From ancient times to the present, whether it is literary and artistic works or daily life, we have never lacked the rich expression of love. Whether we still believe in love or not, we still can't stop countless people from sinking into it and singing its praises. When the 70s, 80s, and 90s generations of artists focus on love, what specific form will it take? Love is inherently hopeless, and through artistic expression will be more intuitive, changeable but not eliminated.
Benjamin Shine
Age: 44
Nationality: British
Representative work: Entwined
A post-70s tulle artist, who studied fashion design at Central Saint Martins College London, the world's number one professional university, the tulle portrait coat in collaboration with Maison Margiela at Paris Fashion Week in 2017 was called by the New York Times as "shining Paris Fashion Week and is the perfect work that stands out at the moment".
Two translucent white ribbons outline the shape of the face, as if the fleeting soul is forming a physical form. These two ribbons pass through each silhouette, winding around branches, bushes and trees, leading guests into the forest, where I used ribbons to form the wedding arch, made of powder-coated steel wire and mesh, 4 meters long and 6 meters wide, built in hundreds of hours, and perhaps used again on important wedding anniversaries later.
Entwined is an art installation set up by British artist Benjamin Shine for his wedding, more than 4 kilometers of white ribbons are all handmade by Benjamin, the ribbons pass through the grass and forest, surround the entire wedding scene, shape the wedding arch deep in the forest, and finally converge into two faces of him and his wife gazing affectionately.
I think a core aspect of creativity is the desire to communicate and facilitate some kind of shared connection. In this sense, I feel that the creative tendency comes from the love we perceive. A large part of art and creativity comes from the free expression of ideas, so any fixed or rigid ethical framework may limit particular artists to use specific methods to create the type of work they expect, but not all artists will follow it. After all, art benefits from the presentation of multiple perspectives. I believe in love, and I think love shows us the best version of ourselves – it's the best teacher and tip for us to reach our fullest potential.
My work comes from a desire to express a sense of ritual and positive energy. Whether it's about harnessing the potential for material forms to create forms, or a more literal interpretation of emotions, it comes from motivation to want to express a positive attitude in some way. In this sense, all my work comes from the inspiration that love brings me.
COSMO X Benjamin Shine Love Six Questions
COSMO: How did you realize that you were in love?
Benjamin Shine: I feel an unusual sense of certainty and fulfillment.
COSMO: Do you think love dissipates over time?
Benjamin Shine: In a way, I think it's going to happen.
COSMO: What do you think scares you the most in love?
Benjamin Shine: I don't think love itself scares me. Although the experience of losing a loved one is bad, it is just a less fortunate experience in life.
COSMO: What do you think is the most valuable part of love?
Benjamin Shine: There is a link of trust with others and a feeling of support.
COSMO: What was the most romantic moment of your life about love?
Benjamin Shine: The moment to propose to my wife.
COSMO: Define the love in your heart in five words.
Benjamin Shine: Family, Creation, Sharing, Self, Happiness.
Photographer Hal
Age: 51 years
Nationality: Japan
Representative work: Flesh Love All
Haruhiko Kawaguchi, a Japanese art photographer nicknamed "Photographer Hal," was born in Tokyo, and a trip to college made him realize his interest in photography before becoming an advertising photographer after graduation. His more familiar industry "stage name" is HAL, taken from the name of the supercomputer HAL 9000 in his favorite sci-fi movie "2001: A Space Odyssey". In the movie, the computer later goes crazy and kills several astronauts in space.
Flesh Love All's background is subject survey. I asked lovers where they would like to take a commemorative photo in their lifetime. One couple chose where they first met, another chose where they frequented, and another chose where they lived. Then I try vacuum-packing these backgrounds to see what makes sense if they are also vacuum-packed. In this series, everything in the framework is packaged. Here, couples and backgrounds are connected, meaning that the vehicle of love is not only between people who love each other, but also outside, in their neighbors and in society outside them. The resulting photographs became a series called Flesh Love All.
Flesh Love All wraps people in love in a plastic bag, "vacuum", Photographer Hal explores through the work Why do we love each other? Do people who love each other want to be closer? Create a form that brings those who love each other closer together.
