Back in 2006 during the filming of Seven Intellectuals in Bamboo Forest Part IV, YANG Fudong passed Jiaxiang in Shandong Province, a city well known for its resource of blue stone. The picture of local people and their entire life centering around stone carving touched the artist, who later presented Blue Kylin No.1 in 2008. It is an artpiece composed of three parts: a film running about 20 minutes shows mountains being exploded and stones selected, which marks the very beginning of production of blue stone sculpture; 16 pieces of video played in loop capture the images of people in working process along with daily life in the city; last but not least, the sculptures per se are displayed as well. Left unfinished though, the set of sculptures plays an essential role in the whole piece as readymades carrying the artist's concepts embodied underneath. What is laid in front of us is an abrupt stop of stillborn product. The massive volume it occupies, the ink lines and traces of machining that are deliberately kept, together with the collapsing posture even before a full display of their appearance, render the unique aesthetics held by YANG Fudong, alluding to modern civilisation simultaneously.
The sculptures currently displayed in the exhibition space include:
A kylin (96 × 52 × 116 cm)
A hibernating dragon pillar (855 × 103 × 103 cm)
A Chenglu Plate (129.5 × 129.5 × 67 cm)
A base (202 × 202 × 137 cm)
2 cloud boards (199 × 99 × 25 cm, 176 × 127 × 25 cm)
2 pieces of small gravels (29 × 21 × 25.5 cm, 35 × 20 × 27.5 cm)
8 pieces and about 37 ton in total
Detail pictures:
