Interview of Chinese artist Yang Fei on his interpretation of the current exhibition and the scholar rock or Taihu Stone as it is called in Mandarin. KWG: What is your pursuit in art? Yang: To me, art is related to everyday life and ordinary behavior, I create art because I simply like art and not because of any advantages and fame that my art can bring me. And my art is made without restrictions, boundaries and I can create my art work freely. To me, art is like travel; it brings me new insights every time I create my work and has a lot of things worth appreciating. KWG: How do you appreciate scholar rocks? And how do scholar rocks affect your art creation? Yang: I used scholar rocks as a medium for my art by coincidence. Last year, I discovered scholar rock (Taihu stone) from Northern region in China and it has a long Chinese tradition relecting the Chinese history and culture. Chinese scholar rocks also known as scholar stones or viewing stones are small natural rocks which are traditionally appreciated by Chinese scholars. They were the pursuit of many scholars in the old days. I appreciate the scholar rock for its forms with many pores on the surface. On the other hand, through Taihu stone, I want to express the disappointment and loneliness of Chinese scholars. My works also tells the decline of Chinese tradition and old culture in modern society. KWG: In the current show ‘Lodge of Tranquility’ in Karin Weber Gallery, what do you think your work can bring to the show? Yang: For this exhibition, my works are mainly in small size. In the past, I used to create works in much bigger scale which are more conceptual. This time however, these works express my feelings towards life in these days. I want to achieve a more relaxed and meaningful lifestyle. KWG: Do you like having the Chinese traditional literati lifestyle in the old days? Yang: I think the Chinese traditional literati living style is quite different from my current lifestyle. Every day I perform different roles in different circumstances. I am a designer when I am creating a new exhibition. I become a carpenter when I am working on scholar rocks to create art. I quite appreciate the concept of chāorán (超然) and chūshì (出世) of Chinese traditional literati, which is not affected and bothered by the worries and happenings in the society and just focus on themselves and their goals. KWG: Do you think the values of the literati are suitable in nowadays and the society? I appreciate their certain values. My principle is that I don’t want to consider so much the political and economic aspects. KWG: What are you plans in the future? And what are you working on? Yang: In the future, I plan to use more different kinds of materials for my art work. For me every material has their distinctive features. However, people used to put theories and ideas to different materials. I would like to discover the relationship of the material and people in order to fully understand human and nature. I would like to create more works through expressing the human nature through and to explore other themes. The creative practice allows me to know more about myself as well.
Posted on: Wed, 10 Dec 2014 09:22:29 +0000
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