To Liu Yanjun, imperfection is absolute and eternal, just like sculpting. When he realized there could be a different interpretation of it.

　　TOUWANG:This is an exhibition made of broken. porcelain pieces and stone wastes—things people already forgot and discarded.In the context of the beauty of anachronism, do you think they have individual values of their existence?

　　LIU YANJUN:“Retaining the old and outworn” is from To Dr. Taichang by LIU Xin in Han Dynasty. The original text says, “LIU...butYANJUN:stillretaining the old and outworn and fearful of anything potentially harmful for personal interest at all, and thus feels no obligation towards good deeds.” It criticizes the tradition of holding on to old-schooled values. However that is not necessarily a bad thing. Oftentimes it can be a form of beauty too.

　　Venus de Milo, Winged Victory of Samothrace and Mona Lisa in Louvre are the best proof of how western culture values the beauty of the imperfection. When Venus de Milo was discovered, people were amazed at the beauty and delicacy but also sorry for the missing arms. However they turned out to leave it up to people’s imagination to complete the work as they wish. So I say it takes some flaws to make perfect. People who truly understand and reach the realm of perfection know that perfection itself does not glow. People have too much illusion about how glorious being perfect is.

　　The crackles on the Ge kiln porcelain in Song dynasty were a defect but also why they are beautiful. The good Taihu stones are beautiful because they are wrinkled, porous, light and slender, characters that are usually considered not appealing of the stones. Imagine if the Ge kiln porcelain were free from crackles and Taihu stones look shiny and smooth, would they still be aesthetically valuable? The stapling technique used in porcelain making is even more so as it staples the porcelain pieces together. When you see the winding lines and crackles and the rusty staples along the lines, you will find them so visually striking as if you could see everything they have witnessed and that creates a sense of intimacy. This special kind of beauty of stapled porcelain ware is real, plain, rich, special, and somewhat mysterious and sad at the same time. People can’t help but appreciate the beauty of imperfection.

　　There are problems and defects in this world we live in wherever we go. I used to feel sorry for CAO Xueqin because he couldn’t finish what he started. His unfinished words were plaintive. When someone went to complete where Cao had left off and made it Dream of the Red Mansion, is that still imperfect beauty? There is nothing missing. So it’s complete. However that also means there is no more hope, no more pursuit and everything stops there. When history is complete, it’s the end of the history. When life is complete, it means life starts to go downhill from the peak. Sometimes regrets and incompleteness are beautiful. They give people the drive to long for perfection and miss this desolate beauty. Longing for perfection is only an ideal option. The goal of life should always be evolving and growing, trying to fix the incomplete and make it perfect. The defect implies a hope for the perfect.

　　Or even maybe, retain the old fashion and stay imperfect.

　　The best proof should be Confucius on Yiqi, a leaning scoop. It says on the book that Yiqi is a very special container—when it’s empty, it leans to one side, stays upright when a little more than half full and flips over when full. This container teaches people not to be full of themselves. Once they become like that they are going to trip. Like Confucius said, haughtiness invites disaster and humility receives benefit.

　　When appreciating imperfect beauty, people are visually attracted to natural and abstract extension of the incomplete object and thus get inspired by the object. They become free and limitless in their imagination.

　　Although considered “waste”, the materials are still alive. For example, basalts were formed thousands of years ago from the volcano eruption. They were asleep for millions of years and got discovered. They have original luster and beauty. They have always been alive. We present them in this space and enjoy the beauty. Wolf Guenter Thiel, famous German art critic and philosopher said at the launching of this exhibition, said, “Stones are not only the witness of space and time, but also shows the mental journey of the artist. The real power of stone sculpture is that they record history for generations to come”.

　　TOUWANG: What was your original intention to hold this exhibition?

　　LIUhaveYANJUN: I am like a young scholar in ancient China, traveling to the Forbidden City hoping to make the court exam. I have studies for so many years and it all comes down to this one moment of me being graded and judged. After I came to Beijing I went to quite a number of exhibitions but this is my first time holding my own. It is very important to me. The theme Rebirth is very different from other exhibitions regarding presentation form and the artistic thoughts conveyed. The them and the form are more connected with current social phenomena. They express my criticism and thinking about some social issues, as well as my sense of responsibility to the society. Like I said in the foreword for this exhibition, the meaning of it is that people always say “if I can relive my life I’d do this and that” or “In my next life I will definitely do this” but an object is damaged by nature and human activities and in history that is only a disappearing attitude or phenomenon. What terrifies me is that faith and belief is disappearing. We can mend a broken object and recreate it or even make it beautiful again with even more value. A human body cannot be recreated and there might not be a next life but we can always rebuild a soul and a lost belief. That’s why they say in Buddhism that a butcher becomes a Buddha the moment he drops his killing cleaver. We don’t have to wait. Start now to be honest and return to your lost soul and faith so that we can all be reborn.

　　TOUWANG:What was going through your mind when you were designing the display of Rebirth?

