Audio Recording 26 Mar 2022 at 1:53:39 AM. A RTIST PRESENTATION ZHAN WANG. 

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Sarah A. Al-Ibrahim ID S00023614 Professor William Andersen Contemporary Art 28.03.2022

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Audio Recording 26 Mar 2022 at 1:56:52 AM. BIOGRAPHY. 

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Zhan Wang. Born in Beijing, China. Born: 1962  (age 60 years). Beijing Industrial Arts College , 1978-1981. Sculptural Department, Central Academy of Fine Arts ,  1983-1988 . Contemporary Chinese artist. Sculptor.

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Audio Recording 26 Mar 2022 at 1:58:48 AM. SUPER REALISTIC SERIES (1988-1993). 

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In his early works, in the early 90s, Zhan created hyper-realistic series of sculptures that explored his personal experiences, perspectives and observations about society and politics. He tried to break from the sculptural tradition of depicting only religious or heroic figures, by choosing the most common people on the sidewalks as his subjects. He created a set of human figures that were displayed in unexpected outdoor locations. His work in this period reflects the transition and transformation of his sculptural language from realism to concept. These sculptures are made of a complete mannequin with mud,  then the clothes are placed on top and fixed. It is then turned into a hard material and colored.

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Audio Recording 26 Mar 2022 at 2:06:09 AM. SITTING GIRL. 

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Sitting Girl is a life-sized sculpture of a seated young girl tilting her chair forward. It shows  originally a girl’s surprise, thriving and a bit scared when she just experienced her menarche, an element of hesitation and uncertainty was created by using a real chair with only two legs on the  land . Just like adults often think about life and death, the girl seems thinking about the problem of standing up or sitting down. Zhan Wang,  Sitting Girl , 1990. Bronze, 128 x 127 x 56 cm. Edition of 8.

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Audio Recording 26 Mar 2022 at 2:12:40 AM. MAO SUIT MAN. 

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Man Wearing Mao Suit was recognized as the beginning of Chinese contemporary new sculpture. It started when Zhan Wang thought the language of Hyperrealism sculpture is westernized and lacks eastern creation. Therefore, he chose to use the Mao Suit in his sculpture to represent the Chinese and the artist himself. From  1949  to  1989,  the  Mao suit was the main clothing for workers, peasants and soldiers in China, but also formal clothing. People in  a  Mao suit give people a strict and dignified impression. However, Zhan Wang’s Mao suit implies intense, painful, distorted and even bizarre bodies.  I n Mao Suit Man, Zhan Wang captured the moment when a man in  a  Mao suit squeezed from the front and back. The pressures from conflicting directions forced the man in to  an awkward pose. Zhan Wang,  Mao Suit Man , 1992-1993. Bronze, 178 x 85 x 50 cm. Edition of 8.

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Audio Recording 26 Mar 2022 at 2:29:56 AM. THE MAO SUIT SERIES (1994-2002). 

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This series of sculptures started during the second half of 1993. The series included 18 sculptures suspended in their fall from scaffolding or rested writhing on a mound of dirt. This series of works was named “Empty Soul Empty-Temptation series." Empty by taking bodies out from Mao Suit Man. Zhan’s aim was to get rid of the body by keeping only its outer shell (i.e., clothes) while maintaining the lifelike results of movements of the body, the shape of the body and the folds of the clothes.

Zhan Wang,  Empty Soul Empty-Temptation , 1994. Solo Exhibition Installation View. CAFA Gallery, Beijing.

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Audio Recording 26 Mar 2022 at 2:33:54 AM. THE MAO SUIT SERIES (1994-2002). 

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Audio Recording 26 Mar 2022 at 2:43:15 AM. BURIAL-THE MAO SUIT SERIES. 

