Bundanon Artists In Residence
Communicated with Bundanon Summer Camp students
红门画廊专访
Q: Could you tell us a bit about your work and working experience as an artist based in China?
I graduated from the Sculpture Department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts with a master's degree, and I am also a member of the China Sculpture Institute. I have held three solo Shows, participated in many contemporary art exhibitions. As a sculptor, my art form often based on making objects, especially 3D objects. From my work "Almost Standard" in 2010 to the work "Hard to miss" in 2015, many of my works in these years have actually used the scale of my own experience to re-examine that defined world and give the objects I make the name of art. My works usually deal with the issue of scale and standard judgment because I always believe in the saying "man is the scale of everything". In particular, the experience of personal bodily perception is the truest measure of the specific world around us.
Q: What program did you participate and how long were you there?
I participated in the Red Gate Residency Exchange Program in 2017, and stayed for one month at Bundanon Trust in New South Wales, Australia .
Q: Can you briefly introduce your experience in participating in the residency program?
The Bundanon residency program was my first experience participating in a foreign residency program. Before going to Bundanon, I had submitted a residency proposal that aimed to use the most easily available industrial materials to create my installation work. However, upon arrival, the reality was quite different from my plan. The place is like an isolated paradise that is disconnected from the urban society, like a pure land. Kangaroos often chase each other outside the window, while koalas live and die at their own slow pace. The trees are deep, the water flows gently, and the nocturnal animals return to tranquility every morning as the sun rises. There is no phone signal or any kind of market, only the peaceful nature and other artists immersed in their own world. As a result, my usual production experience in the studio did not work here. Instead, a puddle of water, a piece of unique wood, or an oddly shaped flower triggered me to adjust my thinking and change my motivation. Therefore, I began to try to use an adaptive approach to practice.
I used the stones I collected to set up a diagram in the grassland where kangaroos inhabit. The diagram consists of circles of different sizes that overlap each other, with the length of my body in different postures as the radius. I named it "Territory," just like how animals use scent and other means to mark their territory. I used my body as a ruler to draw myself a piece of "territory." Later, I also used bark and branches I found in the forest to build small sculptures to record my experience.
Q: Could you briefly describe your achievements during the residency program?
My achievements are mainly two aspects, one is the aforementioned issue of locality, a truly out-of-this-world living experience that made me realize that there is a natural connection between creation and the land it belongs to, in addition to the cultural connection. The second is my appreciation of great people, this farm was originally a fixed property belonging to the family of Arthur Boyd, a famous Australian painter who grew up in an artistic family and built his studio in this picturesque place, creating a large number of expressionist paintings combining religious themes with local landscapes. Known for his strong social conscience, his work addressed humanitarian issues and universal themes of love and loss, and in the last years of his life Arthur and his wife bequeathed this legacy to the people of Australia, and Boyd later donated the property, artwork and copyright of all his works to the Trust, which led to the current Artist in Residence program. I think it was out of his love for the land and his faith in God that Mr. Boyd wanted to give this monumental legacy to the community so that the land could nurture more good and great artists for a long time to come.
Q: What impact do you think the residency program has had on your approach to understand and practice contemporary art?
Residency exchange programs or other international art activities have broadened my horizons. Through exchanges with people from different countries and fields, I have come to appreciate the values and free thoughts in different cultural contexts. It has allowed me to compare and contrast my own cultural and artistic system with those of different regions, leading to new perspectives and ideas. Overall, this experiential residency life has taken my understanding of things from flat to three-dimensional, and from abstract to concrete.
Q: How do you think residency exchange programs have influenced your plans for future development in the field of art?
On the one hand, residency exchange programs provide an opportunity to break free from the inertia of one's own work and logic, to go to a different environment, or to switch to a different creative context, in order to reexamine or even reposition one's thinking. On the other hand, exposure to new things can stimulate one's senses, and exchange and collision often produce new sparks. The residency experience at Bundanon may be a wonderful memory in my life because it is hard to come by (unless I go there again). I never thought that the classic utopia of the Chinese hermit culture had a prototype there. Of course, for me, the biggest impact is that I increasingly enjoy the new experiences that come from crossing environments, cultures, and disciplines, and I prefer to view my art in a broader coordinate system. This is because a core issue in my personal creation is to use my own feelings, experiences, or even my body itself as a measuring standard to "measure" the world under different definitions. The richer the collisions, the more likely interesting results will emerge, and it prompts me to think about the relativity of standards in more comparisons with "reference points."
Q: What can the Red Gate Residency exchange program offer to Chinese artists compared to other residency programs?
I think the essence of the residency program is still cultural experience and exchange. Although we are in the Internet age, some tangible feelings and experiences cannot be replaced by videos, pictures, or words. It's like even though there is live streaming, you still want to go to the venue to watch a game or a concert. This is the charm of residency. Localism and presence are irreplaceable. Red Gate Gallery has been operating in China for more than 20 years, and many artists have grown together with it. Many people have also used Mr. Brian Wallace's help to showcase their works and ideas outside of China on a larger stage. The residency programs of Red Gate and other good exchange programs are actually opening up channels for information exchange, which is more three-dimensional, specific, and profound than convenient and flat Internet information exchange. For the Chinese artist community, these residency programs provide a platform for increasing interaction with the outside world. For individual artists, a period of residency experience, a wonderful journey, or even a beautiful encounter may become an unforgettable memory in their lives. These microscopic impacts may bring about bigger changes in one's worldview like the butterfly effect, as Chinese Writer Han Han once said, "Without seeing the world, how can one have a worldview?"
A: Why is it important for Chinese artists to have experiences of working abroad?
I think it's similar to the principles of trade. The exchange of ideas and understanding creates great value. Additionally, I feel that Chinese culture itself is not a very extroverted culture, but at the same time it is very inclusive. Chinese artists often face the problem of their familiar artistic language not being effective in unfamiliar contexts when they go abroad, but once they find an ideal breakthrough and can integrate into the local cultural context, Chinese artists are not lacking in the wisdom to display their talents and ideas.
Thirdly, there is an objective positive impact. The experience of living abroad makes you step out of your comfort zone. The process of dealing with a new environment will also strengthen an artist's communication skills, judgement, independent thinking and problem-solving abilities.
