Some Days 62
Wang Ningde
王宁德
Production date
2009
Object Detail
Media
gelatin silver print
Measurements
40 x 50 cm
Notes
Wang Ningde’s black and white silver gelatine prints, with their slight sepia tone, are instantly understood as connoting the past; his staging of posed figures in carefully designed settings may be read as cinematic slices of a larger narrative. Their deliberate artificiality hints at the absurd juxtapositions found in dreams, but they are also Wang’s comment on Chinese history: he shares a dark sense of humour with other Chinese writers, artists and film-makers who reflect on the psychic scars left by the Cultural Revolution. This was a time, he says, that caused ‘catastrophic change and distortion in people’s psychological states.’ Wang Ningde combines sardonic wit with sadness, a satirical view of past absurdities with tenderness. Wang Ningde’s protagonists refuse to return our gaze; his characters are invariably depicted with eyes closed like somnambulists, or with backs turned towards us. Some Days 62 (2009) is like a scene from a silent movie, perhaps a comedy about the misfortunes of two hapless characters walking against a painted backdrop of clouds, their eyes closed as if sleepwalking.
Accession number
2017.047