[-empyre-] Zhang Peili on Media

[Robin Peckham]

Just came across this quote in an interview with Zhang Peili, an
influential early video artist who has been making large-scale
multiple-channel installations incorporating live digital footage for
the past few years: "I am not averse to media [used here in the sense
of medium in general], but neither do I worship it fanatically. Media
is only a tool; it might help you convey something, but you have to
know what you want to convey and how you want to express it before you
can determine what kind of media to use. When everyone is feverishly
tending towards the same media, I choose to escape." Zhang is
responsible for much of the new media education system at China
Academy of Art in Hangzhou, and his thinking on the topics tends to
directly affect the work of many students and emerging aritsts.

我对媒介不反感，也没到狂热崇拜的程度。媒介只是个工具，可能会帮助你表达，你要知道自己想表达什么、怎么表达，才会判断用什么样的媒介。当大家头脑发热趋同于一种媒介时，我选择逃避。

Originally published in Nanfang Renwu Zhoukan here:
http://nf.nfdaily.cn/rwzk/20101101/
Full original text here:
http://art.china.cn/voice/2010-11/03/content_3812227.htm

Robin Peckham
Society for Experimental Cultural Production
2/F 716 Shanghai St., Mongkok, Kowloon, H.K.
www.kunsthallekowloon.org
+852 5181 5156