Until now, most of the shooting locations have been in the subject's home. The first step is to go to the scene and decide on camera position, lens length, etc. Then I would measure everything in the camera frame, draw drawings based on that, and make a bag out of plastic sheeting for each item. On the day of the shoot, I brought the plastic sheeting to the scene, and with the help of several people, packed and took photos.
The project is still ongoing, with 13 images completed so far. The level of perfection increases with each new image being created, but I also like my early work.
COSMO X Photographer Hal Love Six Questions
COSMO: How did you realize that you were in love?
PHOTOGRAPHER HAL: WHEN I FEEL HEARTACHE, WHEN I feel like i can't stop thinking about each other.
COSMO: Do you think love will dissipate over time?
PHOTOGRAPHER HAL: WHEN PASSION FADES, LOVE CAN REACH A DIFFERENT STAGE.
COSMO: What do you think scares you the most in love?
PHOTOGRAPHER HAL: WHEN I THINK OF EACH OTHER OR MYSELF DYING, OR OTHERWISE SEPARATING FROM EACH OTHER.
COSMO: What do you find most satisfying part of love?
PHOTOGRAPHER HAL: I BELIEVE THAT BEING IN LOVE IS THE MOST REWARDING THING IN MY LIFE.
COSMO: What was the most romantic moment of your life about love?
PHOTOGRAPHER HAL: WHEN I FELL IN LOVE WITH MY WIFE.
COSMO: Define the love in your heart in five words.
PHOTOGRAPHER HAL: LOVE, CHARITY, AFFECTION, MATERIALITY, NOSTALGIA.
Liu Shiyuan
Age: 37
Nationality: Chinese
Representative work: "Love Poem"
Born in Beijing in 1985, he graduated from the Department of Digital Media Art of the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 2009 with a bachelor's degree. In 2012, he graduated from the Department of Photography of the School of Visual Arts in New York with a master's degree. He currently lives and works in Beijing and Copenhagen.
"Intimacy" is indeed a topic that often appears in my work. When I first graduated from college, I did two plays, both performed by a man and a woman. The first time was love, and the second time the actor and actress played a person. Until now, if I had actors in my videos, I was more used to using a man and a woman. Because I think that the relationship between two people is actually very complicated. I'm not sure if I have the time or ability in my life to go further and do relationships with 3 or more people, but for now, I still feel like I'm in the practice phase of "two-person relationships."
In 13 languages, 5 screens, and verses describing love in different eras, Liu Shiyuan's "Love Poems", "is a misreading by language translation", as she wants to express. Modern love is mostly a comical misconception.
The work "Love Poem" expresses love that has been translated by language, so what you see more will be a comical misreading. The production process of the work is to select love poems from different countries and different eras, translate them into English, rearrange them, connect them into a new love story, and then translate this lengthy story into 13 different languages, and slowly play it on the screen at the same time. From the earliest ancient Greek love poems to contemporary poetry, we have given everything for love, and we have misunderstood the definition of love for generations, because we are not present, because we are not familiar with the situation, and because of language and cultural limitations. But the wrong interpretation becomes a new reality, so that the love story is constantly changing. After putting all these changes and mistakes together, we will find that it seems that it is only the surroundings that have changed, not love itself. What love is, we still can't tell.
There has not been an ideal intimacy in my work, any relationship is ideal, I will not tempt others, I will not assume, "intimacy" may be relative, there is no standard.
COSMO X Liu Shiyuan Six Questions about Love
COSMO: How did you realize that you were in love?
Liu Shiyuan: Become irrational.
COSMO: Do you think love dissipates over time?
Liu Shiyuan: Yes, and very quickly.
COSMO: What do you find most frightening part of love?
Liu Shiyuan: Waste youth on unworthy people.
COSMO: What do you find most satisfying part of love?
Liu Shiyuan: The person who made you feel unworthy later felt that it was all worthwhile.
COSMO: What was the most romantic moment of your life about love?
Liu Shiyuan: At this moment.
COSMO: Define the love in your heart in five words.
Liu Shiyuan: sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, salty.
