The Pentium Era - South to North

Zhang Chen, Liu Qing, and six others arrived in New York. This time they were going to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim Museum, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Zhang Chen brought Zhao Xin with him.

Xiaofang and Zhang Xiangbei came to pick them up at JFK Airport. They drove a van and Zhang Xiangbei was the driver.

When the family first met, it was not as warm as expected, and they were very excited, but on the surface they were more reserved. Zhang Xiangbei even shrank back a little when he saw Zhang Chen.

Although they often video chat on MSN, when they actually meet in person, it is probably because they have been apart for so long that they are a little unfamiliar with each other. Zhang Chen, Xiaofang and Zhang Xiangbei are a little reserved. , looked at each other and smiled, Xiaofang didn't know what to say after calling "brother-in-law".

Zhang Xiangbei didn't even call him "Dad", he just smiled at him.

Fortunately, there were many people, and their embarrassment was quickly resolved. When Liu Qing saw Xiaofang, she blurted out, "What a resemblance!" Everyone knew that she was talking about Xiaofang and the painting "Sister" in the "Riverside Art Museum". Xiao Zhao really looked like Xiao Fang and smiled at Liu Qing.

Zhang Chen introduced them to each other, and then everyone got in the car. After Zhang Xiangbei opened the door for them, he ran to the front and opened the passenger door for Xiaofang. When Xiaofang got in the car, he patted Zhang Chen The look on Xiangbei's shoulders was not saying thank you to Zhang Xiangbei, but more like praising him for being "so good".

Zhang Xiangbei saw that Zhang Chen was a little angry, but he turned around and became very intimate with Xiaofang.

Zhao Xin quietly said to Zhang Chen: "They really look like mother and son, no, no, my mother is too young. Boss, do you think they look like real siblings?"

Zhang Chen smiled and said: "Of course, Zhang Xiangbei was brought up by Xiaofang, and now he will finally take him to university."

When Zhang Chen said this, he felt a little emotional.

When Zhang Chen and the others arrived, it was already evening, and Xiaofang took them to a restaurant in Flushing for dinner.

Except for Zhang Chen, everyone else came to the United States for the first time. Liu Qing looked out of the car window with interest. After the car passed Queens, Liu Qing and Zhang Chen said:

"Compared to European cities, New York looks anxious."

Zhang Chen knew what she meant, that she was a nouveau riche person. Zhang Chen said:

"Of course, Europe has experienced the first and second world wars. The United States not only did not survive, but also benefited from them. The first world war made it rise to become a Western power, and the second world war made it become a superpower. It is impossible for a big country not to be complacent.

"The European Recovery Plan after World War II eventually became the Marshall Plan. This little brother that initially funded the big brother later became the big brother, and in turn Europe became its little brother. Is it possible that it would not be satisfied?"

Zhang Chen's words not only made the people in the car laugh, but also Xiaofang, who was sitting in the front passenger seat.

"However, I think Shanghai and Beijing will seem more anxious than New York in the future." Zhang Chen said.

"Not in the future, I think it is now." Liu Qing said, "The JFK Airport we just came out from, compared with the airports in Beijing and Shanghai, is simply a third-level poor household."

Xiaofang smiled and said: "It's true, every person I meet who comes from China will say this. New York's airport and roads are the objects of ridicule, but when you come into contact with Americans, you sometimes It will be confusing again. There are really many Americans who think that Chinese men still have braids and Americans really don’t care about the world outside the United States.”

Zhang Chen thought to himself, in fact, not all people are the same everywhere. How many people in the country, especially those in coastal areas, have long thought that the world is their own, and who would care about it, such as Li Yong? What is happening now with the place where I passed the township chief?

From this perspective, it is true that people can only see the outside world through their own window.

When driving through Flushing Park, Zhang Chen remembered and asked Xiaofang, is the Target in New York right here?

Xiaofang was right, "You can enter here on Roosevelt Avenue. Do you need to go and see it?"

Zhang Chen shook his head and said, "No, Jessica will come to New York in a few days, and she will definitely pass by."

Xiaofang nodded. Jessica and Xiaofang had already met. During the financial crisis, Xiaofang organized funds and helped Target's stock price rise. Later, Jessica went to New York, specifically to go to Wall Street. I watched Chemistry.

Xu Qiaoxin and the others came to the United States at the beginning of the year, and they met again in Seattle. It was Jessica who asked their Seattle Target company to help find the house for Zhang Chen and his American branch.

Zhang Chen and others went to New York for filming this time. Although the foreign affairs department of CCTV helped them contact them, the arrogant Americans always thought that foreign media were "hometown silver" media and ignored them. The result was very disrespectful. Ideal, the staff who communicated with CCTV told them bluntly that it was impossible to enter the museum for filming during the closure period.

Even the Metropolitan Museum of Art has a dedicated China Pavilion, which collects a large number of Chinese cultural relics and art treasures. But in their view, that China is just a symbol, a part of their museum, and is not the same as the real China. Boundary.

Both the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York responded in this way. The Guggenheim Museum has a better attitude because they just held a touring exhibition of Cai Guo-Qiang's "Cai Guo-Qiang: I Want to Believe" more than a year ago. , Cai Guo-Qiang’s gunpowder art is now permanently displayed in the entrance hall of the Guggenheim Museum.

They have a better understanding of the contemporary Chinese world. Therefore, they have shown sufficient attention to the largest television media from the Chinese world and expressed that they can fully cooperate.

