The Long Way Around
What makes 鈥渉omecoming鈥� so fascinating? Just like Homer鈥檚 story of Odysseus, who is carried off the ship in his sleep to return home; or the protagonist in Handke鈥檚 book, who tries to fight against a fate to perish and embarks on a journey back to his former residence. 鈥淗omecoming鈥�, usually written in words, echoes throughout the artistic practice of Hu Wei and Xiang Kaiyang, while the symbiotic relationship between text and art is also examined in both artists鈥� works: revolving around issues of aesthetics and poetics, their art probes the boundaries between language, semantics and imagery.
In Hu Wei鈥檚 video and sound installations, the absent images, limbed languages and meanings are transformed into a particular rhythm and subtle emotions. 鈥�...Island is the second origin. Only on the island can people feel that they are detached from the world.鈥� Hu Wei鈥檚 investigation into the marine culture can be considered as a pursuit of 鈥渉ome鈥�. His non-paradigmatic, dynamic, and variable series of works evoke our imaginations of the 鈥渟ea nomad (human & non-human)鈥�.
When looking at C茅zanne鈥檚 landscape paintings, Handke realises that the pine trees and cliffs overlap each other in the picture, forming an interrelated, singular hieroglyph as well as a complete integration of 鈥渢hing-image-script鈥�. The Word painting series by Xiang Kaiyang is a typical example of Handke鈥檚 viewpoint. The artist places words onto the canvas, whose inner harmony is then strengthened through the repeated use of reduplication. His work explores the spiritual qualities beyond the text itself, featuring a fresh interaction beyond the conventional aesthetic relationship between word and image.
Perhaps we can regard 鈥渉omecoming鈥� as a state stripped of the notion of time, a mixture of the protagonist鈥檚 inner and outer worlds woven from memory fragments. 鈥淗omecoming鈥� in Hu Wei鈥檚 work alludes to a projection of reality that probably involves the artist鈥檚 own struggle against 鈥渉ome鈥� and freedom; in regards to Xiang Kaiyang鈥檚 work, the memories triggered by images strive to approach the original appearance of things. Isn鈥檛 it also a kind of 鈥渞eturn鈥� to real life?
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What makes 鈥渉omecoming鈥� so fascinating? Just like Homer鈥檚 story of Odysseus, who is carried off the ship in his sleep to return home; or the protagonist in Handke鈥檚 book, who tries to fight against a fate to perish and embarks on a journey back to his former residence. 鈥淗omecoming鈥�, usually written in words, echoes throughout the artistic practice of Hu Wei and Xiang Kaiyang, while the symbiotic relationship between text and art is also examined in both artists鈥� works: revolving around issues of aesthetics and poetics, their art probes the boundaries between language, semantics and imagery.
In Hu Wei鈥檚 video and sound installations, the absent images, limbed languages and meanings are transformed into a particular rhythm and subtle emotions. 鈥�...Island is the second origin. Only on the island can people feel that they are detached from the world.鈥� Hu Wei鈥檚 investigation into the marine culture can be considered as a pursuit of 鈥渉ome鈥�. His non-paradigmatic, dynamic, and variable series of works evoke our imaginations of the 鈥渟ea nomad (human & non-human)鈥�.
When looking at C茅zanne鈥檚 landscape paintings, Handke realises that the pine trees and cliffs overlap each other in the picture, forming an interrelated, singular hieroglyph as well as a complete integration of 鈥渢hing-image-script鈥�. The Word painting series by Xiang Kaiyang is a typical example of Handke鈥檚 viewpoint. The artist places words onto the canvas, whose inner harmony is then strengthened through the repeated use of reduplication. His work explores the spiritual qualities beyond the text itself, featuring a fresh interaction beyond the conventional aesthetic relationship between word and image.
Perhaps we can regard 鈥渉omecoming鈥� as a state stripped of the notion of time, a mixture of the protagonist鈥檚 inner and outer worlds woven from memory fragments. 鈥淗omecoming鈥� in Hu Wei鈥檚 work alludes to a projection of reality that probably involves the artist鈥檚 own struggle against 鈥渉ome鈥� and freedom; in regards to Xiang Kaiyang鈥檚 work, the memories triggered by images strive to approach the original appearance of things. Isn鈥檛 it also a kind of 鈥渞eturn鈥� to real life?
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