百態。這個現代版「新清明上河圖」近日在廣東連州國際攝影展展出，因其新奇創意和內容，相當引人注目。

在這幅「畫」中呈現近年大陸的熱門社會事件和現象，例如，在「畫」中一角有紅裙女子坐在地上，展牌上寫著「徵爹求包養」，牌上註明身高體重三圍。

在清明上河村裡，一女子攙著拄枴老婦人望著前面的巨大標幅，「清明上河村別墅每平方米八十八萬起。」緊挨的牆上寫著，「以合法補償為榮，以漫天要價為恥。」

作者戴翔是大陸知名攝影家，他接受新京報訪談時表示，剛開始是想把關注的社會熱門話題展現出來，後來發現清明上河圖有很多市井百態的生活，是一個很好的敘述故事的圖景框架。

戴翔說，這是嚴肅的藝術創作，這一創作也算是向清明上河圖致敬。他指出，畫面中有古今社會各階層的諸多角色，將當下社會典型性事件進行一些戲劇性擺拍並置入其中，以反襯矛盾與衝突。

戴翔表示，創作中的部分照片背景是新聞照片的原型，通過這些原型擺拍。他自己也參與其中，扮演了九十多個角色，有員警、小偷、乞丐等。作品是今年六月完成，前後約花兩年半時間。「畫」中的九百多個人物造型，總共有一百多個模特兒扮演，有很多都是戴翔的同事、朋友。

這幅現代版「新清明上河圖」一夕走紅，評價兩極。支持者認為反映當前社會，是「傳世之作」，批評者則認為他故意揭露大陸社會「陰暗面」。

對於外界的兩極評價，戴翔表示，每個受眾會根據自己閱歷和價值觀，對作品有不同的看法，這很正常。他理解網上的讚揚與批判，他的作品並非有意拼接社會的「黑暗面」，以此抨擊社會。

原文參照：
http://sinosphere.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/11/27/dai-xiangs-modern-take-on-a-classic-chinese-painting/

紐約時報中文版翻譯：
http://cn.nytimes.com/culture/20141128/c28daixiang/zh-hant/

Video：Scenes from the original “Along the River During the Qingming Festival.”
http://youtu.be/kxff-4GktOI

2014-11-25．聯合報．A12．兩岸．特派記者汪莉絹