Hans Ulrich Obrist interviews Cao Fei and her father Cao Chong’en

Hans Ulrich Obrist = HUO Cao Chong'en = CCE Cao Fei = CF

HUO: (to Cao Chong’en) I am very interested to understand how Cao Fei’s father feels about her work.

CCE: Society will never just stagnate at a particular stage, and art is similar in that sense. When I arrived in Europe this time, I realised that there is a revival in the arts and cultural scene. Europe’s artistic traditions have constantly changed with the times as well. Many people who have interviewed have told me that nowa- days, no one does realism in writing anymore, as it would not be possible to top those writings from the cultural revivals of the eighteenth and nineteenth centu- ries; to continue in that tradition would be meaningless. I feel that art, similarly, must develop according to society’s advancements. It is already the computer age now. I think that it’s great that Cao Fei can engage with this age. Although I am not too familiar with computers and the Internet, I feel that her direction is the right one. I read an article in the Chinese papers which said that she is the first person to “eat crabs”. Previously, no one dared to eat crabs, and once the first person digs in, many more people will follow suit and eat crabs too. If the pioneers don’t eat crabs, then today there will still be no one who will do so. It’s the same for art. Society functions like this too. As society develops, art must also continually explore its own development. What I’m saying is: we must forge our own paths. Those who have the courage to chart a new direction should be en- couraged. Hence, I am in support of Cao Fei and hope that she can forge ahead in a path of her own.

HUO: Is there any piece by Cao Fei that he particularly likes? What is your favourite piece by Cao Fei? ?

CCE: The video piece called “Father[1]”. HUO: Maybe I should ask Cao Fei a question? What do you think of your “Father” work?

CF: When I was young, I definitely did not want to follow in my father’s footsteps. Many elders and teachers at the arts schools felt that if I wanted a quick and easy route to success, I would do best by following my father’s artistic practice. China’s traditional view is that the son must inherit the father’s business, such that it’s like a family business or enterprise, and it is passed down from generation to generation. However, I’d never considered such an idea. When I was in school, I was particularly rebellious, especially towards realism. I feel that this was an in-

stinctive rejection because when one is subjected to realism, or a very regimented school atmosphere over a prolonged period, one would instinctively react ad- versely to these aspects. However, my father gave me a lot of freedom. He did not interfere with my creations, and not even in my personal life. It was only when I started working on the video for “Father” that I started reviewing and rethinking about my father’s creations. When he was working on the statue of Deng Xiaop- ing, I kept observing how he worked and what happened throughout the entire process. I began to rediscover my father as well as the relationship between him and his work and the rest of society. From there, I then relooked at all his works and their relationships with the history of a liberalised China. He represented a kind of mainstream, or shall we say “official” line. Later, when I got involved in the contemporary art world, I found that I was always observing from the fringes, and that I used my own personal perspective to regard everything else, hence resulting in a sort of “wild history”. The exhibition of “National Father” therefore presents a comparison and contrast of these two lines of histories. My father hap- pens to be a sculptor of the “official history”. However, the reflection and contrast between our two systems allows for an interweaving of various strands of China’s reality to form a whole. While it could seem like a complete history, it contains the disparate horizons and perspectives of two generations of artists. It interlaces China’s reality with personal familial ties, traditional father-daughter relation- ships and traditional philosophies. In the background, there’s also a larger issue of how our different perspectives allow us to present different visual works.

HUO: Thank you. It’s a great idea, very special.

[1] This is a video work that was first presented at the Moscow Biennale, 2005. 

Note from the editor: The above interview was recorded in June 2007 during Art Basel, on the occasion of the presentation of National Father at Art Unlimited. The interview is transcribed by Philip Tinari. The English version of the interview is translated by Melissa Lim based on the transcription.