island6 & Rockbund Art Museum’s Christmas Project!

Just Call Me Nick!

For the 2011 Christmas Holidays, the RockBund Art Museum has specially commissioned Just Call Me Nick, a unique interactive artwork. This unique Christmas-themed installation will be featured at RAM’s 2011-2 Happy Holidays reception and for a month after.

The glorious, festive mess of our setup

Just Call Me Nickis a tongue-in-cheek satire of the wholly commercial entity of Santa Claus, commonly mistaken as a revered religious tradition. In the words of Coca-Cola, “the image of Santa most people have today is largely based on our advertising.” Invented in 1931 by illustrator Haddon Sundblom, the figure of St. Nicholas has morphed through the ages, depending on who the artist was, where he was based and what he was drawing for. The unkempt, greasy man in a wrinkled Santa suit exposes the sobering reality behind a well-loved myth, and comments on the effects of relentless commercialization on our lives and belief systems. This is reminiscent of Liu Dao’s works on increasing commercialization in China, a topic often explored by the artists to examine the effects of globalization and a rapidly growing economy on the lives of the people.

RockBund Art Museum is dedicated to the promotion of contemporary art. In its commitment to the study and exchange of contemporary visual arts, RAM hosts diverse, internationally-acclaimed exhibitions and educational programs. It endeavors to integrate art, design and innovation into an aesthetic space for a promotion of a new Shanghai lifestyle. RockBund is housed in a beautiful, historical 1930s Art Deco-style building that was the home of the Royal Asiatic Society, founded in 1874.

The gorgeous Art Deco facade of RAM

叫我尼克就可以”是island6 (六岛) 为上海外滩美术馆的2011圣诞节活动所做的一件互动多媒体装置作品。观众可以通过屏幕上显示的电话号码给“圣诞老人” 打电话。正在紧张地奔忙着为人们派送礼物的圣诞老人会因为您的呼叫开始寻找他的手机，但却遍寻不着。直到铃声停止都没找到。于是，他只能很郁闷地继续开始 他的礼品派送之旅。

“叫我尼克就可以”是对以圣诞老人为标志的圣诞商业文化的一种轻松的讽刺。圣诞老人普遍被误以为是一种令人尊崇的宗教传统，但其实按 照可口可乐的说法，“人们今天看到的圣诞老人形象基本上就是来自我们的广告”。 从1931年被插画家Haddon Sundblom创作出来伊始，因不同的艺术家，不同的场合以及不同的创作目的，St.Nicholas的形象在不断地改变着。这个不刮胡子、肥嘟嘟的、 穿着Santa外套的男人向我们揭示了这一人人都爱的神话故事背后冷冰冰的现实，同时也探讨了麻木不仁的商业化进程对我们生活和信仰体系的影响。

作为一个电子技术艺术家团体，六岛也意在探索科技的方方面面和如何将它们运用到艺术之中。手机现在已经成为随处可见，生活中不可或缺的一部分。它很大程度 上改变了我们的生活，和与他人沟通交流的方式。六岛用一种较为温和的方式嘲讽了当代人对这个小小的金属物件的过度依赖；他们把通常人对人这一互动的方式转 移到屏幕上，成为人与机器的互动。这不就是已经发生的现实吗？我们已经无法离开短信，电话，电脑游戏和网络而生存？但同时，这一状况也并不是那么糟。圣诞 老人的牢骚看上去滑稽而可爱，他对每一个参与其中的人微笑。谁又能说我们的人际交流没有变的更好？至少可以更轻松和不拘泥于成规？

不拘泥于成规一直是六岛作品的特质。通过嘲讽那些过于自以为是的艺术家们的所谓光荣传统，这个艺术团体所追随的是曾经质疑、挑战和重新定义了人们观看艺术 的方式的达达艺术家们，或者是逼迫每个人重新思考什么才是艺术的无畏的波普先锋。当我们打破了观众和作品之间的屏障的时候，曾经轻率的、忧伤的或者劝诫式 的艺术作品最终会呈现出乐观积极的态度。

DATES From December 20 th 2011 to January 29 th 2012

CURATION   Loo Ching Ling 吕晶琳

ART DIRECTION Thomas Charvériat

RESEARCH Katharina Droste,Jack Mur

COORDINATION Yeung Sin Ching杨倩菁, Lu Jasmine 陆莉静

VENUE RockBund Art Museum上海外滩美术馆, 20 Huqiu Road, Huangpu District, Shanghai (8621) 3310 9985中国上海 黄浦区 虎丘路20号 (8621) 3310 9985

ARTISTS island6 art collective ( Liu Dao 六岛)

This was before we got drunk.