Subjects:LinXiaodong, founder,curator of The Other Shore ArtGallery & Institute

　　Liu Yanjun, artist

　　By Pei Gang, Artron.Net

　　Introduction

　　The Rebirth by Liu Yanjun was launched on June 22, 2013 at Green T. House in the 318 International Art Village in Beijing. Inspired by the heritage of traditional culture, Liu created a lively, versatile exhibition that re-introduces the tension between material and spiritual environments, using various materials like salt, rice, millet, ropes, gold, black stone and Buddha’s head. Liu offered a new interpretation of the traditional Chinese aesthetic of “beauty of anachronism” in his work curated by The Other Shore Arts Institute and Gallery.

　　Subject: Lin Xiaodong, founder,curator of The Other Shore Art Gallery & Institute

　　Liu has been thinking about how to present the idea of rebirth since he started working with basalt. What is the right place to display the artwork at? I have always thought that location is everything to artworks. I also have been looking for good locations and I happened to meet Liu of The Green T. House. We had the conversation about the exhibition.

　　It is a white plaza. The color white in architecture represents water. For example the granite in The Forbidden City means water, although that is not a popular thought. To some, it’s very simple. The whole Forbidden City was built to look like it’s floating on the water by using granite. It looks like it’s up in the air. It’s very spiritual. The buildings are very spiritual beings in Chinese culture.

　　It’s the same with The Green T. House. The white building on the white plaza is inspired by architecture of Han Dynasty. It is also very modern because it’s functional, which comes first for the building. It is not completely meant to be like a hallowed hall. We chose this place because it already looks like it’s floating on water. The black stones in this convey a sense of heaviness. They are set on the water. If you look at it at different times--when it’s raining and when it’s not—it will look completely different. That’s what I was talking about, how to present this exhibition. Stones do not perish. They had existed before human beings. When human beings disappear, they would still be here. Liu likes to work with stones because he appreciates the connections between time and space. That is the idea of the exhibition.

　　Standing against the white wall, this work in its form looks like an uncompleted downward stroke in Chinese calligraphy. It is not intended to look like the character “ ”, meaning the center. With that being said, it is only intended as a line that connects the sky and the earth中.That’s why this work is interesting. It touches the sky. It touches the ground. It’s between them. This is one of my favorite works. It’s ingenious. If looked at from a distance, it also looks like a inscribed stele. It looks sometimes dented, sometimes raised and from certain angle it looks like it’s carved in the wall, like someone scraped a line on the wall. The small rocks in front of it separate it from the wall so that it doesn’t appear to be an actual crack on the wall.

　　His other basalt works, compared with this one, are more about the artist’s synesthesia of his work. However I’m more into precision. Works that go through a lot of refinement show marks of the artists’ work process. This work is different. It looks like it’s cut in one chop. Complete and smooth. One cut is all it needed. I think that’s cleverer.

　　We picked this work to be on our invitation and posters for promotion. Why? I think the picture must have been taken after it had been moved here and thus showed its relationship with the building. This type of works isapt to be connected with the architecture. It’s unlike paintings, even though paintings require a proper relation with the inner space of a room. For example the room cannot be full of sofas. That would not be right, right? What makes this very piece more interesting is its relation with the architecture. It’s placed on the staircase so that everyone will see it the second they walk in. It doesn’t cry for attention but one can notice the difference immediately that it’s unique in a way that is made and perfected by nature. That’s what I mean by the relation with the architecture adds to the work itself. They are mutually beneficial. That’s the importance of the relation.

　　My understanding of the ropes bound on the basalt is that the ropes break the form of the piece. The basalt is sharp, almost a dagger shaped. Like I said the sculpture would interact with public space and the people. This place gets a lot of visits. In order not to make people feel the sharpness, the artist used the ropes to break that because ropes are soft. It’s an interaction between abstraction and reality.

　　The interaction between the piece and the architecture is the same. It’s the deciding factor when we curate. The architecture has actual function and the artwork does not. It only speaks to people who have an artsy eye. So does art in general. To people who don’t see the beauty it’s simply an installation that’s there. They, unlike the people who find it interesting, will never know who the artist is. They will only remember that there is a rock in front of the artwork. It secretly plants a seed in people who see it. That’s how it works. Not all venues have such a big space. Some are small. But size is not all. Chinese people say, one perceives greatness from trivialness. This is the interaction between the artwork with human beings.