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Eight years after creating the Mao suit series, in 2002, on the occasion of the  Guangzhou Triennial whose topic is reinterpreting Chinese contemporary art  15 shells were buried under Guangdong Art Museum.  The workers took the works already into crates from the exhibition space inside the museum outside where a pit had already been dug. Zhan Wang,  Burial-The Mao Suit Series , 2002. Guangdong Art Museum, Guangzhou.

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Audio Recording 26 Mar 2022 at 2:47:22 AM. BURIAL-THE MAO SUIT SERIES. 

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The workers set the crates with the shells into the pit one by one. A piece of white cloth was used to cover each shell. After putting the covers on the crates, they were closed with a screwdriver. It took two hours to complete the whole process of burial. After burying the works, the gravestone “Here lies Zhan Wang’s work ‘The Mao suit shells’” was set where the works had been buried.

Zhan Wang,  Burial-The Mao Suit Series , 2002. Guangdong Art Museum, Guangzhou.

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Audio Recording 26 Mar 2022 at 2:52:15 AM. BIRD TRAP. 

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The inspiration of "Bird Trap" is from the artist's childhood experience of bird catching. Instead of bird food,  Zhan  Wang put books about Ornithology that symbolizes “culture” underneath the bird trap. According to the artist, “culture” brings humans wisdom and emotions, but it is also a metaphysical deception. A bird was placed on the other side of the string outside of the trap, where a person is supposedly at. The angle between the bird trap and the ground was intentionally designed to be 45-degrees, which creates a sense of balance that neither humans nor animals can breakthrough. Zhan Wang,  Bird Trap , 1995. Metal net, a live bird, a string and a few books about Ornithology.

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Audio Recording 26 Mar 2022 at 2:56:01 AM. ARTIFICIAL ROCKS SERIES. 

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Zhan Wang started creating this stainless-steel artificial rock series in 1995. Rocks, real and fabricated, are recurring motifs and materials in his work, through which he explores the intertwining of human and natural history and our relationship with urban and natural landscapes. Zhan Wang,  Artificial Rock #10 , 2001. Stainless steel and wood stand, 75 x 45 x 19 cm. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

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Audio Recording 26 Mar 2022 at 3:00:36 AM. ARTIFICIAL ROCKS SERIES. 

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In his ongoing “Artificial Rocks” series, one of his most celebrated projects, Zhan fabricates stainless steel replicas of “scholar’s rocks”, the famously unusual rocks traditionally found on the desks and in the gardens of Chinese intellectuals and used as objects of meditation and contemplation. In the Chinese culture, the rock holds a high value, rocks have been thought to possess the purest “qi”, or vital energy. Zhan Wang,  Gold Mountain , 2007. Stone and stainless steel, 106.7 x 127 x 160 cm.

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Audio Recording 26 Mar 2022 at 5:31:31 AM. ARTIFICIAL ROCKS SERIES. 

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Zhan Wang,  Artificial Rock #116 , 2007. Stainless steel, 350 x 165 x 130 cm.

With their mirrored surfaces, Zhan’s rocks effectively block attempts to retreat from the world through absorbed contemplation by insistently reflecting it back at viewers.

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Audio Recording 26 Mar 2022 at 3:05:08 AM. ARTIFICIAL ROCKS SERIES. 

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Zhan Wang, Artificial Rock #59, 2008. Stainless steel, 450 x 200 x 240 cm. British Museum, London.

Zhan Wang, 45 Degree Artificial Rock, 2010,2014. Stainless steel.

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Audio Recording 26 Mar 2022 at 5:35:45 AM. ARTIFICIAL ROCKS SERIES. 

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At first,  Zhan  choos es  the stone in nature as the mold, then  puts  the stainless steel plate on the stone and hammering it for rubbings. According to the shape of the stone, the stainless steel plate is divided into several small pieces. After the natural ups and downs of the stone are marked, these pieces are pieced together according to the shape of the stone. After processes like welding and polishing, a stone of  stainless steel , which is identical to the original stone, is finally obtained. At such moment, the  sculpture  has had an air of modernization. Standing in the metropolis of industrial civilization, it brings people a wonderful sense of material as well as the illusion of the integration of the past and the future, of nature and artificiality, and of change, destruction and eternity. A studio assistant applying sheets of stainless steel onto a natural rock.

