Chen Shaoxiong, * 1962 in Shantou, Guangdong (CN), lives and works in Guangzhou (CN)
Gimhongsok, * 1964 in Seoul (KR), lives and works in Seoul
Tsuyoshi Ozawa, * 1965 in Tokyo (JP), lives and works in Tokyo

Welcome to Xijing – Xijing Olympics, 2008

In the age of globalism the nation-state plays a rather questionable role; it only appears to stand in the way of the ideology of open and free traffic of data and commodities, although for the time being it is still retained for administrative purposes. As for culture, the nations are supposed to guarantee rather a peaceful coexistence of plural identities which find their expression in the colorful diversity of customs and idioms. The potential for conflict, which is inherent in dividing the world up into nations and peoples, is accordingly defused through amicable competition, such as sporting events as harmless spectacles.

Chen Shaoxiong, Gimhongsok, and Tsuyoshi Ozawa take this peaceful and fanciful picture of regional identity in the post-histoire period and drive it to extremes; as Xijing Men they are the representatives of the fictitious city Xijing – the legendary “Western capital” of equivalent standingto Beijing in the North, Nanjing in the South, and Tokyo in the East. In view of the conflict-ridden history of relations between China, Korea, and Japan the quest to find this city, or actually to found it, is a lovely utopia. The slapstick sequences of Xijing Olympics that the three artists stage demonstrate the absurdity of state pomp and ceremony, and the only identity that is defended in this competition, using brushes, melons, and dumb-bells made of bottle caps, is that of the artists, who play the part of subtle humorists. (JB)

Welcome to Xijing – Xijing Olympics, 2008