Chapter 700: All artists are poor, except Mr. Lin
It was late autumn when I left and early winter when I returned.
As soon as Lin Weimin got off the plane, he felt a chill and shivered.
I’m not wearing enough clothes. It’s a bit cold!
The world outside the terminal was covered in snow. Yanjing had just had a heavy snowfall, no wonder it was so cold.
Lin Weimin finally warmed up after taking a taxi back home and drinking some hot tea.
After being away for a month, when he came back, the little kid almost didn’t recognize him. After coaxing him for a long time, he finally called out "Daddy" in a soft voice.
Every time he went out, Lin Weimin would always bring some gifts for his family. After receiving the gifts, Tao Huimin's face looked much better.
He has hardly stayed at home in the past few months, and Teacher Tao is very dissatisfied.
Lin Weimin had planned to use his expertise to have a good exchange with Teacher Tao in the evening, but he ended up having a fever in the evening.
"Maybe he got cold after getting off the plane."
He said with the thermometer under his armpit.
"I think you're tired. Tell me, have you had any free time in these few months?" Tao Huimin complained.
Although I complain, I am actually heartbroken.
Lin Weimin hugged her and coaxed her gently. Tao Huimin's face brightened up, and she fell for it.
After taking the medicine, Lin Weimin picked up the phone.
"Hey, Lao Cheng, you're back, you're back."
"Going to work? I'm afraid that's not possible."
"I have a cold! Yes, I have a fever, it's almost 40 degrees."
"Don't get excited, this is also a special situation!"
"Just take two days off. Just hold on. Just bear with it. It will pass."
"What do you mean it doesn't matter whether I'm here or not? Old comrade, don't let your emotions get in your way when you speak!"
"Okay, that's it. The day after tomorrow, I will definitely go to work the day after tomorrow."
After hanging up the phone, Lin Weimin looked at Tao Huimin, "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Don't you think you've gone a bit too far?" Tao Huimin asked.
"What's too much?" Lin Weimin pulled out the thermometer from under his armpit. "Did you see that? Patient! Pour me some hot water. I want to soak my feet!"
Tao Huimin rolled her eyes at him, "What a shame!"
Two days later, Lin Weimin appeared in the Guowen Society after a long absence, which immediately attracted the attention of many colleagues.
He said he was suspended for three months, but I haven't seen him for more than four months. He's so arrogant.
"You still remember to come back!"
Cheng Zaochun said this when he saw Lin Weimin, and then stared at Lin Weimin with cold eyes for more than a minute.
"Okay, stop looking. There's nothing wrong with my face."
Lin Weimin seemed not to feel Cheng Zaochun's dissatisfaction and resentment at all, and said nonchalantly.
As he spoke, he reached into his bag.
"What, what?"
"Don't think you can get away with this little favor!"
“This kind of thing…”
"This won't happen again!"
Finally they could have a calm conversation. Cheng Zaochun asked, "You caused quite a scene in the United States?"
"How do you know that?"
"We are in the country, not isolated from the world. The media has reported it."
In the eyes of many media, all the farts from foreign countries smell good these days. Many of the incredible "benefits" about foreign countries in later generations were introduced into the country through media reports at this time.
However, there is really nothing worthy of "distortion" in the media reports on the response Lin Weimin caused in the United States.
They are full of positive energy!
"Now that you're back, focus on your work and stop thinking about the outside world. Think carefully about the development of the society next year." Cheng Zaochun advised.
Lin Weimin said a few perfunctory words and came out of Cheng Zaochun's office.
Not long after returning to the office, Yu Hua ran in.
"Hey, Teacher Lin, you're finally back!"
Lin Weimin raised his eyes to look at him, "What's the matter?"
What it means is: If you have something to say, say it; if not, get lost.
Yu Hua put aside his exaggerated tone and said, "A friend wants to meet you and take a picture of you."
"Take a picture for me? A reporter?"
"No, photographer."
Yu Hua introduced his friends to Lin Weimin.