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Audio Recording 26 Mar 2022 at 3:18:36 AM. INLAY GOLD TEETH ON THE GREAT WALL. 

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In the past, when people’s teeth had decayed and fell out, they liked to use gold teeth to replace them. Firstly, gold is more flexible than other materials, so it’s suitable for chewing. Secondly, it represents wealth, but what’s most important is that it represents a person’s identity, because gold stands as a metaphor for respect. Gold teeth are mainly a status symbol used to show off, so it happens that many nouveau riches decide to get gold teeth even if their teeth are still healthy. The Great Wall has become the spiritual symbol of China. People don’t care anymore if its original meaning was reasonable and fitted people’s needs. Zhan combined these two symbolic elements together.

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Audio Recording 26 Mar 2022 at 3:22:32 AM. INLAY GOLD TEETH ON THE GREAT WALL. 

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The process of inlaying gold teeth was similar to that of repairing the Great Wall. At first, the workers carried golden bricks on their backs and reached the Great Wall, and then he laid the golden bricks where parts and bricks were missing in order to restore  it .  Zhan Wang, Inlay Gold Teeth on the Great Wall, 2001. P olished  bricks  and plated with gold.  Great Wall, China.

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Audio Recording 26 Mar 2022 at 3:24:57 AM. INLAY GOLD TEETH ON THE GREAT WALL. 

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More than 250 bricks were used to fix the destroyed part. The bricks were polished and plated with gold. The shining golden bricks inlaid on the wall could be seen from far away, and they looked like big gold teeth. Zhan Wang,  Inlay Gold Teeth on the Great Wall , 2001. P olished  bricks  and plated with gold.  Great Wall, China.

Audio Recording 26 Mar 2022 at 3:24:57 AM

Audio Recording 26 Mar 2022 at 3:31:21 AM. URBAN LANDSCAPE: BEIJING. 

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The artist Zhan Wang replicates the city of Beijing using a variety of mass-produced cookware and his own, hand-molded, stainless steel rock formations. Zhan Wang used  thousands of stainless - steel utensils, conveying the contradiction and confrontation existing between tradition and development.

Zhan Wang,  Urban Landscape: Beijing , 2003-2005. Stainless steel.

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Audio Recording 26 Mar 2022 at 3:34:16 AM. URBAN LANDSCAPE: BEIJING. 

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The materials employed for new buildings are changing China’s “Landscape,” which seems to have become the road of China’s development and life.  T he hard stainless - steel cutlery will replace the traditional and fragile porcelain. For Zhan Wang, the never-rusting stainless steel is a symbol of the luxury of material life and of people’s eternal desires.

Audio Recording 26 Mar 2022 at 3:34:16 AM

Audio Recording 26 Mar 2022 at 3:40:59 AM. BUDDHIST MEDICINE. 

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Buddhist Medicine is a work that represents the image of a Buddha made of different types of medicine combined together. By combining the image of the Buddha with medicine, the artwork turns out to be both a Buddha and a medicine itself. People are used to separating clearly spirit and matter. For instance, religion is supposed to help people to cure their spiritual issues, while medicine cures their physical problems. Despite the fact, everyone is aware that it is hard to separate clearly these two. When referring to Chinese religion, when the Chinese worship a god, they pray for peace, ease, good health, richness or being prolific. All these desires are rather materialistic. Whereas in the Western people don’t think that religion should play this role, but when Jesus appeared on the earth, he came to cure people’s illnesses. Therefore, Zhan Wang thinks that spirit and matter cannot be separated. Zhan Wang,  Buddhist Medicine , 2004-2006. Medicine.

Audio Recording 26 Mar 2022 at 3:40:59 AM

ARTIST PRESENTATION ZHAN WANG

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