Re-reenactment
by Fan Lin
It"s risky to bring Wang Tong"s and Chen Nong’s recent works in one exhibition.
First, it"s impossible to find the relations between the visual contents. Secondly, the works convey different senses of history. Meanwhile, the photographs key worded with history and locations bring different informations, which decide and prove different attitudes and ideas of artists.
Therefore, we try to enter the inside of the artists for clues. A hidden relation gradually emerges. We call it the deliberate "destruction" to the linearity in narrative way.
The "destruction" clearly reveals the same pursue of the two photographers.
Chen Nong and Wang Tong belong to those artists who are trying hard to explain history. They have insisted on creating historical images for some years, to which their works quantity and influences are closely related. The works are still based on the theories of realism. The photographs are technically realized by documenting the reality.
The exhibited "RE-REENACTMENT" works share a close consistency in time, place and event. For example, Inspect Guangdong Village 2009, In Henan Village 2011 and The Chongqing Talks 2011 are all based on famous historical stories. Those Mao"s pictures, once exaggerated with infinite holy glow, become an important chapter in history. Chen Nong"s Ancient Town, "Ciqikou" also has complete time features. It used be the heart of Chongqing. Both photographers focus on the "present" situation of place and time.
What also happens to coincide is that they refuse to obey the time sequence naturally or reversely. The "reality" is adopted and applied in fragments which is different from the past. They build up a "present" together.
Obviously, in recent works, they describe respect and reflection of history in a more introspective narrative way. They don"t express the emotions directly or obsessed in simple narrative. These efforts have established the photographer"s characteristics and styles for the sense of history in the works.
Their physical and emotional experiences have become the bases of constructing new compositions. The conflicts between historical images and real scenes are used and exaggerated, presenting the meaning of "RE-REENACTMENT".
Translation: Fan Chen
翻译：范 晨
