Traces of Humanity in Nature

Artworks

• Travelers among mountains and streams, 1000 CE Fan Kuan, Ink on silk hanging scroll (1000) — Travelers Among Mountains and Stream by Fan Kuan is a painting from the Northern Song Dynasty in 1000 CE that depicts a large mountain, forests, waterfalls, and mist that dominates the scroll while small travelers appear with animals at the bottom of the scroll. Kuan emphasizes the enormous scale of nature throughout the whole scroll, showing the size difference between nature and humans. The mountain is the focal point of this scroll with layers of ground and background to make sense of vast space. During the Northern Song Dynasty, the painting reflected a developing philosophy known as Neo-Confucian which was about discovering truth through nature and the understanding of humanities place in this universe. The contrast does not use humans as a prime subject but to remind the viewer of our placement in the universe. Through the scale of the mountains, texture, and orderly space, Kuan presented a visual harmony between us humans and nature.
• Circle of Animals/zodiac Heads, 2010 Ai Weiwei, Bronze sculpture (2010) — The Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads by Ai Weiwei introduces 12 bronze sculptures with large animal heads displayed on top of a pedestal. Each sculpture represents an animal from the Chinese zodiac. Repetition is established by the consistent use of scale, material, and presentation of each animal's head. The large animal heads are the focal point of this artwork as they are evenly arranged from each other, which creates a sensation of balance, unity, and harmony. Weiwei was inspired by the original zodiac heads that were once a part of a fountain clock in Yuanmingyung, from which the original heads were looted during the Second Opium War. Due to this looting, only seven of the twelve survived, meaning a portion of Weiwei recreation was reconstructed through imagination rather than direct historical evidence. Reconstruction and preservation had become the central meaning for the Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads. Through the animals and their historical references, Weiwei inspires the viewers to reflect on cultural memory, historical loss, and authenticity as the sculptures represent something much bigger like the fact that history is not preserved in its original form. History is often rebuilt through different memories, interpretations, and surviving stories.
• Sunflower Seeds, 2010 Ai Weiwei, Hand painted porcelain seeds installation (2010) — Sunflower seeds by Ai Weiwei overwhelm the viewer with millions of porcelain sunflower seeds that are laid across a large floorspace. The repetition of the seeds' identical appearance represents individuality with each handmade object. Unity, variety, and harmony are all connected by the sunflower seeds being identical to each other without having one sticking out more than another and yet having unique features that shows human craftsmanship. This craftsmanship's reflects the idea of mass production and shows that each of these seeds represents a person's individuality as it was created by Ai Weiwei in a collaboration with artisans from Jingdezhen, China. The installations scale emphasizes these people's identity as it is there to remind us that every object was created by an individual artisan. By using this contrast of large production, and uniqueness within each seed, Weiwei forces the viewer to reflect their relationships with consuming goods and the labor that follows it.
• To add one meter to an anonymous mountain, 1995 Zhang Huan, Wang Shinhua, Cang Xin, Gao Yang, Zuo xiaozuzhou, Ma Zongyin, Ma Liuming, Zhang Binbin, Duan Yingmei, and Zhu Ming, Performance art event and photography (1995) — To Add One Meter to an Anonymous Mountain is a document of ten artists laying on top of each other on Miaofeng Mountain in efforts to increase the height of the mountain by one meter. The repetition of their bodies being stacked shows the group working together to face the challenge of adding a meter to the mountain. Contrast is made from the group's mountain being a meter tall compared to the large neighboring mountains that emphasizes how small their action really is. Created by Zhang Huan in 1995, the performance uses the human body of his own and the bodies of his fellow performance artists that were in a group called the Beijing East Village. Their bodies, performance, and photos were the medium used in this artwork. Harmony is created by the shape the stacked bodies make, and the mountain itself. The group Beijing East village were disbanded forcefully by police raids, so their final performance together was To Add One Meter to an Anonymous Mountain to reflect the challenges that awaits them. Inspired by humility, they only alter the mountains' height for a moment which was insignificant, and yet it showed how willing the group was to confront obstacles even if the results were temporary.
• For, In Your Tongue, I Cannot Fit, 2017 – 2018 Shilpa Gutpa, Multimedia sound installation (2017) — For, In Your Tongue, I Cannot Fit is a large installation where 100 microphones are suspended on the ceiling with a metal stand right below them with a piece of paper punctured through the stand. There are fragments of poetry that play through the microphone in a variety of languages. The repetition of the microphones and stands creates unity and rhythm while emphasizing the number of voices being represented in this installation. This audio installation was created by Shilpa Gupta after a yearlong research project of poets who were imprisoned, detained, or killed for their voice. This installation reflects freedom of expression and the power of language. Each microphone represents an individual story, this creates balance between the different experiences and personal identity. This forces the viewer to listen to these voices and reflect on their own freedom of expression while recognizing that oppression has no limits across different cultures and time periods. By using sound and space, Gupta emphasizes that despite these poets being censored, their voices are still heard.