Chen Hangfeng
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Texts
- Artificial Snowflake, Installation, 2011
- Bubble City Bubble Life, installation, metal, bubble machine, IV drip, 2 x 2 x 2m, 2009-2010
- Cups,spotlight, wall, cups, water, mechanic device and timer, dimensions variable, 2010
- Don’t Move, cut plastic shopping bags, acrylic paint, glue, pins, board, fans, sensor, timer, transformer 120 x 100 x 4 cm, 2011
- Invasive Species: The Vegetables Chen Hangfeng text animation (duration: 4.03 mins), photo, light box, LED and controller, power adapter, dimensions variable, 2010
- It Comes and Goes
- Scattered Scenes Along Mei Creek
- Winds Blow from the West: Orchid, Cut plastic shopping bags, pins, wood board, mini fans, timer, transformer, power source, 60 x 80 (cm), 2010
Exhibitions
- Follies of a Species
November 9th, 2013 - December 21st, 2013 - Cold Comfort
February 4th, 2012 - March 18th, 2012 - Learning from the Literati 2September 6th, 2011 - October 17th, 2011
- Collective Consciousness August 6th, 2011 - August 30th, 2011
- Refracted Realities
April 9th, 2011 - May 9th, 2011 - Learning from the Literati 1September 9th, 2010 - October 31st, 2010
- Make Over January 24th, 2009 - March 13th, 2009
Don’t Move, cut plastic shopping bags, acrylic paint, glue, pins, board, fans, sensor, timer, transformer 120 x 100 x 4 cm, 2011
The Chinese literati of successive generations were proud of copying the paintings of the ancients. Some masters even spent a whole lifetime. The ancients use ink, but I have manipulated acrylic paint combined with cut plastic shopping bags in order to imitate Zhang Xiong’s work “Pine Tree” (1803-1886). I have also installed several fans controlled by a sensor. Plastic shopping bags are essential for modern life. These cheap things have practically overrun every corner of the land. This rampant consumption of plastic is just like the blind pursuit of Chinese traditional culture, which has become a consumer trend.
Nailing the plastic pieces onto the board symbolizes that the culture has already become a specimen, like one found in a museum of archeology or natural history.
Viewers walk up to the painting, and activate the sensor. The sensor sets off the fans, and thus blows the leaves made of plastic bags which rustle in a way seem to bring the specimen to life. The viewer himself becomes an uncertain element, who in looking at the work creates a new visual experience. After the viewer’s departure, the painting recovers its calm – and the work gradually returns to its original shape.