The reason behind this is that the Guggenheim is a cultural trust. In addition to the Guggenheim Museum in New York, they have other museums in Las Vegas, Bilbao in Spain, Berlin in Germany, and Venice in Italy. There are branches all over the world, and they even hope that one day they will have branches in China.

Therefore, it is not surprising that they showed enthusiasm for CCTV.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York can ignore CCTV, but they cannot ignore the financial backers behind them. Those foundations, especially the Museum of Modern Art in New York, are backed by the Rockefeller family, which was founded in 1929. At the time, one of the three founding ladies was Abby Aldrich Rockefeller.

Her son, Nelson Rockefeller, later the main sponsor, even called the Museum of Modern Art his mother's museum, the Museum of Modern Art in New York. People are more accustomed to calling it "Mammoth". Its logo is a capital four. English letters "MOMA".

Zhao Xin said with a smile: "The birth of this art museum is very similar to our art museum."

Zhang Chen is right, "It is a pity that the English have hegemony. They have the right to speak in the world and can spread their influence to the world. At this point, we are inherently deficient, so whether it is our art museum or Chinese painters , can only be in a marginal position, which is very unfair.

"In terms of the quality of the artworks, we are not inferior to them, but our reputation is not as great as theirs. Most visitors go to art museums because of the reputation of the exhibits, and they don't understand them."

Liu Qing said: "It's true. Like the Louvre, we thought we couldn't finish it in two days, but I met many domestic tourists who thought ten minutes was enough. When they entered, they went straight to the Mona Lisa. "When I got there, I took a look at it from a distance behind the crowd, and then I was ready to leave. I felt like I had already been to the Louvre Museum."

"For them, the most regrettable thing is probably that they are not allowed to take pictures." Zhang Chen said, and everyone in the car laughed.

The Rockefeller family and Yale University are inextricably linked. Almost every new group of members of Yale University's "Skull and Bones Society" comes from the Rockefeller family.

Xiaofang helped them implement it through her own connections. The Metropolitan Museum agreed to allow them to go in and shoot for three days, two hours a day, after closing at 5:30 pm. The Museum of Modern Art was even more generous and agreed to let them go in on Tuesday. On closed days, you can enter the museum and shoot for a whole day.

When we arrived at the entrance of the restaurant, everyone got off the car and walked inside. Zhang went north to park the car.

Xiaofang and Zhang Chen said: "Brother-in-law, Beibei has been following you these past few days to act as your translator. Anyway, he has graduated from high school and has nothing to do. He has been spending time in these places every day these past few days, and the environment is familiar to him." .”

Zhang Chen was surprised and asked, "Don't he hate going to these places?"

Xiaofang pursed her lips and smiled. She whispered to Zhang Chen: "In order to accompany you, he has been very serious these days. He bought a lot of information from these places and read it. If you have anything unclear, you can ask He knows the route inside and the location of the exhibits better than I do.”

Zhang Chen understood. Everyone sat down around the dining table. After a while, Zhang Xiangbei also arrived. Zhang Chen asked Zhang Xiangbei, had he helped us plan our itinerary for the past few days?

Zhang Xiangbei nodded and said, "It's planned. Today is Thursday, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow are Friday and Saturday. The Metropolitan Museum only closes at 9pm these two days, so you can't take pictures."

My suggestion is that you first visit these three places as tourists in the past two days, and then make a plan for shooting, so that when you enter the Metropolitan Museum on Sunday and Monday, you can start working directly. Sunday and Monday will be at the Metropolis. If you still need to take additional photos, I will find time to make an appointment later. I will spend the whole day on Tuesday at the Museum of Modern Art, and finally go to the Guggenheim to shoot.

“I think the most distinctive thing about the Guggenheim, and what’s more valuable than the messy art works inside, is the building itself, so I chose to shoot the Guggenheim during the day when it’s open. The empty museum is so fake," Zhang Xiangbei said.

Liu Qing said yes, "Your plan is very good, just follow your plan."

Zhang Chen asked: "What do you mean by messy art works? The Guggenheim has many collections from Kandinsky, Mondrian, Gauguin and Monet."

"I don't know, it all looks messy anyway." Zhang Xiangbei said, "It's not as good as entering through the gate. The Fujianese's stuff is nicer. If he were there at the scene and watched the gunpowder explode, it would be very enjoyable. "

Zhang Chen burst into laughter, knowing that the Fujianese Zhang Xiangbei was talking about was Cai Guoqiang, the most influential Chinese artist in the contemporary world. For most Chinese, even if they don't know his name, they must have seen his works. The fireworks at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics and the eight huge footprints in the air before the opening ceremony were all created by him.

This rural boy who came from a fishing village in Fujian has some similarities with Zhang Chen. He did not go to a serious art school, but the Shanghai Theater Academy, where he studied stage art.

Zhang Chen feels that maybe this kind of experience has actually shaped him and made his works more performative. He regards the sky as his stage, and the fireworks are the actors he sends on stage. Instead of It is better to say that he is a painter than a director, and what he is doing is indeed more like the work of a director.

A fireworks show requires the mobilization of a lot of manpower and material resources, and the preparation time is protracted, but the completion of the work only takes a few minutes, and it must be generated once, and there is no way to modify it. Success is one-time, and failure is also one-time.

Thank you to the Bandit Suppression Headquarters and the Baby Tin Soldiers for the reward of two fishes at three o'clock in the middle of the night! Thank you Wang Wenhai, Tiezhongshang 1, Cup Guy Api, Galaxy, Purple Hao, He Shi Yitan, @Invisible Man, Void Broken Dreams, Frivolous Is Not Impossible World’s monthly tickets! Thanks for all the votes and reading! I wish you all good health!