RESEARCH & CRITICAL REFLECTION
Research and personal critical reflection on media, materials, techniques and academic concepts
CUSTOM AND LAW
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ANCIENT & MODERN
We put in place legal safeguards to make marriage an institution, and we firmly believe marriage is the right thing to do. However, when we jump into the institution of marriage, we are either drawn into a vortex of physical and emotional violence, bound by jealousy, or violently colliding with each other's desire for control.
What awaits us is something far from a healthy married life. It is natural, therefore, for us to expect instinctive and sensual union beyond the system.
1. I interviewed a case in February this year. Two young people living in China together, both working well, gave birth to a child. The child has gone to school but did not get a marriage certificate, did not hold a wedding banquet and did not plan to.
The two sides have the following considerations: First, the rights and interests of children born out of wedlock are increasingly protected, and parents who do not get married will not affect their children's growth; Second, if you don't get married, you don't have to have property relationship between husband and wife, and you don't have to consider a series of troubles of property division in divorce. Third, neither side is willing to intervene in the other's family. For now, the relationship is stable. Of course, this is just one case, but it does reflect some new developments in the institution of marriage in society.
2. In ancient times, the marriage of a man and a woman was legally arranged by the parents, and the parents were responsible for it. If the marriage was illegal, the newlyweds were not punished, but the parents of both sides were punished. Marriage is a very restrictive relationship for women. There are 'seven do go three do not go,' said，the restrition of custom on women.
3. According to the current ancient legal materials, marriage mainly plays the following social functions: for the ordinary people, it is mainly to carry on the family line and give birth, and for the nobility, it is also for the consideration of family marriage. For example, commoner wives who did not give birth after marriage would be divorced in the Western Zhou Dynasty. However, aristocratic wives who did not give birth could not be divorced because most aristocratic wives were from noble families and had a more noble status.
4. A critical trend in the development of modern society is the dissolution of the marriage system which forcibly binds personal and property relations. There are several possible reasons: economic prosperity has increased the ability of young men and women to live independently; The social safety net helps single people with retirement and health care; The development of modern personality.
5. Marriage in modern society is closer to the financial product. In the ancient nomads, women were resources that could be freely distributed to men. The agrarian people would have a sense of chastity. Why? Because the agrarian people were more focused on orderly economic development. The origin of marriage is to protect men's private property, and to stabilise generation to generation, so in ancient times, women having sex outside marriage is not allowed in the world because men are afraid of property outflow to others. In modern society, human rights, sexual liberation, from the legal point of view, the birth of the marriage system is private, and modern human rights are in conflict, so the divorce rate is increasingly high.
It is essential to look at marriage from a historical perspective because our ideas and values are greatly influenced by the long history of cultural development and the social character formed in the present era.
In addition to my research book on ancient Chinese marriage, I still do some overseas field research, which means that Chinese society can be temporarily cut off. We discover and perceive more by temporarily cutting, abandoning and disengaging.
Moreover, it is often more profound when my research is in the developing world. The living conditions of people in developing countries and regions can perfectly show me what we have gained and lost through development. It can make me feel lucky to be born there, but it can also make me feel the narrowness of growing up there.
Watson, Rubie S. Marriage and Inequality In Chinese Society.
E-book, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991, https://hdl.handle.net/2027/heb04216.0001.001. Downloaded on behalf of SOAS, University of London
WHY CALLIGRAPHY？
自然既立，阴阳生焉。
阴阳既生，形势出矣。
Nature was established and Yin and Yang were born.
Yin and Yang were born, and the situation emerged.
Degree of law:
First, I think it is necessary to explain why I consider the direct use of Chinese characters in work before explaining why I use the medium of calligraphy to intervene. I had several ideas about the writing part in the early stages of conception. Firstly, from the perspective of conveying meaning, I have thought about writing English directly. English seemed the most appropriate language to show my work in a gallery in London, England. Then after talking to a couple of artists who study the hybridization of globalized cultures, they asked me the key question that completely influenced my decision, 'Do you think it is more important to read these words or to be in the atmospheric space that you are building? 'I realized that I should put the audience within a reasonable distance of me when researching issues that are culturally strong in their own right. I also realized that when Chinese characters appear in other countries, they can still convey symbolic meaning to some extent. Chinese characters themselves extend from hieroglyphics. To be precise, each Chinese character is a painting.
Moreover, in a broad sense, calligraphy refers to the rules of writing characters. In other words, calligraphy refers to writing following the characteristics of characters and their meanings, with its style, structure and arrangement, so that it becomes a beautiful work of art. In the broad sense of calligraphy, there is no limitation on writing tools, such as hard and soft brushes, pen, ink and paper, and writing characters, such as Korean and English.
The basic principles of broad calligraphy: 1, can be recognized to read (text symbols must have legal degrees to read), 2, can convey information
3, the overall aesthetic feeling. Moreover, the narrow sense of calligraphy, Chinese character brush calligraphy (traditional Chinese calligraphy), also follows the three principles of broad calligraphy: readable, can convey information, and the overall aesthetic feeling.
