ABOUT

The content of my work is connected, like a rope that can be explored along to the next step. My work at this stage is mostly characterised by a sense of line, because line is an external form of the existence of an objective object, it constrains the surface shape of the object, and every existing object has its own outer contour and presents a certain combination of lines. On the other hand, line can be used to create different textures, volumes and spatial sensations through the detailing of the subject, the accompanying body and the background.

I can find that writing in contemporary art has changed from the status of an embellished poem inscribed in writing on a traditional Chinese painting to an effective creative tool for the artist. Studying this artistic phenomenon helps to provide a more detailed analysis of the current state of Chinese contemporary art and to consider how Chinese culture can seek common ground while preserving differences in a more open and international mindset.

This study will be written on the early creations of three artists, Xu Bing, Gu Wenda and Wu Shanzhuan. On the one hand, we hope to use case studies to make the process of the occurrence and development of textual art more concrete and tangible. On the other hand, these three artists are also representative Chinese textual art production artists and have extensive international exchange and exhibition experience. Therefore, by combing and comparing their works, we can understand the primary forms of text art in Chinese contemporary art and the main problems they face. We explore the different logics and philosophies of their use of the written word as a medium for artistic creation, as a glimpse into the emergence and growth of textual art in China. From the 1980s onwards, the work of these artists not only participated in the 85th New Wave of artistic curiosity and exploration but also laid the foundations for the subsequent development of text-based art. Thus, analysing and comparing their early artistic creations will help us understand the text's emergence and extension as a medium in contemporary Chinese art.