Meditations in an Emergency

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In light of the special circumstances surrounding “Meditations in Emergency,” UCCA reached out to some of the featured artists around the time of the exhibition opening, to find out how they were facing new realities, and how these conditions were affecting their creative practice.Artists also responded with images that represented this period for them. Luan Shixuan joined UCCA Center for Contemporary Art in 2017, and currently serves as a curator. She has curated exhibitions including “After Nature: UCCA Dune Opening Exhibition” (2018), and participated in the curation of shows including “Matthew Barney: Redoubt” (2019); “Qiu Zhijie: Mappa Mundi” (2019); “Sarah Morris: Odyssey” (2018); and “Practice and Exchange: An Exhibition of Chinese Contemporary Art” (2018). Luan studied at Renmin University of China and King’s College, London, and has previously worked for the Chinese editions of The Art Newspaper and T Magazine. The title poses an immediate challenge: in an emergency, common sense tells us, you call 911 or cry out for help. How can there be time for meditation? And indeed both Joan Mitchell and her great friend Frank O’Hara, for whose poem, reproduced in the memorial volume In Memory of My Feelings, this color lithograph was produced, were devoted to action painting—to gesture, immediacy, process, improvisation—rather than the more careful consideration that we associate
with meditation. In the dozens of letters O’Hara wrote Mitchell
between the mid-fifties and his tragic death in 1966 at the age of forty, it is the present that counts, the immediate moment. “Here
I am,” one of O’Hara’s early letters to Mitchell begins, “watching the slowly turning reflection of a record disc on the ceiling.” Weiner was drawn to the book’s aesthetic rather than its contents, but in a happy accident, he found that the book’s ruminative qualities mirrored his characters' struggles. Part of me is charmed by Weiner’s admission that the precise selection of the book was a “happy accident,” but that feeling is dulled by his admission that he hadn’t even read the book (!) before putting it on screen. The series was recognized by the American Film Institute as one of the ten greatest television achievements for 2008. AFI commented that the series unveiled "a work of art each week" and that the series became more of an ensemble piece in the second season, though still anchored by Jon Hamm's performance as 'Don Draper'. [17]

The speaker remarks he loved that little “Minx” and hopes for her happiness. She has vexed his spirit with her coquettish nature. That’s why he wishes if somebody whips her and in compensation gives her 10,000 pounds, he can feel quite pacified. The second season of Mad Men was recognized with many award nominations and wins. At the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards, Mad Men won Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series ( Matthew Weiner and Kater Gordon for "Meditations in an Emergency"), both for the second year in a row. In the next few lines, the speaker informs the audience about his personality. According to him, he bever clogged himself with the praises of pastoral life. Even he is not “nostalgic for an innocent past of perverted acts in pastures.” In the quoted section, readers come across a repetition of the “p” sound. It is a use of alliteration.In O’Hara’s poem to James Schuyler, he repeats and repeats and repeats again, “I could never be a boy… I could not be a boy.” Jiang Zhuyun (b. Hangzhou, 1984) graduated from the China Academy of Art with a bachelor’s degree in New Media Art and a master’s degree from the School of Intermedia Art (SIMA) at the same institution. As an artist, Jiang's work takes on multiple forms such as installation, animation, drawing, experimental music, sound art, and audiovisual pieces. He teaches artistic programming and basic sound tech theory at SIMA, China Academy of Art. Recent solo exhibitions include “Sublog” (Hunsand Space, Beijing, 2019); “If the End Precedes the Beginning” (Boers-Li Gallery, Beijing, 2018); “I Talk to The Wind” (Hunsand Space, Beijing, 2016); and “Letters” (EarPort, Duisburg, 2015). Selected group exhibitions include “8102 On Reality” (OCAT, Shanghai, 2019); The 6th Guangzhou Triennial (2018); “Capture All” (PPPP, Beijing, 2018); and “Concepts of Visual Poetry” (Palais Bellevue, Kassel, 2018). In 2017, Jiang was a finalist for the 5th Huayu Youth Award. It’s dark out as Don mails this book to an unknown recipient. He’s walking his dog that we all forgot he had. [1] I did write more during the pandemic than I had in years. I did not write every day, and I did not write because I felt compelled to do so or because I was pulled by whatever spirit it was that conceived a story as dramatic and interesting as Lear. I wrote more because I had to do something to kill as many minutes as I could. There’s no subtext to me in that, or at least there’s none intended. This was not something to do for fun, or even something that I feel I did successfully, but because there was nothing else to do.