Basic principles of traditional Chinese calligraphy: 1, brush 2, rice paper (raw, cooked) 3, writing Chinese characters 4, top to bottom, left to proper writing order explanation: The brush is the essential principle because the brush is soft and produces a lot of changes, which is an essential feature of traditional Chinese calligraphy. Rice paper can produce changes in ink colour, and Chinese characters are the carriers of information, not to mention the writing order.
When the brush is neutral, it is a cone that does not distinguish between Yin and Yang. However, the Yin and Yang emerge when the brush touches the paper. If we set the brush on the paper as Yin, its opposite side is Yang; If the outer side of the brush is Yang, then the inner side is Yin. When the brush into the paper, the brush edge Yin and Yang stand out. When writing on paper, the strokes naturally alternate between Yin and Yang, and the lines left behind constantly change shape with the alternations of Yin and Yang.
I am almost fascinated by calligraphy written laws, and this feeling makes me easily connect human nature with law. Human nature, without legal constraints, will derive endless evil. Similarly, the book without legal constraints will go to various extremes.
Just as human nature and law are mutually exclusive, if the law is too strict and bound, human nature will inevitably rebound. Riot and the motivation for social development will be lost. The law is too lax; human nature derives all kinds of evil, resulting in social corruption, the eternal law of the jungle; such a society is unhealthy. Reaching a reasonable balance between human nature and law is the condition for the healthy development of society. The dharma that Chinese people have adhered to in writing since ancient times is also reflected in many other aspects, which is also a reflection of the numerous folk constraints that China maintains.
In past works, the concept of YIN & YANG is involved, which is closely related to both sexes in East Asian culture.
YANG ，10.2020
RESEARCH：
THE COMBINATION OF PERFORMANCE ART AND INSTALLATION
Here are some of my past research on integrated art, and some of the artists who are practicing their art this way. In addition, it includes the means research of some props in the performance art. (When I was in China)
November , 2020
December , 2020
July, 2022 （Re-Edit）
CRITICAL REFLECTION
Describe
In the third Unit and final exhibition, I continued my work under the general title 'Rules: The Marriage Revolution', presenting a constituent installation in the logical context of postcolonial thinking - as described in my previous proposal. The work resembles a solemn and depressing ritual that, through research and creative imagination, places a traditional/ancient form of the scene in the context of evolving modern technology. It raises questions about the legal system's evolution and folk convention rules.
My final installations include new video works and my reuse of sculptures from the first collection in Unit 1. According to the theory of director Zhang Yimou in his film and television works, he compares these objects with symbols of traditional cultural attributes as the dross rules and the epitome of cultural legacy in the new era. By metaphorically using examples of conventional artefacts and connecting them to the context in which the audience grew up, intending to transform the discomfort of marginalisation -- which many of us have experienced in the patriarchal society in which we grew up -- I turn this emotion into a power that gives me, as a male, the ability to approach these gender-specific issues, For example, the relationship between marriage and gender issues.
Feeling
Unit3 went through two exhibitions in July and November. When the works were exhibited in Wilson Road for the first time, I emphasised the test of expression forms. I explored more possibilities for the exhibition in November by arranging many plaster feet in the gallery space. Continuing the research on semiotics in Unit2, I consciously chose many ready-made products to be involved in my works, including old-fashioned scissors, wool balls, etc. I attempted to establish a complete storyline between these cultural symbols and these plaster feet again and make clear the correspondence between signifier and signified in the audience's interpretation. I still remember talking with a German female artist about those paintings in Unit. Fortunately, I met her again at the exhibition of Wilson Road. Fortunately, she recognised my works from this series of visual symbols and established connections with the past. She believes that the expression of the image of plaster feet in a single result is very effective in separating the topic of women, and the different forms and broken states of these plaster feet have relatively precise directivity. The audience can easily put themselves into them. The key here is how best to implement the abstractions of the theme on these objects. When I arrived at the Southwark Park Gallery/Dilston Gallery in November, the form I envisioned after my previous exhibition was revealed in such a distinct exhibition space. In conversations with several curated artists, they affirmed the rationality of the works in such a space, as well as the additional metaphors brought to the works. And with the continuous development of the work so far, the audience has moved away from the instinctive desire to understand the backstory from my words and shifted to recognising these visual symbols and completing their reasoning. When I stand in the centre of the red lantern on both sides and face my performance art image, I feel like I have returned to that specific space, and the current exhibition space has become more complete.
Evaluation
At the Wilson Road Show, people came up to me and asked whether I was an artist who had done a series of paintings of the female body before. I realised that these symbols left a deep memory that would have a lasting and profound impact on the work that followed. As mentioned earlier, more consideration of symbolic instructions and the establishment of more apparent visual logic is emphasised throughout Unit3. I began to reflect on whether abstract language like painting was not suitable for me to express such direct emotions or whether it was easy for the audience to misunderstand and misjudge. In the two exhibitions, I completely subverted the materials and media I used in Unit2, such as the performance art of video recording, which transformed the emotions of an artist into a form of expression of body language, greatly changing the reality that I, as an artist, was still bigger than my works. Because it means that the audience can only interpret the complete work with me, that's what is getting better at the moment. I am also trying to express this logical language more refined.
