Ode was conceived for the exhibition “Panorama 20.” It comprises the figuration of five gongs conceived by the artist and made in China using ancient methods in a bronze foundry in a village in Hubei Province. On one side of each gong the artist engraved a spontaneous calligraphic mark, using what is a recurring language in his work. On the other side a spiral is engraved. Each gong comes with a hammer constituted by a pebble with linen string. The hammer is set in motion by the movement of visitors, as detected by an infrared sensor. Each detector then activates the movement of the hammer by means of an electro-mechanical system. Thus, each visitor is the composer of a shared melody. The work also includes a big screen showing the video of a performance recorded in the state forest of Mormal in Hauts-de-France.
The work “Ode” refers to the oldest collection of Chinese poetry, the Book of Odes, containing works dating from the 11th to 7th centuries BC . This volume is divided into three distinct sections: custom, elegance, ode
My warmest thanks go first of all to Le Fresnoy – Studio national des arts contemporains and to the entire team there. I am also deeplygrateful to Espace Pasolini Théâtre international, Valenciennes. This performance and shoot could not have happened without their generous support and commitment. I wish to offer particular thanks to Alain Fleischer and Peter Nesteruk for their texts and Pierre Collier for his contribution. Special thanks go to voluntary participants Anaïs Barras, Bruno Devert, Linda Tuloup, Florian Montas, Marie Midoz, Qi Han, SI Jia Chen, Thibaud Le Maguer, Wenjue Zhang. I also thank Juan Pablo Villegas and Hideyuki Ishibashi for the photography, Marie-Odile Raux, Sophie Lepoutre for coordinating and setting up the performance and shoot, Julien Peissel for the construction of the installation and all those who wish to remain anonymous.
Gao Bo (born 1964), is an independent artist living and working between Beijing and Paris. 2017 – 2018 Guest artist professor at the Fresnoy.
“The only law governing the work of Gao Bo is the search for diversity of expressive forms. Whether via photography,
painting, sculpture, installation, performance, or architecture… He strives to articulate his passion for creation and his dread
of destruction, his hopes and his despair. To meet Gao Bo and hear him tell his story is to witness an irresistible subversion
of the conventional image of the artist as the hero of a social adventure inhabiting the same world as golden boys,
traders and champions of art as commodity. There are some international Chinese artist who could be summed up as follows:
nationality: artist; profession: Chinese. Without playing on words, I will try to get my idea across by suggesting that Gao Bo is first
of all an artist, and that Gao Bo is Chinese, but that he is not what the art world today would call a Chinese artist.” Alain Fleischer
