Creative Scenes About Xiang Liqing’s Work

Scene 1:

Clay figurines are made of numerous mud pies repeating each other, from top to toe. The clay figurines gather together, standing straightforward and ignorant; they are involuntary and unconscious. They imitate the symbiotic structure of creatures, like a lot of symbiotic groups that repeat and replicate life. The cells are connected based on simple principles, abandoning individualism, to create a known, safe group.

Scene 2:

The pottery houses are also closed and stable spaces, connecting each other, resisting and communicating pressure, and presenting the physical structure of occupancy and exclusion. Again, they accumulate and stand in groups, straightforward and ignorant.

Scene 3:

A large quantity of creepers overlap each other, on their feet and hands, in different directions. Creeping is the starting point of action and perception, and is exploration and experiment, facing strange conditions and status at any time. Creeping is to adapt to the environment and to perceive and coordinate mutually. By body movement, individuals perceive circumstances, contact peers, identify their characteristics, explore all kinds of possibilities, and improve their independence. Creeping has never been blind, and there are various ways beyond consistent directions.

Scene 4:

Blades with individualism, the length, shapes and features of which are all different, express their sharpness. The shape and pattern of blades and edges meet different preferences and desires. The blade shapes become a kind of narrative language. An edge is a tool to solve problems, which is the extension of an individual mindset. It can cut connections and carve new shapes. The down-standing edge is the exhibition of strength, and the up-standing edge is the symbol of crazy imagination. Numerous blades formulate a forest, and their common direction forms their flag, which is different from other groups and concepts.

Scene 5:

Different people hold their own flags, flying in the sky, walking on the group, looking for dependence, while their own purposes and attitudes are blank. Flags are a collective will and is a symbol of ideals. Flags need support and protection, while individuals need the cohesiveness and protection of the flag, to obtain a sense of honor and security. When they are unable to mutually function and support, the compelling relationship will result in dissimilation on both sides.

Scene 6:

The strange alien projected by imagination is holding a super-sized flagpole, difficultly, like looking for his own safety and reason. The flagpole unlimitedly expands and extends, ignoring any manipulation or control.

Scene 7:

The person exploring dependence and assistance is holding the wire pole, seemingly obtaining comfort. Individual cannot get out of the group. Only in the group can he find his place, contact peers, and look for various possibilities to improve his independence.

Aside:

As to the graphic image, realistic and emotional scenes are replaced by momentary and simulative images directly working on your mind. The generation and control methods of the image system are no longer simple. And the image is also liberated from real substance. The works directly function on nervous system, the same as medicine functions on biological systems, but it is different from the functionality of language on perception structures. It focuses on individual perception and illustrates the automatic and involuntary part of knowledge from internal views; and it tries to identify the characteristics and independence of individual, as well as extension, to coordinate the relationship between individuals, which mingles between individuals and society, from external views.

Zhang Li

August 2003