Shanghai: TAN JING: 'But there is no one for me…'

A sticking out “tongue” installation set up in the hallway of the exhibition entrance - it might or might not catch your eye due to its flesh colour blending in with the overall white wall space at the museum. However, when you walk past it, the sound of its “breathing” or the wet reflection on the wall alerts you to its existence. This is Tan Jing’s artwork, But there is no one for me...2 on display at More, More, More, 2021, Tank Shanghai.

Among the thousand years of Chinese art history, before entering the contemporary art period (1980s), not many female artists were listed on the record. Most of the women played the domestic role - as one old saying goes “the highest virtue for a woman is not having much education”, indicating a long-term social expectation in China for a woman not holding their individual mind, only rendering their obedience to the husband.

Tan Jing’s work on display is reminding us about this issue, whilst she chose to tell in a more subtle way.

*But there is no one for me...2, Site-specific installation*

Based on the Chinese folklore Snail Maiden, Tan’s installation But there is no one for me…2, which is a soft-end mixed material main part, playing as the figure of the “snail maiden” whose shell had already been taken away by her husband to force her to stay at home to do all the housework.

In a talk with the exhibition curator, X Zhu-Nowell, Tan Jing explained further:

“This artwork extended my research on this Chinese folklore from 2018, when I realized that the character of Snail Maiden was lingering around the conversations between me and the people around me. But why her? What makes her story widely-spreaded? Why is only this female character in the story being mentioned instead of other characters? … During the research, I also found a lot more ‘animal-shaped wife’ stories. In most cases, because of humans’ selfishness, they had to stay in human-shape. What’s the matter of the ‘animal-shaped’? … A series of questions rolled up. Although I don’t hold every answer to those questions, … I tended to transformed those thoughts into hidden clues (to open to the audience).” (Tan Jing, 2019)

The translucent liquid flowing from the main part of the artwork, I would regard as a strong life force stimulated by the artist, meanwhile, it also holds as the grief-stricken tears as the artwork’s name, “But there is no one for me”, is there?

Yael Zhang is a curator & art advisor at a private museum, currently based in Shanghai, China.

Exhibition Information: More More More, Tank Shanghai, on show, a contemporary art exhibit features 24 international artists, 2020.07.16 - 2021.01.31.

Photo credits: ArtLinkArt.com and courtesy of the author unless otherwise stated.