WHY LEAVES? SEWN LEAVES?
I've collected these leaves from all over London, and although they're all of the same species, it's clear that if I were to compare each leaf individually, there would be huge differences in colour, size, texture and so on. If it is not through the influence of a very strong external force, such as wind, such as the river, such as my intervention, otherwise these slightly different and similar leaves because of the geographical separation seems to have no intersection. I hope that leaves will eventually reflect human society, so I use these cotton threads to simulate the powerful force -- the network. People are more connected by the force of technology from individual to group, which is why I sew leaves. I turned these cotton threads into a huge net that interweaves together these individual leaves that didn't belong to a space, forming a larger plane, but obviously, this huge plane has become more fragile. I attempt to metaphorize the relationship between these new technologies and the characteristics of individuals and groups, as well as uncertainty in the future society. In some areas, technology even brings individuals into a set of algorithms, so that individual traits are increasingly blurred. All future ideas seem to be in question, and it is not clear what kind of double-edged sword this is.
In the process of collecting natural materials
LEIBNIZ AND THE LEAVES: BEYOND IDENTITY
Angels, humans, the leaves on a tree; is each one unique or just an example of its kind? Peter Pesic explains why Leibniz thought even leaves are individuals.
Peter Pesic 2000
Peter Pesic’s book Identity: Physics, Philosophy and Literature was published by MIT Press
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz said that no two leaves in the world are the same, and we seem to be an unrepeatable accident of the world, unique and unrepeatable. Obviously, I think it's hard to not compare the leaves to the person to map the entire society, but it seems that into a description of the theory, some disagree is produced because it seems like a boost, tell people anything happen in different individuals have different reasons, because different personality traits, leading to different results. This is reasonable and should be accepted philosophically.
On the other hand, if science confirms that there really are no two identical leaves, then another question becomes contradictory. How many leaves would you remember from a leafy tree? If you're a normal person, if you haven't marked it, objectively you might not be able to pinpoint the leaf you looked at yesterday. If you're smart, you'll realize that the way to remember a leaf is to remember where it is, not how it differs from other, other leaves. I asked, but aren't they different? Because they don't look so different. Is it because even if they're different, it doesn't mean that much to me?
Am I any different from anyone else? Probably just looks different. But if there is no connection to the object, difference seems to be meaningless.
reference：
1.Elizabeth Grosz and E. A. Grosz. (2011)Becoming Undone : Darwinian Reflections on Life, Politics, and Art. Duke University Press
2.Rick Dolphijn and Iris van der Tuin.(2012)New Materialism: Interviews & Cartographies. Open Humanities Press
ANDY GOLDSWORTHY
The leaf in this artwork is shown in a circle as if to represent the continuous cycle of life and decay that occurs in nature. Moreover, I saw what seemed to be a black hole at the centre of the circle, creating a window into the future. Andy Goldsworthy has stated that his aim is to go beyond the superficiality of materials and gain an understanding of the processes that make up the environment. This is the concept I continue to pursue in my works. I also use some organic materials to express many issues about the future and technology. I think the superficial nature of materials may be natural or traditional, but they do not affect the expression of the future. After he finishes this work, they continue their natural process, including growth, change, decay, life and death. The leaves in my work will also go through this process, implying the renewal and iteration of society.
Disclaimer notice.
the images below on this page are not my own, they have all been accessed online.
Andy Goldsworthy & Richard Long
Andy Goldsworthy, Rowan Leaves and Hole. 1987
Materials: Photograph 76 x 74.5 cm
ALLAN KAPROW
Rearrangeable Panels，1957-1959
The work is currently on display at the Pompidou Centre in Paris, France, and is photographed by Laura Porter
This 1957 work represents a shift from the art object to the surrounding environment. Each time Rearrangeable Panels was exhibited, the curator or artist would be forced to make choices about how to configure the panels, foreshadowing Kaprow's use of audience participation.
I feel the integrity of these different panels. The panels made of leaves become a whole, and the panels made of wood are also a whole. When individuals with slight differences gather to form a larger group, the characteristics of individuality are greatly weakened in the work, and the differences gradually disappear. This is my focus and reference point.
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Material：wood, mirror, paint, oak leaves, aluminum, textile, bitumen, electric lamps - Musée National d'art Moderne Centre Pompidou, Paris
'ARTE POVERA'
Mario Merz (1925 - 2003)
A major figure in the Arte Povera movement, the Italian artist Mario Merz (1925 - 2003) combined a fascination with the material and metaphorical qualities of natural objects with ideas regarding infinity and repetition.
(Arte Povera literally means "art of poverty," but the word poor here refers to the movement's signature explorations, as artists began to explore the use of unconventional materials and unconventional methods of work, in addition to traditional canvas frames, bronze, or large marble carvings, The artists turned to materials such as dirt, rags and twigs, resulting in a series of works.
Arte Povera's ideas include a return to simplicity and rejection of complex symbols, the idea that bodies and actions are art and that every day has meaning, an anti-art system, art equals life, and an exploration of the relationship between space and expression so on.)
Reference at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/a/arte-povera
LINGOTTO, 1968
1968, Brush-wood, beeswax and steel, 2620 x 3130 x 1140 mm
Giuseppe Penone
Reference at：https://gagosian.com/artists/giuseppe-penone/
From 27 January to 15 April 2017
Since the beginning of his career in the late 1960s, as a proponent of the Arte Povera movement, he has employed and juxtaposed materials both ancient and modern, “raw” and manufactured—including bronze, leather, wood, stone, and acacia thorns.
GIUSEPPE PENONE, EQUIVALENZE
GAGOSIAN, ROME
When I look at Giuseppe Penone's work, what I can feel is his belief that we become like rocks, like leaves, because we are constantly shaping the environment, and we are being shaped by it.
