Time
Until Oct. 22
Tickets
Give something blue to claim red packet| Until Oct. 22
Venue
Metro
Line 1, OCT Station (华侨城站), Exit C
Please Note
Hours: 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m., closed Mondays
Give something blue to claim red packet| Until Oct. 22
Writer: Cao Zhen | Editor: 南楠 | From:
If you have something blue, you can donate it to a group of artists who are holding an exhibition at OCT Art & Design Gallery in Nanshan District. In return, they will send you a 10-yuan red packet through WeChat.
一桶用完了的蓝色洗衣液，一条破损的蓝色牛仔裤，一个蓝色空可乐瓶子......都可以换一个10元的红包。
Items from “The World Is Our Factory.”
Photos by Cao Zhen
The newly-opened contemporary art exhibition “Our Red Packet for Your Favorite Blue” showcases 11 groups of works, all in blue. On the first floor of the gallery, countless contributed items are hung on the wall, including jeans, a basin, a surgery hat, a cookie box, road signs, a globe, toys, shoes, etc.
这不是二手物回收，也不是破烂专收店，这是一个艺术项目，由一个中国当代艺术男团——政纯办，举办的“用我们的红包，换你喜欢的蓝色”。本次展览将展出11件（组）作品，包括从小组成立初始到现在的重要作品。
The items were collected by Polit-Sheer-Form Office, which consists of Chinese artists Hong Hao, Xiao Yu, Song Dong, Liu Jianhua and Leng Lin. Visitors can still contribute their blue items by contacting the gallery staff through the WeChat “mystudio612” during the exhibition. Contributors need to take a photo of their items first and send the photo to the WeChat. Once their items are chosen for the exhibition, they can mail the items to the gallery which will pay the mailing fees and send contributors red packets in return.
与展览同名的作品《用我们的红包，换你喜欢的蓝色》，通过微信红包这个可以广泛参与的社交行为，向社会开放征集蓝色物品，征集置换行为将持续整个展览期间，不断扩大和丰富物品种类和数量。
Items from artwork “Our Red Packet for Your Favorite Blue.”
Polit-Sheer-Form Office was established in 2005 in Beijing, in an attempt to create a framework to nostalgize collective life in today’s consumer-oriented world, while removing the political content historically associated with it. The five men, who were born in the 1960s, hope to both experiment with the core concepts of collectivism by eating, drinking and creating art together.
政纯办诞生于2005年，由当时“北京公社”的创办人冷林发起。在这个具有集体主义概念外延的“公社”一词的影响之下，五位艺术家洪浩、萧昱、宋冬、刘建华、冷林组建成一个团队，尝试以集体纯形式的方式来进行创作。
The five artists of Polit-Sheer-Form Office.
They chose blue as their artworks’ structural color since they believe blue represents broadness, purity, neutrality, depth, the future and tranquility, and blue also reflects the way that Polit-Sheer-Form Office understands the world.
蓝色来源于政纯办在成立之初就定下的基调颜色，即“政纯蓝”，它代表着没有政治倾向、开阔博大的、充满未来的、想象的、深不可测、不断探索的，也展现出政纯办认识世界的方式，或世界在政纯办眼中的一种状态，意味着小组期望在全球语境下进行探索。
“We are Polit-Sheer-Form”, Shanghai Gallery of Art
For “Our Red Packet for Your Favorite Blue,” Polit-Sheer-Form Office aims to invite the public to participate in their collective way of making art. “WeChat red packets are a modern response to collective life and an object extensively used in social life. Red packets can be sent between friends or even unfamiliar WeChat users to generate happiness,” said Sun Linlin, deputy editing director and chief art editor of New Weekly.
政纯办认为微信红包是当今社会中产生的可以分享和产生快乐的方式，这种方式可以在陌生的环境中产生，也可以在熟悉的环境中再次激发出热情。政纯办将蓝色化为具体物品，以回报的方式，与社会作出连接，并以此来刺激社会中对温暖的认识和对激情的重塑。以没有年龄、没有边界、去中心化的微信红包，通过公众收集的方式建立一种广义的集体主义形式。”
“Our Red Packet for Your Favorite Blue”
A similar artwork is “The World Is Our Factory” on the second floor of the gallery. The five artists invited Shenzhen designers and students to collect blue items such as ukuleles, hats, umbrellas, swim rings and chairs. The artists intend to let people build connections with others through the daily items.
《世界是我们的工厂》以深圳为集结点，向设计师或设计学生发出邀请，推荐他们视野之所及的蓝色商品和对应的网购电商平台链接，从而广泛购买收集了各种各样的、蓝色的社会商品。这些物品跟人们生活中的细枝末节密切联系在一起，它们形成了人们感知社会的具体通道。作品以此引导人们通过这些通道，重新去感知与他人或整个社会的连接点。
Items from “The World Is Our Factory.”
According to Song Dong, one of the five artists, they enjoyed adjusting themselves to fit into collaborative works. “Every artist in the world has unique personalities and shortcomings. We are absolutely equal and willing to set aside the self when doing these projects. We live together sometimes and we have different opinions but in the end, due to our deep understanding and trust, we can change to fit the situation,” said Song.
政纯办的五位艺术家之一宋冬说：“作为我们五个人的个体来说，我们都是非常不同的。我们五个非常不一样的人，能在12年还在一起，已经说明了非常多的问题。我们这里没有强权，每一件政纯办的作品都是我们在日常生活中吃吃喝喝中共同商议决定的。在我们这里，不存在一个严肃讨论的问题，而是某种共同的东西，使得我们在自然的形式中共同决定。”
A more unique piece is “Mr. Zheng,” a computerized composite head-and-shoulder portrait of a man whose face is made up of the five artists’ faces. This piece straightforwardly embodies the union of the group, each contributing his individuality to become a new single entity. At t Polit-Sheer-Form Office’s past exhibitions in Beijing, Shanghai, New York City, Seoul, Seattle and Paris, the portrait was used on posters as their collective symbol.
在政纯办曾经的创作中，有这样的一件作品《政先生》，2007年完成，由五位艺术家的肖像进行组合而成。“政先生”是政纯办对“我们成了我”这一主旨的拟人化演绎。作品是一幅肖像画：画中人双眼茫然地看着前方，他刻板地穿着一件白衬衫，看起来就像身份证上的照片;整个用意在于记录这个社会中的个人。“政先生”这个形象是将政纯办五位成员的面部特征合制而成。就像一个孩子，“政先生”体现了每个家长的特征，同时又保留了自己的独特之处。作为一件公共艺术作品，“政先生”庄严的肖像被挂到了上海的多个公共场所。
Mr. Zheng
In 2014, Polit-Sheer-Form Office brought 100 young volunteers together in Guangzhou in June to clean a bus with blue cloth and buckets. Then four months later, hundreds of volunteers were organized at New York City’s Times Square to clean pedestrian plazas. The two events were recorded in the video “Do the Same Good Deed.” The slow-motion video shows the joyful faces of people and the elegance of splashing water, accompanied by a rap rendition of the English words “Polit-Sheer-Form Office.” The performance examines the idea of individualism and collectivism in two different social contexts: China and the United States. It also questions whether “doing a good deed” is an individual need or a social need.
Do the Same Good Deed
Since its establishment, Polit-Sheer-Form Office has collected every receipt, tissue and pair of disposable utensils they have used during their meetings and get-together meals. At the exhibition, they are displaying them as the “Polit-Sheer-Form Items” to constitute a memory of their collective lives.