10 Questions with Haochen Ren

Haochen Ren finished his postgraduate degree in MFA Fine Art at Goldsmiths, University of London, in the summer of 2023 and is presently working and living as an independent London-based artist. Over the most recent two years of his practices, the exhibition as a medium—the possibilities that the artist as a curator can bring about in terms of reconstructing cognitive experience—has been seen as his primary research direction. In other words, how to process the "results" that art normally presents and how to improve the inclusiveness and criticality of this process to the cognitive experience is particularly important to him personally, which is not fairly match to his previous studies in China: painting skills and classical oil painting techniques. At the same time, Haochen usually demands himself to thoroughly consider a few vital inquiries before he concocts a total plan. For instance, what sort of response would individuals generally like to get by immersing themselves in the context of an exhibition? Are the possibilities of the exhibition's presentation a prerequisite for the cognitive experience we construct through it? He had attempted to examine these questions in the last two public exhibitions and his degree show, presenting similar works in various details and structures and acquiring some significant feedback and criticism. Later on, Haochen is going to keep on promoting his exploration in this field and take a stab at additional chances to team up with galleries or institutions to upgrade the expert profundity and viable worth of his practice.

@renhaochen8379

ARTIST STATEMENT

During Haochen's postgraduate study in MFA Fine Art at Goldsmiths, University of London, he has gradually clarified his personal research direction and practice objectives. Exploring the possibility of constructing cognitive experiences through the concept of "exhibition" not only supports his practice at this stage but also serves as a fundamental step in exploring "how art and exhibition can provide a decentred platform for critiquing and reconstructing their own concepts through the production of unique experiential processes”. Haochen would be honoured to collaborate with different museums and galleries as an artist and curator to explore projects creating sustainable possibilities for the connection and reconstruction of experiences and cognitions from different individuals worldwide.

INTERVIEW

Please introduce yourself to our readers. Who are you, and how did you become interested in art? 

My name is Haochen Ren and I just finished my MFA Fine Art Degree at Goldsmiths six months ago. Painting has been my favourite hobby since childhood, mainly due to my mother's inspiration. My undergraduate Major was in oil painting, and I was especially attracted to some classical masterpieces, but then I became more interested in contemporary art and began to experiment with independent work as I believed it was a clearer way to present my point of view.

You recently graduated with an MFA in Fine Arts from Goldsmiths, University of London. How did your studies there shape your artistic practice and objectives?

In terms of shaping the direction of my personal practice, Goldsmiths tutors have always been able to provide me with precise, highly researched examples to refer to during my individual tutorial sessions. For instance, in my first year of study, my main area of practice was participatory art in relation to the concept of public space. I then encountered problems related to the macro scope of the research and the lack of clarity of the subject matter. By the first semester of my second year of study, I had been advised and recommended by both tutors to learn more about how important and historically influential contemporary art forms of the 60s and 70s articulated the public and participatory nature of art and explored the social relations of abstraction. I began to read and review a great deal of material, and it was this phase of learning that enabled me to focus on the explorability of the concept of 'exhibition' over the next year or so. Even though the masters of 50 years ago have contributed a number of practices that are impressive even today, the subject has always been a source of fascination for me. The knowledge that I have acquired through extensive reading during my second year of study is likely to serve as the cornerstone of my future art practice.

On the other hand, before moving to London, you studied in China, focusing on painting skills and classical oil painting techniques. How much did these different experiences and environments help you shape your current practice? 

There is a fairly obvious difference between the two. The core of classical oil painting, in my perspective, is about the appreciation and expression of the beauty of shape, colour, technique, and humanism, and emotion is often more important than the transmission of abstract concepts. My current practice pays more attention to the plasticity and extensibility of the concept itself, as well as its relationship with the surrounding environment. Incredibly, I am often tired of works that are not classical enough or not presented with enough "elegance". I feel uncomfortable with the notion that art is too dogmatic and not sufficiently humanistic and social. I have always believed that the value of a work of art depends on whether or not it can provide people with a space for humanistic and normative thinking about the public relations that exist in our society today. Perhaps the core of my concern has never changed, only that I have chosen different forms to present it.

Speaking of your work, you focus on the concept of "exhibition" as a means of constructing cognitive experiences, as you mention in your statement. How do you approach the design and curation of exhibitions to achieve this goal?

This seems to be a complicated question, but the answer is relatively simple. In the whole process, the most important thing, and frankly speaking the only thing that needs to be done, is to focus on the social and relational attributes that the concept of "exhibition" itself may have rather than the "functional" attributes that it usually has or that most people think it has. But when I practise it, it becomes a more flexible "tool".

Could you elaborate on the artist's significance as a curator in your practice? What are your advantages over other curators? 

When I work as an artist and a curator at the same time, I will have more opportunities to exercise my "rights". I am no longer an artist who meets the curator's requirements and can access the exhibition hall or equipment, but an artist who conceptualises the exhibition itself and communicates with people directly through the 'exhibition', not just through the artworks. When it comes to advantages, I think the only advantage I have is that I have always participated in exhibitions as an artist and designed my own "exhibition" concepts. Without affecting the effect of other artworks, I don't need to take care of those concepts that the authors care about, nor do I need to consider the social benefits of the exhibition as a whole, but I don't have enough "power" to manipulate the direction of the whole exhibition form, so this is also my disadvantage.

