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ZOU CAO By Eugenia Hu
Both China and Chinese landscape painting stand for the Chinese traditional culture and art, and they also represent the typical character of their mind and culture. In fact, Chinese traditional art emphasizes on the integration of subject and object, which means its prominence is the close relationship between humans and nature instead of conquering nature by force. Without doubt, this can be seen from a statement of Zhuang Zi: “I forgot myself as a subject and then I transfer into the unity of nature and people.” Therefore, the most outstanding achievement in Chinese traditional art is landscape painting. It describes the human race both to indulging and merging itself into nature, in order to experience world and life. Furthermore, China might also represent the Chinese traditional culture and art, and the West gains a deeper knowledge about the nation, based on the China of old times. However, with Chinese thought on Chinese traditional culture and art in contemporary China, collapsing with the influence of multiple elements in history and politics. Without any doubt, people always fully accept Chinese traditional culture without really understanding it. Consequently, Zou Cao creates the artwork Be Careful. In this sculpture, the artist has used fragmented porcelain to recreate the Fu Chun Mountain Painting by Huang Gongwang from Yuan dynasty. (This is one of the most well-known and representative artworks in Chinese traditional landscape painting). As the original topic, we must be “careful to touch it; otherwise it will hurt our fragile body”. This can be seen to reflect an introspective and respect from the artist and his ironic and critical attitude towards Chinese contemporary culture. From a deeper perspective on it, moreover, the transformation of modern Chinese history, politics, and culture, based on the establishment of the new China, can be traced back to the era of Chairman Mao Zedong. Mao resorted to violence to create a new political power but destroyed the traditional culture through Cultural Revolution. It can be seen that the typical porcelain statue of Mao, may demonstrate Mao’s well-known statement: the successful figure can be found in the present instead of those in the past when he takes on an introspective sight on the past, the present and the long line of Chinese emperors. To the viewer, it can also present an insight on various situations of contemporary politics and culture, having been represented by Mao in China. Mao is still omnipresent in Chinese culture and society today, he continues to be honored and loved with the deepest respect. The mountain consists of a multitude of fragments, with Mao as the unique gem on top of everything. Zou Cao’s work, Be Careful envisions this relationship between the Chinese People and their hero quite candidly; within a seemingly fragile depiction of landscape he incarnates the people in their various ethnical groups, and above everything hovers an invulnerable luminary Mao. Within this area of conflict between a bruised people and the untouchable “deity”, a new reasoning emerges, leading to a shift of coordinates. The reflection of this change is found, in addition to the mentioned irony, an explicit criticism of the intangibility of nature that emblematically represents mankind for Zou Cao. In the space that shows this artwork, there are some fragmented porcelain on the floor, and the sound of those porcelain can be heard by visitors when they walk on them, this can stimulate to visitor’s hearing. Furthermore, this hearing stimulation can have impact on the mind of the visitors, it reminds them that they must be careful. And this can make the visitors who can sense this impact on the mind—must be careful. And this can directly transform the visitors from a negative visitor into positive participators. |