4K, color, sound
2020-2021
The ten-screen video installation, The Square Reserve, captures a diverse group of individuals engaging in spontaneous acts of drinking and dancing on a small patch of artificial turf set within a picturesque landscape. Spanning across ages, genders, and identities, the participants immerse themselves in music of their choice, gradually transcending the boundaries of time and space as the dance progresses. Through the lens of the camera, they appear to exist in a realm where consciousness and unconsciousness merge, seemingly oblivious to their surroundings and the live recording of their actions.
This immersive experience evokes a sense of solitude and liberation, as the participants revel in the pleasure of anonymity and detachment from societal norms. The interplay between humanity and animality, civilization and nature, unfolds in a mesmerizing spectacle, reminiscent of a Bacchus carnival celebrating freedom or a ritualistic attempt to preserve primal instincts amidst modernity.
In the distance, some inebriated people are seen between the sky and the mountains from dawn to dusk. We faintly hear songs they love coming out of their earphones. Dressed in unsophisticated attire, they do not look like urban elites. Seen through the camera lens, they are lonely and have seemingly forgotten that their bodies and actions are being recorded live. They are enjoying the pleasure of being overlooked by the world and by themselves.
The above describes Yao Cong’s ten-channel video, The Square Reserve. In the summer of 2020, Yao Cong visited the small town of Alxa in Inner Mongolia and met with locals on the streets. They are accustomed to this place, yet seemed somewhat restless as if longing for a life beyond the mountains but unwilling to give up the embrace of their hometown. Yao Cong told them that he loved to have fun in nature and wanted to organize an “event” to dive into the wilderness to refresh the mood, drink beer as one pleases, and run or shout without any setbacks. Two weeks later, ten people signed up, and they arrived at the Helanshan Mountain Nature Reserve. Among the men, women, and children, there was only one non-local participant. The rules they agreed upon included having a square green mat set up in the dry river channels with beer available nearby. Each participant could listen to a song of their choice; once the “event” begins, Yao Cong would turn on the camera and climb to the other side of the riverbank to hide, leaving the place to his friends, drinking. (text: Yang Zi)
方形保护区
4K影像，彩色，有声
2020-2021
这是一件10屏的影像作品。从日出到日落，10位不同年龄、性别、身份的人，分别来到广袤的如画风景前，在一小块方形人造草皮上，伴随着酒精和各自喜欢的音乐舞动。在持续的舞动中，身体逐渐形成与时间和空间的对抗；在酒精的作用下，人们逐渐到达意识和无意识的交叠状态。镜头中，他们孤身一人，似乎忘记了有人在记录他们的身体与举动。他们在享受被人世遗忘的快乐，也在享受忘记自己的快乐。人性与动物性，文明与自然，在迷醉之中不断的交织，像是一场宣告自由的酒神狂欢，又像是人们在用习以为常的方式保留下那份潜在的原始之地。
远处，一些人醉了，苍天与山脉间，从清晨到傍晚。我们只能隐约地听到他们耳机里面透出来的歌，那是他们所爱的。他们衣着淳朴简单，看上去算不得城市精英。镜头中，他们孤身一人，似乎忘记了有人在记录他们的身体与举动。他们在享受被人世遗忘的快乐，也在享受忘记自己的快乐。
这是姚聪的十屏录像作品《方形保护区》。2020年夏天，姚聪跑到内蒙古阿拉善的小镇，走上街道，结识当地的陌生人。留在这里的人们习惯了这里，又隐约地躁动；渴望大山之外的生活，又不舍得家乡的怀抱。姚聪对他们说，自己爱在自然里撒欢，想组织一场“活动”，走到荒野，换换心情，啤酒随便喝，想奔跑，想呐喊，都敞开来闹。两个礼拜后，十个人报了名，来到贺兰山自然保护区。男女老少之中，只有一位外地游客。他们彼此约定的规则是：在干枯的河道间摆一块绿色的方形垫子以供使用，啤酒在附近摆好；每位参与者可以听自己选的歌曲；“活动”开始时，姚聪会打开摄像机，然后爬到河道另一岸，将自己隐去，将天地留给嗜酒的朋友们。（文：杨紫）