Xiao Quan published the Sanmao photography collection "Bird of Paradise" in 1991, held a solo exhibition in Switzerland in 1992, and participated in a joint photography exhibition in France this year.
With this layer of gold plating abroad, Xiao Quan is very well-known in the domestic photography circle and is known as the best portrait photographer in China.
This time, Xiao Quan asked Yu Hua for help to take a photo of Lin Weimin. It was a portrait photography series he had started creating since the mid-1980s, called "Our Generation".
In the past six or seven years, Xiao Quan has photographed many trendsetters in the domestic cultural circle, including Bei Dao, Gu Cheng, Cui Jian, Yang Liping...
Among them are many of Lin Weimin’s acquaintances, such as Shi Tiesheng, Yu Hua, Jia Pingwa, Tong Zhonggui, Wang Shuo and others.
There were so many acquaintances, but no one else asked for help, but Yu Hua did.
Otherwise, why is she called a socialite!
Yu Hua talked for a long time, and he was afraid that Lin Weimin would not agree, so he praised Xiao Quan to the sky.
"Okay, okay. Take him to my house this weekend, and bring Cheng Hong and my son along, and we'll have lunch together."
Yu Hua smiled brightly, "Okay."
On the weekend, Yu Hua and his family of three came to the courtyard where Shizhu lived. Behind them was a middle-aged man with an untidy beard. He had a camera hanging around his neck and looked around as he entered the courtyard.
We shook hands and exchanged a few words.
Xiao Quan took out some photos he had taken, as well as some works he published in "Modern Photography".
Lin Weimin took it, looked at it, pointed at one of the photos and said jokingly: "You can't take a picture of me that looks so crooked."
In the photo he pointed to, the background was snowflakes falling from the sky, and the ground and roof were dyed white.
Under the telephone pole is the bus stop sign, Line 43, Tuanjiehu Station.
A man who was even more uglier than Xiao Quan at this moment faced the camera with a wicked smile on his face.
Yu Hua said: "Teacher Lin, how can this be a misshapen melon or a jujube? It has such artistic temperament! Look at the texture of the skin, the sparse beard, the rough skin..."
The man in the photo was none other than him.
This photo was taken when Yu Hua met Xiao Quan at his friend Wang Bin's house. Xiao Quan wanted to take a photo of Yu Hua. They happened to pass by the Tuanjiehu bus stop after they came out. Xiao Quan asked Yu Hua to stand under the bus stop sign and took this photo.
Lin Weimin interrupted Yu Hua's boasting and said to Xiao Quan, "I've finished looking at the photos. What do you think? Let's take a photo first?"
Xiao Quan had been a little reserved since he entered the room. Seeing Lin Weimin so happy, he nodded and said, "Okay."
Xiao Quan had two cameras hanging on his chest, one was Canon's EOS-1 and the other was EOS10, both of which were used by professional photographers.
He grabbed a camera and framed Lin Weimin in the lens to get a feel for it.
"Have you taken the photo? What pose do I have to strike?"
"No, I'm just trying to get a feel for it first. What do you like to do in your daily life?" Xiao Quan asked.
"Watch TV, read a book, and water the flowers."
Lin Weimin's answer was full of the boredom of a middle-aged man, without any artistic temperament at all.
"Why don't we go to the yard to shoot?" Xiao Quan suggested.
Lin Weimin readily agreed and wore a gray sweater with a sweetheart collar in the house.
Before going out, Tao Huimin put a black coat on him.
Standing in front of the main door of the yard, Xiao Quan held the camera.
In the camera, Lin Weimin's pants looked a bit uncoordinated, so Xiao Quan focused the camera on his upper body.
Wearing a black coat, a gray sweetheart-neck sweater, with bright eyebrows and sharp features, Lin Weimin looks unrestrained and carefree in the camera. He initially smiled at the camera.
The camera focused, and Lin Weimin's smile slowly faded.
Until one of the frames, Lin Weimin completely stopped smiling. He stood accurately in the best position of the picture, looking calmly at the camera. His temperament was elegant and calm, and his face was as calm as a lake, without any ripples.
