Yin Qi has a persistent interest in space and material thus his artisticpractice is precisely realized through the various methods he uses toexpress his meditations on space and matter. Early on in Paris he realizeda few installations that directly addressed the issue of space; speakingmore concretely,he used certain fixed spaces to contemplate spatialissues. He takes existing architectural spaces (for example,the spacethat he lived in) and redefines them-these existing architectural spaceshave their own inherited history,among which is the possession of theirown function,rules,and boundaries-all of which are fixed-that takeshape in their own personal "second nature." These spaces,througha lengthy production process,produce their own unique "culture," which we can conversely say is exactly the kind of unique "culture," thatcauses the process of space creation and its results. Spaces are alwaysthe product of government and economics; in some sense,they arealso a cultural product: culture forges space and space is entrusted withculture. Yin Qi’s suspicion towards this kind of space,in a certain sense,is also suspicion towards the culture entrusted to this space,a suspiciontowards the production of such a space,and the inherited history ofspace. Yin Qi began transforming this established space (one with aparticularly long history),but his alterations weren‘t rooted in some sortof functional sense, his was an alteration of the space’s conventional use.

　　In the interior of this space he either added an essential element,orhe removed some necessary constituent; either he demolished somekind of boundary line,or he erected some new form of boundary-fundamentally speaking,the structural frame of the space was not refurbished,but Yin Qi used a few minute alterations such as changing locations,or reassembling and installing a few essential elements to transform the entire cultural nature of the space,causing it to entirely manifest in a imagined space completely different from its precedent. For example,through a few ingenious fittings and installations,he took a castle (whose significance is well rooted in Western culture) and transformed it into a Chinese garden; again,he added a corridor in a bathroom,altering the relationship between the bathroom and one’s body,walking become an apprehensive act; again,he added a door in an indoor space,complicating the relationship between the entrance and the exit,implying that the space’s newly acquired status as a corridor was also complicated-with this reading,Yin Qi‘s investigations onto the issue of space are related to cultural transference,his installation works utilizing the duality of space are in truth his way of expressing culture shock. At this point he was overseas for only a short time and his shock from cultural differences had not yet disappeared; this kind of shock was expressed through art (therefore he chose not to dabble in installation art while still in China) it is also a part of both the Western and Eastern cultural fabric (for example different ways of envisioning and explaining space).

　　However,Yin Qi quickly overcame his culture shock; once again he returned to painting. But,in his post-culture shock paintings he was unable to return to his former style. Previously,it was impossible for the painter‘s apprentice’s Yin Qi understanding of painting to be anything other than a product of China’s academic art mechanism.

　　Now,far from the mainland (and equally as distant from academic art),he was forced to rethink issues associated with painting: two powerful and different traditions were facing him (Chinese and European traditions),how could painting obtain its personal,individual,and a new space? Yin Qi completely and persistently rid himself of his former academic mechanized style. He made a new start; he set out to create a new style of painting.

　　What kind of painting is this? If we say that painting always strives to be expressive,that it always wants to utilize the canvas to convey meaning,then Yin Qi precisely wants to reject that kind of meaningful "expression." In actuality,painting that rejects "expression" is not uncommon in modern and contemporary art history. But,in Yin "s process of rejecting expression,he simultaneously contemplates the core problems of painting: core material and core spatial problems. Painting at once eradicates its association with the outside world,at once eradicates all the spaces collected through the interior and exterior boundaries on canvas,how could it create its own space? Do the non-ideographic objects depicted on the canvas simply construct a monotonous flat plane that rejects completely the establishment of space? Thereupon,we must investigate Yin Qi’s material world.

　　For Yin Qi,matter has two-fold meaning. Firstly,matter is a phenomenological significance: matter,stripped of any intervention of significance,stripped of various functions,stripped of any man-made traces,stripped of any kind of ideological suppositions. Yin Qi intentionally sees matter as the absolute extrication of meaning. If we go on to understand matter in this way,he resolutely would never brand the mark of human existence upon his canvases,matter instead saturates his canvases (he very rarely paints humans),at the same time the entiremood on his canvas is materialistic: the objects on the canvas and the painting itself both demonstrate their non-passionate status,a state negating the depths of human psychology,a state that is anti-synthetic. Herein,like Roland Barthes told existence of a "writing degree zero,"similar to a kind of non-interventionist "objective literature,"are Yin Qi’s objectivist paintings,paintings that allow the matter to be present on the scene,painting that eradicates the significance and function of matter,and at the same time,also eradicates any form of ideological materialistic painting. In Yin Qi‘s series,all human traces have been cleanly washed away,for example,in the Interiors series,one cannot find a mere trace of human dwelling; in the Dogs series,there is not a trace of the dogs’ ferocious,beastly nature; in the Sea series,there is not a inkling of the violent up-surging of the waves; in the Landscapes series there is not a trace of sentimental beauty. All of these subjects were previously bestowed with manmade imagination,were shaped by the ideological significance of their various "material"landscapes,but lately have transformed into "meaningless," unsophisticated materialistic landscapes. It is exactly this kind of quiet,non-uproarious matter that causes the very canvas in Yin Qi’s works transform into something materialistic. Painting,with this kind of peace,is similar to the monotonous objects in his paintings,lacking in any trace of human racket.

