"Smoke and rain are connected in our culture because they are invisible but tangible. The unknown of the kiln fire is endless, the fire is covered, the smoke is good and the glaze is turned into another color, but it is like splashing ink, thick and light. Ancient ceramic books depict the flaws of porcelain burning in this way, and just reading words produces a total fascination. Try it! It is nothing more than another round of grinding, unknown fearless, and this night does not know the geometry. ------------------
Biography
Li Le (who used the pen name Le Ziyan until 2021) is a Master of Arts in Multimedia at the Shanghai Theater Academy. Since 2010, he has been creating ceramics independently, and his works have been exhibited in the "Calendar" series of works in two Shanghai International Art Festivals, and his works have been included in the book "Food and Utensils", and in 2017, he was invited to the exhibition of Chinese and Japanese ceramic artists. In 2020, the "Shibi Pine Wind" series was released through the Beijing Tea House Space. Through the transformation of pottery into the thinking of "creation", devoting himself to the study and experience of the earth, the works are simple and elegant, with a unique texture, showing the thinking and practice of aesthetics.
Until 2020, Li Le worked as a ceramic artist in Jingdezhen for a long time. Last year, she left her studio in Jingdezhen and returned to Shanghai to concentrate on making pottery in the attic of her home.
Kafka said, "Whoever maintains the ability to discover beauty will not grow old." For Li Le, it has been almost ten years since he explored pottery, and finally began to try some utensils while firing the craft, she said in an interview with this magazine that in the next two or three years, she will plan more attempts in tea making, explore and expand the various possibilities involved in the tea environment, including teapots, tea tabletop tea utensils, and even want to try art deco pottery in the tea room.
01/ Explore the relationship between fire and earth
All along, Li Le has consciously tried to use Chinese elements to construct his own pottery creation language. "Mountain Smoke Geometry" and "Stone Wall Pine Wind" are all images raised from classical Chinese literature. "The design is deeply influenced by Japan, and we all grew up with the design concepts of masters such as Kazuko Tanaka. These are so appealing to us that it makes people understand what design is. But gradually you will realize that they are ultimately self-contained in order to get out of our system, and if we follow along the way, we are detached from ourselves. ”
One side of the mountain smoke
Li Le believes that the aesthetics of life in China are also waking up. In Japan, housewives can be said to be the leading group in the use of household utensils, so the foundation of Japanese daily utensils is extensive and solid, and the housewife who knows how to maintain the utensils reassures the craftsmen. However, Chinese cultural environment is different, China is more of a literati irrigation and leading the aesthetics of life, more emphasis on the spiritual gentleman's style, and more distant than daily use.
She said that unlike other art disciplines, pottery is inspired by feedback from the furnace flame, and humans did not initially conceive of a pottery, but inadvertently observed the amazing changes that the flame brought to the earth, and then used it and even created it. It can be said that without firing, there is no pottery.
Tea table - flying stones on the water
In recent years, Li Le has also been continuously experimenting with flame burning, although most of them have failed, but occasionally get some new inspiration, and this surprise is the source of inspiration. Understanding clay through his own experience, continuing to try different clay materials, reducing his dependence on existing aesthetics, and then transforming and digesting them into utensils are the basis of Li Le's creation. "Of course, it is not for the sake of change, in general, it will still unify the system." What does not change is the learning from nature, the learning from life, the knowledge of tea, and the observation of the relationship between utensils and the environment. ”
For Li Le, this year is about the tenth year of making pottery, from familiar with mud to make utensils, the distance is far more time than imagined, last year tried the space installation structure, this year on the basis of structural modeling more around the tea utensils, pottery groping at the same time, gradually synchronous exploration of the use of utensils, the experimental and practical considerations.
02/ Learn from life Learn from nature
In his spare time, Li Le likes to observe the leaves of plants. Collecting fallen leaves and photographing fallen leaves is also a hobby of hers. Li Le told us that in addition to making pottery, he also practiced flower arrangement and tea drinking. She said that in recent years, it has been more about drinking tea. I will make a pot of tea in the morning and make a simple record of my experience.
On the other hand, Li Le will create around making pottery, use his own utensils, and then adjust them through the use of observations. Since last year, she has consciously accumulated experiments with different teas to understand the characteristics of tea in different production areas in more detail, while reading some related books, visiting friends' tea room spaces, and communicating more about the use of utensils than in previous years.
