Artificial Rock No. 75

Zhan Wang's first inspiration for his Artificial Rock series came from Beijing's changing urban environment. As China's economy blossomed, vast number of modern buildings appeared in the city. However, elements of traditional Chinese constructions, such as tiled roofs and aged facades still ironically exist. Zhan Wang plays on this idea of the ancient complementary and divergent contemporary elements in his sculptures, commenting on the relevance and irrelevance of 'cultural' symbols in today's world through his Artificial Rock series. Traditionally placed in gardens amongst small streams and pavilions since the Song dynasty, Scholar's rocks provided a focus for meditation and contemplation and were guarded by a set of five principal aesthetic criteria - thinness (shou), openness (tou), perforations (lou), wrinkling (zhou) and uniqueness (chou) – which have long been identified for judging scholar's rocks and elements equally embodied in Artificial Rock No. 75 (Lot 177). The artist hammers sheets of stainless steel over a carefully selected limestone in order to replicate its shape. These stainless steel sections are then welded together and polished to a mirrorlike finish. Not only is the production technique sophisticated, the visual presentation of the work is also stunningly innovative. While other artists such as Jeff Koons similarly use stainless steel as the sculptural medium, his work acts as a playful ornament in its environment while Zhan Wang's sculptures aim to become one its surrounding environment, refracting the colours and light as though trying to camouflage itself as part of nature itself. The objective of reproducing a scholar rock was never to imitate the genuine article; by forming an inseparable connection between the subject matter (the real) and the work (the reproduction), the artist attempts to re-establish a new aesthetic order that is characteristically Chinese.