fringe artist

Chapter 3 3. Observe to experience
"Do you compare chairs to society or institutions? Glass is the indifference and alienation of human feelings?"

Chen Li'an patted the chair vigorously and said: "You can understand it in any way. This kind of chair that is extremely uncomfortable to sit on is like the plight of the times and individuals. I hate it and want to be more comfortable, but I have to accept it or fight against it. Either accept it or be corrected."

"Actually, everyone doesn't pay attention to the suffering of others. It doesn't make much difference whether there is glass or not."

After listening to Chen Li'an's explanation, Jia Hongsheng squinted his eyes and asked, "Have you ever done similar performance art? I think this is a good theme, maybe we can dig deeper."

"Maybe, but I don't like it." Chen Li'an replied lightly, turned to look at Wang Xiaoshuai and asked, "Are you still struggling? I don't have much time today."

Wang Xiaoshuai glanced at Jia Hongsheng, a little hesitant, because Chen Li'an's looks were too handsome and he didn't match the Qi Lei he imagined.

"We have already made a decision, this role belongs to you." Shu Qi said suddenly.

Shu Qi doesn't know Jia Hongsheng well. In comparison, he is more inclined to Chen Li'an. Both the image and the interpretation of performance art just now are very interesting.

Wang Xiaoshuai opened his mouth and did not refute, acquiescing to the decision, anyway, these two people are fine.

Chen Li'an looked up, then nodded and said, "Okay, please give me the script, and I will come over on time when it starts up."

"Aren't you going to talk about the salary?" Shu Qi asked curiously.

Chen Li'an took a look at the crude layout in the room, shook his head and said, "You don't have money, and I don't care, anyway, there isn't much."

Shu Qi was a little helpless, the crew did not have much money, and the film salary could only be a few hundred yuan or even less at most.

Chen Li'an knew how much salary he could get, so he didn't care too much. Talking about salary at the beginning was out of the ordinary.

Even bargaining like buying vegetables can't increase the salary, and the crew itself has no money.

An hour later, Chen Li'an left the extremely cold audition location and strolled in the alleys of the West Village. He wanted to observe the characters and find a teacher to learn oil painting.

The location of the West Village is very remote and dilapidated, but the artistic atmosphere is very strong.

Paints of various colors can be seen everywhere on the walls, but there are no complete paintings, and graffiti art has not yet become popular in the capital.

From a distance, it looks more like the walls are covered with moss and flower vines, and the pastoral atmosphere is stronger than the street atmosphere.

Here, if you knock on a door, you may be a painter covered in paint or a sculptor with a carving knife in his hand.

It's just that it's a bit too dilapidated, with old houses and industrial waste everywhere.

The West Village is a little quiet during the day, and the artists seem to like to go out at night.

Chen Li'an walked in the alleys of the West Village, imagining how the artists living here lived.

This is crucial for him to experience characters.

Chen Li'an is not keen on performance art, and the chat with Wang Xiaoshuai and the others is just his performance.

Before coming to the audition, he put himself into the identity of an artist.

The performance this time was very successful, allowing him to take the role.

However, it is not that simple to really play a performance artist well. This is a group of different people.

Chen Li'an needs to have a deep understanding of the thoughts and hearts of such people, otherwise what he performs can only be superficial.

This is also the reason why Chen Li'an didn't speak much during the audition today.

Extremely Cold was not a very successful movie. It didn't have any box office and no awards, and it didn't even have money for post-processing until 96.

But this is an opportunity for Chen Li'an to enter the vision of the sixth generation of directors.

Wang Xiaoshuai is the first independent filmmaker among the sixth generation of directors in China, and he is a certain representative of this group.

The title of "Seven Gentlemen" was still very loud in the later domestic literary and film circles.

Chen Li'an is now following a painter, secretly observing him.

He was tall but thin, and his normal-sized jeans looked like bucket denim, with a lot of paint left on them.

What caught Chen Li'an's attention the most was his hair, which was very long and dirty, sticking together in strands, very similar to the famous street spots in Europe and the United States - the homeless man.

However, Chen Li'an noticed his eyes, the slender eyes were shining with excitement.

There are many such people in West Village now, but there will be very few such people in more than ten years. Artist gathering places like West Village, East Village, Songzhuang, or Huozhuang will be economically developed in a few years. perish in the flood.

