缝合/Overcast (2023)
4 x 10m
Bamboo strips, bamboo sticks, steel wire
Anji, Zhejiang Province, China
安吉浙江
Up the silent bamboo hillside, a suspended body emerges at a bend in the road. It first seems flat and indiscernible in the distance. It is only by climbing to a higher vantage point that one can fully appreciate the extravagant dimensions of the work. 40 square meters of weaved bamboo net cuts neat across the bamboo grove. Trees stab through the horizontal plane with assertive verticality. The large mass is pinned afloat and as daylight catches on the net surface, the shadowy space beneath takes gravity.
My sculptural practice always revolved around the themes of volume, body and space. It originally stems from street skateboarding as it is one of the most vivid manifestations of the complex interaction between body and space. But I was obviously not going to build skate ramp in a peaceful bamboo forest… yet the idea for this tilted plane decidedly sprouted from another “skaterat” fantasy. It is this urge to play with speed, tempo, lines, surfaces, angles, volumes, and contours with the very candid purpose of throwing your body at it.
I cannot emphasis enough the skillful craftsmanship of local artisans at the subtle art of bamboo weaving. Most of the locals from Zhejiang province in China apparently got familiar with playing with bamboo at a young age. They would weave all kind of toys, baskets and other home appliances. Bamboo is abundant in the region and the local authorities are heavily promoting all sorts of tourism related to it: food, sceneries, craftmanship and so on. Needless to say, material used for this artwork was locally sourced. We literally hacked down bamboos on site, it was surreal. (With consent from the landowners of course)
沿着蜿蜒的山路上行，突现一个巨大的悬浮物。它突出了山坡的陡峭趋势，也在竹林中尽情透射日光在一天之间的变换。行人每走一步，都会重新思考，移步异景。视线越远，它就越呈现出蔓延开的趋势。
沿林间的小路上行，可以进行近距离的观察。这是一个竖线（竹子）之间的面，这个面又对竹林进行了切割和连接。此刻， "上 "和 "下"迥然分明、界限严密密，但又因密布的镂空而紧密相连。
进行创作的过程中，可以欣赏到当地工匠高超的手艺和精妙的竹编艺术。所有材料都是就地取材，外国艺术家与中国特有的竹子之间的对话、工匠与竹子的对话、艺术家与工匠的对话等等，使得安吉竹林中 40 平方米的斜网成为了人与自然，乃至跨文化交际的契机。
