Two Pictures of Dying is a supplement to the fiction presented in The Young Comrade, a film project by Alvin Luong that is based on Bertolt Brecht’s play The Measures Taken written in 1930.
Alvin Luong wrote a humorous epilogue set in the early twenty-first century based on travelogue observations on class society. Tiange Yang wrote a solemn prologue based on literary works detailing Chinese class society in the early twentieth century. The book also features the masks that were worn in The Young Comrade.
Two Pictures of Dying begins in English and ends in Chinese. This progression follows the fiction of The Young Comrade that involves European communists who magically transform themselves into Chinese people by wearing yellow-face masks. The masks are presented in the order of The Young Comrade, the three European communists, the three European communists transformed into Chinese people, and once more, The Young Comrade.
The book was created for the occasion of the exhibition of The Young Comrade in 2021 at The New Gallery in Calgary, Canada. Funding support for the book was generously provided by The New Gallery. Special thanks to Brittany Nickerson and Su Ying Strang for their encouragement and support in the creation of this book. English and Chinese passages in Two Pictures of Dying was translated by Yijia Zhang.
The Young Comrade was produced between 2018 and 2019 with support from the Inside-Out Art Museum in Beijing and the Canada Council for the Arts.
For peace, complexity, and cooperation.
For the defeat of dogmatism.
《關於死去的兩張畫像》是對電影《年輕的同志》的補充。《年輕的同志》是藝術家梁超洪以貝托爾特·布萊希特1930年的戲劇《措施》為基礎創作的影像作品。
其中，有藝術家梁超洪創作的幽默結語。該結語是在21世紀初期的背景下，基於觀察階級社會的旅行記錄寫作而成的。 楊天歌則從描繪20世紀初中國階級社會的文學作品中汲取營養，創作了嚴肅的楔子。 此外，本書還呈現了《年輕的同志》中所使用的面具。
《關於死去的兩張畫像》從英文開始，以中文結束。 語言的變化與《年輕的同志》的故事情節相吻合。《年輕的同志》講述了歐洲共產主義者通過佩戴黃皮膚的面具神奇地將自己變成中國人的故事。 本書依次展示了年輕的同志的面具，三位歐洲共產主義者的面具，他們變為中國人之後的面具，以及再一次，年輕的同志的面具。
本書是以2021年《年輕的同志》在加拿大卡爾加里的The New Gallery（新畫廊）的展映為契機而創作的。The New Gallery為本書提供了慷慨的資金支持。特別感謝Brittany Nickerson和Su Ying Strang在本書的創作過程中所給予的支持與鼓勵。 《關於死去的兩張畫像》由张宜佳翻译。
《年輕的同志》是藝術家梁超洪在2018與2019年間完成的作品。北京的中間美術館和加拿大藝術委員會為該影像作品的創作提供了支持。
為了和平、複雜性與合作。
為了打敗教條主義。
Two Pictures of Dying is available for purchase through The New Gallery Press shop.
Paperback, 9 x 7 Inches, 0.5 pounds
Published by The New Gallery Press (2021)
English and Traditional Chinese
ISBN: 978-1-895284-31-7
