The Transformation
By Zhao Li
The development of art history has informed us of the truth that young artists are a vital component of current creation, moreover, they represent the trends of future. In modern and contemporary history, all the transitions of world art, without exception, were closely related to waves of new art thoughts, and made great progress in ideas, methodologies and practices. Art creation has entered a brand new period in the 21st century, with more emphasis on cultural fusion and mutual improvement in the grand background of globalization and informatization, evolving to the complicated and polynary thread with the inspiration of individual independence and cultural diversity. The creation of the new generation is unprecedentedly complicated. Although there is much debate on its value evaluation and tendency, cultural attitude and methodology, it is still generally believed that only by following these ceaselessly advancing power of transformation can we get rid of cultural estrangement and stereotype, so as to courageously face all kinds of possibilties and grasp the opportunity to change the world.
As an imporatant representative of the new generation of artists, Lu Zhengyuan undertakes the dramatically changing fate of Chinese art since the 20th century and holds a creation principle with time spirit and uniqueness in face of endless new situations and problems. The young artist that grows up in the sculpture department of an academy doesn’t care about the speciality of media or intrinsic academic boundary, but highlights the delight of experiment and diversity with more participation. As a result, Lu’s creation is more like an open structure, with the combination of media as well as the mutual tolerance of creation methods. As a result, the order of his works is both intangled and parallel. In recent years, he energetically shuttles among fields of sculpture, installation, painting, behaviorial art and video, and he also consciously blurs their boundaries so as to create various “creation wonders” with the “integration”. Moreover, he actively plans his works in a specific exhibition space or project instead of a private studio, for instance, his works in Shanghai Biennale and Shengzhen Sculpture Biennale in 2012 reveal that the artist is more willing to reflect his thinking path from a perspective of exhbition and interaction with the audience, transforming the self-openness of creation into the public standpoint of interpreting concepts.
Viewed from a more profound level, the variations of Lu’s creation mainly include four aspects:
First, he attempts to construct a history-related illumination with his creation. Actually, how to establish the connection between “the present” and “the past” is very important in face of the various problems in contemporary art, because “the present” is always a fluctuant form, as the future for the past and also the past for the future. Contemporary art is more than anything else. With innovation and breakthrough as its aims, contemporary art has already established the inevitable connection with future, but the objective evaluation of it is often based on the knowledge of the past. Lu believes that once he transforms the evaluation from knowledge into creation resources, contemporary creation can include the particularity of being based on the past but different from it, and also the courage to walk into the future independently. Since 2006, Lu has consciously taken history and tradition as the resource for ideas in his creation, covering the broad horizon of social history and culture and combing the visual cultural traditions of sculpture and painting. For instance, The Psychotic (2006), Ribs (2007), Geometry (2008), Vomiting (2009), Ostriches (2010) reflect his introspective ability in the process of inquiring, doubting, questioning the contemporary significance of sculpture; works such as Lies (2007), Color Wheels (2008), The Skirt (2008), Infinitude (2008), Pouring Paints on the Angled Canvas (2008), Lies (2008), The Rough Sea (2009) and Paints (2009) show the artist’s systematic criticism on painting traditions, involving formal languages like shaping and colors, as well as the conceptual essence of authenticity and painting.
Second, Lu consciously emphasizes the interaction with the real society. Indeed, the real world is always the significant source of art creation, but there are flashy and glamorous appearances and absurd intrinsic nature. People in real life can only feel the presentations of the world or numerous fragile fragments of life, then what is the virtual truth of real life? Lu’s creation attempts to face the question directly, so he starts from individual experience, extending his symbolic conceptual language to heated topics of social culture, and insisting on the individual standpoint and independent value, consciously to be unorthodox with the common social culture. 100 Works in 100 Days (2007) and 84 Works in 84 Days (2010) appear to be time fragments of personal life, but Lu’s taking art as the recording way aims to pursue the essence of the real world. In his eyes, real life is not perfect or even difficult and torturous, but it can be rich and polynary after its disguise is removed.
Third, Lu concerns much about the experimentation and uncertainty of his art creation, which, to a great extent, endows his art with openness. As a methodology to know about the objective world, art, like science, fully reveals human curiosity and exploration of the external world and internal spirit. As a remarkable feature of contemporary art, experimentation is the spiritual inheritance of art and the appeal of the present. In Lu’s opinion, experimentation means it doesn’t simply exist in the process or the result, but also permeates in the creator’s thoughts. Therefore, experimentation is not only the methodology in practice, but the firm support of ideas as well; it not only matters to media, space, communication and presentation, but should be fulfilled in thinking and concept, so as to initiate introversive meditation and extroversive expasion. From Red and Green (2008), Untitled (2008), The Fountain (2009) to The Speech (2012), The Recessive Gravity (2012) and the works on Shanghai Biennale (2012), all these reveal his enduring interest in experimentation, his strong desire and curiosity, and his courage for practice.
Fourth, Lu emphasizes the so-called “natural experience” with the use of ready-made articles. Human and nature are never irreconcilable contraditions, especially in oriental cultural context where human and nature are almost an inseparable integration. Oriental culture values the harmonious spirit between human and nature, and “natural experience” is exactly the integrated experience of the two. The emphasis on “natural experience” of contemporary art, to a great extent, reflects the current desire for returning to plain spirit, and Lu’s concern about “natural experience” conceals the profound recurrence of oriental wisdom. His works of On the Scene (2009), Pillars in the Space (2009) and the installation on the roof in his solo exhibition in White Box Museum of Art have transformed from the western logic of “ready-made articles” to the oriental perception of “natural experience”, and with the respect for techniques, principles and essence, he has already satisfied the purified appeal and desire for perfection of self art.