Analysis
In the past few months, besides the expression form of the work, more attention was paid to the literature research. Based on relevant research theories, such as many concepts put forward in the book The Birth System by Chinese sociologist Fei Xiaotong, even the name of the book 'The Birth System' is worth thinking about. A social system formed around activities involving the union of men and women, the birth of children and the rearing of children. Courtship, sexual desire, sexual love, etc can be achieved without marriage. It is contrary to the instinct to set a set of norms that trap people in marriage and limit sex to couples. So why did this system occur? Because humanity needs continuity. And I recently read Owen D. Aronne's Existentialist Psychotherapy. Many of my views coincide with my recent thoughts on self, death and loneliness. I have met them before. Another book I like is Looking Into the Sun by Aronne, which deals with death anxiety.In his book, Aronne proposed the four ultimate concerns of existential therapy: death, freedom, loneliness and meaninglessness. There is no doubt that death, loneliness and meaninglessness are the fundamental problems of life. The only freedom is puzzling to people. After all, freedom has always been a positive term and is the goal of human pursuit. However, as long as we understand Sartre's 'existence precedes essence' and 'man is judged to be free', it is easier to understand the great responsibility and challenge freedom brings to people. Freedom and responsibility are inseparable. Many psychological problems are caused by escape from freedom, which is systematically elaborated in Fromm's Escape from Freedom. The study of most problems cannot eliminate these ultimate problems, and the study of folklore rules is no exception. Inspired by Aaron's four ultimate concerns, I think the four foremost life problems are death, desire, loneliness and nothingness.
I keep death and loneliness, merge freedom and meaninglessness into nothingness, and add desire. The reasons for the cancellation of independence are: first, freedom is not suitable for common sense as a problem; second is the issue of freedom and responsibility from nothingness. The reason for the cancellation of meaninglessness is that nothingness contains meaninglessness, and meaning involves all ultimate questions. The reasons for the increase in desire are: first, desire is the embodiment of vitality; second, most problems in real life are related to desire. Death and desire are personal problems. Death is the outcome of people and is the root of all fear and anxiety. Desire is the source of life power, is the will to survive and expand. The relationship between death and desire is like that of Yin and Yang Pisces in Tai Chi, where opposites unite and transform. Loneliness and nothingness are human social problems. Loneliness is the absence of the relationship between man and the world, while nothingness is the absence of man's value to the world. Loneliness is the relationship between people, all parts of the soul, and between existence and existence. Nothingness is the curse of self-consciousness, but it also determines man's freedom and is the starting point for man to realise his essence. In a word, all seeming research on a single issue is inextricably linked with many macro problems. In analysing a certain kind of literature, the extended concepts or theoretical branches often bring great inspiration and possibilities to the creation itself.
Conclusion and action plan
In conclusion, I invite my audience to watch, feel and enter this shaped transpassage space where we can think about the division of gender perspectives under all the rules, such as mind/body, death, desire, loneliness, nothingness, and meaning. My work refuses to discuss the history and the current hot issues separately, and I have to go back to the root of all these problems and somehow realise the liberation of the oppressed subject from the one-sided power system. The next phase of my practice involves an in-depth study of existentialism. In addition, I am considering cooperating with experts in image technology. Like my research on many film artists, I have a lot of images and documents to help me look back at Pandora's box of human beings in history, and I will also experimentally create integrated image installations. While studying at Camberwell College of Art, I learned how to use sight and sound to stimulate the audience from the physical experience to the spiritual dimension and get closer to the audience's own experience. In addition to my master's study, I hope that my comprehensive video works in the future can not only achieve results within the limited space but also gain wider dissemination through the means of Internet media. More importantly, the expression power of two-dimensional, three-dimensional works is still accurate.
Pilcher, J. and Whelehan, I. (2004) Fifty key concepts in gender studies. London: SAGE Publications.
Fei xiaotong. (2006) Rural China. Shanghai：Shanghai People's Publishing House
Fei xiaotong.（2018）System of fertility. Beijing：Beijing United Publishing Company
Yan yunxiang.(2017) Changes in Private Life -- Love, Family and Intimate Relationships in a Chinese Village (1949-1999). Shanghai：Shanghai People's Publishing House
Alfred Adler （2016）Inferiority and transcendence. Beijing:Democracy and Construction Publishing House
Bertrand Russell. (2021) Marriage and Morals. Shanghai：Shanghai People's Publishing House
Yan yunxiang. (2017) The Flow of Gifts: Reciprocity principles and Social Networks in a Chinese village. Shanghai：Shanghai People's Publishing House
Hermann Hesse. (2017) Siddhartha. Tianjing People's Publishing House
Zhao yiheng.(2016) Semiotics: Principles and Deduction. Nanjing: Nanjing University Publishing House