　　LIUYANJUN:The exhibition was divided into two parts in terms of the distribution of exhibition site. The inside part contained theindoor ceramics and somepaintingsand the outside part mainly included the basalt works. Since the outdoor section is composed of black basalt sculptures, how to present them became a key problemthe artist would ponder. White was the most appropriate foil for black. White always symbolized water in architecture.In the case of the Forbidden City, the white marblesmade the entire palace floating on the water.This flying and rising effect produced by the white marbleswas shocking in vision and spiritual in the sense of Chinese architecture and culture. The traditional-style Ziyun (Purple Cloud) Pavillion appeared as if floating on the water. When the heavy black stonesset in, the impression of a floating building naturally arose in our mind. At different times in different seasons, it will also present different looks to you.

　　Ranging from the huge outdoor sculptures to the delicate indoor works. This exhibition had high requirements for the specific environment in the public space. For instance,the black basalt materials appeared to be dissolving into the void upon the open square paved in white stones,which resembled the white "water"; the architectures and works of Chinese traditional style formed an artistic atmospherewith a far- reaching implication, and at the same time combined diverse materials ，the contemporary language and traditional culture together in an untraceable way.

　　TOUWANG: Which is your favorite piece?

　　LIU YANJUN: I can’t really pick a favorite one because they are all different individual works existing for a reason. Do you see that black stone with ropes on one end on the stair? This work happened completely by chance.The basalt is sharp, almost a dagger shaped and the ropes break the form of the piece. Ropes are usually a symbol of confinement and restriction. The concept of rebirth is to break free from this restriction and old-fashioned ideas so that we can have a new spirit. These are broken when taken from nature. Other pieces were broken by human activities. This white porcelain piece, for example, is one of them. It was heated at 1300 degrees in the kiln and it’s easy for it to lose its form and shape. That’s why it’s rare. Its “brokenness” is completed with the staple-mending technique, another witty craft.

　　Stapled-ware is an artwork. Traditional mending with staples is a way to reserve the artwork. Like rocks, mended wares are eternal even after human beings die out. Culturally and spiritually, it is not because people can’t afford a new bowl so that they have to staple it together. It’s about how people treat culture and art. It depends on the person looking at the piece—if he has the eye or not.

　　See, each work has their meaning of existence. They are all like my kids. I don’t have a favorite one. I would only love them more.

　　TOUWANG:Personally, which piece expresses your theme more directly and dimensionally

　　LIUYANJUN: That will be the Buddha’s head in the middle. These pieces are made of porcelain. The technique of making them is not too complicated. A porcelain masters working in Jingdezhen said that this piece is probably the only work that relied on the kiln burning instead of human reshaping in the thousands years of porcelain making history. The 1300-degree kiln fire made this piece. I would also like to tell people about this technique of reducing. Here is how pottery making works. Every time you put an object into the kiln, it shrinks in size by 16% to 17%. Then you refine the piece and it goes back to the kiln for reheat. After a year of repeating that process, the object becomes the smallest, shrinking from its original size. It’s not artificial. The first Buddha head is the biggest and heaviest. It’s also in its most complete form. We don’t know if Buddha actually looks like that. There is human imagination involved in this process. What matters is what we believe in while doing this. The spiritual part of this is very pure. In the end the form is somewhat lost and the size becomes smaller. Some parts disappear. But it is the disappeared part that is the biggest thing about making.

　　This piece always has its own meaning besides my personal recognition of the porcelain. After I graduated from art school, I worked at the government and tried to be a businessman but eventually I returned to being an artist. When everyone was escaping from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, I picked the different route and joined the people trying to pursue their dreams in Beijing. That experience and the hardships made me look at life in a more profound way. In Buddhism, Gautama Buddha comes to the shorearobusta in the outskirt of Kushinagar Naga City. There are two Shoreas in each direction. They all stand across from each other. The middle is paved with cushion like grass. Flowers fill the paths. Fragrance suffuses the air. The Buddha asks Ananda to set his bed. He lies down, head to the north, facing west, laying on his right with his legs folded. When midnight comes, he says his last words and silently enters Parinirvana. Seven days later, Maha Kassapa holds the funeral. His earthly body is to be cremated in Kushinagar Naga City. When the fire dies out, Maha Kassapa takes the relics and separate them into eight groups and put them into cassettes. They are later sent to eight countries to be in monuments or stupas. Some later Buddhism interpretation believes that relics are the reincarnation of the Buddha. The background of the Buddha’s head is image project of fire. It’s also a symbol for nirvana and burning porcelain.

　　It seems to me that the "Buddha relics" scattered on the ground are like "seeds."What will you leave for your future generations? I think that "seeds"are more important heritage. Because you cannot pass on to them the complete system ofknowledge and ideas, you had better let him take "seeds".In any place, as long as there is"soil", “seeds” will grow.Therefore, to keep a "seed" is an act of spiritual significance.It counts most that this spiritual and cultural"seed" sown in our hearts will root and sprout, which symbolizes the hope for life.

作者：Long,Jiping