Graft Flowers on to a Stone -- Appreciate Paintings and sculptures of Wang Changming
By Peng Feng
Wang Changming entered the art world by his surrealistic works. The still life paintings of his create not only an illusion of reality but also quite poetic. Along with a further understanding of art and the society, Wang has abandoned pure painting, and instead, the perception is integrated, ready-mades and multi-media are involved with his works. No matter how far Wang travels on the way of contemporary art, he will never leave his culture and mother town where he was raised behind. This is the reason we can find symbols of current society from the works and the trace of traditional culture on the other hand. Wang skillfully grafts together traditional and contemporary art, contrast it between conflicted and compromised in order to interpret Chinese contemporary cultural landscape.
Taihu stone, also known as scholar’s rock, is the most significant symbol of Wang’s works, and it underlies most of his paintings and sculptures. He cut natural Taihu stone to make sculptures. It seems to be more an Installation than a sculpture. Apparently it is different from the sculpture of Zhan Wang who also primarily concentrates on Taihu stones. Zhan cast his sculpture and transformed quality of Taihu stone into stainless steel which stands for the era of industry and consumption. Material transformation is utilized commonly in sculpture, and Taihu stone that Chinese men of letters considered it very poetic and pictorial splendor casting in stainless steel provides a meaningful thought between the connection of tradition and contemporary. However, Wang uses natural Taihu stone directly instead of transforming materials on his works. In this sense, his work is more a ready-made installation. Unlike using ready-mades directly, Wang processed Taihu stones by invasion and conversion. He converses Taihu stones by manufactural techniques rather than transforming them into industrial materials. The contrast and difference are much more intense than material transformation. Taihu stones are created by nature,primarily qualified by its thinness, openness, perforations, and wrinkling, and there is especially no better quality than curve. Mechanical cutting is one of techniques in modern industry, objects can be geometric designs after cutting, and straight lines are considering the best. Mechanical cutting is quite a contrast to natural Taihu stones, and it is an ideal idea to emphasize the opposition between nature and man-made.
What is the purpose of Wang to bring out contrast between manufactural cutting and natural Taihu stones? Are his artworks an elegiac song for natural, or a eulogium dedicating to industry? Does it denounce industrial civilization, or applaud the nature? We can obviously find the comparison in his works but they never clarify where they stand. His noncommittal display leaves artworks rooms for diverse interpretation.
First, to contrast nature objects with artificial objects usually leads to a tragic ending. From the works of Wang, however, we won’t meet a foregone conclusion. Instead, nature objects and artificial objects meet a compromise after intense conflict. Taihu stones did not become ugly because of mechanical cutting; by contraries, the artful cutting not only demonstrates the beauty of material of Taihu stones, but also reflects the beauty of geometric mechanical cutting. The artworks of Wang Changming did not aim to accuse the sins of the industrial civilization, but as Hegel did, raising conflict for both sides to force them uncover defects, and achieve a higher level of truth.
Secondly, the reason why the works of Wang Changming affording so much meaning for thought is because that they touch our psychological needs for observation and harborage. The environmental scientists discovered in 20th century that human beings prefer to situate in a position where they are able to see others and to hide themselves at the same time. The psychological needs are summarized as observation - harborage principle. Thus why people are fond of Taihu stones which are covered in many twists and holes is because they meet the needs of harborage. The idea that Wang cut Taihu stones is exactly a manifestation of observation needs. After processed by cutting, Taihu stones not only retain their twists and dull holes, but also increase visibility and openness. Accordingly, both of psychological needs of observation and harborage can be satisfied.
According above two points, the works of Wang want to explore further compromise while revealing conflict and avoid confrontation. Although his works are glutted with contrast, it still seems attractive overall.
The sculptures or installations, as well as paintings of Wang reflect the rapid change of contemporary China correspondingly. He did not act anxiously like the vast majority of artists and humanities scholars for the change, or impatient to state his opinions, nor simply fall into either opposite, instead, he made efforts on the painting searching for the connection between them and finding out how to coexist both in harmony. In the series of “Paintings of Song dynasty”, Wang painted neon lights in certain parts in the scene. The neon lights are the symbol of contemporary society, the product of industrial civilization, and representative of consumer culture. Insert neon lights into exquisite Paintings of Song Dynasty was nothing less than to plant noise in a harmonious melody. However, it is better for understanding their connection by considering that Paintings of Song was entering a world full of neon lights. Because of setting Song Paintings against, the coordinated current world turned into anxious and confused place; or under the shimmering neon lights, the poetic Song Paintings seemed pale and dull. Overall, no matter which interpretation take place, it is likely to be critical. The critiques go two either way: to criticize the contemporary society to stand for cultural nostalgia, or to criticize traditional culture to stand for cultural radicalism. Both of critiques commonly exist in contemporary art. Yet Wang did not aim at criticizing. On the contrary, when conflict struggling, Wang start to find methods carefully to compromise contrast on the painting.
In the latest creation of “Exotic Splendor Garden” series, Wang Changming not only continues to use the neon lights, but also put the television and film projection in it, and making the serene garden spread over flashing ripples. From the point of view of traditionalist, projection intervention would increase a severe light defect, and from the perspective of radicalism, garden does not fit the shift of contemporary image and will be dumped into history in stacks of paper sooner or later. Once again Wang played a role of intercessor here in his works. In order to let both exist compatibly on the painting, he has a great deal of painting technical problems to solve.
From the sculptures and paintings of Wang revealed that he is mastering graft. Via grafting and planting materials, the shaping conflict between tradition and contemporary still can be created an artwork of harmony. In the sense, it can be referred to that the artworks of Wang are very contemporary in character and very classical in form. Because of his superior ability to graft materials, they are qualified to present accordingly. The artworks of Wang Changming can be seen as a contemporary Chinese society in microcosm.
May 15, 2013 at Peking University Wei Xiu Park