Musquiqui Chihying (b. 1985, Taipei) is a filmmaker and visual artist who lives and works in Taipei and Berlin. He graduated from Taipei National University of the Arts in 2008 and Berlin University of the Arts in 2015. His works in a wide range of media including sound, image, and installation. His works explore ideas of the human condition and environmental systems in the age of global capitalism, frequently investigating the subjectivity of contemporary social culture in the Global South. Solo exhibitions include “The Chinese Museum F” (In extenso, Clermont-Ferrand, France, 2019); “The Power of My Smile” (Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei, 2019); “New Directions: Musquiqui Chihying” (UCCA Beijing, 2018); “Resistance is Futile” (CAAC/Gallery 456, New York, 2017); and “Modern Life is Dull” (NON Berlin Asia Contemporary Art Platform, Berlin, 2016). Chihying’s works have also been featured in “China-Afrique: Crossing The World Colour Line” (Centre Pompidou, Paris, 2020); “68th Berlinale Forum Expanded” (Akademie der Künste, Berlin, 2018); the 10th Taipei Biennial (Taipei Fine Arts Museum, 2016); the 10th Shanghai Biennale (2014); and “Place an Image/Place in Image” (Museum für Fotografie, Berlin, 2014). Guo Xi joined UCCA Center for Contemporary Art in 2014 and is currently director of the exhibitions department. In 2014 she graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, with a master’s degree in art museum studies. From her time at UCCA, Guo Xi possesses a wealth of experience in exhibition curation, management, and coordination. She has curated exhibitions including “Notes from Pallet Town” (2019); “New Directions: Musquiqui Chihying” (2018); and “New Directions: Nadim Abbas (2016), and co-curated a diverse range of exhibitions including “Xu Bing: Thought and Method” (2018); “The New Normal: China, Art, and 2017” (2017); “Zeng Fanzhi: Parcours” (2016); “John Gerrard: Power.Play” (2016); “Liu Wei: Colors” (2015); and “Polit-Sheer-Form: Fitness for All” (2014). I read and re-read Weiner’s statement: “In my mind, Don bought the book ‘Lunch Poems.’” In my mind. Weiner imagines a 1960s guy reading a 1960s book. Lunch Poems , brimming with pop culture references and images of New York City, would have been, perhaps, a simpler choice. A more obvious choice. And it was what Weiner had originally envisioned. In the show's world, Don certainly could go on to read Lunch Poems after it was published in 1964. But as is the case in poetry, constraint (e.g., historical time, facts) produced creativity for Weiner, who ended up finding a better poetic match for the malaise of these characters. And if every generation has moments when it truly feels that the world is at an end, in the 1960s, one of those moments was the Cuban Missile Crisis. Matt Weiner’s well-heeled period drama Mad Men memorably captures the anxiety of this moment in its Season 2 finale, “Meditations in an Emergency,” which takes its name from New York poet Frank O’Hara’s 1957 collection.This poem consists of several literary devices. To begin with, the title of the poem is a metaphor for an internal crisis. In the first few lines, readers come across some rhetorical questions and exclamations. In a conversational tone, O’Hara poses such interrogations throughout the text. This device helps readers to easily connect with the poet’s thought process. After scanning the text further, one can find the use of hyperbole. For instance, the lines, “I am the least difficult of men. All I want is boundless love,” contain such hyperbolic epithets. This list does not end here. Readers can find several other poetic devices too that will be discussed in the analysis section below. Later, the speaker refers to a greenhouse. It is a metaphor for the world of love. In the last line, the poet uses enjambment to connect the idea of the next section with the last line of this part. I love this. Brand new in the same way every time I read it. Returning, re-emerging, defeated, from the valley. What else is there to do?