　　I think this piece is rare and precious. Liu has been thinking about the idea of “the broken” in his work, like a rock from the wilderness. Some will think it’s broken because of human activities but I think it’s “broken” chinaware. The size is rare because it tends to collapse or lose shape when heated in 1300 degrees. The technique is hard. However it still broke. It is not a problem however when looked at in the context of traditional Chinese culture. There is a belief in “the beauty of anachronism”. Mending with staples is an old technique. It has always been a part of porcelain and pottery making. It’s very pretty. It’s very clever and it has transformed into a concept and art language.

　　Here is why Chinese porcelain making is a very clever form of art. Wares are heated at 1300 degrees to maintain the big size, which is clever. If it breaks it doesn’t matter because we can staple-mend it. Back in the days stapling was expensive because the royal family used gold staples. Civilians use copper ones. They don’t rust. Spiritually and culturally, it is a way that people treat their life now. It matters how people look at art and culture. You have to recognize its value. If you do not, then this is simply a broken bowl that needs to go. When you do, it’s a piece of treasure. So it’s about that. People have money now and they would buy a pile of porcelain ware and if they break them they go into trash. It wasn’t so before.

　　Also, to the artwork itself, good porcelain is all it’s about. Stapling is to preserve to artwork. Like stones, when human race disappear from this planet, porcelain will stay. Although they appear to be fragile they are actually as sturdy as rocks. For people who have the eye, every small piece of workis beautiful, be it porcelain or silk piece. Others who don’t will not see the beauty. The beauty of anachronism comes after the recognition. This is a cultural and spiritual recognition of the artwork. It doesn’t have to involve the actual stapling part to give it meaning as an artwork for people to understand what the artist wants to say with this piece.

　　This work of Liu was made in Jingdezhen. His has his eye for porcelains. When he was making this piece, a Buddha was only a symbol. He could make anything. He could be making a Jesus Christ sculpture or anything else. I don’t think it’s about Buddhism, granted he has had influences from Buddhism and likes the religion and has certain experience with it.

　　I think he was not completely making a Buddha. He used the imagery to represent the culture. In Buddhism, Gautama gained nirvana. The fire in the background stands for nirvana and it also represents the fire used to heat the porcelain.

　　These beads on the ground are like the seeds, which is more meaningful in my opinion. Planting the seeds in people’s hearts is important in every culture. We can’t make sure what will be reaped eventually but the seed is the dearest part to every life.

　　I have three children. What I give them is the seeds. I cannot teach them everything. They don’t necessarily agree with my concepts of things. In this case it’s important to give them the seeds. Therefore the beads on the ground are like relics. It’s more crucial to collect the seeds rather than the Buddha because you take the seeds with you wherever you go. Buddha is made from porcelain and will be placed in a pagoda or displayed as an art piece. When you take the seeds with you it brings a spiritual meaning to your life and it’s very pure.

　　Subject: Liu Yanjun, Artist

　　This exhibition is presented in three parts—basalt, porcelain and some oil paintings. I was majored in oil painting. In terms of the venue, there are the indoor and outdoor sections. There are 20 pieces in total.

　　Works displayed outside are mostly basalt sculptures. The material used in this part was discarded in the pit when I saw it. Although the rocks were no longer “desirable”, they are still alive. Basalt is formed from the rapid cooling of basaltic lava hundreds of thousands of years ago. It’s been alive all these centuries. It’s only been sleeping. This type of rocks are lustrous themselves. When we discover that we discover the beauty. My family comes from Shaan’Xi but I’ve always introduced myself as from Sichuan because I moved there when I was three and went to study at Sichuan Fine Arts Institute to study. I lived there for almost twenty years. To Sichuan people, the crackles on rocks and the ground will be interpreted as a sign for natural disaster. The past few years have been very eventful for Sichuan. Although some would feel somewhat terrified when they see rocks but they also are beautiful. We find the luster, the light so we display them in this space. People can be close to them and appreciate the beauty. For Sichuan, disasters can’t defeat its people. As long as we believe in rebirth and rebuild, we will be able to get back on our feet and start our life again.

