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Lot Essay
It is often said that “art imitates life.” For the latter half the twentieth century production and consumption behavior, driven by global capitalism, has experienced an unprecedented boom. Upon the advent of the technological age, computers and the internet have made reproduction ubiquitous in our society. Equally significant is the massive scale on which Chinese society has been building urban infrastructure since undergoing economic reform in the 1990s. Stainless steel became a fundamental part of industrial production and everyday life. This modern material is immune to rust, with a lustrous, reflective surface that fulfills the visual and psychological desires of the contemporary individual, simultaneously making apparent the rapid dissipation of literati culture in the age of blazing technological advancement. Zhan Wang successfully grasps the concept of reproduction and the properties of stainless steel in his innovative Artificial Rock series. This series revolutionised the aspects of materialilty and spirituality as they relate to traditional ‘artificial’ rock gardens, thus subverting the viewer's conventional understanding of the subject matter; within the context of the contemporary society, Zhan Wang's sculpture urges the viewer to reflect on the meaning of life.
THE IMITATION ROCK AND THE IMITATED ROCK
Since the Classical period, sculpture in the West places emphasis on fidelity to the natural world. This rings especially true for the accurate representation of the human anatomy. In terms of materiality, the identity of stone as a medium is to imitate the subject; through the artist’s sculpting process, the stone is altered to create an illusion for viewers. The sculpted figure, no matter how naturalistic and rich in texture, in reality, it is still but an imitation-the truth of the matter is that it is still a piece of stone. As Michelangelo famously said, he had the vision of the form of an angel in the marble block he was carving, and carved until he set his subject free. On the contrary, a few of Michelangelo’s unfinished works produced during his later years, such as The Awakening Slave, emphasise the natural qualities of the marble. This investigation into the expressive power of the material itself is in line with the contemporary art practice (Fig. 1). Rock, in Chinese culture, is also an agent of imitation. Placed within a garden, it plays the role of the towering peak within its surroundings-a miniature artificial mountain. Zhan Wang pushes this concept even further. Through using sheets of stainless steel to reproduce these artificial mountains, his rocks are twice removed from the genuine mountains which they are modeled upon; the rock is modeled to imitate the mountain, and the artificial mountain in turn is also imitated with stainless steel. The successful production of one of the artist’s artificial rocks results in a sculpture with a reflective, mirror-like finish. It has the ability to take on the ever-changing colours and shapes of its surroundings as if it exists in an entirely objective space. This property enables it to detach itself from the natural materiality of the rock and become an independent entity that is rich in character. Viewers inevitably will have to ponder whether this intricate and animated work, Artificial Rock No. 104 (Lot 66), is an imitation of an artificial rock or is it a stainless steel sculpture that has taken the form of the artificial rock. This is a serious investigation into the issue of authenticity.
THE VANISHING READYMADES
Readymade sculptures are composed of objects that are not fabricated for the purpose of art, but are chosen by the artist. This concept challenges the ideologies of Western academic art and its attempt to severe art from the everyday in order to cater to the taste of the elites and bourgeoisie. In the early part of the 20th century, Duchamp created Fountain (fig. 2), he did not modify the urinal with which the piece is composed physically but altered it conceptually, endowing the object with a new meaning. Zhan Wang's Artificial Rock is a response to Duchamp's idea of the readymade; every stainless steel artificial scholar’s rock was a reproduction of a genuine scholar’s rock counterpart. To create these artificial scholar’s rocks, stainless steel sheets of varying sizes are laid on top of the original rock and planished into shape with a hammer, in a process somewhat parallel to printmaking. These pieces are then welded together, polished, and burnished (this process was awarded a national patent in 2002). Even selecting the original rock as a type of readymade object for the artwork is a tedious process; the rock must possess the aestetic criteria sought after in traditional rock appreciation thinness, openness, perforations, and wrinkling. These factors greatly influence the quality of the work. After the process of reproduction in stainless steel, all traces of the original rock can no longer be found. The stainless steel has been bestowed with the form of the original rock, completely replacing the original readymade. The distinctive identity of the artwork's original medium is thus stolen by the imitation medium. These artificial rock made from stainless steel provoke the viewers to contemplate the readymade beyond its materiality: through the reproduction in stainless steel, the dupliated rock lends its form to the artifical rock, which in turn leaves the original behind, furthermore opening up a boundless re-examiation of tradition versus contemporary society and the natural versus the man-made.
The meaning of replication is not the same for each person. 1993 British Turner Prize winner Rachel Whiteread is renowned for her reproduction castings. She cast the negative space of her studio in London and made it into a towering geometric sculpture. Originally built in the early twentieth century as a chapel, the building was bombed during the World War II. Prior to serving as Whiteread's studio, it was used as a textile factory. All the people that existed and events that occured in this space vanish in its plaster casting – history can only exist as a part of the viewer's imagination (Fig. 3). Closely examining Zhan Wang's Artificial Rock No. 104 , one would take note of the striking contrast between the concave and convex protrusions on its mirror-like surface. The many grotesque peaks and staggering eroded holes on the rock echo the same kind of sensitivite treatment of negative space apparent in Whiteread's work; however, in terms of modeling, Zhan Wang’s work preserves the aesthetics of traditional rock appreciation furthermore highlighting the dynamic nature of his work. Akin to the work of Futurist Umberto Boccioni, Zhan Wang’s sculptures present a primordial force that originates from the inner space and spirals outward manifesting itself upon the work’s surface (Fig. 4).
Song Dynasty literati Mi Fu was obsessed with rocks. One time, he was so ecstatic to see an eccentrically-shaped rock that he kneeled down and worshiped it in earnest (Fig. 5). In the contemporary world where material goods are overabundant, not only does our obsession with objects intensify, the selections of objects in which we can indulge also increase. The lustrous exterior of Zhan Wang's Artificial Scholar Rock dazzles the eyes. Its brilliant mirror-surface reflects the many views of the physical world, it also reflects the endless desires of everyone in the contemporary world.
THE IMITATION ROCK AND THE IMITATED ROCK
Since the Classical period, sculpture in the West places emphasis on fidelity to the natural world. This rings especially true for the accurate representation of the human anatomy. In terms of materiality, the identity of stone as a medium is to imitate the subject; through the artist’s sculpting process, the stone is altered to create an illusion for viewers. The sculpted figure, no matter how naturalistic and rich in texture, in reality, it is still but an imitation-the truth of the matter is that it is still a piece of stone. As Michelangelo famously said, he had the vision of the form of an angel in the marble block he was carving, and carved until he set his subject free. On the contrary, a few of Michelangelo’s unfinished works produced during his later years, such as The Awakening Slave, emphasise the natural qualities of the marble. This investigation into the expressive power of the material itself is in line with the contemporary art practice (Fig. 1). Rock, in Chinese culture, is also an agent of imitation. Placed within a garden, it plays the role of the towering peak within its surroundings-a miniature artificial mountain. Zhan Wang pushes this concept even further. Through using sheets of stainless steel to reproduce these artificial mountains, his rocks are twice removed from the genuine mountains which they are modeled upon; the rock is modeled to imitate the mountain, and the artificial mountain in turn is also imitated with stainless steel. The successful production of one of the artist’s artificial rocks results in a sculpture with a reflective, mirror-like finish. It has the ability to take on the ever-changing colours and shapes of its surroundings as if it exists in an entirely objective space. This property enables it to detach itself from the natural materiality of the rock and become an independent entity that is rich in character. Viewers inevitably will have to ponder whether this intricate and animated work, Artificial Rock No. 104 (Lot 66), is an imitation of an artificial rock or is it a stainless steel sculpture that has taken the form of the artificial rock. This is a serious investigation into the issue of authenticity.
THE VANISHING READYMADES
Readymade sculptures are composed of objects that are not fabricated for the purpose of art, but are chosen by the artist. This concept challenges the ideologies of Western academic art and its attempt to severe art from the everyday in order to cater to the taste of the elites and bourgeoisie. In the early part of the 20th century, Duchamp created Fountain (fig. 2), he did not modify the urinal with which the piece is composed physically but altered it conceptually, endowing the object with a new meaning. Zhan Wang's Artificial Rock is a response to Duchamp's idea of the readymade; every stainless steel artificial scholar’s rock was a reproduction of a genuine scholar’s rock counterpart. To create these artificial scholar’s rocks, stainless steel sheets of varying sizes are laid on top of the original rock and planished into shape with a hammer, in a process somewhat parallel to printmaking. These pieces are then welded together, polished, and burnished (this process was awarded a national patent in 2002). Even selecting the original rock as a type of readymade object for the artwork is a tedious process; the rock must possess the aestetic criteria sought after in traditional rock appreciation thinness, openness, perforations, and wrinkling. These factors greatly influence the quality of the work. After the process of reproduction in stainless steel, all traces of the original rock can no longer be found. The stainless steel has been bestowed with the form of the original rock, completely replacing the original readymade. The distinctive identity of the artwork's original medium is thus stolen by the imitation medium. These artificial rock made from stainless steel provoke the viewers to contemplate the readymade beyond its materiality: through the reproduction in stainless steel, the dupliated rock lends its form to the artifical rock, which in turn leaves the original behind, furthermore opening up a boundless re-examiation of tradition versus contemporary society and the natural versus the man-made.
The meaning of replication is not the same for each person. 1993 British Turner Prize winner Rachel Whiteread is renowned for her reproduction castings. She cast the negative space of her studio in London and made it into a towering geometric sculpture. Originally built in the early twentieth century as a chapel, the building was bombed during the World War II. Prior to serving as Whiteread's studio, it was used as a textile factory. All the people that existed and events that occured in this space vanish in its plaster casting – history can only exist as a part of the viewer's imagination (Fig. 3). Closely examining Zhan Wang's Artificial Rock No. 104 , one would take note of the striking contrast between the concave and convex protrusions on its mirror-like surface. The many grotesque peaks and staggering eroded holes on the rock echo the same kind of sensitivite treatment of negative space apparent in Whiteread's work; however, in terms of modeling, Zhan Wang’s work preserves the aesthetics of traditional rock appreciation furthermore highlighting the dynamic nature of his work. Akin to the work of Futurist Umberto Boccioni, Zhan Wang’s sculptures present a primordial force that originates from the inner space and spirals outward manifesting itself upon the work’s surface (Fig. 4).
Song Dynasty literati Mi Fu was obsessed with rocks. One time, he was so ecstatic to see an eccentrically-shaped rock that he kneeled down and worshiped it in earnest (Fig. 5). In the contemporary world where material goods are overabundant, not only does our obsession with objects intensify, the selections of objects in which we can indulge also increase. The lustrous exterior of Zhan Wang's Artificial Scholar Rock dazzles the eyes. Its brilliant mirror-surface reflects the many views of the physical world, it also reflects the endless desires of everyone in the contemporary world.