The idea to curate “Traces and Temperaments: Contemporary Art Exhibition” started brewing back in 2003. I had a clearer concept around Chinese New Year last year. This exhibition may not have great scope and perhaps fewer people can relate to it, and that is precisely why I thought it even more necessary. The issues it brings up are worth considering and have significance.

　　In the brainstorming process for this exhibition, two main points came across. I discuss them below.

　　First, as an artist, and as a result of my recent work “Fingerprints,” I have constantly had the thought of making “traces” into an art form of visual idea through the application of method. This kind of form is determined by the method of selection. It is important to note that the result of the “traces” is not the sole objective, which also includes the concepts that are brought about through the method and the initiation of new thoughts and new constructive possibilities from within. Furthermore, this art form that is related to “traces” is not the abstract art within inertia, but a metaphysical abstract form. This kind of abstract form is far from the realm of eastern abstract art, as well as what we normally understand as painting and meaning. It can be considered creating an intentional distance between consciousness and painting. Yet, its uniqueness and conceptuality are explicit but nevertheless have an increasingly intimate relationship with indigenous cultural characteristics.

　　Even more importantly is that, nowadays, the presentation of “traces” has already become a meaningful artistic phenomenon in Chinese contemporary art. From the perspective of method, this phenomenon is closely linked to the indigenous Chan (Zen) Buddhist culture. Consequently, this involves constructing abstract visual art that is part of our own Chinese style.

　　Second, some of the art psychology and cultural studies issues that are related to these art forms of metaphysical abstraction have not garnered the attention of Chinese artists and critics. In the course of our exploration, we discovered that the issues that are touched upon in the making of art are in fact important artistic and theoretical issues. I think this kind of exploration will touch upon essential art issues about abstract form from a different angle. These issues will also become of crucial importance in forming stylistically Chinese, metaphysical, non-concrete, and abstract art.

　　Gao Minglu’s “Maximalism” exhibition and Li Xianting’s “Prayer Beads and Brush Strokes” exhibition both address the issue of constructing stylistically Chinese metaphysical art. However, I think it is necessary to highlight the relationship between method and culture in order to achieve a new kind of visual presentation in which the visual must distance itself from the inertia of paintings and the territory of Western abstract art. Only then will it be possible to create uniqueness and explore stylistically Chinese metaphysical art. Here, ideals are not just empty hope; they are the basis for adjudicating an entirely new visual experience.

　　In using “traces” as a new kind of judgment for exploring stylistically Chinese metaphysical art, I discovered that given the functions of the determinedness of method, it was impossible to get away from the inclination of “temperament” (Chinese: qizhi) because temperament is an intrinsic issue. Consequently, we have: traces and temperament.

　　Regarding traces: Here I refer to “traces” in a special sense. “Traces” are a kind of judment that is reached through method. This judgment of “traces” reveals its cultural specificity. While it claims to be non-narrative, it possesses a kind of narrative. This kind of narrative is an evident form of expression. This kind of expression can lead to positive, negative, emptiness, and limit. Perhaps this kind of expression is meaningless. Even so, it is an extremely neutral trace derived from method, and it is also this kind of expression that has annotated a brand new visual understanding and experience.

　　Regarding “temperament”: Here, similarly, “temperament” has a unique meaning. The method we choose to create art and the information conveyed through the traces, speaking in general terms, can be considered to possess an air of Chinese cultural elements. Furthermore, when each artist creates work, they touch upon the relationship between method and culture as well as their own experience and quality.

　　“Temperament” is difficult to explain, yet it is a rich and specific issue. I thought that in our era of mixed cultures, mixing is necessary, and pursuing one’s own cultural uniqueness is crucial. Consequently, our works should possess a unique refinement, and even occupy a realm between the extremes of privileged and pedestrian. I still believe art of the abstract form is the art of art.

　　However, whether the “traces” present moves people relates to the “temperament” of the work. Behind it lies a concept of the self-cultivation of awakening to human life. Because of differences in each artist’s understanding and familiarity with art and culture, the traces and temperament that appear in works differ naturally as well.