　　To me, I am fifty years old, an age that Chinese people say is when you are in acceptance of your fate. I’ve grown from a young, wild and overconfident perfectionist to be an eventually calmed person. It’s not always the best to do thing to their fullest. Sometimes imperfection is better. I started to accept incompleteness and brokenness. They turn out to be driving us forward even more. They are a type of beauty too.

　　This piece is on the invites and posters. This work happened completely by chance. It’s serendipity of people and of people and rocks. I was in a discarded rock pit and I spotted piece. As soon as I saw it, I found it visually striking and I just couldn’t help but to bring it with me. I will not lie however that it’s quite a labor working with such materials because they are heavy and high in density. From the mine to the processing site in Inner Mongolia to the studio and eventually the exhibition, it was a good experience for us physically, mentally and spiritually. It made me realize many things I had not before.

　　Ropes on the rock have a few meanings. Hers is how I was going about this. The ropes didn’t come with the piece of stone. Texture wise, the ropes are in contrast with the density, stiffness and color of the stone. But 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. That was my thought.

　　There is actually a theme for works both inside and outside. It’s not as apparent but it is there. A few days ago I wrote an article called The Beauty of Anachronism that discuss my sentiment of the aesthetic through the rocks and ropes. I rarely touch the rocks when I work with them, trying to keep their original appearance to leave as little artificial mark as possible. Thus the rebirth is achieved. If we do not give the stone some spiritual meaning, it will stay useless for another hundreds of thousands of years and it will not reveal its value. Its beauty is hidden. Some people say that artwork is the child of the artist. I think artwork makes the artists better. In that sense artwork is the parent of the artist. We are only there to find them.

　　Staple mending is an old profession for Chinese people. Staple mending is among the traditional 72 guilds. They mend pots, bowls and plates to make a living. Thanks to the development of transportation and production, it got a lot easier to make porcelain. When people broke the porcelain they would try to fix it so that it would look the same, which got in the way of the production. As a result, this skill became less and less known. To mend with staples is merely a fixing technique.

　　I mended an object in my work. I wanted to lead people to think about other problems or social phenomena through my work. For example, my earlier collection Amends was about fixing. Teachers fix our knowledge system. Doctors fix our health issues. Politicians fix war and peace problems. Nowadays especially, there are many things that we cannot understand. Some people seem to have no fear of anything at all. They would produce poisonous rice or milk. As long as it gets them a fortune they would do anything. I think that is because of lack of faith in their hearts so people mend pots, bowls and plates as an alternative. Gaining a healthier body is another form of mending. The most important mending is to mend the lack of belief, something spiritual. Faith mends humanity. I wish to remind people with my work of this problem we need to think about. Our society really needs to realize the importance of faith and belief. That’s why I named my exhibition Rebirth. We all make mistakes. Many of my works are broken or imperfect. None of those are bad. They actually serve as the drive to be better. Therefore many problems of our society today are not irreparable because we are all hoping that they will be fixed so that we can reach a harmonious status.

　　These Buddha’s heads are made of porcelain. The craft is not complicated. However I learned from my research and my friends who heard from porcelain masters working in Jingdezhen, 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 is Buddha’s hand place on “salts”. Materials are only the tool and media to convey our ideas. As long as I can present what I wanted to presents, there is no restriction on materials. When I was in school, there were Chinese brush painting, oil painting, engraving and sculpturing majors. That’s actually confining your ideas with techniques and materials. The biggest breakthrough of modern art is to break out of this confinement of material and technique. All we need to worry about is to present our idea and thoughts, regardless of what materials we use.

　　Most of the framed works are porcelain paintings. There is only one framed oil painting. I was oil painting major and later fell in love with porcelain. It’s pure because it comes out of the extreme heat. After being heated at 1300 degrees in the kiln, it becomes free of impurities and bright. I like the presentation of the material. That’s why I made porcelain paintings. There used to be more oil paintings but not these days.

　　Final Note

　　"Rebirth",Liu Yanjun’s solo exhibition took the form from outside to inside, 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. Hereby, we have the reason to expect more outstanding works from Liu Yanjun.