Standard Family 标准家庭

Creator(s)

Jin-Song WANG 王劲松

Preview

Date

1996

Format

Photograph

Exhibition Event Title

Models from of masses; three-man show

Date of Exhibition Event

1996

Location of Exhibition Event

Beijing Art Museum, China

Materials

Various families, camera, and more

Description

This photograph-installation is constituted by an orderly, repetitive array of family portraits -- all consisting of two parents and one child. In the grand social backdrop of the later 1900s China, this familial structure has become the standard, or the norm, to be kept up. All the portraits feature a red backdrop, recalling the portraits done by professional studios. The uniform red background only stresses the similarities between these portraits, making the "standard family" even more "standard". To quote an artist's word to explicate this work, "Everyone’s normal life is the same. I can only take myself out of it and look down or look up ]upon the picture of "norm"] to see it comprehensively and correctly, to discover the details of the people who are active [in the bubble of norm], the hidden roots [of the engager and their behaviors], the complex emotions and the relationship among people. (读图 | 《标准家庭》——王劲松 , 2020, available on https://m.sohu.com/a/376231378_660788?_trans_=010004_pcwzy). (Jerry Wu'23).