ShanghART Gallery 香格纳画廊
中文

Seven Intellectuals in Bamboo Forest, Part I (zhu lin qi xian)
YANG FUDONG 杨福东
2003
single-channel film
35 mm b&w film transferred to DVD, sound by Jin Wang
29 minutes 32 seconds
Edition of 7 + 2AP
YFDv13

http://www.shanghart.com/projects/yfd.htm
(Part 1)
The decline of interest in meaningful experience is a recurrent theme in the work of Yang Fudong. Here he has young urbanites with Burberry jackets and briefcases withdraw to the mountains to admire the beauty of nature. They stare dreamily at a mountain stream and gaze deeply affected at apple blossoms. The artist suggests that the young urbanites, well educated and economically independent, are still in search of profundity and poignancy.

杨福东 竹林七贤1
Seven Intellectuals in Bamboo Forest, Part 1
编剧Script: 凌云云 Ling Yunyun
摄影Photographed: 杨福东 Yang Fudong,刘顺兵 Liu Shunbing
制片Producer: 陈钟柱 Chen Zhongzhu
副导演/场记Scene: 朱隶 Zhu Li
混响Sounder: 金望 Jin Wang
剪辑Editor: 陆建军 Lu Jianjun
技术指导Technique: 晓陈 Xiao Chen
声效Record: 张磊 Zhang Lei
译文Translation: 韩明 Hang Ming

Seven Intellectuals in Bamboo Forest (2003-2007), a series intended to expand to ?ve sequels in total, is Yang Fudong’s attempt to develop a grand worldview in the form of an epic tale of a group of individuals defying the times in which they live. The title is borrowed from a popular legend of seven intellectuals who sought refuge from the chaos of the Warring States Period in a bamboo forest, where they indulged in serious talk unsullied by worldly matters. It is used as a metaphor for the resistance of the young Chinese who feel unable to keep up with the pace of change in China and, as a result, experience a kind of identity crisis. Showing no regard for normal social behavior, these intellectuals drank to excess, romped around naked, and composed re?ned verses that expressed their feelings of resentment towards the age in which they lived. The ?ve-part series focuses on seven young men and women in different settings, beginning with a mysterious mountain popular among Taoists, then proceeding to an urban setting, a rural setting with ?elds and paddies, and an island, before moving back to the city.

Part one: A postcard-like set of travel notes on the good life.

Detail pictures:

Related Exhibitions:
Crossing Currents - A Film Screening curated by Samantha Ozer, Galerie Nordenhake, Mexico City, Mexico 05.21, 2021 -05.22, 2021
Shan Shui - A Manifesta, Gong Wang Art Museum, Hangzhou 09.23, 2016 -12.23, 2016
La Collection, un choix d’œuvres chinoises, Fondation LVMH, Paris, France 01.27, 2016 -09.05, 2016
Inventing the possible, an ephemeral video library, Arts Santa Monica, Barcelona, Spain 05.05, 2015 -06.22, 2015
Yang Fudong: Filmscapes, Australian Centre for the Moving Image, Melbourne, Australia 12.04, 2014 -03.15, 2015
Inventer le Possible, Vidéothèque éphémère 2, Jeu de Paume, Paris, France 10.14, 2014 -02.08, 2015
The Distance of Reality, Wifredo Lam Contemporary Art Center, Havaianas, Cuba 10.04, 2011 -11.10, 2011
South Australian Film Festival, CONTEMPORARY ART CENTRE OF SA, ADELAIDE, South Australia 2011
...In the Bamboo Forest..., Kunsthaus Baselland, Basel, Switzerland 09.19, 2010 -11.14, 2010
Yang Fudong Solo Exhibition, Kino Kino, Sandnes, Norway Feb,2010 -May,2010
Shanghai Kino, Kunsthalle Bern, Switzerland 05.30, 2009 -07.19, 2009
52nd International Art Exhibition Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy 06.10, 2007 -11.21, 2007
5 Films, The Renaissance Society, Chicago, U.S.A. 09.12, 2004 -10.24, 2004
Light as Fuck! Shanghai Assemblage 2000-2004, The National Museum of Contemporary Art, Oslo, Norway 04.17, 2004 -08.15, 2004
China Now, Museum of Modern Art, New York, U.S.A. 02.12, 2004 -02.16, 2004
50th International Art Exhibition Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy 06.15, 2003 -11.02, 2003


Collections
National Gallery of Canada
M+ Collection
Museum of Contemporary Art of Castilla and Leon
Foundation Louis Vuitton
Asia Society


Related Texts:
1000 words: Yang Fudong , Hans-Ulrich Obrist, Yang Fudong TEXT Sep,2003
Postscript of "Seven Intellectuals in the Bamboo Forest" , Yang Fudong TEXT 2009
Credits of "Seven Intellectuals in Bamboo Forest", Part 1-5 TEXT 2008
Notes of "'Seven Intellectuals in Bamboo Forest', Parts 1-5" by Yang Fudong , Marian Goodman Gallery TEXT 2008
Yang Fudong: Seven Intellectuals in Bamboo Forest Part 1-5 TEXT 2008
Seven Intellectuals In Bamboo Forest TEXT 2007
Yang Fudong Recent Films and Videos - pressrelease and texts on works , Stedelijk Museum TEXT 2006
Text of Seven Intellectuals in Bamboo Forest (Part 1) TEXT 2003


Related Works:
Seven Intellectuals in Bamboo Forest, Part II (zhu lin qi xian)
Seven Intellectuals in Bamboo Forest, Part V (zhu lin qi xian)
Seven Intellectuals in Bamboo Forest, Part IV (zhu lin qi xian)
Seven Intellectuals in Bamboo Forest, Part III (zhu lin qi xian)