黑料不打烊

Gotterdammerung Time I. Imagery At first glance of Qu Guangci`s Knife Gang II (2008), the European myth Gotterdammerung emerged in my mind. In the bloody fight by fate, the gangsters are circling in the clouds, ledding their hands to kill, and their sophisticated facial features are showing the entanglement of nervousness, indifference and distraction. Their expressions are drawn taut by rigid muscles. In Gotterdammerung, the entire world is supported by the Yggdrasil Tree. There is a serpent of despair called Nidhogg under the tree gnawing the roots. When the roots are eventually snapped, it is time of Gotterdammerung. In Gotterdammerung, the kingdom of the gods will be captured by evil and all the resistance of the gods is doomed to failure. Myths reflect the human mind through the vague and abstract philosophy, and express the connection between them by the obscure imagery. Qu Guangci`s works are tinged with the ambiance of fatalism in northern European myth. Many art critics have pointed out that Qu has successfully transformed western artistic elements into the text of Chinese history and social conditions, but if we see his works from the perspective of the authority and the observer of the authorization, we`d find the allegory is very insightful. Firstly, the characters in uniforms imply the assembly, the order, the position, the legal authority, or even the legal violence. However, Qu puts these authorities in the stage being watched. All the movements are monitored by a superior audience and become the passive ceremony. Moreover, in Qu`s sculptures, every figure, either in a group or alienated from a group, shows his fatigue and helplessness. This expression not only reveals the passivity of the authority, but also breaks the admiration of immortal heroes. Qu shows the G?tterd?mmerung moment by the subtle imagery His works describe the natural human desire to terminate something, or be terminated by something. Behind the turmoil and violence are the fears and vulnerability of the hierarchies. II. Forms Bonzes excavated from Yunnan can be a good comparison to Qu`s recent sculptures. As offering of utensils, the cylinder or cone-shaped bronze with ornamental lines provides the public with a most direct way to understand Tien Culture. With a comparable aesthetics, the theatrical presentation of Qu`s sculptures carries out a similar narrative logic to these bronzes. In his individual figures, Qu presents the solitude found in the bronzes from the Warring States, such as Bronze Parasol Decorated with a Standing Bull and Bronze Cylindrical Sewing Case Decorated with a Standing Deer Standing appears the same visual impacts with Qu’s Beloved Motherland (2005) and The Invincible Eastern Warrior (2007). Other works such as Giant series distinguishable for their long sharp shape are also similar to the awl in the bronze. And his group figures such as Knife Gang II give an amusing feel reminiscent of Bronze Cowrie-Container Decorated With a Battle Scene on its Cover found from the mid-Han Dynasty. The circles further emphasize the dramatic movements and the fatal tension, it captures a moment of extreme excitement. In Qu’s sculptures, the contrast between the lanky trees and heavy figures, as well as the contract between the huge figures and the unproportionate becomes the irony of the the authorization. Especially the Giant series, his latest works, intimates the standard pose of Hitler, but the hand and the feet are anomalous small, by which Qu pigmies the icons of authoritarian. Knife Gang series is among the most mature art works of Qu`s artwork. The story of Knife Gang (2007) has been changed from fighting together against a rat, to fighting each other in Knife Gang II. By this change, the artist has outlined his definition of rivalry and his motif of social situation. With smart visual arrangement, the tension between the six figures is well demonstrated by their special relationships as well as their frozen movements, their expressionless round faces and their hollow, inane eyes.