This work is to explore the static performance of memory in dynamic time. My friend is the protagonist in the photo, and what is recorded is a conversation between me and her about memory. This is the memory of a conversation between me and her from my viewpoint, the expression and documentation of the memory in the present time. For her, it is the experience she recalled in the past, and the memories that happened in the past are recorded through her facial expressions. The feelings you have when you see this work are memories that happened in the future.
Duan, JX. (2021) I think what I think [oil painting].
150 x 140 cm
Camberwell, London
Sort of images of work in a gallery situation
Memory hidden in time
This series of drafts drawn with oil pastels mainly discuss how to use painting to express the symbol of time, the movement of time, and the changes that time brings to us. For example, our faces and bodies will become pale over time. When exploring the expression of time through painting, I found that scars record the past time and record our memories to a certain extent. Covering is Wang Guangle's main method, using two or more colors to cover each other one by one. This form is an accumulation of time. Paintings record time on the canvas and they also recorded our memories. These drafts gave me some inspiration to create I think what I think. And they let me understand how important it is to use painting to express and record our memories, especially as artists. We need to think deeply about the relationship between painting and memory.
​​Asur Dönemi Lamassu kabartması, Assyrian mythical deity Shedu: a winged bull with the head of a person.
Louvre Museum, (Paris)
Sport only reflected time, In the Assyrian Empire in the 6th century BC, one of the most classic sculptures was "the first flying cow". This beast is a human head, flying wings, and cow feet. The most peculiar thing is that it has five legs, but the viewer is in most angles. We can only see it's four legs, because this beast is always in motion, motion occurs in time, and time exists in motion.
Then I create an image of a bird represents time just like “the firsts flying cow”. We always said that time flies just like a bird so I paint a bird, it may remind people of the time.
The first flying bird
Oil pastels
148 x 105 mm
12 November 2020
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“time is only reflected in sport”. In the 19th century, Duchamp’s representative work " Nude Descending a Staircase", this painting is the most intuitive representation of the passage of time. Like the picture above, it shows objects in motion. Still, it is not the same as "the first flying cow." The difference is that Duchamp presents the continuous process of the movement on the canvas, emphasizing the process of " Nude Descending a Staircase". On the other hand, the "Flying Cow" is static on the surface, and the viewer can only imagine that it is always in motion by moving the viewpoint.
Nu descendant un escalier no. 2 (1937)
I created another little practice, this practice can shows you how the scar on my elbow could look like when I walk.
My memories be archived on my scar
Oil pastels
148 x 105 mm
13 November 2020
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The relationship between the sense of movement produced by the painting form and time.
Impressionists use light changes to express the change of time. Monet's "Haystacks" is painted using "light and color moments". He painted many haystacks from early morning to evening. Each painting represents the brightness of light and color at a certain point in time. Monet constantly observes haystacks' image at different times and under different lights. He once wrote to a friend: "The sun is setting so fast, I can't catch up with it." It is better to say that he is chasing time instead of chasing the light.
I created another little practice, this practice can shows you how does a woman's appearance become pale over time.
Future self
Oil pastels
148 x 105 mm
14 November 2020
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From March 4 to September 3, conservator Chris Stavroudis is part of the exhibition Jackson Pollock's Number 1, 1949: A Conservation Treatment at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.
Brian Forrest/The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
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Covering is Wang Guangle's primary method, using two or more colors to cover each other one by one. This form is an accumulation of time. Wang Guangle said: The painting process is ultimately "depends on the sky." When it's cold, you can only brush it once or twice; when it's wet, you can do it again; when it's dry, you can do it three or four times. As long as the canvas is dry, I will paint it. Also, the purpose is to capture the traces of time. Each work was painted by him for about two to three months, with an average of two to three hundred times. Due to the different drying time between each layer of the work, paintings will raise subtle textures, which is proof of time's experience. Wang Guangle used the time to give meaning to life and felt the existence of energy and time in the form of covering. The expression of "change" through "meaningless" works will ultimately reflect time itself.
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​Pollock's action painting abandoned the easel painting, fixed the canvas directly on the ground, and splashed it on the canvas with paint. Pollock used this method to walk around the canvas. He painted in different positions at will, immersing himself in the painting action in creating his works. Those objects did not produce his drip paintings, which we're thinking about a particular subject for a long time, nor are they made through observation of life, nor are they carefully deliberate but unconsciously completed according to their mood. Pollock himself said: "I can feel closer and become a part of the painting." He made the painting complete by himself, like the maker of time.
I created another little practice, this practice can shows you how does a woman's appearance become pale over time.
Dissolvement of time
Oil pastels
148 x 105 mm
14 November 2020
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