Artistic talk with Tao Yi, Wang Changcun and Tant Zhong. October 12, 2018
AIKE Gallery present Exhibition “Random Figures”, a group show includes recent works by Tao Yi, Wang Changcun and Tant Zhong.
Tao Yi (1978) “born and based in Shanghai, inspires from jazz and constructs the spiritual abstract language with improvisation and self-discipline control.” (AIKE Gallery, on line).
Tao Ti studied 9 years in Germany, graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts Dusseldorf. He is tend to bring a balance of colour ob one flat surface – symmetry of colour. He uses inner feelings, which was for me a wonder, as Chinese artist can think about everything but, I thought, never about “soul”… Tao Ti created a sketch with size 200 x 140 centimetres and made a fun of this, which is again rare for Chinese. Our sense of humour in general dramatically different. This shows the artist’s attitude to the work – deep, philosophical but at the same time playful and easy. I cannot say that I like this art, as for me the brush stroke, or “touch of the artist’s hand” is missing and already for two years I’m trying to understand where is the deepness of the Chinese art lies?
Next artist, Tant Zhong (1990) “was born in Wuhan and is now based in Shanghai. Her works fluctuate between raw formalism and comic whimsy: they lack definitive boundaries, spilling into each other and absorbing space, leaking their world view out of the gallery and into the wider world.” (AIKE Gallery, on line).
Ankle, 2018 Installation, stainless steel pipe, heat-shrink tube，water pipe，climbing rope，ceramic, PTFE pipe, red copper tube，PU tube，wire cable, cotton thread, Dimension Variable, © the artist Courtesy AIKE GALLERY [Online] Available from: https://tanttant.com/ANKLE-SPINE [Accessed 23/11/18]
Assembling uneven object the artist recreates objects of our lives in an unexpected way. Motivation of Tant Zhong is to find the balance and arrange the elements for the bigger sense. She works with a language and makes a statement about similarities in literal Chinese language, for example, sun light and neon light as shown in the work - Sunlight Under the Sunlight. Bright and sometimes colourful works rather make a statement but not raise a question.
Sunlight Under the Sunlight, 2017, wood tray, fluorescent lamp, a carton of cigarettes, 114×77×13cm, © the artist, Courtesy TabulaRasa Gallery [Online] Available from: https://tanttant.com/ANKLE-SPINE [Accessed 23/11/18]
And third artist is Wang Changcun (1981) “is one of the earliest electronic musicians and computer bug programmers.” (AIKE Gallery, on line).
This artist, I think, was the most original artist for me out of this three. Because he is working mainly with computer programs and recreates an interesting digital experience. For instance, the artist wrote a computer program on which realtime cameras, random music bits, online offer of the Walmart shop, and photos of the dog from the post in social network, the image of bestselling commodity goods, random number and etc. gathered in a window screen which is projected on the wall. What is it – surrealistic movie or is it our reality?
Wang Changcun, Side-Scrolling, 2018, Network program and dual channels sound installation, Dimension Variable, Still AIKE GALLERY Online] Available from: http://www.aikedellarco.com/works.php?t=exhibition&id=1249 [Accessed 23/11/18]
The technology is a main tool of the artist, he uses them, as if I would use the oil colour or canvas for expressing. The digital world is held in high esteem by the Chinese audience, especially the young generation. But how this came to the level of art? What does the digital art gives to us – is it a new art language? Probably we are facing the digital reality which is flourishes on the basis of laziness, ignorance and simplicity? As Nicholas Mirzoeff calls this “empowered amateurism” is coming over the digital borders. And the most pity thing - this process spreading low-level information and spamming all digital users even if we disagree with it. With work of Wang Changcun I realized that all muck which was on the Internet, rubbish, were collected and brought into the Gallery. So if Rauschenberg worked with garbage of his time, current work is equivalent of dregs of a society of our time. Artist represented highly exact nature of user’s interests.
Overall all tree artist were presented during one show “Random Figures” and Curator Adrian Wang explained - the inspiration of such a show comes from the Italian Futurism and the question which was posed her is a “How creative brain works?”.
“The Futurists admired speed, technology, youth and violence, the car, the airplane and the industrial city, all that represented the technological triumph of humanity over nature, and they were passionate nationalists.” (Wikipedia, on line)
Then, what kind of future is coming from China?
Bibliography and references
1. AIKE Gallery [Online] Available from: http://www.aike-gallery.com/exhibitions.php?id=135 [Accessed 22/11/18]
2. Tant Zhong, Ankle, 2018 Installation [Online] Available from: https://tanttant.com/ANKLE-SPINE [Accessed 23/11/18]
3. Changcun Wang [Online] Available from: http://changcun.wang/home.html [Accessed 23/11/18]
4. Nicolas Mirzoeff, The visual Culture Reader, Second edition p.6. Poutledge, London
5. Wikipedia, Futurism [Online] Available from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futurism [Accessed 23/11/18]
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