\u201cThe Male Artist and Female Art\u201d<\/strong>: Wang Keping AND Ai Weiwei\u2014A New York Affair<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Writer: Wang Keping<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Characters:<\/strong> Female artist, male artist, translator, visitors<\/p>\n\n\n\n Location:<\/strong> A small room next to the main hall of the art museum<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some new artworks are on display in the hall in the background.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n There are two chairs and a small table in the room, and a row of chairs and a TV by the entrance.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The spectators come in and out. Some are waiting by the door of the small room and watching TV.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The female artist is taking notes in the small room.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Several groups of visitors walk in and out of the room in order, with different expressions. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The male artist and his translator enter the hall and look at the works on display. While walking towards the doorway, the translator whispers and explains to the male artist the text on the door. They go to sit in the chairs and wait. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n (A middle-aged woman opens the door and entered the room.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n (W: Middle-aged woman, F: Female artist, M: Male artist, T: Translator, V: Spectator with a video camera, E: Elder lady)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n W:<\/strong> (to the female artist) <\/em>Hello.<\/p>\n\n\n\n F:<\/strong> Hello.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (The middle-aged woman runs around in a circle in the room.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n W:<\/strong> Only you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n F:<\/strong> Yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n W:<\/strong> That\u2019s simple. Is this some sort of joke?<\/p>\n\n\n\n F:<\/strong> No.<\/p>\n\n\n\n W:<\/strong> Are you exhibiting yourself?<\/p>\n\n\n\n F:<\/strong> Yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n W:<\/strong> Sounds interesting\u2026 That\u2019s easy. Hope I didn\u2019t interrupt you, did I?<\/p>\n\n\n\n F:<\/strong> No, please have a seat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n W:<\/strong> Thank you. I\u2019m only staying for a minute. There are a lot of people waiting to see you outside. I come to museums often. It\u2019s not that I don\u2019t like new things, but it\u2019s doing my head in. I have a question I\u2019d like to ask for some advice if I may.<\/p>\n\n\n\n F:<\/strong> (picks up a piece of paper from the small table) <\/em>Excuse me, could you sign here please?<\/p>\n\n\n\n W:<\/strong> (takes the paper and reads it through)<\/em> Of course. (Writes her signature)<\/em> It says, \u201cLife is art\u201d on the door. Do you mean this?<\/p>\n\n\n\n F:<\/strong> Yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n W:<\/strong> Is life art?<\/p>\n\n\n\n F:<\/strong> Life is art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n W:<\/strong> So is art life?<\/p>\n\n\n\n F:<\/strong> Yes, art is life. Life is art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n W:<\/strong> (Sigh<\/em>s), but my life isn\u2019t art. There is no art in my life at all. My life is boring, really boring, and meaningless\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n F:<\/strong> If you can discover that life is art, it can change your life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n W:<\/strong> I am different from you. You are an artist. I only live my life. Life is boring. I am different from you\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n F:<\/strong> I am the same as you. I am also an ordinary person. By coming here you have come to an ordinary person\u2019s home. Let\u2019s sit down and have a chat. We will get to know one another and become friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n W:<\/strong> I don\u2019t have any friends. I am alone. I am lonely. Even my cat runs out every day. I would like art for art\u2019s sake, but I know nothing about art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n F:<\/strong> If you think your life is art, it is. To create your life is to create art. You don\u2019t have friends. Why don\u2019t you go and look for some and get to know more people? From now on, if you get to know a stranger by day, three hundred and sixty five days, you will get to know three hundred and sixty five people. There will be someone amongst the three hundred and sixty five people who becomes your friend. This is a concept of performance art. If you record your experience, it can be introduced in the museum as an exhibition in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n W:<\/strong> Yeah, yeah. Thank you. Goodbye. Thanks and goodbye\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n F:<\/strong> Goodbye. Thank you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (The middle-aged woman opens and shuts the door, and exits the stage.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n (The awaiting visitors enter gradually.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n (One visitor with a video camera enters through the door.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n V:<\/strong> Hello.<\/p>\n\n\n\n F:<\/strong> Hello.<\/p>\n\n\n\n V:<\/strong> Please may I\u2026? (Holding the video camera)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n F:<\/strong> Of course, please.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (The spectator who holds the video camera leaves the room.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n (The male artist and his translator open the door and enter the room.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n M:<\/strong> Hello.<\/p>\n\n\n\n T:<\/strong> Hello.<\/p>\n\n\n\n F:<\/strong> Hello.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (The male artist looks at the female artist and looks around the room.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n T:<\/strong> (To the male artist)<\/em> How is it? Open your eyes. This is live modern art for real.<\/p>\n\n\n\n M:<\/strong> And it\u2019s very beautiful. Will she really sit here for a year?<\/p>\n\n\n\n T:<\/strong> The contract she signed with the museum has been put to paper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n M:<\/strong> A brave warrior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n T:<\/strong> Well, don\u2019t miss the boat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n M:<\/strong> Can I talk to her?<\/p>\n\n\n\n T:<\/strong> Of course, she is waiting for you. (To the female artist)<\/em> Excuse me, the gentleman would like to talk to you if he may?