　　The reason we had such a beginning is because we understand more and more, regardless of Chinese contemporary and modern painting’s intricate and complex artistic course. Various foreign schools have influenced us, be it Western realism and Impressionism, Soviet realism, or Western modern art. We regretfully witness many Chinese artists who on the one hand, eagerly draw lessons from Western art forms and concepts to pander to realistic political and cultural demands, even as the cultural traits manifest in these works leave people doubtful. On the other hand, some artists go to great lengths to search from within traditional art, initially defending it but eventually making changes in the very foundations of tradition. Surely, these works win over the public and the market, but their creative merit is another matter. In fact, this reflects the fact that Chinese artists have never seriously considered issues of painting itself. Due to this circumstance, I want to attempt to use representative works from these five artists to organize a model exhibition for everyone in the hopes that our colleagues will offer more professional criticism of our works.

　　The traces and creative method expressed in Wang Tiande’s “Digital Series” can be divided into two steps: cigarettes are used in place of brush and ink to make continuous burn marks that form Chinese characters on the first layer of rice paper. Sloppily executed Chinese calligraphy using brush and ink mark second or third layer of rice paper. Afterwards, the layers are stacked, the images that form from their overlapping arrangement exposing the black ink Chinese characters in the bottom layer. At this moment, the traces that appear are the alteration between hidden and apparent. Because Chinese characters have no content reference, the ash and ink characters possess only the meaning of traces. Interestingly, a skillful combination of ink in the method it is created. The “Digital Series” also presents its conceptualism, magnifying its paint qualities and an aesthetic that suits both refined and popular tastes.

　　Liu Xuguang’s “Traces” series uses an extremely rational attitude to choose characters that possess indigenous cultural traits. He uses the character for “predict” (bu) as the work’s symbol to present the image of traces. The method of this work is to borrow the techniques of calligraphy, using a brush dipped in ink and rust to repeatedly write the character for “predict” on sheets of rice paper. The strokes appear carefree, but the characters are painstakingly executed to fill up the pages. The difference between this work and the traces in the Chinese characters in Wang Tiande’s “Digital Series” is that the character for “predict” that fills the surface of the paper is not merely a trace, but also contains a textual meaning. The other unique thing about this work is it excavates a Chinese character to elicit a “material” reaction of traces in visual art, even as it obscures its own painterly quality.

　　Yan Shandui’s “West Lake Impressions” series is created with a mixture of ink and propylene that is used to execute controlled, impromptu calligraphic painting. His paintings are inclined towards the creative concept of Chinese literati paintings, as well as the key elements of abstract painting. He is the only artist out of the five who emphasizes the painting method. In the entire process of painting, he fully uses the sensitive color of white, smearing and overlapping it. Traces of ink and brush appear faintly. The traces that surface in this work are a creative conceptual impression. In actuality, this is a kind of narrative format through the creative realm of painting. Interestingly, traces of thought are reflected in visual traces.

　　The uniqueness of how Zhang Yu’s “Fingerprints” series was created can be found in its complete abandonment of habits of or related to brush painting. Zhang Yu uses fingerprints colored in either black or red ink. The prints are carelessly imprinted over and over on rice paper, resulting in the unpredictable traces of fingerprints. The actions of the fingerprints convey the concept of “Fingerprints” as well as turn the method of “Fingerprints” into a Chan Buddhist-like practice of individual will. Through the method of fingerprinting, the element of historical space and limitlessness is highlighted; it brings forth the limitless changes and objective responses of traces. The significance of “Fingerprints” does not rely on preconceived norms. In fact, it dispels the possibility of a design realized through painting while mixing indigenous cultural aspects present within greater culture. Its most significant difference is that the traces made by manual labor are not the sole expressive motive, for the motion of fingerprinting itself is an expression.

　　Liang Quan juxtaposes rationality and irrationality for his “Poetry and Lyrics” series in a delightful exploration. Similar to Zhang Yu’s “Fingerprints,” he also incorporates the concept of “self-cultivation” in his art. Each day, in a self-cultivating manner, he refined scraps of paper. First, he made primal scribbles onto the scraps of paper using different colored ink. Then, he used a hybrid Eastern-Western modern visual experience and individual aesthetic experience to rationally arrange their position and space. In this process of self-cultivation he grasps and controls the images of traces that are formed by their mutual relationship. Its cultural uniqueness appears in the self-cultivation-like process of manual labor.

　　It is with great pleasure that I am here with you today, in the midst of today’s intense market surges and social transformations to discuss some specifically artistic issues.

　　As an artist, I can only expound in simple terms some of my more superficial understandings of issues. However, these are my ideas, as well as those of several of us artists. We hope to cast a light on some important art issues for the public!

March 26, 2007 Beijing

作者：张羽