With the presentation of the Mechelse Silkie, the 14th generation in his worldwide Cosmopolitan Chicken Project, Belgian artist Koen Vanmechelen honours the Chinese people at the Expo 2010 Shanghai.
上海2010年世博會期間,比利時藝術(shù)家坤•凡麥西爾林將攜手其全球性“世界雞繁殖計劃” 的第14代雜交雞 Mechelse Silkie與中國人民見面。
In 2000, artist Koen Vanmechelen launched his Cosmopolitan Chicken Project (CCP), which documents the crucial role of the chicken in his work. The artist started crossing breeds of chicken from different countries. The Silkie is the 14th species/country included in the project. Others are: Belgium, France, Germany, Thailand, Russia, The United States, England, Holland, Brasil, Turkey, Italy, Cuba and Mexico.
2000年,藝術(shù)家坤•凡麥西爾林開始從事“世界雞繁殖計劃”,以雜交繁殖雞為中心進(jìn)行藝術(shù)創(chuàng)作和記錄。他使用來自不同國家的雞種進(jìn)行交配,現(xiàn)已成功孕育出第14代雞種Silkie,包含了來自14個國家的基因(其他國家包括比利時、法國、德國、泰國、俄羅斯、美國、英國、荷蘭、巴西、土耳其、意大利、古巴和墨西哥)。
For ten years, Koen Vanmechelen has been working single-mindedly on his project – the Cosmopolitan Project (CCP). In this project, art and science merge. His impressive artistic analysis tackles, in an innovative way, fundamental questions about humanity – What is life? What is our identity as a species and as an individual? Vanmechelen: ‘Needless to say that China must be a part of this project.’
在過去的10年間,凡麥西爾林一直專注于從事“世界雞繁殖計劃”。這是一個將藝術(shù)與科學(xué)融于一體的創(chuàng)作。通過獨具匠心的方式,凡麥西爾林用藝術(shù)的分析來回應(yīng)關(guān)于人性的基本問題—“什么是生命?”、“我們作為一個物種、作為一個個體的身份究竟是什么?”。凡麥西爾林認(rèn)為:“毋庸置疑,中國必定是這個計劃不可或缺的一部分”。
As an observer, researcher and artist, Koen Vanmechelen knows how to question his subject, to analyse it and always expand on it, presenting it in a new light. His project is a work “in progress”, always responding to these fundamental human questions. The egg –a symbol of life – is a perfect metaphor, but also a tool with which to develop his artistic/scientific work.
作為一個觀察者、研究者和藝術(shù)工作者,坤•凡麥西爾林熟知如何對其藝術(shù)創(chuàng)作進(jìn)行敲打、分析,并不斷在現(xiàn)有的基礎(chǔ)上進(jìn)行擴(kuò)展,用新的方式來進(jìn)行展現(xiàn)。他的計劃是一個“仍在進(jìn)程中”的藝術(shù)創(chuàng)作,并始終緊貼這些基本的關(guān)于人性的問題。在他看來,雞蛋是生命的象征、一個完美的暗喻,但同時也是他用來發(fā)展藝術(shù)/科學(xué)創(chuàng)作的工具。