我们的老罗

我们的老罗

老罗自传：

罗旭，弥勒人，1956年生于小商家庭，童年自带草墩加一本正式课本走完小学。初中学工学农，弄懂庄稼是从土里长出来的。16岁被“照顾”进县瓷器厂工作，期间唯一的乐趣是捏几个小公鸡。21岁被分配到建筑队工作，曾幻想做个建筑设计师，后发现不精于计算，中途放弃。23岁那年突发奇想，要做个艺术家，正式从事“反、坏、右”。学画，考了三次艺术学院，遗憾的是无人录取，气急之下索性从建筑队告假，以养殖长毛兔为生，结果兔死毛飞。1985年混进县文化馆充当美工，1988年被中央美院雕塑系主任钱绍武先生收编为“私生”子，舞弄了一年的人体造形。1992年忍不住饥寒、欲望，从文化馆辞职出走，在清水环境中作菜雕捞了点碎花银。“球粘不得热气膨胀起来”，一闪身从弥勒挤进昆明。1994年伙同一帮热血男子创办“《达达艺术有限责任公司》”，1994年底被推为董事长，一时羽扇纶巾，英姿焕发。1995年初被撵下台，在任3个月，1996年再度雄心勃起，肩扛一根三米长的竹竿，胆大加上银行信任，建土著巢。1997年8月自任土著巢“老总”兼厨师长，指点灶上江山，把玩原始民族歌舞。打造：“吃什么、吃文化；看什么、看艺术”的亏本平台。三年辛劳，落得骨瘦如柴。2000年5月1日关门停火，养狗遛驴，员工各逃性命。2000年5月至今栽花种草，座台、发呆、养鸡、养鸭、种瓜、种豆。期间有过群展、个展，得了几把美女送来的鲜花。几经捣腾，其心仍未看破红尘，但方式愚笨，闭门造车，守株待兔。前后数个十年旅程回瞰，玩泥巴的时间最长，曾多次想改道，木已成舟，难为它用，只好顺水行舟。

2004年至2006年，盖房子的妄想症发作，先后设计了西双版纳的“地气”建筑群，“僻寒”山庄，并忽悠艾未未主持设计论证会。乘病势之力，设计了数个杨丽萍的“指光剧场”、“雀之林”等等。做了个3.6米高的“三江并流”建筑模型参加对比窗艺廊在上海举办的当代设计展，一路兴奋得要死，结果都成了纸上谈兵。这种自恋空悦的激情一直延续。看着一堆纸，虽仍是纸一堆，但嗨的无庆，玩玩而已。继2004年的上海多伦美术馆个人作品展之后，除了盖房子的妄想之外，登堂入市，在不同的城市办了几个主题性艺术个展，奔上了“小糠之路”。几个冲出去，又回到家的来回，几乎把自己炼就的如同一个“男杜十娘”。还好，没有百宝箱，也没有百宝的重负，只有一身的轻快，一大堆厚爱我的朋友。2014年5月至今，得弥勒哥们们如打了鸡血般的器重，任性发挥，就地取材（材料和人才），改了或正在盖着这些房子：万花筒、农垦博物馆、半朵云、印章房、音乐农庄、前店后厂……我自己把这两年的盖房行为理解为“吃多了，排泻”。

Autobiography:

I am Luo Xu， native of Mile. I was born in a merchant family in 1956. In my childhood， I fnished primary school with a haystack and an ofcial textbook. During junior high school， I studied industry and agriculture，and fgured out how crops grow from soil. At 16， someone helped me to get a job in a porcelain factory in the county， where the only fun thing for me was to make a few cockerels out of clay. At 21， I was assigned to work in a construction team. I had once dreamed about being an architect， but later found that I was not good at calculation， and had to give up on this dream. At 23， I decided to be an artist on a whim， and ofcially began to engage in the “counter-revolutionary， bad and right-wing” undertakings. I learned to paint and applied for art schools for three times， but sadly I was not enrolled by any of them. Out of frustration， I took leave from the construction team， and tried to make a living by breeding long hair rabbits， but unfortunately all of them died. In 1985， I started to work in the county cultural center as an art designer. In 1988， I became an apprentice of Mr. Qian Shaowu， director of the Department of Sculpture at the Central Academy of Fine Arts，and studied human body molding for one year. In 1992， due to poverty and desire for a better life， I resigned from the cultural center， and managed to make a little money by making vegetable sculptures. “The balloon expands with heat”. I left Mile and made my way into Kunming. In 1994， I partnered with a group of ambitious friends to found “Dada Arts Co.， Ltd”. At the end of 1994， I was elected as chairman of the company， and enjoyed temporary success. At the beginning of 1995， only 3 months after I took office， I was ousted. In 1996， I regained my ambitions， and built Earth Nest with a 3-meter bamboo pole on my shoulders， as well as a bold spirit and trust from the bank. In August 1997， I appointed myself as the “president” and head chef of Earth Nest， where I directed the catering and folk song and dance business. I created a loss-making platform where “you can eat culture and see arts”. Three years of hard work did not pay of， and I became a bag of bones. The company was shut down on May 1， 2000， and I kept the animals while the employees left. Since May 2000， I have been living a leisure life by growing fowers and plants， raising chickens and ducks， and growing vegetables. During this period， I took part in group and solo exhibitions， and received a few bunches of fowers from beautiful girls. After all these unfruitful eforts， I still had hope in my heart， and tried to pursue my dream， but in a foolish， blind and passive way. Looking back on my career in the past decades， I spent the longest time playing with mud. I thought about changing my career path for many times， but the die is cast， and there was nothing better for me to do. So I had to keep going.

From 2004 to 2006， my fantasy about building houses reappeared， and I successively designed the “Diqi”building group and “Pihan” Mountain Villa in Xishuangbanna， and persuaded Ai Weiwei to host the design demonstration meeting. Subsequent to these efforts， I designed several “Zhiguang Theaters” “Forests of Sparrows”， etc. for Yang Liping. I made a 3.6-meters-high building model of the “Three Parallel Rivers” to take part in a contemporary design exhibition held in Shanghai by Contrasts Gallery. I was really excited on my way to the exhibition， but it all turned out to be just an empty theory. This kind of narcissist passion has continued to this date. When I look at a pile of paper， I get excited and enjoy playing with it， although it is just a pile of paper.

Following my solo exhibition in Shanghai Duolun Art Museum in 2004， I held several thematic solo art exhibitions in diferent cities， in addition to my fantasy about building houses. I was on my way to a well-of life. After running out and returning home for several times， I almost turned myself into a male version of “Du Shiniang”. I feel alright. I do not have a treasure chest or the burden of treasure. What I have is freedom of life， and a lot of friends who love me.

Since May 2014， thanks to the strong support from friends in Mile， I was able to design at will， making use of local materials and talents. The following houses have been modified or are currently being built: Kaleidoscope， Agricultural Reclamation Museum， Half Cloud， Seal Room， Music Farm， Front Shop Back Factory， etc. I regard my architectural eforts over the past two years as “excretion after eating too much”.

LAOLUO - OUR OLD PAL