　　If matter all at once casts off it‘s meaning,obviously,it closes off the tunnel to the outside,herein the material on the canvas has two possible choices: one is utter stillness,concealing its own immanence. Another choice,concurrent with the stillness,letting one’s own immanence be exposed,that the stillness of matter,as well as the immanence that that stillness relies on,are both expressed. Yin "s last choice of method: he not only paints the matter itself,he also paints the inner nature of the matter. Here with Yin Qi,the external appearance of matter can be exhibited through its inner texture-Yin Qi’s energy is completely focused on expressing the immanence of matter,the texture of the matter,the elements of matter. How to express the immanence and the texture? Exactly here,the second meaning of Yin Qi’s material concepts can be exhibited. Herein Yin Qi bestows his paints with important significance-perhaps he is the contemporary artist to most profoundly consider his materials-the material objects on his canvas are given texture through their paints and the intrinsic nature of the paints lies in the materialism that they want to express. Here,a special painting technique for painting this transformation of matter is displayed: the objects in the painting are formed of the essential composition of the paints and the space that the objects are in is composed of paints.

　　But the most important issue here is that the paint itself is also a kind of matter,it also has its autonomy. The paint manifests in vibrant and meticulous arches,it is manipulated,warped and bumpy,and is effusively corrugated. Simply stated,the paints have their own world,the paints create a material world,and they create a striking space,they are not merely tools for expression on the canvas.

　　In this way,in Yin Qi’s painting we can see a two-layered material worl, these two independent worlds both cast off significance: one is the material world on canvas (the materialized dog,sea,trees and the landscapes that the trees form,the interiors and the utensils within); the other is the material world formed by paints on canvas (arcs,corrugation and the concave-convex warping). However,within this world of paints is embedded a kind of incongruity: in one respect his interior lies in the material world,it is the texture of the material world on the canvas,creating the inner elements of the material world on the canvas. In another respect it is independent and self-contained,creating its own personal thickness and space. If we say that common painting uses paints as a method for expression,then artists are always choosing materials to "realize"their objects and ideas. If paints exist for the painting’s objects,then for Yin Qi this kind of expressive technique also exists. Actually,Yin Qi’s world of paints is the essential composition of the world on canvas,is the texture of the world on canvas and the world on canvas is composed of the world of paints. However,the complexity in Yin Qi’s painting lies in this contrary expressive technique that expresses inherent co-existence: the world of paints is expressing the world on canvas,conversely,the world on canvas is expressing the world of paints. In this way,the dazzling,materialistic nature of the paints is independent,even to the extent that we are suspicious: do these paintings exist expressly for the paints themselves? Does painting exist to manifest the world of paints? Do paints exist for the purpose of painting? Do they exist to re-construct the material world? We want to say,for Yin Qi,the method of painting simultaneously demonstrates the object of the painting. Conversely speaking,the object of the painting is also demonstrating the method of painting. We could also say that the paints are expressing the world on canvas,and that same world on canvas has been created to demonstrate the ability of painting. These two worlds mutually articulate,play off each other; they reciprocate at playing means and object. That is the intrinsic game of painting. These two worlds, the world of painting and the materialistic world of the paints themselves together they become the objective,on the canvas they become the purpose of the painting,without a doubt,they lead to the complete shutting out of the exterior world. This game between the worlds off and on the canvas reconstructs a new space for painting. We could also say that once the canvas ceases to be about an outward expression,once the mythological significance of the canvas’s inherent space has been destroyed,the canvas can become a profound new space,an expressive technique confined by the canvas becomes a new space expressing its component elements.

　　Yin Qi has thus brought up new questions for painting: how can a painting that does not strive to depict the outer world,that eliminates all outward significance,express its interior? In other words,the flattened significant exterior of a painting,how can it construct a new inward,meaningful space? Meanwhile,Yin Qi is still investigating new painting methods,exploring the spatial problems of painting. In what looks very much like a playful artwork are concealed hints of great originality. He uses pencil to draw on grid notebook paper in these small works: in such a tiny space,inside a space clearly demarcated by lines,he outlines his painting in streaks. This is a painting game,a children‘s game similar to dancing in chains. A tiny space,a tiny image,and tiny brush strokes... Was not painting originally such a little game? We can even see a naive sentiment in painting: not only is it the artist’s own childlike sentiment,but the paintings themselves also reveal a childish sentiment. This is not modern painting,in some sense this is a fetish painting,it is painting completely lacking in systematization,it reveals various painting techniques and it is a return to a previous era in art history. I even want to say,this is the infancy of painting,more accurately speaking: this is the childhood of painting history. There are two meanings to this childhood: the painter himself returned to his childhood, returned to the chapter before those educational art institutions captured him. Painting itself returns to its naive and innocent childhood-this is the painting of a child before art history: painting has undergone a long history of systematization and intense academic rigor. The thing most lacking in irony is,that in this kind of systemic history,one congested with various revolutionary details,art history is the very history of revolution. But,not only is revolution frequently the unique experimentation with ideographic technique, painting is the history of expression and searching for significance. Here Yin Qi attempts to penetrate the haze of various histories of painting,to peel away the complexities of painting and topple the discipline of painting that has been constructed over the previous centuries. Yin Qi seeks to face directly the earliest (original) reality of painting: Is painting a game of paint by numbers? Is painting similar to handwriting (that was the purpose of using the grid notebook)? Is it a game of duality of space? Is it merely a simple game played on paper?

　　Is it not mimicking a childhood game of fancy? Is this or is it not the earliest mind-set of painting-this is an attempt to return to the earliest stages of painting-as it turns out it looks as if the little "significance" of these paintings (Yin Qi uses a few Chinese characters to "explain"their meaning) is the exact opposite of the painting mechanism. Perhaps painting is a kind of experimentation,where we are endlessly tearing at an antiquated institution; we are endlessly constructing our own personal style while at the same time waiting the day when we inevitably become that very same outdated institution. The history of painting is like an anti-institutional and institutionalized ferocious game. Yin Qi,bar none, is following this path,however,he has realized the inexhaustibility of the path,therefore sometimes he wants to slow down in an attempt to see where the origins of the path lie. Then he looks ahead for the next length of road,where might it be?

作者：Wang,Min'an