Qian Ruya
Age: 35 years old
Nationality: Chinese
Representative work: "Fragile Products"
The new generation of post-80s artists, born in Suzhou, graduated from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and holds a master's degree in fine arts from the San Francisco Art Institute.
Fragile is a project I started in January 2019 and is a work that requires interaction with other people. I made a cloth mask with a soft mirror sewn and put it on to bring someone close to kiss. When they kiss me, they can see their avatars in the mirror, and at the same time they can feel my body temperature and breathing. Intimate relationships between people are always confusing – when you fall in love, are you really in love with each other, or is there a missing object in your love? Or maybe it's just enjoying the chemicals secreted by the brain.
Love and kissing are the themes of Qian Ruya's creation, and Qian Ruya named this artistic creation about love "Fragile Goods". Just as her view of love: believe in the instantaneousness of love, that is, at that moment, you must only love me alone, but do not believe in the eternity of love, that is, you cannot love me alone forever.
The original intention of doing this project is actually because of observing the people and things around me, which made me have the above questions, I feel that many people are more in the intimate relationship, more in the reflection of themselves, so I want to use the visual way to show the observed phenomena.
Well, if you ask me which work I am more satisfied with, now I may be more or less dissatisfied, I always feel that I have some limitations in the form of expression.
Love, if used as a concept, is a psychological process that the vast majority of people will go through. One purpose of artistic creation is to share and communicate, I observed a phenomenon about love, I want to share it with you, that's all. It's just that works on the theme of love may be a little more poignant. The physical structure and psychological structure of people are too complex and difficult for me to understand, very changeable, very unstable, and this instability will make me less believe in eternal love.
COSMO X Qian Ruya Love Six Little Questions
COSMO: How did you realize that you were in love?
Qian Ruya: If you imagine losing this person, you will feel unacceptable.
COSMO: Do you think love will dissipate over time?
Qian Ruya: Yes, the emotional connection between people needs to be managed, otherwise it will all dissipate.
COSMO: What do you find most frightening part of love?
Qian Ruya: Uncertainty, love is too uncertain.
COSMO: What do you find most satisfying part of love?
Qian Ruya: There is someone to accompany you.
COSMO: What was the most romantic moment of your life about love?
Qian Ruya: This question stumped me and I can't think of it.
COSMO: Define the love in your heart in five words.
Qian Ruya: subtle, complex, uncertain, sexual, companionship.
Karman Verdi
Age: 30 years old
Nationality: Russian
Representative work: There are so many ghosts at my spot
Young video artists, photographers and composers from Russia became famous for their "ghost series" during the pandemic.
The full title of this group of works is There are so many ghosts at my spot. Do you know what it feels like when the earth falls under your feet? This series of photos was indeed conceived for the reality of the pandemic, a difficult time, but now the project has acquired a completely different meaning, even more profound.
Karman Verdi, 30 years old with the zodiac sign Libra, is a photographer living in Moscow, Russia, that is, during the epidemic, he published a set of interesting "ghost" stories, using projection to "invite" characters from the virtual world into his life, dinner, bathing, companionship, that is, lonely and intimate. He believes that these works show the multi-layered nature of human relationships, in which everyone can find empathy.
During the pandemic, I didn't sleep well and had complete insomnia. The night was a time of deep reflection, and because I wanted to share my feelings, I came up with the concept. Everyone understands the project in their own way. For some, it's a story of love: for others, the photos tell the story of a long-distance relationship or the tragedy of losing a loved one. Now even though the pandemic is over, I'm still creating it. We live in amazing and difficult times, and society is undergoing transformation, accompanied by various crises and challenges. In moments like these, what people lack is strong relationships.
What makes us human and distinguishes us from primates? It is the feeling of endless love. A lot of times, I wonder why the pandemic has been so tough for people around the world? Because people lack love in their lives, and the pandemic has amplified it, and I want to give love to them. If you look closely at my work, you will understand that my photographs are more than just a superficial understanding of love. Love is a powerful feeling that produces many different emotions, and you need to learn how to really love, love is the most beautiful chaos.
COSMO X Karman Verdi Love Six Questions
COSMO: How did you realize that you were in love?
