Project Proposal​

​

Title in the form of a research question:

My research question is that Life is about Changing.

 

I am interested in life and change. I believe that we can see life in change. Because we can be sure of one fact that it is cannot be changed that “everything is constantly changing.” So I try to make something that can consistently grow or be built up 

 

My practice will further connote that a process of life renewal - Exploring through experiencing, being aware through sensing and internalizing through mediating.

 

Aspect one:

 

How to connect the individual with the world and the cosmos. （Individual - Body - Imprisonment; World and Cosmos - Surrounding and Atmosphere - Universal Sense）

How far can human’s will and spirit expand

How deep can spiritual thinking reach

 

Aspect two:

 

How a thing can be reflected by its opposite side

How new form and meaning can be created in the process of reversion to the nature of life from learning recession. (Tai Chi)

 

Aims/ objectives of the project

 

• I would experiment with a variety of materials to find those suitable to present my ideas. From the beginning stage, I am doing with mostly some raw materials like human rejects – blood, hair and something that can grow to symbolize a bodily figure or a form of thoughts, and some soft materials like metallic wire, fabric, clay and plaster as a unit to build a structure to coordinate.

 

The relationship between hair and brain: scientists depict that the growth of brain size & volume is partly a trade-off with hair.

In the process of human evolution, our ancestors experience hair reduction and larger brains evolving. So I found it is very interesting that the more hair man has lost, the bigger the brain he has had.

 

The metaphor behind hair:

In China, Confucianism says that hair is given by our parents. In Buddhism, Buddha says that hair stands for desires and vexation. It is said that hair is “3000 threads of vexation”. Therefore, when people choose to convert to Buddhism, there is a ceremony of shaving their hair as a token of renouncing vexation.

 

• During the thinking and making process, I would record some fragments of poetic writing to compose a part of my research process. (can be part of my online reflective journal)

 

Breaking through the life imprisonment/ The beauty of life/ the will of human

 

Human is like a seed full of potential and possibilities.

What it can be depends on the circumstance and the nutrients.

 

Meditation is the process of the spiritual practice of paring attachments down to achieve spiritual freedom by dissolving own mental awareness into the time and surrounding, where the aim is to be in harmony between the human’s spirit and nature.

 

Taoism teaches me that human is a part of nature. To achieve the status of perfection the best way is to act without intention because Tao values the quality of naturalness and simplicity. And Buddha explained that all our problems and suffering arise from confused and negative states of mind and that all our happiness and good fortune arise from peaceful and positive states of mind.

 

The form of meditation/ the form of a tree

To space it has been still

To the time it has changed

 

Experience sheer darkness as a mind’s expanding event.

 

An individual is a cosmos within a relatively more massive cosmos.

 

It is believable that philosophy is a rough structure of an abstract mind

 

Somehow, in a way, people learn that what they can control is a very small amount of things that is their mind. A human’s lifetime is dominated by time and fate that is unknown. Glory and wealth are dominated by unpredictable luck. Love and hate are dominated by hearts that can change easily.

So what can be sure of is that everything has been changing all the time. it will pass after all.

 

• To build something that can be a structure or container and cultivate something I would call ‘A SEED’ as a form of ‘being’ that can grow and be affected by a variety of elements from the place it is located at. In this process, to observe how ‘A SEED’ and environment can interact with and be affected by each other and what kind of elements can be found as an unexpected intervention of its growth.

 

• Keywords of research questions:

 

Life imprisonment: time/ destiny/ cause-and-effect cycle/ life to death/ life cage

“Heaven and earth are ruthless, and treat the myriad creatures as straw dogs; the sage is ruthless and treats the people as straw dogs”. (Taoism)

 

Meditation: Meditation is a practice “to arrive at the experiential realization of the truths” In Buddhism, enlightenment is a final spiritual state in which everything is understood and there is no more suffering or desire.

 

Immateriality: materiality/ (in metaphysic) to pare down from a complex

 

Spectacles: nature/ the spirit/ deriving from the experience of seeing landscapes/ the limit to break / the wills of human from non-figuration/

 

Universal: energy/ something invisible/ geometric forms/ philosophy: Taoism and Buddhism/ human materials - blood, hair/ Astronomy/ Astrology: the form of sphere or ball

 

• Methodology: the forms/ materials: Installation, sculptures, metal, plants, the form of a sphere, bodily rejects (blood, hair), soft materials

(In a poetic way with theatrical aesthetic containing a meditative atmosphere)

 

Bibliography/ Documents/ Talks in context

 

Lau, D.C., (1963) ‘Tao Te Ching’, London: Penguin Books Ltd

Bodhi, B., (1999) ‘The Noble Eightfold Path: The Way to the End of Suffering’, Buddhist Publication Society

David, M., (2003) ‘Gormley, Antony’ Published online. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.T093999

Gormley, A., (2009), ‘Film Interviews with Leading Thinkers: Interview with Antony Gormley by Alan Macfarlane’, University of Cambridge. Available at: https://sms.cam.ac.uk/media/1119863

Gormley, A., (2013) ‘Antony Gormley: according to a given mean’, Brussels: Xavier Hufkens

Hatoum, M., Archer, M., Brett, G., Zegher, M. C., Spector, N., (2016) ‘Mona Hatoum / Michael Archer, Guy Brett, Catherine de Zegher, Nancy Spector’, London: Phaidon

Kapoor, A., Hilty, G., Rose, A., Mehoob Studios (Mumbai, India); National Gallery of Modern Art (New Delhi, India), (2010) ‘Anish Kapoor’, London: British Council

Kapoor, A., British Council; Kunstverein Hannover, (1991) ‘Kapoor, Anish’, Hannover: Kunstverein Hannover