Journal readers taken to ‘hospital’

Oct 4 2008 by David Whetstone, The Journal

THEY sacrificed their good looks and their Saturday mornings – and last night the volunteers in Wang Qingsong’s extraordinary photo shoot were able to survey the result.

The Chinese artist, working in this country for the first time, had wanted to create a hospital scene at Northern Stage, Newcastle, using 300 volunteers.

His aim, apparently, was to demonstrate the emotionally healing qualities of live theatre. A team of make-up artists got to work on some of the volunteers, giving the impression they had suffered horrendous injuries or had debilitating illnesses. Others dressed up as hospital staff or posed as visitors, wearing concerned expressions. All ages were represented with the youngest participant being 18 weeks old.

In China, Wang Qingsong is famous for creating unusual and colourful tableaux but this was his first experience of working with westerners. He seemed to enjoy the experience, taking over the theatre on September 13 as part of the year-long East 08 festival of contemporary Asian culture organised by the team at Culture 10.

It took four hours to get the large cast of volunteers ready to be photographed. At the last minute, to the surprise of all concerned, Wang Qingsong distributed copies of The Journal and then sat down while an assistant took the photograph.

The artist, in his striped shirt, can be seen at the centre of the chosen shot, reading The Journal – or, more likely, pretending to, since he speaks no English.

Each of the volunteers who gathered last night to see the chosen photograph projected in Northern Stage’s main auditorium, and then on one wall of the building, were given a souvenir copy of the photograph.

The picture is both striking and eccentric. Many of the pretend wounds look extremely gruesome but viewers will undoubtedly have plenty of questions.

Northern Stage chief executive Erica Whyman said: “Qingsong’s photograph is an extraordinary theatrical event in itself and Northern Stage is honoured that we were able to bring him to the region. It is a testament to the people of the region that they were incredibly generous in volunteering their time to help us produce a major work of art with international significance.”

Wang Qingsong’s panoramic photograph, the result of his Changing Cities project, will be shown publicly at the Baltic centre for contemporary art, Gateshead, from October 21 until November 24.

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