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Miao Xiaochun, January 2015


Neither Dead Nor Alive

Since the invention of photography, painting has been sentenced to death again and again. However, this was never put into effect. Instead, it became a life imprisonment, and its death was postponed to some future time. Yet it managed to break its imprisonment over and over again, exactly with the help of the widespread media that seemed to replace painting.

The model to capture, produce and consume the new type images highlights precisely the rareness and preciousness of paintings, even of those who don’t seem to be distinguished or profound. The more the new media spread out, the rarer the original media. A thing as valued in proportion to its rarity has found its best example.

Painting has got rid of the burden of precise depiction and interpretation. Compared
to my video works, I do not intend to express too many things in my paintings. Paintings are just paintings. We can focus on forms, lines and colors and enjoy them. It is by using them intentionally that the interpretation of paintings can make sense. Otherwise we won't need paintings as we have so many other choices.

Hundreds years ago when we had not photography, movie, TV and internet, people
had patience, time and interest to read stories, plots, and spirits out of paintings. Today we don't need them, nor do we want them. Doing so is even seen as depreciation of paintings. They will be dry as well as pure, purified so not alive any more.

Maybe the appreciation of art depends more and more on painting experiences or
knowledge of art history. They nevertheless are only small portion of the majority. So paintings will not be popular, and need not to be. It goes on living evenly, neither dead nor alive. It is the best statues. Who knows one art medium that lives as long as painting? Its longevity is the assurance of masterpieces.

Computer Fauvism

Occasionally I was very interested in color channels of the software which aims to
distinguish the various models and give them different colors. They are colorful, wild, very
Fauvism taste as Matisse's paper cut, but much more complicated, much more accurate and have context. This accurate but wild figures and colors fascinated me very much, so I painted a series of such paintings with the aid of cutting plotter and lettering paper. I enjoyed paint on the canvas which the colors are calculated by the computer in a second. I call this "Computer Fauvism."

Each individual and every stone in the painting “Fall” which was the first painting in 2010
are all just a different color, which is a marking method to distinguish the different objects in the process of computer production. It's just an appearance, but I only want to describe the appearance.

I started painting the “The Triumph of Death” since 2011. Actually it is the carnival of color.
The colorful dense skeleton and skull which makes me dazzled is the real motive that I drew this painting, while the death theme in Bruegel painting has already been forgotten. In order to emphasize this, I set three characters in the scene of “The Triumph of Death” — director double as photographer, sound engineer and log keeper. I want to turn the original scene into an artificial, fake and unreal scene and fade the original theme.

Shooting a film actually is a manufacture process. At the beginning, I painted a warm colored version of "The Triumph of Death", and then I turned the color into a cold tone and
painted again. It’s doesn’t matter that whether it was a repetitive theme or repetitive picture, I just want to draw those colors. They’re two 3 meters x 4 meters paintings. After two years, I had a new feeling on this picture, so I drew 64 pieces of1 meter x 1 meter paintings and compose an 8 meters x 8 meters large acrylic painting. I smeared with those bright colors slowly and my arms felt numb and can’t raise up, then, I generally have my understanding about death. Death will always come, we should readily accept it and make it very beautiful rather than fear or escape it, so this is also somewhat valuable.

Vector lines

Since 2010, I’ve been thinking how to use vector lines. Vector line is the basis of my
painting. Vector lines can be engraved on the lettering paper through cutting plotter, and then it can be transferred on the canvas through lettering paper. Vector line can be used to define the boundaries of figures, colors and the border between bright and dark which can form different types and styles of painting. It can form a very tough figure edge line, and the pigment have a certain thickness higher than the canvas plane, so it’s very easy to paint at this area. So from 2010 to 2015, I’ve always been exploring about how to paint with vector lines. Initially, I drew a number of sketches on canvas named “absolute Drawing” by using vector lines. I was very fascinated when I rendered the vector lines of "Samsara". It’s very difficult to imagine those dense lattice lines before the computer software calculate out. We drew something we saw, someone we imaged or the figures we designed but what I’m drawing now is the result of computer thinking which I will never thinking in this way. This series is a nearly worshipful prostration to the ability of thinking of computers.