In your recent public exhibitions and degree show, you've explored questions regarding individuals' responses to immersive exhibition contexts. What insights or feedback have you gained from these experiences, and how have they influenced your approach to future projects?

The experience gained from the recent exhibitions needs to be discussed in two parts. One is what I have gained from other people. I have had a great deal of positive feedback on the degree show from people I have hitherto been unable to identify, and it is clear that they are interested in this form of exhibition. I appropriated part of the interior space of the gallery to the outdoors and gave those who interacted with my work the right to design or occupy each of the little boxes (of which there were about 300, all of whom came from the indoor exhibition space I borrowed), which were gradually filled with more and more peculiar objects, and ultimately they were almost filled too. I believe that most people decided to get involved after reading the instructions I pasted on each set of box combinations. It is clear that the participants will be interested in this form of participation in the exhibition and will actively cooperate with this decentralised form of curation that decentralises curatorial power. For me, the biggest gain was that I stood in the shoes of the participants to critique the centralised form of exhibition curation, and the participants understood and supported me. Secondly, what did I gain from the change in my own cognitive activity? For the duration of the exhibition, I was always roaming around to the locations where several sets of boxes were on display and observing silently from the sidelines. I was pleased that the people who interacted with the work never wondered who the author of the work was after locking the box, at least not while I was observing from the sidelines. This may indicate that my work as an artist is pure and that the work I do is not deliberately glorified or devalued because of my temporary status but that I am just a designer and recorder of an "event" that is taking place. This did not deify my position but rather consolidated my effectiveness in expressing my point of view. This is what I realised later when I began to reflect on the over-centredness of exhibition curation in contemporary society: the centredness of the profession of the artist itself is still a topic that people will be happy to critique. Bringing people into a special kind of conceptual space and providing them with an opportunity to reacquaint themselves with art and exhibitions is both a goal that I will continue to pursue in the future. Of course, I hope that in my future practice, I will not be the one at the centre of the event, but the one who can control the centre.

How do you balance your practice's artistic and curatorial aspects when conceptualising and executing exhibitions? Are there any particular challenges you encounter when merging these roles?

This is a question I have been exploring myself. So far, I usually choose an "aspect", which is usually a phenomenon that occurs in most exhibitions and art practices or a concept that people take for granted. For example, exhibition labels refer to the textual expression and basic information of the works, and indoor exhibitions are usually used as containers for "artworks" or "elite spaces" that are abstractly separated from the external social environment. The passive acceptance of these phenomena leads to a solidified ideology that may bring its own form of excessive commercial intervention and power control in the development of the concept of contemporary art, which is the main object of my critique. I will then choose a "counter-conventional" but gentle form to provoke these fixed ideologies, and incorporate the importance of the audience and their own agency into the design of my practice, in order to avoid making similar "mistakes" in my curatorial or practical work as the phenomenon I am critiquing. On the other hand, challenges are always present. Generally speaking, the biggest challenge is divided into two types, one is the objective conditions, the space at my disposal, my curatorial authority, my publicity authority, etc. The other is the medium and the presentation of the work. As I mentioned just now, my aim is to use the contrast between ideology and reality to naturally connect the viewers to the platform of cognitive construction I envisioned, so what kind of conceptual platform should I leave for the participants to construct their cognitive experience? This is always a subject that I need to learn with an open mind.

You mentioned a desire to collaborate with museums and galleries as an artist and curator. Can you discuss any specific ideas or projects you have in mind for such collaborations?

I have a plan, but I am not in a position to implement it at the moment. I would like to swap a portion of the space of each of the two museums and not move the artworks in the swapped spaces, in which case one might walk into the space of one museum on a tour of the other but still enjoy the same artworks. So, is the museum we are entering an entity or a concept? And by what criteria do we judge and recognise museums and exhibitions? What exactly is their function as social and cultural places again?

Looking ahead, what key inquiries or themes do you hope to continue exploring in your future artistic endeavours?

How to use the universal "people's cognitive experience of art and exhibitions" to reconstruct the possibility of understanding the social and humanistic critical attributes of art through "exhibitions" in the current social context where consumer culture is flourishing.

Lastly, as an independent artist based in London, what are your aspirations for the future of your artistic career? How do you envision your practice evolving in the years to come?

Firstly, I hope that my practice can run smoothly and become more and more socially influential and sustainable, and secondly, I hope that I can be given the opportunity to use the whole exhibition space independently, i.e. a solo exhibition, a conceptual exhibition, before I am 32 years old. At the same time, I would like to communicate with some mature conceptual artists and try to collaborate with them. I know I'm still a long way off, but I won't give up.

Artist’s Talk

Al-Tiba9 Interviews is a promotional platform for artists to articulate their vision and engage them with our diverse readership through a published art dialogue. The artists are interviewed by Mohamed Benhadj, the founder & curator of Al-Tiba9, to highlight their artistic careers and introduce them to the international contemporary art scene across our vast network of museums, galleries, art professionals, art dealers, collectors, and art lovers across the globe.