In a short interview with Xitek. com, kunst.licht curator Sven Muentel talks about nextkunst.licht and young Chinese photography

What’s the theme of this exhibition, what’s your thread of curating the exhibition, why did you finally choose these artists?
There is no “higher” theme to this exhibition like a topic or style that the artists may have in common. This exhibition is about five young and talented photographers and about giving them a stage to try their voice and to show their work, without prejudice and as unbiased as possible. Therefore also my approach to curating the show is very careful. I want to avoid slapping labels on them, saying “He is this, she is that, they are influenced by…”. They are all still finding their own way and there is no shortcut to this process. Giving them exposure, putting them – for some of them for the first time – in context with other artists is enough. Young art is a very fragile flower.
I got to know two of the artists through a kunst.licht workshop we did together with fine art photographer Shen Wei. Such an event is for me the perfect opportunity to see how these young people work, what they think, where they want to go and also to understand and evaluate their potential. The other three answered the “Are you the nextkunst.licht” invitation on our website. And what they all have in common is that their art is touching me in a very special way.

Personally, whose work impresses you mostly? And why?
I can’t really say that one of them impresses me more than the others. They all have their unique angles and very different and personal styles. Yes, I think the “personal” aspect of their work is very important to me. They are all honest in what they are doing, they are not trying to cheat people, follow some fashion or copy others. And this is what makes their art strong, unique and impressive. Being an artist is a way of life and takes a lot of passion. And I can see that they are willing to follow this path.

Some of the artists you selected are quite young; some of them are 80s, why do you choose them instead of those seniors? Is it due to kunst.licht’s attitude, which is to promote and introduce younger artists?
I always felt that what is missing here in China is a platform for young artists where they can show their work based only on their talent and creativity, and unfettered from circumstances like having the right guanxi or a rich family background, all things that are still very common in China’s young art scene.
This is why we initiated nextkunst.licht as a program to make this possible. You might see nextkunst.licht as the younger brother of kunst.licht

How do you comment on Chinese young artists’ work? What are their strengths and what are their weaknesses? Do you have any suggestions for them?
I see a lot of potential out there and I really like the beginner’s mind of many young Chinese photographers. Chinese contemporary photography as an art form is still a very young discipline and Chinese artists are not burdened by too many big names that are casting their shadows over them as it might be the case in the west where art photography already has a longer history.
There is a lot of exploring and breaking of old boundaries going on, using photography as a means of liberation of the mind and personal development which is very interesting to see in a country where – not too long ago – photography was primarily a propaganda instrument.
What worries me though is that a lot of young talented people nowadays have the attention span of a five year old. They are hopping from project to project, from job to job, without really taking the time to explore a topic, to live and breathe it, to see it from as many angles as possible. The results of this are predictably shallow, lacking the concentrated effort that always is a sign of great art. And way too often it is just some Photoshop wizardry or plain and simple the rip-off of someone else’s art.
So, my advice to a young artist would be “give yourself some time, don’t rush into or out of things, don’t give in too early”. And study others but don’t copy them. There is no easy way to explore your own creativity. Actually it’s painful most of the time

Most of the works shown this time are conceptual, abstract, and more like contemporary art rather than documentary photography, do you think it is a trend in the circle of Chinese photography?
I’m not really interested in trends but I see more and more artists working in concepts rather than just simply depicting the world around them. There is a new level of abstraction that translates reality into a piece of art that is deeper and with more layers than what meets the eye.
 Photography does not have to be piaoliang to be touching or meaningful. Very often quite the opposite is true. When you look at the history of art photography you will find that many of the best pictures are pictures that are challenging, sometimes even disturbing. Personally I’d rather look at pictures that ask questions rather than answering them.

How can young artists apply for the exhibition in kunst.licht, and how do you discover those potential talents? What are your standards of selecting photos for every exhibition?  
We’re always open to new applications and have a look at all of them and anyone interested can download the application form from our website. And if I feel that I’m looking at something that touches me, we’ll be in touch
And as to my standards of selecting artists, they don’t really exist. Each artist I evaluate and each photograph I look at are unique and I try to keep an open beginner’s mind where everything is possible. It’s a very personal, a very intimate process.

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鲲鲤影廊的策展人麦斯文先生接受了色影无忌网站的专访，并介绍了他所策划的“下一站·鲲鲤”活动以及参展的五位中国摄影艺术家。

色影无忌：这次展览的主题是什么，您策展的时候遵循怎样一种思路？
Sven: 这次展览背后没有一个“更高”的主题，比如一个题目，或者所有艺术家共有的风格。展览的作者是五个年轻而有才华的摄影师，我们希望可以尽量不带成见与偏见地提供一个舞台给这些艺术家表达自己声音、展示自己的作品。所以说当我策展的时候也是很小心的，我不希望给他们贴上任何的标签，说“他的风格是这样，她的风格是那样，他们是受到谁谁谁的影响……”而且这些年轻人们在也在自我创作的摸索中，而在这一过程中是毫无捷径可寻的。
给他们展露的机会，把他们与其他艺术家放在一起展出（他们中的一些是首次展览），这已经足够了。年轻艺术家是很脆弱的花朵。

