He Sen V.S. Zou You

He Sen: Art and design share a lot in common. Fashion design is a form of applied art. In my opinion, art creation of high level is a kind of public willingness, which is something art has in common with fashion.
Zou You: There is a big difference between the modernity of fashion and the purely spiritual perfection of art. The purely spiritual part of fashion has come to be recognized by more and more people. The reconstruction and redefinition of fashion among different groups of people are making possible the formation of a certain kind of public willingness.

He Sen: Why did you choose me to cooperate with?
Zou You: I like painting, which drives me to watch closely to some contemporary artists. Your works have always been attractive to me. In your girl series, there is usually one girl for each painting. However, the audience can sense the existence of another person and the relationship between the girl and that person. The works naturally brought a sense of loneliness. Your works that took advantage of traditional Chinese painting were very impressive too. Moreover, the effect of juxtaposing this series with your girl series was overwhelming.
Although we share a lot of opinions in common, some of our ideas are radically different from each other. For example, you love topics about fashion, but I like examination of topics familiar to me. I’m curious about what our works will look like finally.

He Sen: What’s your opinion on the icons that appear in design and art?
Zou You: A designer or artist’s icons are a system whereby other people understand and assess his or her value. The stagnation and simplification of one’s specific icons can be a negative sign, suggesting the stagnation of creativity. Icons tend to mean something of the past. It is very important for artists to continuously update and enrich their icon system.

He Sen: Fashion requires more timeliness compared with art, but the fashion designer and artist both want their works to have lasting vitality. What’s your opinion on this problem?
Zou You: Fashion of an era leaves us with the spirit of the era, instead of just the clothing. The spirit of an era cannot be condensed into a piece of clothing. A single piece of clothing cannot even embody the spirit of a designer. As a designer, I know very well how important timeliness is to fashion, so I do not seek eternity of my works. In my opinion, the value of design is the connection between the maker and the user. I have only one work during my life time. It is my brand, which is a platform where my ideas can be continuously expressed.

Shangguan Zhe V.S. Peng Wei

Shangguan Zhe: Do you have an idol?
Peng Wei: No.

Shangguan Zhe: Did you have good relationship with your college teachers?
Peng Wei: I had a bad relationship with some of the teachers and I had good relationship with some of them too. I keep in touch with only one of them.

Shangguan Zhe: Say something about him.
Peng Wei: He was an old professor that would easily get furious. He taught classical literature, liked jean and often quarreled with the guards. He remarried his first wife after their divorce.  They divorced again after their son died. He then fell in love with his daughter’s schoolmate. They got married after their suicide attempt was stopped. They divorced too. When he was 72 years old, he married a student who is 28. They had a son and divorced too. He is raising the child by himself and he is living a needy life. He is still easily enraged.

Shangguan Zhe: What do you do when you are not in the mood?
Peng Wei: I do nothing.

Shangguan Zhe: Tell me the verse that impresses you most.
Peng Wei: When we talk about time, time has not started yet. When we talked about a place, the place has disappeared. When we talk about a person, the person has gone. When I talk about time, time is rapidly passing away. - Jean Baudrillard

Shangguan Zhe: What is your favorite song in the karaoke?
Peng Wei: I go to the karaoke once a year to sing The Price of Love. It is the only song I can sing correctly.

Shangguan Zhe: Do you like wine?
Peng Wei: I don’t drink wine.

Shangguan Zhe: When was the last time you dribbled?
Peng Wei: It was four years ago. I was a reporter then and I went to a seminar, which made me want to sleep. I never dribbled after becoming an artist.

Shangguan Zhe: What is the most vulgar thing you have ever done?
Peng Wei: All the things I have done are vulgar.

Shangguan Zhe: Can you play any musical instruments?
Peng Wei: I can perform Autumn Wind and Moon over Fortress with Chinese seven-stringed zither. Some people can hardly recognize that they are of classical Chinese music.

Shangguan Zhe: What’s the most unsavory food you have eaten?
Peng Wei: Beijing’s fried liver. It is disgusting.

Shangguan Zhe: Don’t you think your catalog smells?
Peng Wei: Your question smells too.

Shangguan Zhe: Do you have a diamond?
Peng Wei: Yeah, it weighs 0.0001 carat.

Shangguan Zhe: Have you fought with someone?
Peng Wei: I have fought only once. When I was in the third grade of primary school, I fought with my cousin for a piece of cake. He didn’t look pretty then. If he looked pretty, I couldn’t have fought with him.

Shangguan Zhe: What’s your favorite gesture of sleeping?
Peng Wei: I used to wrap myself tightly with the blanket, but I don’t do that now. I can sleep in any gesture.

Shangguan Zhe: What is the biggest pressure for you recently?
Peng Wei: I feel huge pressure when people call me teacher Peng Wei.

Shangguan Zhe: What is the most hypocritical thing to say?
Peng Wei: Master, your works are so astonishing.

Shangguan Zhe: Are you lonely?
Peng Wei: I’m not lonely. I’m alone sometimes though.

Shangguan Zhe: Can you describe your most impressive dream?
Peng Wei: I don’t care about dreams. I think that love is like a dream, which is pretty impressive.