<\/p>\n\n\n\n F:<\/strong> My pleasure. Where are you from?<\/p>\n\n\n\n T:<\/strong> He just came from China. I\u2019m his friend, and his translator at the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n M:<\/strong> I am very interested in what you do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n T:<\/strong> (Translating)\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n (The translator keeps a sense of humor in both languages to translate the<\/em> conversations between the male and female artists as below.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n F:<\/strong> I would also be interested in the thoughts of my audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n M:<\/strong> It\u2019s the first time I come across this kind of art. Perhaps I don\u2019t understand, but it seems very simple, very simple but somehow mysterious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n F:<\/strong> Please sit down. I\u2019m sorry. The museum has a rule: if you would like to talk to me, you need to sign the contract first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n T:<\/strong> Why? Do we need to pay for it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n F:<\/strong> No, please don\u2019t be nervous. It is precisely to avoid the payment. Money is the thing most likely to spoil the mood. There\u2019s nothing to do with money. The contract states that you agree with what I say and do here, and you won\u2019t sue me in court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n T:<\/strong> Ah, okay. But to be fair, you shouldn\u2019t sue us in court either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n F:<\/strong> Ah, agree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (The translator took a pen and paper.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n M:<\/strong> Are you going to sign it? Please be careful. She seems very tough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n T:<\/strong> Not to worry, I can be tough too. (Writes his signature)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n M:<\/strong> Then I\u2019ll sign it. You will take care of me if anything happens anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n F:<\/strong> What did he say?<\/p>\n\n\n\n T:<\/strong> He said he\u2026 he is very tough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n F:<\/strong> I can tell. He has got bright eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n T:<\/strong> In Chinese we\u2019d say you\u2019d been dazzled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n F:<\/strong> No, no, no, I didn\u2019t mean that. Perhaps, maybe, but I feel the artists\u2019 eyes are always so eager.<\/p>\n\n\n\n M:<\/strong> It depends on what he sees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n F:<\/strong> See the money \u2013 or a woman?<\/p>\n\n\n\n M:<\/strong> It depends on what kind of woman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n T:<\/strong> He\u2019s eyes are brightening up when he sees a woman like you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n F:<\/strong> Are you an artist?<\/p>\n\n\n\n M:<\/strong> Maybe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n F:<\/strong> I looked at your hand \u2013 are you a sculptor?<\/p>\n\n\n\n M:<\/strong> If you think so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n F<\/strong>: A sculptor is more grounded than a painter. What kind of sculpture do you do? Abstract? Figurative?<\/p>\n\n\n\n T:<\/strong> Mainly the human body, female body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n F:<\/strong> Oh, there are so many women on the planet, and you want to create more? Wouldn\u2019t the natural and real ones be better?<\/p>\n\n\n\n M:<\/strong> Even the most beautiful flowers will eventually wither. I seek eternity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n F:<\/strong> There is nothing eternal in the world. The transient nature makes it more precious. Why do you only consider it as art once the living are dead?<\/p>\n\n\n\n M:<\/strong> If living is art, there\u2019s no need for artists to do what they do. If there\u2019s no need for them to do it, then anyone can do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n F:<\/strong> If there is no need, then it has reached its peak. If anyone can do it, then it depends on who discovers it first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n M:<\/strong> What do you think, in your opinion, is the concept of art?<\/p>\n\n\n\n F:<\/strong> If there is endless art, then there are countless conceptions of art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n M<\/strong>: Do you think there are boundaries between life and art?<\/p>\n\n\n\n F:<\/strong> I think life and art have no boundaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n M:<\/strong> Do you think you are a work of art?<\/p>\n\n\n\n F:<\/strong> Why not? Today, be it a painting, a sculpture, a bundle of twigs, a pile of rubbish, they are all equally art. A men\u2019s urinal is on display in a museum as a work of art; so is a woman sitting in an art museum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n M:<\/strong> What is the difference between a woman sitting in a museum and her sitting at home?<\/p>\n\n\n\n F:<\/strong> Actually there\u2019s no difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n T:<\/strong> (To the man) <\/em>isn\u2019t she saying that there is hardly any difference between her sitting here and sitting on your bed?<\/p>\n\n\n\n M:<\/strong> Mmm, there are meanings between the lines!<\/p>\n\n\n\n (The male artist looks the female artist up and down.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n T:<\/strong> At your museum, there are signs everywhere that read \u2018Please do not touch the artwork\u2019. Do you have them here?<\/p>\n\n\n\n F:<\/strong> No, no need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n M:<\/strong> Does that mean you can touch?<\/p>\n\n\n\n F:<\/strong> Ah \u2013 you can (reaches out her hand)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n (The male artist touches the female artist\u2019s hand.)<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n F:<\/strong> You have powerful hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n M:<\/strong> I am a manual laborer, moving bodies around all day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n F:<\/strong> Dead or alive?<\/p>\n\n\n\n M<\/strong>: Dead and alive are all the same. They are all works of art. I like to touch and feel my artworks everyday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n F:<\/strong> Do you do the same when you meet a girl?<\/p>\n\n\n\n M:<\/strong> Why not? I like all good things. Oh, I like all things art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/randian-art.s3.ap-east-1.amazonaws.com\/2023\/02\/en\/image-265.png\")
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