DECEMBER 2020 Contemporary Commonality
Contemporary Commonality, 2020
12/17/2020
The series of paintings, Contemporary Commonality, is my expression of representative images of the old generation (the 80s, 90s, and even the older generation when the technology was not developed as now) versus the younger generation.
I recall in the period of my 3-months quarantining, the only way for me to communicate and get connected with friends and family is through network and social media. As technology getting more advanced, as well as imagining how the world has become so different comparing to 15 years ago, I start realizing how technology has unimaginable great impacts on us.
During the quarantine, I watched a dialogue between Chen Danqing and reporters on questions about contemporary youth and “Sketch test leads art to a dead end!” The biggest problem contemporary youth has is that our personalities are affected by the internet, and our thoughts are becoming more alike; Comparing to people in the 80s, 90s, our personalities are not as extraordinary as the older generations when the network was not so well-developed. These days we share and receive similar data and media. Every output on the internet we comprehend has an close setting of thoughts. The world with a well-developed network eliminates differences in many aspects which diminished our personal identity, and it provokes less unique personalities among contemporary youth.
With the given concept, I start to realize that it is an ongoing problem. I start thinking about one’s “self-definition”. I then create a series of 6 abstract paintings with the sizing of 20 to 40 inches to represent the images of the older generation when everyone was different in terms of thoughts and personalities, contrasting with images of the new generation, which is us nowadays. To show that our personal identities are of more resemblance attributing to the internet.
So, while we are in this looping game, how do we stay sober and be conscious that this can be a problem? And when all of us are being influenced, what could we do about it?
Contemporary Commonality 1, 40 x 60 cm, Acrylic on Linen, 2020
Contemporary Commonality 2, 60 x 80 cm, Acrylic on Linen, 2020
Contemporary Commonality 3, 40 x 60 cm, Acrylic on Linen, 2020
Contemporary Commonality 4, 60 x 80 cm, Acrylic on Linen, 2020
Contemporary Commonality 5, 60 x 80 cm, Acrylic on Linen, 2020
Contemporary Commonality 6, 60 x 80 cm, Acrylic on Linen, 2020
June 2020 Solitude
First Photography Book. Created in June 2020.
To purchase or to see more on: https://www.blurb.com/b/10192130-solitude
MAY 2020 Work on Subconscious
木 (wood), Oil on canvas, 18 x 24 in, 2020
海旁 (Seafront), Oil on canvas, 18 x 24 in, 2020
What Is the Essence of Art?
Li Songsong, Beihai (II), 2016, oil on canvas, 240 cm × 480 cm × 12 cm (94-1/2″ × 15′ 9″ × 4-3/4″) © Li Songsong
What Is the Essence of Art
Artist Statement
In the process of art history, we have been through the time when painters depicted the delicate pictures regarding the myth and the legend. We also have painters who captured the actual scenes they would like to record before the invention of the camera like wars and portraits. What we have now in contemporary art history are artists who would explore and express their thoughts and feelings through the brushes and paints. We communicate with art. We stand in front of the piece, observe and analyze every color and brushstroke on a painting in order to build connections with the painter and get to know what he/she is trying to express in the work.
Every era has their characteristics which have made impacts to art. The biggest impact of these days is the COVID-19 pandemic for no doubt. Since we are all isolated at home, there is no other way for us to build connections with art and the others but using the internet. The network is just so universal now that we can look up thousands of photos of the artwork just by typing a few words. There are a few galleries that I initially planned to visit and now they have all turned into online format. As I visited these online galleries and looked at the painting that showed on my small screen, knowing the fact that the actual colour of this work should be more terrific than what I was looking at, there were questions in my head that I wanted to find out — would galleries be replaced by online galleries in this Information Age?
In this work, I combine painting with documentary media art — recording me putting paints on an apple as well as on the fabric and to photograph it. At that point, the photograph should look like a painting. After that, I will take a photo of this “pseudo apple painting” and see how the audience would react to the work. Would the audience still be able to connect with the art in a virtual format with the confusion of the medium? Would they be tricked? Or would they rather look at the real work?
Finally this work comes with a question for us.
“In the Information Age, can we still connect with the art without looking at the physical object?”
Link to the additional video: https://youtu.be/–7SyYS6rWA