Site 7 - On the Train
August 6
10:30. As the Long Marchers advanced toward Site 7, the
quantity of marchers and luggage had increased. Moving
from one site to another had become extremely hectic.
The train for Zunyi was scheduled to depart at 12:38.
The clock read 10:30. Within two hours, the curatorial
crew and its comrades had to manage a stop at the Tatlin
Hotel in downtown Kunming for a photo shoot on their way
to the train station, not an easy task given the heavy
traffic of the bustling city. This massive luxury hotel
is built in the style of the "Monument to the Third
International" designed by architect Vladimir Tatlin
in the 1920s.
The curatorial team clambered into five taxis. Within
a few seconds the taxi carrying cameraman Shen Xiaomin
fell out of sight. Lu Jie's effort to locate him by calling
his cell phone proved useless. At half past 11, his cab
appeared at last. The group quickly took a group photo
on the street leading up to the monument, with each revolutionary
pointing up to the monument with firm resolution. The
sight of twenty marchers abruptly pouring into the street,
carrying the official red flag of the Long March, drew
attention from passers-by and puzzled taxi drivers.
11:45. The marchers rushed to the train station. The
theme for this section of the march was "necessity
and chance." During the impending activity, the train
passengers would unexpectedly become viewers of art. As
the curatorial team had no previous contact with the train
authorities, the very question of whether and what kind
of exhibition they could mount was a matter of chance.
A spontaneous exhibition of this sort was a forum for
asking questions about the role of premeditation in aesthetic
experience, about the necessity for fixed exhibition venues
and explicit curatorial plans. The team hoped that this
chance encounter would prove beneficial for its unsuspecting
viewers.
12:39. After half an hour of loading luggage, the marchers
finally boarded the train headed for Zunyi. After two
hours of rest, the curatorial team started preparation
for their next operation: converting the train's dining
car into an "Art Car."
14:00. Lu Jie investigated the dining car, the planned
battle site. The conductor of the dining car refused Lu
Jie's request to carry out any Long March action. At last,
Lu Jie's request to talk with the head conductor was met
with success. Lu Jie showed him various media coverage
the Long March had received while in Kunming. The head
conductor was taken with Lu Jie's introduction of the
Long March project and gave his consent under the condition
that they finish installing everything in an hour and
that it would be reviewed by him before opening to the
public. Thus, the original curatorial plan to show provocative
video works by Yang Fudong and Yang Zhenzhong had to be
modified. The curatorial team decided to present images
of traditional Chinese landscape paintings portraying
various sites on the original Long March, together with
still shots of Xu Zhen's video work Shout, Song Dong's
work, and the Long March postcards. Even if the works
were different than originally planned, the Long Marchers'
immediate goal of creating a site for an unexpected encounter
with art would be realized. On this note, the curatorial
team quickly began to sort out the postcards so that some
of the more provocative images would not be displayed.
Outside the train window extended a barren field of red
earth with patches of tobacco and cornfields scattered
about.
15:30. In a team effort by the curatorial team and accompanying
Chongqing comrades Li Chuan, Li Yong, and Ren Qian, images
of the landscape paintings were taped on the windows of
the dining car. The pictures were taped to the window
with one side facing out and another facing in so that
they could be viewed by passengers on the train and by
those standing outside. The curious passengers and train
attendants watched the transformation from the sidelines.
The train made its first stop and Qiu Zhijie immediately
got off the train to check the view and take pictures
from the platform. At that time, Lu Jie felt that the
situation was probably safe enough to share all the postcards
with the public and ordered the comrades to fetch those
that had been left out. The postcards were taped next
to the paintings, and placed on every dining table for
people to take freely.
16:00. Song Dong's work had been taped up on the window
next to the paintings. Qiu Zhijie wrote the text of a
message to be broadcast over the car's sound system. After
a while, the announcement was broadcast, and all of the
passengers had been informed of the "Art Car"
and the Long March. The marchers took a short break for
lunch.
16:20. Zhao Bandi's poster of Panda Series and a Long
March T-shirt were presented to the head conductor in
the "Art Car," who accepted the gifts with great
excitement. Meanwhile, back in compartment #16, Ma Han
was preparing his book cart to begin his book lending
service.
16:40. Lu Jie and Qiu Zhijie came back to compartment
#16 for a brief rest. When a vendor came down the aisle,
Qiu Zhijie did not miss the chance to stick a Long March
sticker on one of bananas for sale, instantly producing
the Long March brand banana.
17:00. Ma Han's mobile book lending service began. As
his cart moved along the aisle, even those passengers
resting on their beds rose to check what was going on.
The first borrower was a tourist from France, visiting
China for the first time. He took a travelogue by Edgar
Snow, experiencing a completely unexpected encounter with
a great American witness of the Chinese revolution. The
second lender took a romance novel, Deep Inside My Heart,
which quickly absorbed her. The book-lending cart moved
on to the next compartment, stirring up a clamor everywhere
it went.
17:50-18:20. Ma Han took the leftover books and started
throwing them out the window into the fields. Some passengers,
seeing the need for manpower, approached the artist and
started throwing books together. The books flew in the
air for a transient moment and soon disappeared from sight.
It was a stirring commentary on knowledge, endeavor, and
the limits of human power.
18:25. Wang Chuyu began his first performance work on
the Long March, going around the compartment, asking each
passenger to read a favorite section from the Constitution
of the People's Republic of China. The reading was an
interesting reflection on identity and on the relationship
between individual and society, as people of different,
age, gender, and social position randomly picked different
lines from the constitution to read aloud.
18:50.The curatorial team and fellow comrades congregated
in the "Art Car" for a meal. More and more passengers
showed up, hearing news passed by word of mouth and various
propaganda channels. During the activity, Wang Jinsong's
sound work Dialect Broadcast was aired in the car. Zhu
Fadong's "Urgent Notice" handbills were pasted
inside and outside the train car.
22:00.The lights were turned off in the sleeping compartments,
and most of the passengers/audience went to sleep. Still
absorbed in the excitement of the day, the comrades stuck
around in the dining car for discussion.
01:00
The train reached Guiyang.
04:30
The train rolled up to the platform in Zunyi. The hectic
task of unloading the luggage followed. The marchers got
the sense that they had reached a sacred revolutionary
site when they found the local cigarette brand was called
"Long March," the logo written in the calligraphy
of Mao Zedong.
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