UCCA Strategic Partner Dulux provides environmentally friendly solutions for wall painting. Genelec provides exclusive audio equipment support. UCCA thanks the members of its Foundation Council, International Circle, and Young Associates, as well as Annual Strategic Partners Aranya, Bloomberg, Barco, Clivet, BenQ, and Active House, for their support. This is PopPoetry—a newsletter/blog-type-situation by Caitlin Cowan that you can learn more about here. If you like what you read and would be interested in having more pop up in your inbox, consider sharing this piece and subscribing.The book, and references to it, are seen on several occasions in Season 2 of the AMC television drama Mad Men: Meditation” does feel like a word we all inherently understand. There’s some collective image we all have of what meditation looks like. The crossed legs, maybe a humming tone. There’s the sort of advanced, next-level general knowledge of mantras, repetitions for the sake of gaining focus and perspective. The roots of “meditate” are closer to “heal” or “cure” than it is to “think.” People who can meditate, those who are capable, would probably agree with the notion of the word’s roots. To abstain from work of living your life, even for only minutes at a time, probably is quite healing. Ara Qiu graduated from Communication University of China, School of Television and Journalism in 2012, and received a MA in Arts Politics from New York University, Tisch School of the Arts in 2015. She currently lives and works in Shanghai. In New York, Qiu held internships at MoMA and Asia Society, and in 2018 was a curatorial resident at Residency Unlimited. Before joining UCCA Center for Contemporary Art in 2019, she was previously a curator at Long Museum and Qiao Space in Shanghai. While at Long Museum, she served as project manager for “James Turrell: Immersive Light” (2017). As an emerging curator herself, Qiu’s practice is closely engaged with the work of emerging artists and actively supports their development. In 2018, she co-curated Li Shuang’s exhibition “If Only the Cloud Knows” at SLEEPCENTER (New York), and in 2020 curated the group show “Resistance of the Sleepers” at UCCA Dune, Beidaihe. Her writing has been featured in publications including The Art Newspaper (Chinese edition), Art World, and Numéro Art China, among others. Launching the show are the penetrating, soul-stirring sounds of Qiu Anxiong's ink animation New Classic of Mountains and Seas III (2013–2017). Replete with urban and ancient buildings caught in clouds and fog, this is the last in a trilogy of animations that Qiu began in 2006, presenting a study of a person's experience living between real and virtual worlds. Across these realms, male voices utter the first four sentences of Tao Yuanming's 'Miscellaneous Poem': 'Life has no roots / Like dust floating on a footpath / Scattered by the wind without a destination / The physical body is not eternal'. The speaker is of the view that one does not need to leave New York for the sake of enjoying the greenery. The reason is he feels satisfied with the city life. He can’t even enjoy a blade of grass unless there is a subway handy, a record store, and some other sign. There is nothing less in the urban landscape that one needs to regret.

Lastly, the speaker informs readers about his sexuality. Due to social norms at that time, he had to behave like a heterosexual. In reality, he liked to be with both genders. To be specific, there is a particular person in his life. He likes to kiss him when he is unshaven. After a short affair, Roger proposes to Jane Siegel, Draper's secretary, and ends his marriage with Mona, causing personal and (with a looming divorce) financial pressures in the partnership. At the very beginning, O’Hara presents an epigram. He says it is easy to be beautiful. At the same time, it is difficult to appear so. In the next line, he ironically reminds the readers of the fact by referring to his beloved’s inconstancy. For the trap the lady has set, he admires (ironically) her. It put an end to the poet’s love story and none wants to know what happened next in the story. Robert Bianco of USA Today wrote an extremely positive review, giving the second season four out of four stars and commenting that the series was at the "height of its powers" and "terrifically acted and gorgeously produced, this is a show that's both funny and frightening, that can simultaneously make you miss the '60s and feel blessed that they're gone." Bianco concluded, "if this is the future of TV, the future's looking good." [10] The New York Times said Mad Men "is more than a period piece. It’s a sleek, hard-boiled drama with a soft, satirical core." [11] TIME said the series was better than other sixties-set series because the "characters do not stand in for Important Social Milestones. The changes in society serve to illustrate the characters, not the other way around. Don is right. In the end, no one is nostalgic for fashions or fads or furniture. We're nostalgic for people. And that, for all its sexy Eames-era perfection, is what Mad Men gives us." [12] Fanny Brown is run away—scampered off with a Cornet of Horse; I do love that little Minx, & hope She may be happy, tho' She has vexed me by this Exploit a little too.—Poor silly Cecchina! or F:B: as we used to call her.—I wish She had a good Whipping and 10,000 pounds."—Mrs. Thrale.Matt Weiner has discussed his reasoning for including the volume in the show in the first place. His comments put me in mind of Rupi Kaur, who has done a great deal to increase poetry readership in general and especially among young people but remains controversial among literary circles for her insipid hot-take haikus about love and loss. I’m reminded of a 2017 interview with The Cut where Kaur approaches a volume of Kafka at NYC’s legendary bookstore The Strand and announces, “This guy is the best.” However, she’s not talking about Kafka; she’s talking about the guy who designed the book’s cover. In the end, no matter how much Mad Men's characters try to assert control of their lives, there continues to be emergencies they hadn't planned on–including the historical ones that we in the audience know about, but they don't–guiding their choices in subtle ways. Or as Don puts it when he faces down his pile of unopened mail: "The world continues without us. There's no reason to take it personally." In the next lines, there is an allusion to John Keats’ fiancee Fanny Brown. She scampered off with a “Cornet of Horse.” Cornet is the fifth-grade commissioned officer in a cavalry troop. However, in this section, the speaker’s tone is sarcastic and expressive of his underlying agony. After referring to the next lines, it becomes clear. Bianco, Robert (July 25, 2008). "Review: 'Mad Men' will persuade you to stay tuned". USA Today . Retrieved March 7, 2012.