WHAT EXACTLY IS THE METAVERSE?
2021 is the first year of the Metasomes, or, let's be honest, the year of the metasomes.
Earlier this year, Soul proposed a "social meta-universe"; In March, Metaverse's first share, Roblox, went public; In August, Bytedance acquired VR company Pico; In October, Facebook announced it was changing its name to Meta, catapulting the Metaverse directly into the public eye; A few days later on December 27, Baidu will also launch the meta-universe product "Xirang" and hold the AI developer conference in it.
I have to say, since the emergence of the term 'Metaverse', people from all walks of life have different opinions on it. Some say it is the future of mankind, some say it is the trap of capital, but for most people, the feeling is probably still -- what does the 'Metaverse' mean? How did I get brought into the first year?
Metaverse, the name full of science fiction, is a combination of "Meta", which means transcendence, and "Verse", which means universe. Virtual reality, digital space and parallel world can all be a face of Metaverse, and we have seen the form of Metaverse in many science fiction novels, animation and TV works. For example, the immersive game experience in Sword God Domain and Ready Player One, The Thirteenth Floor, the intimate relationship between human and AI in Her...
Ready Player One / The Thirteenth Floor / Her
Aside from the fantasy element, what is the 'metaverse', which has become one of the primary targets for the development of various countries and enterprises? We can get a better sense of what this means, according to an article on Xinhuanet by Shenyang, professor and doctoral director of Tsinghua University's School of Journalism and executive director of Tsinghua University's New Media Research Center:
The decoding metaverse | 'all over the world talk about the universe, how important is it?'
Shenyang
As Professor Shenyang put it, the meta-universe is an "idea and concept", a "new type of virtual and real Internet application and social form" that integrates technologies including VR and AR, BRAIN-computer interface, digital twin, artificial intelligence, blockchain, big data and so on.
In the "2020-2021 Meta-universe Development Research Report" released by the New Media Research Center of the School of Journalism and Communication of Tsinghua University, the "yes and no" of the meta-universe is more fully explained:
REFLECTION ON CREATIVE PROCESS
1.Description
Reflecting on the whole process of UNIT1, I think there is a great degree of freedom. Most of the artists I paid attention to reflect on their research plans during this process and entered a state of re-exploration. This is a large installation, or a ready-made installation that is 95% found objects (leaves, sewing, twigs, plush, ironing board, mirror) in the two-day studio exhibition on December 12-13. I expect my material to have a story of its own, and I believe these collections have that ability. My work attempts to discuss the differences between individuals in society and individuals in groups. According to the analysis of relevant material, everyone has a place in the seamless structure of society. Human personality is its "complete concept", and each person reflects the process of the whole universe in his own unique way and holds his own personality traits. What are the phenomena of weakening individual characteristics due to the extension of group attributes or technological attributes in the current society? I think it's all worth exploring and thinking about.
2.Feedback
In the process of making the whole installation and in several conversations with the audience, I heard some people regard the space as a whole ceremony, each part is closely connected, a whole whole, or a collection of many whole parts. Others focused their attention on each different leaf, where different colours and textures were woven together by the dense stitching of cotton thread. More than one viewer wanted to give me advice, like, "Aren't you going to sort these different colours of leaves together, is it going to look more uniform?" I am very grateful to the audience in this sentence to give me the prompt word - combination and unity. Because when I'm outside collecting these fallen leaves, I see a green leaf here, a red leaf there, and a yellow leaf behind me... After I packed them all into my storage bag, the hundreds of leaves squeezed together, and the colour differences seemed to fade away, leaving only one thing in common: the dying leaves.
3.Evaluation
So when I look back on this creative experience, I think it's quite coincidental. After all, this creation was greatly influenced by the audience, and the order of thinking was somewhat reversed. As a result, some thinking angles were completely supported by my imagination and inference, rather than based on sufficient theoretical research. In addition, the use of a large number of ready-made products does extend the story of the work to some extent, but it also disperses the overall concept of the work. Each component seems to be easy to arouse the imagination of the audience, and the correlation between each other is weakened.
4.Analysis
However, after this creation, I also re-examined a lot of previous work in the direction of environmental art. I found that with the deepening of the research, my treatment of environmental issues and my personal artistic concept changed a lot. In the beginning, I started from environmental pollution under human behaviour, and then focused on the problem of excessive consumption in the context of consumerism, and then extended to the concept of planned obsolescence and elimination. In the whole process, I reflect on the past five or six years, I've done about the content of business visual design, including product advertising, packaging design, poster, brand visual identification and so on, is ultimately I continue to raise additional value for these products and brands to so as to produce greater economic benefit, and in accordance with market rules. Obviously, this goes against the environmental context and the core appeal of consumerism to some extent. I realized it was not enough to convince myself to continue in this direction. In the whole process, many words brought fresh ideas to me, such as characteristic/individuality/convergence/parallel world etc. Combined with the ideas of combination and unity raised by the audience, I thought it was necessary to return these words to people themselves and to discuss the current and near-future problems of society. At the same time, the links to several research interests involved in Reference will also have a certain guiding effect on my subsequent creation.
5.Conclusion & Action planning
All in all, during the process of Unit1, I have clarified my research methods and strengthened the connection between myself and artist research. In the Unit1 project, I used a lot of collectibles and ready-made products, so I didn't rely too much on studio equipment. I think the problem here is that too much emphasis on idealism may affect the visual expression of the work itself, or it may seem insincere. Therefore, I thought it was necessary to return to the studio with some traditional materials. With the help of some mature technologies, the whole work can have a more professional visual language of sculpture, which seems to be more convincing and resonant with the conceptual intention of the work.