Tao Haiyue – art against the norm
One of the themes of her art is collective memory; Tao Haiyue aims to inspire reflection and bring about positive change.
Tao Haiyue describes herself as a curious observer. Before moving to Berlin in 2014, she studied at the Bauhaus University in Weimar. Tao was born in Hangzhou, China. “I grew up in a family of artists; my father is a painter, art editor and publisher,” she says. “And my mother has a passion for calligraphy.” So it was only natural for Tao to enrol in sculpting at Shanghai Normal University after graduating from high school.
Five years later, she moved to Weimar for her master’s degree. “My studies in Germany were a challenging process,” she says looking back. “In the beginning, I had a hard time integrating, and I remained relatively introverted for a while.” But she would not want to miss this experience – because it helped her develop a new perspective on the world and spark new creative processes, she says. This creative process doesn’t follow a set pattern for Tao; she experiments and plays with her observations – but one theme keeps recurring: collective memory. “I explore how groups share, inherit, and construct memories,” Tao reports.
Inspired by forgotten statues
In cities, the artist looks for elements that have collective meaning, such as monuments to Mao Zedong that were once found throughout China. “After the Cultural Revolution, most of the statues were removed, but in some corners of the city, these remnants of the past still stand in public places.”
“These forgotten statues inspired Tao to create her artistic intervention ‘How to be a Monument’. At the entrance to Beijing Agricultural University, she invited people to stand on an empty marble pedestal and imitate the pose of the Mao statue. ‘In the finished images, they looked like living monuments themselves, raising questions about power structures in public space and the value of individual monuments.’”
Questioning societal norms
Tao’s work follows German action artist Joseph Beuys’ idea of seeing society as a collective whole. “As members of society, our actions can have an impact on the whole to varying degrees.” Her artistic actions are meant to speak to people on a deeper level while challenging societal norms. “I always want to bring about positive change,” Tao emphasizes.
That’s why her online shop “Normal Normal”, which she founded in 2021, is not merely a store. She sees it as an experiment in cultural exchange and social progress. The store features beautifully designed everyday objects and designs from Asia that aim to bring the Asian lifestyle and culture into the mainstream. And why the name? “We want to expand the concept of ‘normal’ and challenge the exoticism of cultural artifacts by highlighting the beauty and value of everyday objects from different cultures.” She came up with the idea while walking her cat in the park – also something that could become a new “normal”.
— Svenja Napp
陶海悦——反常规的艺术
集体记忆是陶海悦艺术创作中的重要主题之一。她希望通过艺术引发人们的思考，并促成积极的改变。
陶海悦形容自己是一个充满好奇心的观察者。2014 年移居柏林之前，她曾就读于德国魏玛包豪斯大学。陶海悦出生于中国杭州。“我成长在一个艺术家庭，”她说，“我的父亲是一名画家、艺术编辑和出版人，而我的母亲对书法充满热情。”因此，高中毕业后，她顺理成章地选择在上海师范大学学习雕塑专业。
五年后，她前往魏玛攻读硕士学位。回顾那段经历，她坦言：“在德国的学习过程充满挑战。刚开始时，我很难融入环境，也在一段时间里显得比较内向。”但她并不想错过这段经历——正是这段经历帮助她建立了看待世界的新视角，并激发了新的创作动力。
对陶海悦而言，创作并不存在固定模式。她通过实验和对日常观察的不断尝试来推进作品，而“集体记忆”这一主题始终反复出现。“我关注的是群体如何共享、继承并建构记忆，”她说道。
被遗忘的雕像所带来的灵感
在城市中，陶海悦会留意那些承载着集体意义的元素，例如曾经遍布中国各地的毛泽东雕像。“文化大革命之后，大多数雕像被拆除，但在城市的某些角落，这些历史遗迹仍然以公共空间的形式存在。”
这些被遗忘的雕像启发她创作了艺术介入项目《如何成为一座纪念碑》（How to Be a Monument）。在北京农业大学的入口处，她邀请人们站上空置的大理石基座，模仿毛泽东雕像的姿态。“在最终呈现的影像中，这些参与者仿佛成为了‘活着的纪念碑’，从而引发人们对公共空间中权力结构以及个体纪念意义的思考。”
对社会规范的质疑
陶海悦的创作理念受到德国行为艺术家约瑟夫·博伊斯（Joseph Beuys）的影响，即将社会视为一个整体。“作为社会的一员，我们的行为都会在不同程度上影响整体。”她的艺术行动试图在更深层次与人产生连接，同时挑战既有的社会规范。“我始终希望带来积极的改变，”她强调道。
正因如此，她于 2021 年创立的线上商店“Normal Normal”并不仅仅是一个购物平台。在她看来，这是一次关于文化交流与社会进步的实验。商店精选来自亚洲的日常用品与设计作品，旨在将亚洲的生活方式与文化带入主流视野。至于名称的由来，她解释道：“我们希望拓展‘正常’这一概念，通过强调不同文化中日常物品的美感与价值，来挑战人们对文化物件的异域化想象。”这个想法甚至源于她在公园遛猫时的灵感——遛猫这件事，本身也可能成为一种新的“正常”。
作者：Svenja Napp
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