"There are many types of tea, and we still need to try and understand more." About the choice of tea utensils when drinking tea. Li Le likes to use tea utensils made of unglazed black pottery to brew black tea or Pu'er; in addition, to brew oolong tea, he uses light-glazed pottery tire pots, which can purely cultivate a more gentle and beautiful color of utensils. Porcelain and glass materials with fine texture are more suitable for brewing fresh leaf green tea than pottery. But to sum up, Li Le believes that the process of making tea is very personal, it varies from person to person, and choosing your own personal favorite tea utensils is a good start for establishing experience and feelings.
The maintenance of daily tea utensils, in Li Le's view, is also quite exquisite. Pottery because of a certain degree of water absorption, compared to dense porcelain need more attention to details, such as use before use to use water rinse, weaken adsorption, after use to timely with sack drying, ventilation drying, occasionally filled with rice porridge for caulking maintenance, long-term storage also need to be taken out in a timely manner to dry. But it is also the soothing nature of the clay that brings a unique beauty of simplicity and peace to the pottery.
"My favorite Japanese potter is Kuroda Yasuaki, whose almost enlightened white utensils, without a trace of distractions, are both everyday and lofty." Li Le introduced that he chose pottery, many times because of the process of making pottery, you can give yourself a lot of spiritual feedback. She said that the work is a process of reaching the self. The user also observes and thinks about himself through the association with the artifact. For the creator and the user of the utensils, it is the same, it is the process of accepting nature and reflecting on oneself, which is the intrinsic quality of ceramics, and it is also the knowledge of the qualities mentioned in Chinese culture.
03/ Simple rate of ideal and aesthetic thinking
Ceramics, for Li Le, is not only a lesson, but also an ideal of simplicity. Putting yourself between fire and earth is a sufficient condition to jump out of thinking, turn gracefully, let the senses focus on the texture of the earth, the mud embryo in front of you is capturing and expounding the power of time, perhaps a dense geometric arrangement, or a quiet tea table, this simple rate, is the owner left the last afterglow of the soil, the sluggish sunlight with a sip of tea.
"The tea table is what I like to try, although the teapot or lid bowl is the main tool for making tea, but the process of removing the tea table and placing it is not interesting." In Li Le's view, one side of the tea table is the world for one's own side. Observing the choice of different people for the tea table, there is often more personality in the difference. There are clean and delicate, elegant quality, there are mountain stones, high cleanliness and solemnity.
Li Le believes that because the tea table temperament has a strong interactive relationship with the surrounding environment, sometimes we can't judge whether a tea table can be integrated with your environment, but you want to try, then this tea table will begin to guide you to re-observe your own tea making process and environment. "I love the process, it's more fun than making a slightly challenging way to make an artifact that fits the usual use." Well! All this is as Chernyshevsky said in Life and Aesthetics: "Anything that we see there should be such a life as we understand it is beautiful." ”
In the interview, we paid attention to the flower utensils created by Li Le. Compared with daily tea utensils, the creative freedom of flower utensils is wide and infinite, which is Li Le's bolder and more flexible thinking. In the aesthetics of flower arrangement, her choice is Shigu, and she does not need to break through for the sake of breakthrough.
"The withering glory of flowers has remained unchanged throughout the ages, and our relationship with natural flowers is consistent with that of the ancient literati, borrowing scenery to enter the room and borrowing mountains and Mingzhi." If I can try to break through, my landing point is in the dialogue between people and flowers and space, not for the sake of modeling, all because the contemporary environment is different from the ancient times. ”
Li Le, who came from a design background, draws on the way of architectural composition and the changes in the contemporary environment, and considers the contrasting conflict through hard lines and flower materials, so that the natural lines of flowers are highlighted. Li Le believes that the creative part of the flower ware is more from the contemporary environment to find inspiration, as long as it fits the modern space environment and evokes feelings, the aesthetic is continued.
04/ Pottery Tiancheng feels the expression of glaze
Li Le believes that China is very successful in porcelain art, the aesthetic system is complete and plump, and the pottery is naïve, because it has entered the stage of porcelain art relatively early, so the stoneware is increasingly forgotten in life, and the blankness characteristics similar to ink painting are also ignored.
