Releasing for My Brush and Ink

—the Product Description of “In or Outside the Border”

(Author’s Preface)

 

 

We have had a kind of tiredness and dispute to the way of how to get the definition of “Wash painting” and “Contemporary Wash Painting”. The formal way to unscramble it has misguided many persons that have expectation for the oriental culture. The artistic conception that nebulous verve and refined drawing with thorough splashing reflect the meaningful luxury of the oriental style aesthetics and that conceptual simple expression are easily departed from the live life. While the art keeps the attention on the surface of the affair, we notice that the artistic creation has left from what we were going to resolve far away. Therefore, on the contrast of tawdry and cool fashion facts, wash painting’s unconstrained elegance, long-origined quality and precise and complex system has been suffered from the neglect of contemporary culture… The art of water & ink is  forced to be “the horde” while standing between the tradition and “others”, which is so hard to join in various regular artificial “games” to make development in the system of which the judge principal is westcentrism. Besides, it is lack of the realistic power in the expressing live spot so that the art of water & ink would be easy to become vacuous signifiers, a impotent culture fluctuation less related with live spot or one kind of mode of production that cannot correctly express modern information…

 

The art of water & ink showing as the oriental culture fell in the “Encirclement and Suppression” and “exclusion” from contemporary colonial culture. While Chinese contemporary artists are excitedly enjoying in this, we insist on the water & ink expression as a firm belief and spiritual stand. We stand on out motherland which brings us up. Earth bears the heaven and it can raise the providence by the wisdom. How indomitable! How pioneering! We are so self-confidence for we have the support from our motherland. It will be an eternal watch as well as a disdain of collective heroism. In face of the rush of cynicism, during the period that vulgar artificial marketing replaces artificial judgment standard, bright oriental culture state widens the existing style to a wider and freer area than Chinese painting.

 

We have crossed so much impossibilities and we are fated to be along with oriental culture spirit.

 

There are many strapping traditional classic characters, such as Zhu Da(ba da shan ren), Four Wangs, the Eight Eccentric Painters of Yangzhou, Gong Xian, Shen Zhou, Qiu Ying, Ren Yi and Wu Changshuo… People would not live in the others’ shadow. Traditional style is a barrier the will be exceeded soon. Its inviolable principals have been the limit to the soul before the creation. We should come into the tradition when you want to get rid of it. “Beat in with the powerful strength and beat out with the strongest power.” (from Li Keran.) Rebellion is also a kind of inherit. Though the form has changed constantly in the doubt and denial, the living cultural origin and artificial spirit will be eternal. So, the development would be our final purpose. We put an end to the attitude that do not respect history and sponsor to respect oriental rights to speak put of the classic language situation.

 

The city of Changsha brings us natural and friendly. In this city some behaviors are related with the atmosphere of the city. The ambitious culture of Chu & Han has stimulated the courage and “ambition” of the creation.  The energy in this castle activates our creation space: a young and immensely possible space that leads art back to the society from the “temple”. It would get rid of all the mannered form and concepts and would find its real position in the modern life.

 

Perfect does not fit for this age. Our works are not the same in this describable context, but the experimental spirit consisting on cross-subject shows the basic humanistic spiritual state by the visual focus. One adopts field observation in micronarration to reconditely express the inner anxiety in the real life in the inexplicit light and shadow. The other drasticly deconstructs the style of the traditional landscape and expresses the intensity of the existing space in the structure which try to reconstruct another “landscape” order. These two look after each other and make complementary in the contexts and narration.

 

 Choosing water & ink is like falling love with it, which is a feeling that could not copy or force for love is unconditional so as to make people arrogant or blindness. But our purpose and adherence will be immobile and our standing point is in the orient full of wisdom. So, we feel that our career is full of significance in this era!

 

So is the preface.

 

                                           Zou Jianping & Liu Ming

                                               In Changsha in September 2008