Anran Guo’s “Stop Fighting”, 2024 

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By Alex Turgeon

 

A reminder is an instance that triggers memory. It can be set intentionally, like an alarm, or occur  coincidentally, such as in response to touch or color. The tradition of tying a string around one’s  finger to remember an important task, date, or event seems at odds with the digital reality of our  everyday lives. Today, reminders are often defined as alerts or messages scrolling across sleek  home screens. While we may touch these surfaces, their resonance fades with each swipe of a  finger. In this new paradigm, the tactility of memory evaporates along with the physical  connections we share. The screen-based archives and interfaces of contemporary memory reject  the physicality of the moment, leaving touch devoid of its memory. A finger, while a digit, is not  digital. An index finger, a ring finger, a middle finger—each points to meaning. At times a finger points to blame, but also to truth. A finger communicates; it can be one’s only means of expression  in times of oppression. Traditionally, the orientation of a thumb, another type of digit, can  determine the difference between life and death.

 

Artist Anran Guo’s presentation of “Stop Fighting” reworks an original 2021 sculptural installation  into a participatory, site-specific performance of refusal. Through a vernacular of objects, Guo’s  practice reveals an acute sensitivity to the power dynamics within seemingly benign, everyday  moments. Objects such as balloons and work gloves may initially appear mute; however, through  the artist’s interrogation of their semiotics, they are positioned to contain rich collective and  individual memories. In this piece, colorful helium-filled balloons are tied to the middle finger of  standardized cotton work gloves—a symbol of play juxtaposed with a symbol of work. In its  original installation, “Stop Fighting” featured a bouquet of balloons holding the middle fingers of  several gloves upward from the ground. The erect middle finger imbues these objects with a sharp,  critical language, inferring a moment of rebellion that positions the gloves as signs of resistance  amid a vibrant display of playfulness. Over time, the balloons gradually lose their helium, causing  the gloves drift back to the ground. Their rebellious gestures fade, yet the history of their defiance  remains visible in a lasting symbol of revolt, with a string still tied to that poignant middle finger.

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In this current reworking, “Stop Fighting” is transformed into a performance where helium  balloons, with their gloves affixed, are given to the public as individual expressions, or tools, of  defiance. The artist’s gesture of gifting nurtures a sense of play within the codified systems of  market value, prestige, and capitalist strategy regularly applied to art. This presentation extends  this critique to the commodification of the artist herself, positioned in this performance within the  role of the laborer. Although this play may seem frivolous at first, it serves as a reminder of the  tactics necessary to form points of resistance against oppressive regimes—a shared connection with others. The artist’s state of play provides an entry point for outsiders or objectors to challenge  normative systems of value. “Stop Fighting” articulates an exhaustion with the exuberance  expected of artists, who are often obliged to perform and generate value for others. The tied string  serves as a reminder of the inherent value in choosing to opt out, honoring the defiance of resilient  spirits facing the fatigue of ongoing strategies of insistent subjugation.