Unique Plural

"Public Enemy" was originally drawn into a 4 meters x 4 meters oil painting. I painted with
several assistants for a long time, probably took me four or five months. It was exhibited at the China Pavilion, 2013 Venice Biennale. At that time, the painting was lightened with a projector that strictly limited the scope of illumination so that there are a lot of viewers thought it was a video, but the picture is frozen. All the other works (next to is the "Disillusion" and the "Out of Nothing", the opposite is the "Limitless") I displayed in this region were video works maybe the another reason for being misconceived. Using a projector instead of ordinary light to illuminate was to avoid affecting the video works arounds. After the exhibition, this piece of work was collected by How Art Museum, but now, I am still thinking if there is a more concise way to show.

Thus, back from Venice, I tried to divide the picture into two parts--- bright and dark, and 
reintroduce the vector lines which, accordingly, are just related to bright and dark parts. I painted the dark part first, and then paint the bright part to brighten the whole painting. In this case, the painting production became so easy that I can even draw an acrylic painting (4 meters x 4 meters) all by myself. What’s more, I simply drew it into an 8 meters x 8 meters size, like a mural. In 2015, I also drew a 2 meters x 2 meters painting for ARARIO Gallery. For the vector line can be enlarged or reduced non-destructively, I can zoom in and out on the painting with it. When the same picture was drawn into different sizes, at first glance, they are similar, but actually they are quite different. In spite of the same overall layout and the color relationship, when one square centimeter area turns into one square meter area, the original one, where needed single brush to fill the color before, we now needs more brushes to fill. Therefore, the feelings to the painting will be changed.

Sometimes, I think it’s hard to define this type of painting. Is it an a unique painting? Or
is it something similar likes prints which can be copied? Or, more precisely, is it a painting, but between alone paintings and prints?

It has a digital master, that means the vector line, so in some sense, it can be identified
as printmaking. But in conventional sense, it is not real printmaking, because in the traditional sense the size of the prints should be consistent, while my paintings are variable and can not be complete copied. Every brush of my painting is different. The way and process of painting also differs with the size of each works. Hence, each painting is a unique one, it is between unique and plural, or it is the unique plural.

Repeatedly

In all Cezanne’s life, he painted lots of “Mont Sainte-Victoire’, and at different times, these
paintings differed from each other. Under the same subject, however, the painting skills shifted clearly in each works. I don’t know which careful viewers can observe those subtle differences. My favorite "Mont Sainte-Victoire" is the one which was created in 1885~1887, and now, is a permanent collection at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. The reason why Cezanne kept painting "Mont Sainte-Victoire" is to explore the language of painting itself, thus, only those who truly know about the painting language, especially Cezanne’s unique painting language, can enjoy his “Mont Sainte-Victoire’ which painted anything but mountains and actually just made the best of the color, size and lines. If doing something in some certain way, the same or similar results always came out, which will indicate a formation of a new method, a controllable process and a predictable result.

Therefore, from 2013, I have been redrawing those paintings which was first drawn in
2011,or 2012, because I believe that there will be something new to be explored further. As keeping painting, some amazing things finally appeared. I was so excited at that moment, cause all I want to see is nothing but the new findings, for that, I drew over and over. This process takes time and is also hard to be predicted. It happens in a casual way. The only thing need to do is try to keep it, or it can be easily ignored and fleeting because of my current prejudice.

Easel Fresco

In nowadays, the huge spatial scale of art museum is suitable for murals but it will be
awkward for painting. However, art museum isn’t a church or temple but mostly like a
performance stage for lots of artists. As we all know, it is a little pity that those murals would be white-washed after the exhibition , since the murals are painted directly on the wall. We can also make large-scale inkjet and paste them everywhere like wallpapers, it's convenient but slightly cheap. Although it’s more laboriously when I use easel paintings’ method to paint murals, the most consolation for this method is easy to transport, and it could be exhibited several times and saved for a long time. Then, I tried this method on some of my paintings.