色影无忌：为什么最终会挑选这几个艺术家？
Sven: 我在一次鲲鲤与摄影艺术家沈玮合作的workshop中认识了其中的两位艺术家。类似的活动对我来说是最好的机会来了解年轻人们是如何工作，他们的思想，他们想如何发展；同时也可以了解并且评估他们的潜力。另外三个参展艺术家回复了我们网站上“你是下一站•鲲鲤么？”这样的邀请。他们共有的特点就是他们的艺术都以一种特殊的方式打动了我。

色影无忌：就个人来说，您最喜欢谁的作品？为什么？
Sven:我不能说谁的作品比其他的更令我印象深刻。他们每一个都有着自己独特的视角以及与众不同的个人风格。 我认为，他们作品中的“自我”这一面对我来说很重要。他们对于正在做的事情很诚实，并没有在欺骗、跟风、或者抄袭他人。这使得他们的艺术变得有力，独特，能打动人。
作为一个艺术家需要以一种富有激情的方式生活，而我可以看得出他们希望朝这个方向努力。

色影无忌：我注意到，您选择的一些艺术家都比较年轻，有些甚至是80后的年轻人。您为什么选择他们，而不是那些相对来说更有经验更有背景的艺术家呢？扶持年轻艺术家是鲲鲤的一个态度么？
Sven: 我一直认为在中国缺乏一个可以让年轻艺术家展示作品的平台，这一平台是纯粹以才华与创作力为基础的，而不受到“权利关系”、富足的家庭背景这些在中国年轻艺术家圈子中不乏范例的的环境所影响。
创办“下一站•鲲鲤”（next kunst.licht）活动就是为了让这一“年轻人的平台”成为可行。你可以把“下一站•鲲鲤”（next kunst.licht）当做是“鲲鲤”（kunst.licht）的一个年轻兄弟。（笑）

色影无忌：您如何评价中国年轻一代艺术家的作品？他们有哪些优势，又有哪些弱点呢？您能否给这些年轻艺术家一些建议？
Sven:  在中国我看到很多有潜力的年轻人，而且我由衷地喜欢一些刚起步的年轻摄影师的想法。中国当代摄影作为一种艺术形式仍然是很年轻的门类，所以中国的艺术家不会为一些“大家”的名字所牵绊，也不会活在这些名字的阴影里；而在西方，由于艺术摄影有一个相对悠久的历史，这却会成为一个问题。
在中国，有很多具有探索意义并且打破陈规的创作在进行中，艺术家们把摄影作为一种释放思想以及个人发展的方式，对于中国来说，这是一个有趣的现象，因为就在不久之前，摄影在这里主要还是一种政治宣传的工具。
而令我担忧的是，现在很多有才华的年轻人们的专注力只像个五岁的小孩。他们在一个题材和另一个题材之间跳来跳去，在一个工作和另一个工作间换来换去，而没有真真花时间去探究一个题材，去生活，去感受，尽可能从不同角度去观察。这导致的结果可想而知，这样的作品是浅薄的，缺乏专注力的，无法成为伟大的艺术作品。很多时候，这些作品只是photoshop的魔术，或者纯粹就是简单地从别人的艺术中拿来的东西。
我知道，要开创自己独树一帜的风格确实很难，事实上大多数时候都是痛苦的。但是我仍然期望年轻艺术家们“给自己一点时间，不要匆忙开始也不要随便结束，不要太早地放弃。向其他人学习但是不要抄袭。”这是我的建议与忠告。

色影无忌： 这次展览的大多数作品大多比较抽象，偏向观念艺术而不是纪实摄影，您认为这是中国当代摄影圈的一个趋势么？
Sven: 我对于潮流是什么并不是特别感兴趣，但是我确实发现越来越多的艺术家在从事观念创作，而非简单地直接刻画周遭的世界。抽象艺术中有一种新的境界，就是把现实转化成艺术作品，而它比我们眼睛所看的现实拥有更深更丰富的层面。
摄影不是一定要是“漂亮”的，动人的，或是意味深长的。事实往往相反，当你回顾艺术摄影史，你会发现很多最好的照片在当时都是具有挑战性的，有的时候甚至是令人“不安”的。就个人而言，我情愿看那些“提出问题”的照片，而不是“回答问题”的照片。

色影无忌： 最后一个问题，年轻艺术家如何可以申请在鲲鲤举办展览，你们如何发现这些人？您在挑选的时候一般有哪些标准呢？
Sven: 我们永远欢迎新的申请，并且会看所有的申请作品。任何有兴趣的年轻人可以从我们网站下载申请表，如果我觉得看到了一些打动我的东西，那么我们会联系你。
我并没有什么成文的挑选标准呢。挑选作品对我来说是一个非常个人，非常私密的过程。每一个我评估的艺术家，每一幅我看到的作品都是独一无二的，我希望自己也能保持一种“起步者”的开放性思维，即是任何一切都是有可能的。