Karman Verdi: Love is an experience. If you don't have experience with this, how do you know you've cultivated this feeling in yourself? Love is different, but it takes time to grow with you and grow in your heart.
COSMO: Do you think love will dissipate over time?
Karman Verdi: Love changes, transforms, but it doesn't disappear.
COSMO: What do you find most frightening part of love?
Karman Verdi: Over-giving and over-receiving.
COSMO: What do you find most satisfying part of love?
Karman Verdi: I think it's memory, living in the here and now, and will always remember the moment.
COSMO: What was the most romantic moment of your life about love?
Karman Verdi: The first time I met her at the supermarket, it was the beginning of it all, and this encounter changed my life.
COSMO: Define the love in your heart in five words.
Karman Verdi: Spring, music, warmth, tranquility, youth.
Deng Hui
Age: 30 years old
Nationality: Chinese
Representative works: "Intimate Relationship" series
One of the representatives of emerging artists of the post-90s, born in Ruijin City, Jiangxi Province, graduated from Capital Normal University in 2017 with a major in art education (oil painting), and now lives and works in Beijing, China.
Among the series of theme creations of "Intimate Relationship", I am more impressed by "Intimate Kiss" and "Intimate Encounter". The work "Kiss" can be said to be full of my own enthusiasm, created with my own extreme feelings, and it is a work with the meaning of "atonement", because I quarreled with my object, and I realized that it was my mistake. "Encounter" is his own drunken creation, the next day when I woke up and looked at the painting, I couldn't remember who the girl in the painting was, it is very interesting that the relationship between the characters is well expressed, and there are emotions that hit the soul.
Encounter 2018 100x120cm oil on canvas
Deng Hui, a young artist, believes that "love" is a theme that he can never finish painting in his life, and that it is ultimately about the relationship between people, so in the long course of life, it will be produced at different stages and have an impact on people.
The "Intimate Relationship" series of works is a representative work that established my own painting language and painting style, which was born the year I graduated from university, and has been continuously studied and explored during my student years. Establishing your own painting style is too important for people who want to be a painter, so that people can know at a glance that it is Deng Hui's work, and they will not see the shadow of other ancestor artists, which is very difficult, because many painting languages, forms have already existed, and in the end may be based on their own feelings, I think if there is no overlap with other people's artistic creation, then it can only be my own life, so I began to paint the people in my own life.
Kiss 120x120cm 2018 Oil on canvas
Painting the Intimate Relationship series is indeed special, because it often carries the privacy of the painter. Often people will say to me that the man in the painting is like you, you are that person, that girl is your girlfriend, the work evokes the gossip psychology of onlookers hunting and prying, which also indirectly verifies the charm of the work. I have created works on other themes, but it is not as eternal as the theme of love. I strongly agree that love is the eternal theme of human beings, and I have a collector who is almost 60 years old and she told me that she continues to find true love. The topics in love are simply not enough to draw, I have painted many pictures in this series, when I am happy, when I am unhappy, when I meet, when I cry face to face, when I separate, when I kiss, when I am like a stranger... All these scenes and moments that may occur in an intimate relationship can be painted, and they are all resonant that any ordinary person can experience. Franz 100x100cm 2020 Oil on canvas
Franz 100x100cm 2020 Oil on canvas
COSMO X Deng Hui Love Six Questions
COSMO: How did you realize that you were in love?
Deng Hui: When you feel pain in your heart because of her.
COSMO: Do you think love will dissipate over time?
Deng Hui: Yes.
COSMO: What do you find most frightening part of love?
Deng Hui: Deception and betrayal.
COSMO: What do you find most satisfying part of love?
Deng Hui: Care about her more than about herself.
COSMO: What was the most romantic moment of your life about love?
Deng Hui: Standing on the Eiffel Tower in Paris, video call her.
COSMO: Define the love in your heart in five words.
Deng Hui: Romance, companionship, pain, passion, giving.
This article was originally published in the February 2023 issue of Vogue COSMO
Editors: He Zhiyang, Gong Zheyi
Text: Chandler, A-K
Image source: Courtesy of interviewee