Beijing: Made in China Part 10
On one of my last evenings in Beijing, I visited Rong Rong and his wife, the Japanese artist Inri, at their apartment just outside the Fifth Ring Road. The Beijing-based Canadian photographer Karen Patterson had agreed to translate for us. The first thing a visitor sees upon entering the double-height living area is a large photograph of the couple, naked and holding hands. It was taken at 798, when the complex was still a derelict industrial space. Even with the skyrocketing rents, the famous photographers could have their studios at 798 if they chose; a series of 16 of their prints recently sold in the United States for $100,000. But like many Beijing artists, the couple doesn't feel that Dashanzi is a good place to create art. "Too many people," Inri told me, making a face. Rong Rong added: "This is our life. This is our work. Over there, it's almost as if the artist's studio becomes a public place."
Rong Rong and Inri's home is a kind of temple to photography, where the tools of their craft dominate the space. The artists showed me a 10-foot-high, army-green enlarger the way a collector might show off a new treasure, and their work was everywhere on the walls, giving the austere new building a feeling of personal history. Maybe the most striking work was their recent Mount Fuji series, made on their honeymoon in Japan in 2001. While Inri served tea from a glass pot, the couple described the trip, completing each other's sentences. On their way to the hot springs at Ido, they happened to pass the sacred mountain when it was covered with snow—and ended up staying there for three days. Because the hotels were too expensive, they slept in their car. "We were freezing!" Inri exclaimed. "If the car had run out of gas, we would've died," Rong Rong added calmly.
Rong Rong and Inri's home is a kind of temple to photography, where the tools of their craft dominate the space. The artists showed me a 10-foot-high, army-green enlarger the way a collector might show off a new treasure, and their work was everywhere on the walls, giving the austere new building a feeling of personal history. Maybe the most striking work was their recent Mount Fuji series, made on their honeymoon in Japan in 2001. While Inri served tea from a glass pot, the couple described the trip, completing each other's sentences. On their way to the hot springs at Ido, they happened to pass the sacred mountain when it was covered with snow—and ended up staying there for three days. Because the hotels were too expensive, they slept in their car. "We were freezing!" Inri exclaimed. "If the car had run out of gas, we would've died," Rong Rong added calmly.