In 2014, I painted an 8 meters x 8 meters of "Public Enemy" for the solo exhibition at
Whitebox. Then, I painted the same size of "The Triumph of Death" for the solo exhibition at ARARIO Gallery Shanghai. The space in ARARIO Gallery Shanghai is not too big which is the smallest among the ARARIO exhibition spaces. So I want to let my painting full of the room because the height is less than 8 meters even added the up and down two floors, upper half is on the second floor and the lower half is on the first floor.

Sometimes I wonder, I might be a mural painter in the previous life, if not, why I won’t be
satisfied until I draw a large painting? In the past, when I took a photograph, I always tended to make the pictures as big as mural painting so that the viewers could see all the details clearly. The obvious reason why I love drawing big size paintings is that the current way of my composition determines. Specifically, this way is more easily to be controlled in large paintings than small one. For example, in the initial computer stage, those vital factors such as composition, formation and color can be under an alright control. Due to the early regulation, in the painting stage, artists can let their creativity go wild without any concern.

Value and Price

The ancient painting preserved in the museum does not need to reflect their value through
the price. Looking through art history, the price never exactly reflects the value of a piece of painting work. While, only the work which wants to realize its value in a short time needs to emphasize its price repeatedly. However, the price which was stressed again and again builds up a kind of illusion: ignorant people need it, wise people need it, and the owners of the works deceive themselves and fantasize through it.

In order to add the value of a piece of art work, the artists try their best and put into all
their emotion, energy and even their lives. However, what they finally get is just possibility not certainty, because the ruler to measure value is in the viewers’ eyes and hearts. The viewers, whatever their gender, whatever their age, regardless of wealth, once get rid of all the camouflages, their naked hearts will finally meet. At that moment, the price is meaningless.

Picasso’s New Media

In the age of Picasso, some kind of new media appeared, for instance, photography and
movie. Picasso accidentally utilized photography to create some experimental works. While he focused on paintings and sculptures most of the time. What makes other feel admirable is that he made these media, painting and sculpture, reach a height as good as the works made from any kind of new media, photography or movie. As well as, they all became immortal works, and that is why he is great. Meanwhile, the principles which he summarized during the process of painting and sculpture come back to influence these new media, such as the application of cubism in photography. In detail, his collage photo, or Hockey’s collage photo.

The usage of the new media can produce lots of new things, but the key is to make use of
it in order to reach a certain height and intensity. To create work through the traditional media, it also need to get a certain height and intensity. In this way, problems can become easy, because every kind of media will become an old one from new. To some media, it will take tens of thousands of years, thousands of years or hundreds of years, while to some others, it might only need several decades or a few years.

Two Fists & Four Hands

In 1997’s Kassel Documenta, as a student of Kassel Academy of Fine Arts, I was deeply
moved by the two animated works of William Kentridge. The rough and vivid charcoal sketch drawn by him really shocked me. Accompanied with music of the Renaissance, I couldn’t take my eyes off the works. After the Documenta, I was pondering over the way I could create the animation with. At that time, I was still unsure which ways and means I would use, but certainly not the freehand way.

I went back to my country in 1999 and worked as a teacher at the Central Academy of Fine Arts studio, meanwhile I began using Apple computers to work. It was then that photography was quickly transferred from film to digital era. The intervention of computers and the use of large-scale laser printing machine enabled me to make photography like murals, which obsessed me quite a long time.

In 2004, I became interested in 3D software, this was objectively attributed to the addition
of “Media Arts” direction in photography major, once called "Photography and Digital Media". I was amazed at the modeling ability of the three-dimension software, for it can greatly expand my possibilities, and I might even say that fists are changed into four hands. At this time, I seriously considered the possibility to use it as artistic medium.

The first attempt was "Terror", “Jump" and other large photographs. I tried to add in objects made by 3D software such as giant bubbles, transparent leaping human body. But after several works, I stopped. Because I realized that, in a realistic environment, embedding an artificial virtual object is more or less weird, so I separated the two things completely. Photography is photography, while virtual is virtual. In that case, with the use of 3D computer software only, an artwork "The Last Judgment in Cyberspace" was created.

In 2005, I rented an apartment of more than one hundred square meters at Wangjing
New Town. At the very beginning, I just had one assistant, then two or three assistants came to work with me. We just used ordinary home computers to displace more than four hundred characters of Michelangelo’s fresco to my 3D model. According to my photos and plaster turning models. the model was finished by a young teacher teaching at the Central Academy of Fine Arts. He took a long time modeling back and forth, and in the case that the 3D-models were not completely finished, I already started to use them in my work because I couldn’t wait to try as soon as new ideas came out.

