Beneath the surface
By Zhao Jing
Photos by Yao Fan



在名为《外观》的影像展上, 荷兰女艺术家阿尼卡向观众揭示了观看电视节目时, 人们身体和面部所流露的心理变化. 有趣的是, 所有作品均在厦门本地完成.

The Chinese European Art Center (CEAC) at the Art College, Xiamen University, is widely recognized as the best place in Xiamen for people to get a look at contemporary western art.
A video and photography exhibition entitled "Surface" opened here on September 9, 2005. All works on display were created by Anneke a. de Boer, an outstanding artist from the Netherlands.

Exhibits made in Xiamen

What makes the exhibition appealing to the Xiamen audience is that all the exhibits were made right here in Xiamen. As an artist who has a profound interest in human behavior and body language, Anneke tries to capture the evanescent flows of emotions across the human face with a video camera. Two of these works show scenes in which ordinary Chinese people watch TV in the evening. In these works, each moment reveals more of the inner life of the subjects.



TV-a unique phenomenon

To most Chinese people, watching TV is no more than a popular way to spend the evening with the family. But it is much more than a mere entertainment to the 36-year-old Dutch artist. As a photographer who has a keen eye for human behavior, she found a unique phenomenon worthy of deeper research as soon as she arrived in Xiamen two and a half months ago.

She discovered that television watching is in one way social - in that people stay together for the evening and share the same space with their companions (family members or work friends); on the other hand, they are so immersed in the TV programs that they tend to be isolated from one another, being together in the same space. Instead of communicating with the people sitting next to them, the TV watchers concentrate on the programs. Concentration, isolation and sharing are interwoven with each other in an expressive mixture.

One of the most distinctive features of the photo series on display is the absence of any relieving context. What the audience sees is only the "surface"- faces (of a teen girl and of farm workers) marked with vivid expressions. It leaves a large space for the viewers own interpretation of the situation, for us to intuit why the photographed look as they do and what information their eyes reveal to us.



Way of working

To make people behave naturally and unaffectedly in front of the camera is never an easy job. Anneke does not deny the difficulties she went through over the last two months. "Photographers have to create an air of trust if they want people to be comfortable or even unaware of the camera." In order to catch the most natural responses, she visited Chinese families and farm workers repeatedly over a period of time. Eventually the subjects became familiar with her and no longer saw her as an intruder, though they might have had no idea what she was doing with her camera. "I have my own ways of working with people trying to make them forget about my camera," Anneke says with a smile.

The exhibition Surface is open from Wednesday to Sunday and will run for three weeks, till September 30.

 

 

花艺与生活

所谓花艺设计(Flower Arranging), 简言之, 就是指花卉的排列、组合与美化所构成的一门艺术. 花卉艺术多彩多姿, 它将自然界的花卉赋予世界各民族之文化风格、美学观点及欣赏习惯来进行创作, 不仅展现了国际间不同的文化, 更丰富了人类的精神生活.

要预防鲜花早枯, 使其更美更持久, 事前的处置相当重要:
一、千万不要忽略花材的运送过程, 这段时间越短越好, 以免鲜花缺水过久. 如载运时间长, 可用湿报纸将花包起来, 到达目的地后, 马上让花束浸泡在水里, 等候几小时再插.
二、应将多余的叶片去掉, 减少水分的消耗, 且连浸泡在水里的叶子亦需去掉, 避免叶片泡水腐烂.
三、应注意切口, 切口若一经堵塞, 常因丧失吸水能力而招致枯萎, 因此花枝必须每天修剪. 另亦可在切口处抹上食盐后放入水中, 具杀菌效果.
四、给水应保持干净, 由于腐烂是鲜花提前枯萎的最主要原因, 因此要勤换水, 可以延长花的寿命. 另外在水里加几滴漂白水, 或放一小块煤炭, 都有预防腐败的作用.
五、花卉的摆放位置尽量避免放在太阳可直接照射之处、暖气炉上或是空气对流过于旺盛的角落.



The art of flower arranging and life
Translated by Alicia

Flower arranging is an art which requires close attention to balance, harmony, and form. It displays the beauties of nature, but is a re-molding of nature based on the particular set of culture practices, esthetic ideas and habits of appreciation that hold in any one environment. More than this, flower arranging is not just a reflection of the distinctness of cultures, but also a way to enrich our spiritual life.

Flowers can decorate your home and affect your mood. Everybody likes to keep them fresh and beautiful, but how can we make them live longer and stay healthier? To slow down the process of withering, there are some important steps you can take.
1. Wrap flowers up in wet newspaper for transportation.
2. Cut off excessive leaves and branches at regular intervals.
3. Apply some salt to the cut before putting the stem into the water.
4. Change the water as frequently as possible or add a few drops of bleach. Avoid placing flowers in direct sunlight or in very windy or hot areas.

来自台湾资深花艺师 Anita 亲临现场传授插花技艺, 欢迎预约免费体验(需电话预约)
预约电话:13950123808 8839987
时间:9月25日(周日)下午2:40
地址:厦门市禾祥西路45-52号东方美女子会馆
本栏目由"快乐女子修养学堂"协办

 

 

Voice from France
法兰西的印象与浪漫
Conductor: Zheng Xiaoying
指挥:郑小瑛
Performer: Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra
演奏:厦门爱乐乐团
Time: September 23, 2005 (Fri.),
8:00 p.m.
时间:2005年9月23日
(周五)晚8:00
Venue: Music Island Philharmonic Hall, 67 Wen Yuan Road
地点:文园路67号音乐岛·爱乐厅
Program 演奏曲目:
Nocturnes(《Nuages》、《Fetes》、《Sirenes》 by Debussy
三折画《夜曲》--《云、节日、海妖》, 德彪西(法)
Spanish Rhapsody by Chabrier
西班牙狂想曲, 夏布里埃(法)
Fantastic Symphony in C Major, Op.14a by Berlioz
幻想交响曲 C大调(作品14a), 伯辽兹(法))

Vocabulary
interpretation 解读
evanescent 转瞬即逝的
intuit 直觉
esthetic 审美的