Polit-Sheer-Form Office in Taibei: Taipei MoCA
Polit-Sheer-Form Office (PSFO) is an art group established in 2005 by contemporary Chinese artists Hong Hao, Xiao Yu, Song Dong, Liu Jianhua, and the critic/curator Leng Lin. Using the concept of a collective way of life as the backbone of their art, they hope to capture the accelerated social changes happening in China today.
Each of the five members of PSFO are known in the international art scene for their unique artistic persona and sharp opinions on contemporary art. Hong Hao (Beijing, 1965-) criticizes and questions survival and reality with humorous and sarcastic photography. Xiao Yu (Inner Mongolia, 1965-) explores the multivalence of human existence and social values through painting, installation, video and audio art. Song Dong (Beijing, 1966-) uses painting, installation, video, and performance art to represent the lives of the masses. Liu Jianhua (Jiangxi, 1962-) employs sculpture and installation to reveal different cultural phenomena coexisting under a historical framework. The necessity of the existence of culture by itself is at the core of Leng Lin’s (Beijing, 1965-) writings and curated exhibitions; not only is he active in all facets of the contemporary art field, the well-rounded critic/curator is also known for his pointed critiques based on a global perspective. Although each of the five members has a successful solo career in the global art world, as a group, they share a similar background growing up in Communist China and a common concern with how China’s rapid development is stamping out a shared human spirit. These shared life experiences and concerns gave birth to the PSFO art group and resulted in a number of collaborative works and travelling exhibitions.
Born in the 1960s, at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, all five members of PSFO experienced life in a commune as proletariats. After China entered the global economy in the 1980s, historic communist neighborhoods were gradually replaced by high-rises built under rapid urbanization and capitalism. After twenty years under extreme communist rule, China is now developing rapidly according to trends in the contemporary world. In their work, PSFO members reflect upon the drastic impact brought forth by this societal transformation on human relationships. They capture how the intimacy between people in a communist society is gradually replaced by a sense of indifference propelled by capitalism, as communal goals are taken over by selfish consumerist desires. As such, PSFO proposes to bridge the gap between the latent collective ideology with the individualistic social reality through art. Through the expansion of a collective identity, the group converses with the past and the future by replacing “I” with “we,” forming a collective art group by hiding the individual self.
To foster a collective identity and sense of intimacy, the five artists brainstorm, read, and play together to communicate the idea that “form” is “content” and express psychological content through pure behavior. “Mr. Zheng,” the emblem of PSFO, is a composite portrait of a fictional man whose face is a compilation of facial features of the five artists. “Polit-Sheer-Blue,” the signature color that permeates the works and gallery space of every PSFO art show, represents the conceptual basis for the group’s creations and also highlights the pervasiveness of collective projects by replacing ideology with artistic ideas.
PSFO uses a make-believe individualism to represent their observations of contemporary society through art and to express their yearnings for communism. They embrace the following principle in their art: “Polit-sheer-form is a form devoid of political content and core values; it is a kind of mobilization, a kind of mood, and an ideal form that does not harm the practice. At the same time, this practice is fictitious.”