Xiao Quan's fingers and camera accurately captured this moment, and he kept pressing the shutter button towards Lin Weimin.
After a few seconds, the film was completely used up like a volley of bullets.
This time, I’ve made enough money, Xiao Quan thought to himself.
"Have you finished filming?" Lin Weimin asked when he saw Xiao Quan put down the camera.
“It’s finished.”
"Come inside, come inside, it's too cold outside."
Lin Weimin returned to the house shivering, and Xiao Quan followed him back.
The two children were being taken care of by a nanny. Tao Huimin and Cheng Hong were chatting. When they saw Lin Weimin coming back, Tao Huimin asked, "Are you done with the filming? So soon?"
"It's just a photo, not acting." Lin Weimin said to her.
"Then I'll look after the kids, and let Sister Sun and Sister Qin cook."
"Don't worry, it's only a little after nine o'clock. We'll have enough time to cook at ten o'clock."
Lin Weimin took Yu Hua and Xiao Quan to sit down and drink tea and chat. Xiao Quan was a photographer who had photographed many cultural celebrities over the years. He was knowledgeable and had a lot of material for conversation.
Since the 1980s, exchanges in various fields of Chinese culture have been very close, and Xiao Quan's photographs are mostly taken with the help of these friends in the cultural circle.
For example, his acquaintance with Lü Peng helped him open the door to the art world; his acquaintance with He Liwei helped him open the door to the literary world.
Lu Peng was originally the editor of "Drama and Film". He focused on the translation and research of works in the field of fine arts. In 1992, he hosted the "Guangzhou Biennale" and gained some fame in the domestic art world.
He Liwei is a writer from Hunan and has a wide range of friends in the writer circle.
Circles are born out of such interactions.
Lin Weimin listened with great interest to Xiao Quan's talk about his interactions with people in the cultural circle. Compared with Xiao Quan's circle, Lin Weimin's circle was undoubtedly much more closed.
It’s basically the circle of writers, and everyone knows each other.
The largest number of people left are from the film and television industry, such as Zhang Yimou, Cheng Kaige, and Zheng Xiaolong.
"I think many young people would envy your life, right?" Lin Weimin asked with a smile.
Xiao Quan smiled bitterly, "What is there to envy? Artists are all poor, and photographers are even poorer. Sometimes I can't even afford the travel expenses and accommodation expenses, and I rely on my friends for help."
"It's better to have a great writer like you!" Xiao Quan added at the end.
All artists are poor, except Mr. Lin.
The fact that Lin Weimin is rich is not news in China's cultural circles.
But only after meeting can you have a concrete concept.
He lives in a three-story courtyard house in Yanjing, with a Mercedes-Benz parked at the door and two nannies at home.
Among all the people Xiao Quan has met over the years, let alone artists, even bosses, few have the same conditions as Lin Weimin.
“Many people in our country who engage in art always like to act noble and are ashamed to talk about profit, which is wrong.
Of course, art cannot be disturbed by external things during the creative process, but when the results appear, it has commodity attributes.
The theory that 'art is priceless' is harmful to the development of any art form."
After Lin Weimin finished speaking, Xiao Quan said, "You are right. But some people who engage in art also want to make money, but they just can't."
"Don't be anxious. The market hasn't been developed yet. How can there be an audience to pay for it?" Lin Weimin said with a smile.
Xiao Quan has been abroad several times and has a deep understanding of the market and audience that Lin Weimin mentioned.
Just like when he went to France to participate in a photography exhibition, there were people who watched it, and there were also people willing to spend money to buy the photographer's works.
But this is not possible in China today. No one wants to even visit a photography exhibition, let alone spend money to buy photos.
"Many art forms are niche hobbies in themselves and cannot expect too much attention from the public. As long as artists serve a small audience well, it is enough for them to live well," said Lin Weimin.
His words were obviously a response to Xiao Quan's slight complaint just now. Xiao Quan pondered for a moment and nodded seriously.
(End of this chapter)
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