Shangguan Zhe: What’s your astrological sign?
Peng Wei: Virgo.

Shangguan Zhe: What will you do thirty year later?
Peng Wei: I think I will be living, painting, or maybe I will be dead then.

Shangguan Zhe: Have you painted your dad?
Peng Wei: Yeah. And I painted my mom more frequently. My mom liked sleeping, which made it easier to paint.

Shangguan Zhe: Tell me on the clothing you like most.
Peng Wei: When I was five years old, my mom bought me a green woolen one-piece dress. There was a woolen ball and a line of cartoon people on it. The dress cost was 15 RMB, which was pretty luxurious for our needy family. I only wore it on important occasions. I didn’t give it up, until it was too small for me to wear. I often wore it to take pictures when I was five to nine years old.

Shangguan Zhe: What’s the present you want most?
Peng Wei: I never thought about it. It seems that I’m not at the age of desiring a present. I wanted a doll before I was ten years old.

Shangguan Zhe: How would you the spend time you have left if doomsday is approaching?
Peng Wei: I would try my best to use the remaining time. I don’t care about doomsday. Every day can be doomsday. Everyday can be a good day.

Peng Wei V.S. Shangguan Zhe

Peng Wei: What’s your astrological sign?
Shangguan Zhe: Aries.

Peng Wei: Why did you get married so early?
Shangguan Zhe: That’s an embarrassing question.

Peng Wei: What will happen if you meet another woman who is attractive to you?
Shangguan Zhe: Fortunately, I haven’t met a man who is attractive to me.

Peng Wei: Let’s say someone buys you a lot of clothing, but none of the clothing is suitable for her. What do you think of her?
Shangguan Zhe: She must love me so much.

Peng Wei: Who are the designers or artists you like?
Shangguan Zhe: Ancient alchemists.

Peng Wei: What is the sexiest part of the human body?
Shangguan Zhe: Private parts.

Peng Wei: What kind of women do you dislike most?
Shangguan Zhe: Cunning women.

Peng Wei: What kind of men do you dislike most?
Shangguan Zhe: Snobbish men.

Peng Wei: What is the most satisfactory part on your face? And what is the most unsatisfactory part?
Shangguan Zhe: I like my browbone. I don’t like my beard, which needs to become thicker.

Peng Wei: Do you wear anything when sleeping?
Shangguan Zhe: Underwear.

Peng Wei: What is your gesture of sleeping like?
Shangguan Zhe: I sleep like the following picture:
 

Peng Wei: What was your feeling when you made your first clothing?
Shangguan Zhe: I’m tired.

Peng Wei: Tell me which clothing you like the most.
Shangguan Zhe: It is my school uniform. I had several pairs of them, which I wore for six years.

Peng Wei: Do you like places where there are a lot of people?
Shangguan Zhe: I go to places where there are young women, when I’m not in the mood.

Peng Wei: Is there a college teacher that you like most or dislike most? Why?
Shangguan Zhe: I don’t have close relationship with them, but I thank them for letting me graduate from college.

Peng Wei: What do you like to do when you are not working?
Shangguan Zhe: I like reading novels.

Peng Wei: What do you usually eat for breakfast?
Shangguan Zhe: I never eat breakfast after leaving my hometown.

Peng Wei: What’s the first thing you do after lunch?
Shangguan Zhe: I read novels after lunch.

Peng Wei: Do you watch the news on CCTV?
Shangguan Zhe: I like fresh news. But, I prefer watching documentary programs about natural landscapes and animals.

Peng Wei: What do you want to do most at present?
Shangguan Zhe: See the summer of Bolivia.

Peng Wei: In addition to fashion design, what else fascinates you?
Zhe: Ancient symbols and mysteries.

Peng Wei: What’s the worst design in your opinion?
Shangguan Zhe: Those that explicitly show the designer’s eagerness for quick success.

Peng Wei: Do you care about your and other persons’ breast, waist and hip measurements?
Shangguan Zhe: I care about my waist measurement and women’s breast measurement.

Peng Wei: What’s your favorite phrase?
Shangguan Zhe: So?

Peng Wei: Do you think you are successful? What’s your idea of success?
Shangguan Zhe: Success means to be wealthy and healthy enough to travel around the world.

Peng Wei: What is the most hypocritical thing to say?
Shangguan Zhe: I asked you the same question.

Peng Wei: What are you mostly afraid of ?
Shangguan Zhe: I want to avoid any catastrophe.

Peng Wei: What do you do when you are not in the mood?
Shangguan Zhe: I read novels.

Peng Wei: Tell me the verse that impresses you most.
Shangguan Zhe: “My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look upon my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”

Peng Wei: What is your favorite song in the karaoke?
Shangguan Zhe: Monkey King by Mayday.

Peng Wei: Do you like wine?
Shangguan Zhe: I want to have a try.

Peng Wei: What is the most vulgar thing you have ever done?
Shangguan Zhe: To put sodium into a jar.

Peng Wei: Can you play any musical instruments?
Shangguan Zhe: Guitar.

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