"I chose to start pottery creation, precisely because the pottery itself has a jumping nature, it is not easy to be bound by the established aesthetic, so rejoice in entering this category, enjoy the infinite possibilities of creation, fully explore, constantly experiment, including the function of the instrument in daily use, including the aesthetic expansion possibility, this is my direction."
During the whole exchange process, what made us feel particularly deeply was that Li Le mentioned the "glazed expression". She said the qualities of a piece of pottery come from clay, glaze, and firing. It was the combination of the three that made a piece of pottery look, not the color of the surface, so when trying the glaze, she did not choose the color glaze, but only used a single white glaze, but also focused on different glazing methods. Dipping, brushing, dipping, pouring, spraying, different glazing methods, so that the glaze can be used in different ways with mud and fire.
"The thin glaze will reveal mud tires, thick and tactile, because of the subtle changes produced by the integration of the inside and outside, rather than just as a surface decoration or vitrification function." Modern porcelain is mostly sprayed with high pressure, and a mixture of glaze is added to the glaze, making the glaze close to perfection, and the surface of the car, the beauty is beautiful, but it will lose its personality because of the single. ”
Taking the glazing method of "dipping" as an example, Li Le said: "In the process of dipping the glaze, I can feel the feeling of the brush dipped in ink or washing the cloth in water, the moment the mud is removed from the glaze water, I can perceive the beauty of the soaking action, the gentle tolerance of the waterfall, and the pottery is also like that when it is finally fired, the glaze has traces of change, the thin place is slightly revealing the color of the tire soil, and the thick place is slightly drummed and flowing. ”
Pottery Tiancheng, this is Li Le's feelings about the glaze, this naturally generated personality, called the "expression" of the glaze is very accurate. We noticed that Li Le once released the "Shibi Songfeng" series of works in the space of Beijing tea master Li Shuyun, which uses different mud and adds particles to produce different artistic effects.
Li Le said that the "Stone Wall Pine Wind" series can be said to be a typical representative of the "Glazed Expression" series. The clay material has many variations throughout the pottery process, drying and shrinking; stretching and softening at high temperatures. If different muds are mixed, or even particles are added to the mud, the tension of these materials changes, which will bring rich results, of course, even bring about explosion. This is not a commercial production idea, and ceramic production in factory production should be avoided, avoiding large shrinkage differences and adopting smooth processes such as uniform mud. But I want to expand the possibilities through trial and error. Ask questions of the "impossible" and look for possibilities from being rejected.
Stone wall pine wind
"When we see the beauty of porcelain today, in fact, many of them have been denied, such as the opening of Ru porcelain is also brought about by the difference in the shrinkage of mud glaze, and the predecessors are constantly trying and making mistakes to discover beauty." If we want to make beauty have vitality, we should try and make mistakes, and stick to the established beauty, which is not the task of the creator. ”
Li Le believes that compared with the characteristics of Gong pen painting, stone pottery has the general blankness of ink painting. In China's aesthetic system, it has always paid great attention to the sayings of "useless", "blank", and "leaky and thin". The mottled stone walls and the artistic conception of the pine wind, these two words summarize the freedom of the great beauty of heaven and earth. So her "Stone Wall Pine Wind" series was created in this line of thinking.
"Although the finished product is low, there is a lot of cracking, and even the exhibition period was postponed for two months to be presented, I am also grateful to Mr. Li Shuyun for his rich experience in the field of utensils." In her view, the current China, has a rich choice of goods, after enrichment can stop, think about the more generalized beauty outside the function, which is the basis for the recovery of the aesthetics of utensils, of course, the establishment and learning of life itself, but also need a process. We must have the consciousness of making life more beautiful, and only then will we take the initiative to change the environment and take the initiative to add nutrients to the soil of our own lives. Chinese tea is a true aesthetic medium, and we all believe that tea will make China's present and future, and re-develop the beauty of Life that belongs to China's new Bogu Tongjin.
05/Li Le and her one-issue one instrument
Little Rock Spring
The moon wheel is in the spring
The water shakes and looks like "Yang", and the spring eyes are soaked in small stones, reflecting the moon shadow, borrowing femininity from Ouyang Xiu's drunken poem to explain the type of small pot. Daily brewing tea, one person two people pour their own drinks, teapot tea cup is smaller, time can be calmly stretched out a little! This time, Li Le tried to make a smaller pot, and the gap between the sketches was obtained by the square into the circle, restored in the mud, with a little 'rather than round' strength.