Then it becomes a consumer product and re-enters the capital to continue to contribute to economic development.

Chen Li'an remembers that he went to 15 Art Street once in 798 in his previous life. At that time, most of the artists engaged in art were pseudo-artists in avant-garde and fashionable clothes.

Their expressions are very lonely, and they have a kind of maverick that separates themselves from the world.

It looks a lot like an "artist" but in reality most people are just putting on a show.

In Chen Li'an's view, it was more like a very childish performance and disguise, or a very low-level showing off.

The group of people ten years later is far less pure than the group of people now.

Chen Li'an followed that person until he came to the yard he rented. There were four or five rooms in the yard, and there was a table in the middle of the yard with leftovers and beer bottles from last night.

The tall, thin man hurried across the courtyard, pushed aside a wing room on the west side, and walked in.

It seems that there are several people living here, and most of them are painters who graduated from CAFA.

Chen Li'an followed into the yard, saw that the tall and thin man hadn't closed the door, so he walked to the door of the room and looked over.

The tall, thin man sat on a ponytail, took out a paintbrush from the bucket and rubbed it on his trousers, the turpentine instantly soaked his trousers.

The unique smell of turpentine immediately appeared in Chen Li'an's nasal cavity, and it seemed that even the air began to become artistic.

The tall, thin man picked up the palette, dipped a few times in a pile of colorful paints, and began to paint on the blank canvas.

Chen Li'an leaned against the door and watched him draw, but he couldn't see what he wanted to draw.

Chen Li'an was not curious either, he was not interested in painting, and his attention was more on people.

The thin and tall man was really devoted, and the excited light in his eyes was even a little dazzling.

Chen Li'an squinted his eyes to observe carefully, and found that his body was trembling slightly, but his right hand holding the paintbrush was very steady.

The strokes on the canvas are not affected in the slightest.

This is entering into a kind of self-world, fully committed.

Chen Li'an felt that he was very lucky. The randomly selected passers-by had this state, which provided him with a good object of observation.

Just as Chen Li'an was observing carefully, a round and white arm suddenly appeared on his shoulder.

"Old friend Zhao? He has created a new painting, and the colors are very lively."

A somewhat hoarse voice appeared in Chen Li'an's ear, with a hint of laziness in his tone.

Chen Li'an turned his head to look and found that it was a girl with short hair, with a small face but a plump figure.

Wearing a hand-graffitied white short sleeve, with red marks from sleeping on his face, he looks sexy and cute.

When Chen Li'an turned his head, Bai Qing saw his face, and his tired eyes immediately lit up.

"Hello." Chen Li'an greeted, then turned his head and continued to watch "Old Zhao" create.

Such a character status is rare, and Chen Li'an needs to figure out and understand it carefully.

Bai Qing's arm was still resting on Chen Li'an's shoulder, his body centered on Chen Li'an and looked at Old Zhao in the room.

"Old Zhao is seeking transformation recently, but the process is very difficult, and realism has too much influence on him."

Bai Qing leaned on Chen Li'an's body, and sniffed his nose without hesitation, trying to identify this man by his smell.

It smells good, but the smell of new clothes is a little too strong, and there is no smell of oil paint.

Chen Li'an didn't reply, but just quietly looked at Old Zhao in the room.

Perhaps there is a new inspiration or a new understanding of a certain artistic concept.

Lao Zhao's state is very devoted, the brushes in his hands gradually become wanton, and the colors are even more unrestrained and bold, as if he has successfully got rid of the influence of realism.

Such a person is difficult to perform. If you use too much force, you will become a lunatic, and if you are too plain, you will become an idiot.

Especially the light in the eyes and the excited state of mind are very difficult to grasp.

Bai Qing observed Chen Li'an, put his face next to Chen Li'an's ear and asked, "You are observing Old Zhao, aren't you his friend?"

"Ah."

Chen Li'an pulled the knitted hat on his head to cover his ears.

Bai Qing shrank back a bit, and the fingers on Chen Li'an's shoulder pinched a thread on the black sweater and pulled it off.

"Who do dramas or write novels?"

"Performance Art."

Chen Li'an is adjusting his state and slowly entering the state of a character, and his awareness of his identity is also deliberately blurred.

"What subject?"

"The Life Value of a Marginal Artist."

"Our group of people is indeed quite marginal. How about you observe me?"

(End of this chapter)