Common Talk Weeklyshuang yu zhou kan
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Discovering magic messages
December 17, 2003
By Daphne Zhao
Photos by Yao Fan

生活在现代社会，每天都会被不计其数的信息充斥包围。这些信息，有些是实用的，有些是无用的，有些甚至会误导人。荷兰当代艺术家Sjerk Timmer和 Femke Schaap，结合先进的科技传媒技术，艺术地为我们再现了这一现象，也邀请您一同来评判。

A wonderful exhibition entitled "About Spam" has been put together by the Chinese European Art Center in Xiamen. Sjerk Timmer and Femke Schaap, artists from Holland, are the main contributors to the exhibition, which approaches the subject of unsolicited messages.

"Spam" refers to email-advertisements that are sent to people via the internet. Spam is a message or a piece of information. Therefore, it could be said that anything we do or don't do is a message to other people. For example, if someone sits quietly, at first glance another might think he has had a really bad day. Therefore, misunderstanding can easily occur. We can minimize communication barriers if we know how to read all kinds of messages.

Sjerk and Femke both graduated from the Audio Visual Department of the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in 1995 and obtained their Masters of Fine Arts Degree at the Sanberg Institute in 1997. Femke won first prize in the prestigeous Prix de Rome of Sculpture.

In 2002, Sjerk and Femke gave a workshop at the Xiamen University Art College. This workshop mainly talked about how new media serves the arts. It was not only a combination of contemporary arts and sophisticated technology, but it also signaled the beginning of a new cooperation with Xiamen University Art College. One year later, Sjerk and Femke have recently visited Xiamen again on invitation from the Chinese European Art Center.

Two articles were displayed at the exhibition. One appeared to be an unusual seesaw. A big stone was placed next to a small stone. On the other side, a man's figure was standing, making different faces. Holding a bottle of beer in his right hand, and an advertisement for "Danfeng" beer in the other, he seemed to invite people to purchase. With the help of three-dimensional film installations, the man's figure was reflected on a white board.

The second work of art also used a three-dimensional technique. A man with a smile held a huge stone in his arms. Behind him there was a house and moving figures on the wall. Looking closely you could see sad expressions on their faces. This work made a comparison between two opposite feelings. Some people are glad with just a stone, however, some people are not satisfied even when they own a house.

During the break, many people watched a TV show. Alternate phrases appeared on the screen one by one, such as "the men", "lots of lovers", "having a smoke", "go to night clubs" and so on.

The following are a few interpretations of the exhibition according to the artists.

"Art is always an unsolicited message."

"In our installations， we give this film a renewed spatial existence. Parts of the total image then are captured on different films. These we project on silhouette cut-out panels, that are posted in the space."

"The actual flat projections seem real, because they are projected in their contour with matching or slightly differing rims, to have the appearance of dimensionality and reality."

"The spatial film installations are from a search we began during normal filming. Coming from a double-exposure of titles, using the emulsion as a material, we are sculptors of light. From parts of reality we compose an almost graphical image, in which flatness and dimensionality are fighting for existence."