《几近抵达,几近具体,重庆》(系列), 2014-2015
数字微喷摄影、旧相册,档案,混合材料
在初到重庆之前,我在网上卖到一本60年代的重庆老相册,这本相册是某电信公司的内部档案,对其在重庆的办公大院、以及员工宿舍进行了归档。相册共包含了近三百张照片,所有照片的主体都是建筑。档案的整理者在几乎每张照片下面,都标注了相应的街名与街号。这本整理于50年前的相册自此成为了我在重庆的步行索引。我以照片下标注的街号作为线索,试图重访这些旧照的拍摄地点。很快我便意识到,这是一项不可能完成的搜寻——很多街道名称已经发生改变,而几乎所有照片上的建筑,都已消失不见。然而我依旧前往了相册上所标注的目前依旧可以找到的26条街道,寻找相应的街号,并在周遭区域展开拍摄。与此同时,我的拍摄地点还包括其他两种类型的区域:第一类是在近代对重庆的建设起到重要作用,然而当下已经衰败或已成废墟的三座工厂——二钢厂、九龙电厂、江渝船厂;第二类是几座正在核心地段处于建设中的楼盘工地。
我的意图并非是以一种类型学的方式将过去与当下的图像进行对照,而是通过将拍摄于两个年代、出现在不同媒介电视(不同年代的报纸广告)、以及处于不同形态下(建设工地与废墟)的建筑进行并置,并在其中穿插着与建筑相关 的人物的图像(肖像、调查文字以及档案资料),以此构建出一系列能够彼此发生对话与关联的图像。我希望这些图像之间可能发生的多重关系可以织成一张无形的网络,如同一个万花筒的切面,或许能够映射出这座城市当下并始终处于改变中的构成。
「Nearly There, Nearly Concrete, Chongqing」(series), 2014-2015
digital prints, old photo album, archive, mixed media
Before a visit to Chongqing in 2014, Yang purchased an old photo archive that documented buildings belonging to a Chongqing-based telecommunications company in the 1960s (Cultural Revolution was from 1966 to 1976). Returning to Chongqing some 50 years later, Yang attempted to locate the buildings depicted in the photo album. While a marginal few still remained, most had been bulldozed to accommodate visions of modernity. Some of the streets with antiquated names, such as “Anti-Feudal Street” had vanished after 80s. Their stories are now just a figment of its historical narrative. For those addresses that were still locatable, Yang juxtaposes photographs of the current buildings with those from the past, strengthening its historicity and continuity of the metropolis’ story. The work leads itself to its second chapter when Yang encountered an old factory while searching for one street during the process, the second chapter is focus on two other types of locations: factories that played an important role in Chongqing’s recent development, but are currently abandoned or in disrepair; and large construction sites in the city center. Further, she juxtaposes portraits of workers that possibly belonging to the construction teams who built some of the historical buildings with the workers met upon her recent excavation of these regions, ultimately weaving a narrative that transcends a temporal-scape.