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China Quick-Fix

A quick-fix can be understood as a temporary solution to a problem: it’s not designed to last indefinitely, it simply uses whatever is available to solve a problem for the time being. Sometimes, however, one quick-fix replaces another and quick-fixing becomes a way of living. I find this very intriguing as it challenges the conventional wisdom of the permanent solution being superior to the quick-fix.

I have been following the phenomena of quick-fixes ever since I first came to China and it never ceases to be rewarding; I am still learning new things through this close observation of daily life. That’s why the archive continues to grow, exhibitions like this take place and, for the first time, the images have been brought together in the format of a book.

The book has been a long time in the making and I have to thank all of the friends who have helped by contributing their photos of quick fixes and the other friends who have kept asking me, “When are you going to make a book out of this series?” It has been a while coming because taking these pictures was initially just a form of visual research. Over time, however, I slowly realized that there were very few people deliberately recording images like this and that it was a neglected phenomena. That’s not to say that quick-fixes don’t exist on camera, they are legion, but relegated to accidents in the background of a million and one selfies.

Refocussing attention to the quick-fix, the habitually ignored other, has therefore been a long-term project of mine. Doing this has lead me to wonder why we filter out certain things while privileging others in our daily perception. We live in skewed versions of reality, seeing what we want to see and discarding the rest. This seems to happen not only on an individual basis but a social even societal level too.

In terms of Zhuhai, quick-fixes have offered me a way into understanding the city. Being a mostly modern and affluent city, the quick-fixes are somewhat less numerous and take a different character to those you might find in a historic city. There is more of a tendency to use quick-fixes to adapt and improve the functionality of things, though the occasional appearance of old-fashioned quick-fixes is a good indicator of the range of incomes and varied lifestyles of residents. Being a hot a humid city brings with it certain inevitable climate quick-fixes too: how to stay cool, how to fix leaks, how to prepare for typhoons.

People often tell me that after they first encounter this archive where they see quick-fixes given centre stage, there is a nod of recognition and that they start to see them everywhere. I believe that one criterion for art to be considered successful is that it should be more interesting than everyday life on the street. I hope that this exhibition and the book raises the stakes by showing that everyday life can be extremely creative and that some of our most imaginative minds and skilled hands are not employed making art but are instead busy making quick-fixes.

中国快修

快修，指一种临时性的解决方案，它并非为长久使用而设计，而是利用现有资源来解决燃眉之急。然而有时一个“快修”又会被新的“快修”取代，如此便渐渐演变为一种生活方式，这挑战了“永久解决问题优于临时应对”的传统观念，因此我对其深感兴趣。

自初到中国起，我便开始关注快修，并不断从中获得启发，同时，我一直在日常生活的点滴中不断学习新事物，这也是这个档案逐渐丰富、各个展览得以举办的原因。如今，这些影像更是首次以书籍的形式呈现。

这本书的诞生历时漫长，我由衷感谢所有朋友的支持，有些朋友贡献了他们拍摄快修的照片，有些则不断鼓励我：“你什么时候会把这个系列做成一本书？”事实上，这些照片最初只是我进行视觉研究的一种方式。随着时间推移，我慢慢意识到，几乎没有人有意记录这类影像，“快修”现象在某种程度上被忽视了。这并不是说快修没有被拍摄下来——它们大量存在，却常常只作为无数自拍背景中的“意外”元素而被忽略。

将关注点重新聚焦于这些快修，即习惯性被忽视的“他者”，成为了我的长期项目。在这一过程中，我开始反思：我们为什么会在日常感知中优先关注某些事物，而过滤掉所谓的“他者”？这是因为我们的现实感知是被扭曲的，我们只看见自己想看的，忽略其他部分。这种现象不仅存在于个体层面，还蔓延至社会甚至文化层面。

在珠海的观察中，快修为我提供了一个理解这座城市的独特视角。作为一座富饶且现代化的城市，这里的快修相对较少，且表现出与其他历史悠久的城市不同的特质。这里的人们更倾向于利用快修来优化和改进事物的功能，而不是纯粹的应急式修补，当然，偶尔也能看到传统风格的快修，这恰恰反映了居民收入和生活方式的多样性。作为一座炎热潮湿的城市，与气候相关的快修也随处可见，比如防暑，修漏以及应对台风的解决方案。

许多人告诉我，当他们第一次接触到快修记录档案，看到快修被置于影像的中心位置时，会有一种“恍然大悟”的感觉，从而开始在生活中随处关注它们。我始终相信，艺术成功与否的一个标准，在于它是否比街头的日常生活更有趣。而我希望，通过本次展览和这本书，能让大家意识到，日常生活本身可以极具创造性，同时，我们中一些最具想象力的头脑和最灵巧的双手，其实并没有从事艺术创作，而是在忙着“快修”。