It took me a year to finish the process of 3D-modeling, long and dull but exciting. Every day we were challenging the limits of those home computers, even now, I’m surprised that we could make scenes of such a scale with those so simple 786 computers. Of course, I divided the scenes and spliced them one by one, as I did in photography. I made five images of different angles of view, plus a seven minutes animation. Dubbing was completed at the dubbing room of PLA Art Institute. Four foreign teachers and students were invited from Beijing Foreign Studies University to read questions and answers written by myself. From 7 P.M. we worked into the wee hours of the morning and accomplished the task at a stretch.

Once it was finished, I was excited to show my work to a lot of people, because I suddenly had the feeling that I had four hands, not only with the aid of hardware and software, but also with the help of assistants’ hand. We can learn from the history of art that ancient ancestors might just stick some colors with their hands, and painted a figure or animal figures on the walls of a cave. Later the birth of each tool will bring something new to the art. Such as burnt charcoal, another example of the invention is the fine brush which makes fine characterization possible.

Using 3D software, I can create a world not too big but rich enough. In this world, I feel both the great of creation and the tiny of human capacity. Compared with all things in the universe, an artificial world, especially a virtual world is really too trivial. Even so, I feel excited and happy about this microcosm I created. By copying the same 3D model, I can get hundreds of virtual characters. Under different lighting and environment, they appear to have each a different look and expression. In the backdrop of music, they even have some emotions. They can accept instruction, available on demand, listen to disposal, don’t need to worry about their paycheck and basic necessities, news gossip. They are always there. The scene has been built, and always exists virtually, no need to be removed. Lights can be added or removed, the lens can be freely slided and rotated, they can dive and don’t need any rocker and rails. They are virtual cameras and video cameras. Lens focal length can be freely switched from ultra-wide angle to super-telephoto, regardless of the cost of equipment. Fineness of the video can also be rendered according to the need.

The exhibition "The Last Judgment in Cyberspace" also brought unexpected success, which made it possible for me to purchase better hardwares and have better assistants to help me. At that time, the studio moved to Guofeng Beijing, in a duplex filled with computers up and down, then I started the creation of "H2O" and "Microcosm" series. Since then my work has been inseparable from computers and assistants, it’s been more than ten years. The use of computer makes me both excited and breathless. Hardwares and softwares are constantly updated, digital files keep piling up, I don’t know whether I drive the computer, or the computer drives me. I worked as if I whirled round and round -- spinning like a top. Unless the studio stopped because of an overload trip, or I stopped because I got sick, I seemed to become very capable and very imaginative, like taking illegal drugs which made me have extraordinary play, and computer and software are my stimulants. It seems that they should never appear in the artistic creation which had been always dominated by handmade, but I thought, from then on, their use would be increasingly presented as a normality.

From 2007, I had a strong interest in potential effect of software on painting. I first simulated a variety of painting effects in the computer, such as the digital oil paintings "The New School of Athens", "Parnassus" and so on. Digital ink painting series: "Beijing Handscroll" and "Microcosm" have the effect of simulated ink. The work appears to be hand-painted, but it was made entirely in the computer and no ingredient was added by hand to the final printout works.

Cutting plotter was introduced from 2010. It carves the vector files on lettering paper which is stuck to the canvas, as an auxiliary way. In this way, you can put the modeling task in the early stage 3D modeling, and with the help of lettering paper you can hand-draw on the canvas. Modeling task has been greatly simplified, then, painting has an unique sense of order, with relaxed brushwork, clear and sharp edge of images.

When using computer and software, I have a feeling that I’m cooperating with another mind and two other hands. I’m understanding its arithmetic logic, and it is catering to my imagination. It can complete the work that my hands cannot, at the same time my hands’ flexibility is what it cannot match. When these four hands are combined with each other, a new style is created. It fascinates me, and I deeply believe in its unique power. I will to spend all my time and make all my effort to have this new style and power gradually revealed.