The pottery is interesting, between water and fire, with water at one end and fire at the other. Water molds its shape, fire molds its nature, and the middle is endless. Xiaoxing mountain smoke, far thick and near light. The clay glaze to be dyed in the kiln can correspond to the fire, and there are thousands of ancient times. In the preparation stage, I want to burn as much as possible, about 28 hours between the kiln ignition and the cooling of the kiln, and the successive firing processes are successive, wearing the stars and wearing the moon, sleeping and eating from time to time. Scratch the timeline on paper, step by step, delivery is progress.
Blue field smoke and rain
There is no rain on the mountain road, and the empty green is wet
Lantian Smoke and Rain is another small pot corresponding to Li Le and "Xiaoshi Yangquan". "There is no rain on the mountain road, and the empty green wet clothes." She said that from the summer of 2019, she began to try the rigid and soft shape correspondingly, two pots, 'Xiaoshi Yangquan' borrowed the stream to flow softly, and then on a tough blue field smoke rain.
In Li Le's view, pottery advocates tolerance, into the fire is to absorb the color of fire for the face, the gentle soil through the fire to turn the clouds and sleeves, out of the kiln is already a quiet and tough look. And Chinese culture pursues the integration of artistic conception, there are paintings in poetry, there are poems in paintings, from the "Dongpo Inscription" volume "Shu Ma Jie Lantian Smoke and Rain Map", Dongpo said, Wang Wei This smoke and rain map is poetry! A poem in the mountains "Jingxi white stone out, cold red leaves are thin; the mountain road originally has no rain, empty green wet people's clothes", beautiful ...
Heartless Springs
The white cloud spring on the Tianping Mountain, the cloud from the heartless water idle
The kiln heats up, the water evaporates until it disappears, the mud gradually shrinks and shrinks, which is the strength, and the mud material follows the type and relaxes and sinks, which is the force of release. Slowness and slowness need to be balanced against each other. In ancient times, depending on the number of running types of utensils, to determine the advantages and disadvantages, the pulling billet and the master of the billet did their best, the mud was thin but not scattered, and only the tightest part of the middle of the mud was left into the kiln. The skilled master then relies on the kiln to change, and finally the full lines of maturity are ripe. This technique has been exquisite since ancient times, there is no doubt about it. However, the running type of equipment still exists for many years. Running type of equipment, to be favored by Miaosheng, after opening the kiln, with joy into the people's homes, not in the advantages and disadvantages of the truth, in the heartless, the gods do not rush to self-determination, holding a crooked cup, but also quite calm people, and another situation.
A white glazed tea urn with a stoneware
Coats cover the shoulders
Bring a big bucket hat
There are quite oblique winds and drizzles that do not need to be returned
Chivalrous is another happy version of the Immortals. Hermits have both literature and martial arts, and they have the way of interpretation, and those who dare to fish alone in the snow of the cold river are not strong enough to be able to do so. Among the oriental costumes, the most indifferent and chivalrous is the grass coat, hidden in the virtual silhouette. However, the momentum is manifested in the sky, but the snow, fog, wind and rain fall in the sky, and the more dangerous it is, the more unique it is.
Friends want to come to drink tea, the tea leaves are taken out in advance and roasted, and then put into the tea silo and wait. Waiting is the presence of small tea silos. The way we wait with our state of mind is our existence. Exquisite hospitality, visitors Mumei. Neglectful hospitality, how to come, how to friends, can be compared with it.
Mountain Flower Sanskrit
Paint the boat to listen to the rain sleep, and the mountain flowers lead to the sound of Sanskrit
When the peach petals fell, some grass seeds were sprinkled to meet the rain before the Qingming Dynasty, and the new green broke through the soil. Camellias are still blooming, big red flowers and ochre browns full of flowers. Some tender buds have sprouted from the old vines. Spitting plants, year after year. Even if the ancient temple of the monks stands in the middle of a dense forest and deep mountain, it can still be gentle and calm. This is Li Le's footnote in the creative process. In her opinion, "painting the boat to listen to the rain sleep" is more due to Wei Zhuang's meticulous thoughts, in the sound of rain, separating the world to bring a boat of purity, the same is true for flower arrangement. Mountain flowers lead to the sound of Brahma, and a corner of time and space bloom with flowers. It is a handwriting for it.
Source: Tea Ceremony Media