2022 Annual Archive of Chinese Contemporary Art | The echo of ideas
Wang Jianwei
汪建伟 - CHINESE CONTEMPORARY ART ANNUAL FILES
◎ Artist Wang Jianwei
Courtesy of Tang Contemporary Art
◎ Emerge No.1
Mixed media: stainless steel, wood, nitro paint
200（L）cm×100（W ）cm×140（H ）cm
2021
Written before Wang Jianwei's solo exhibition "Emergence" in the Tang Dynasty
——Flattening artistic response to climate change
Text - Lu Xinghua (Philosopher, Curator)
What does an artist need to do to combat climate change? How can he embody this response in his daily application? He should consciously express his personal concern for climate change in his work, of course. Should his methodology aim to stimulate further public discussion about the consequences of climate change? Of course.
◎ Emerge No.2
Mixed media: stainless steel, wood, nitro paint
160（L）cm×135（W）cm×90（H）cm
2020
But what else?
In the midst of climate change, how should he first find for himself the built-in midpoint in the universe (his own local in planetary space) in order to find a refuge for his contemporaries and himself in the storms of the Anthropocene? How should he encourage his contemporaries to produce new sensibility and new aesthetics on the Anthropocene and cloud computing platforms to appease and heal humanity in himself and fulfill his contemporary artistic commitments?
◎ Emerge No.9
Oil on canvas
250cm×187cm
2022
To this end, artist Wang Jianwei has pushed his 40 years of painting practice into the great symbolic uncertainty brought about by climate change, taking the initiative to make his painting technique accept the test from outside the frame to the greatest extent, and taking the initiative to explore the deep time, space and geological history. He was forced to stand alone in the Anthropocene sky, like a scientist, a philosopher, and an artist. Paleontology, atmospheric science, geology, landscape science, speculative realism, painting methodology, image production procedures, time, space, concepts, toolboxes, park fire protection, art work rhythms, epidemic accidents, demolition rumors, etc., are all flattened into the same plane.
◎ Emergence: No.16
Oil on canvas
188cm×250cm
2022
◎ Emergence: No.13
Oil on canvas
130cm×160cm
2021
By flattening, we mean that the whole does not monolithize all its parts. In the flat state, the characteristics of the whole do not transcend the parts, but are inherent in each part, for example, every part of the city can also be equal to the city, and the city is a characteristic of each part of it. Man is equal at every point to the innumerable organisms that make up him. The mitochondria in each of his cells are equal to him, and the notological plane of a cell is equal to the notological plane of man.
◎ Emerge No.11
Oil on canvas
200cm×150cm
2022
A group of flattening paintings and sculptures by Wang Jianwei, which will be exhibited at Tang Gallery Beijing, will feature the theme of "Emergence". Emergence: When the whole is flattened to the same level as its parts, then interacts to produce something completely new. The content of the picture is also thought to emerge in this way. Wang Jianwei deals with his artistic objects speculatively, and through his flattening strategy, he forces the audience to think about their own state in the biosphere when they look at each other and other species and objects, so as to train their ethical resilience and composure in the face of the storms of the Anthropocene, even when their status is humiliating and equal to other species or objects. This flattened ethical resilience will be a lifebuoy for humanity in the face of climate change.
◎ Emerge No.12
Oil on canvas
150cm×115cm
2022
Wang Jianwei's flattening works are deeply influenced by the speculative realism and object-oriented ontology of the American philosopher Graham Harman, whom he has studied for nearly a decade. The flat ontology that dominates his picture is also seen by the philosopher Bruno Latour as the basic practical logic of the Anthropocene network of actors: not only human beings, but all non-human objects, even symbols, tools, fictional characters, are equal actors, and their respective importance is determined in real time by the weight of the new members who will join the network. This flat ontology helps us understand humanity's place in climate change. It is concretely understood by Wang Jianwei's recent solo exhibition "Walking in the Mud" at MadeIn Gallery that human beings can understand their fate in deep historical and geological time through the methodological data package of painting and sculpture, so as to then speculate and play their destiny into a more open world game. As always, Wang Jianwei's exhibition will be both a laboratory, a classroom, and a theater.
◎ Emerge No.6
Mixed media cast aluminium nitro paint
125（L）cm×55（W）cm× 50（H）cm
2022
Flattenist painting or sculpture is a kind of painting or sculpture that is not human, not spiritual, not emotional, and not born of the history of the individual's mind. In the view of the flattenist ontology, it is the mind that makes nature, the state, the military, the art institutions, the national economy possible, and it is the curiosity of the mind that gives rise to society, and everything else. However, the mind is also always too gullible and always mistakes its object. For example, the mind does not even know what the sea is, does not know the composition or structure of the sea, and does not know the main events that have encountered the sea, so it assembles and lyrically towards the sea. Painting, which is based on the artist's personal spiritual history, is such nonsensical assembly and lyricism. Paintings and sculptures are meant to help us correct this inevitable misconception of our minds. Wang Jianwei's flattening methodology wants to stop this lyricism, but also to cut off his own spiritual history, and prevent it from continuing to obsess with art history and natural history. In turn, the flattenist methodology also strictly prescribes these new works of Wang Jianwei, and at the same time, it will also prescribe the behavior of the audience's mind, so that they can better understand their own fate in the face of climate change and have the courage to dance with climate change through watching these flattenist works.
◎Exhibition view
The ultimate goal of the flattening methodology is to make the interaction between objects who are flat on the picture finally emerge on the screen. In the same way, under the skies of the human world, the earth-shattering struggle that we will embark on on the artificial earth is also expected to encounter such an emergence: the emergence of new nature and humanity.
－End－
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Title: Grayscale · 2022 Annual Archive of Chinese Contemporary Art
Producer: Comic Art Institute
Publisher: Shanghai Joint Publishing House
Binding: hardcover|458 pages
Size: 889mmx1194mm 1/12
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