By Xiao Wu, iChongqing
As the completion ceremony of the Central Axis Plan of Chongqing Yuelai launched on Nov.17, the ten artworks designed by 10 of China's most outstanding contemporary artists have all settled permanently around Chongqing International Expo Center, Yuelai, Chongqing.
These artworks are introduced by the Yuelai Public Art Exhibition held by Yuelai Investment Group Co., Ltd. The exhibition curator, Professor Sui Jianguo, clarifies three features of the exhibition, "Firstly, we invited the most prominent contemporary artists of China to design the artworks for Yuelai Public Exhibition, which will permanently be settled in the area. Secondly, the volume of these artworks is huge, which is both challenging and interesting to the artists. Thirdly, all the artworks are made around Chongqing and Sichuan, which will help to enhance the development of the local art and culture industry."
10 artworks tailor-made for Yuelai
The artworks have imaginative shapes with unique meanings. the artists start from the public art and further explore the multiple possibilities between art and society. They try to arouse the audience’s awareness about the connection between the city development and themselves with the artworks.
Song Dong’s Central Axis Plan of Chongqing Yuelai connects the idea of the central axis, which used to symbolize power and center in China, with ordinary people. A cellphone, a suitcase or even a CD is part of the artwork, which represents a unique story from ordinary people.
Central Axis Plan of Chongqing Yuelai by Song Dong.
Gu Wenda's“Chongqing” Beilin Qi Department-c combines abstract traditional Chinese characters with local landscapes. The text is engraved in the sea fossils dating back 100 million years.
“Chongqing” Beilin Qi Department-c by Gu Wenda.
Wang Jianwei’s The Will of Geography can be understood as a re-examination of the “Anthropocene”, a geological era with all human activities as its focus.
The Will of Geography by Wang Jianwei.
Xiang Jing’s Silence Forming is two beasts stood quietly on the water and they love each other. It naturally fit under the influence of oxidation, peaceful and quiet.
Silence Forming by Xiang Jing’s.
Ding Yi’s Mountain House creates a small space for the Yuelai Smart City. The diversity of the space itself can provide a multi-functional space for people of different ages. It welcomes those who walk into it to discover new ways of interaction.
Mountain House by Ding Yi.
Pang Maokun’s The Eternal Love combines the image of Rodin’s Kiss with the Western Roman columns. Both are assembled by using machines, indicating humanity of the industrial age and the eternal love.
The Eternal Love by Pang Maokun.
Liu Wei’s Micro World is made from aluminum. It processes the natural element and makes a new form from it, which symbolizes the relationship between man and nature.
MicroWorld by Liu Wei.
Yue Minjun’s Chongqing Thinker tries to explore the connection between human wholeness and locality to introduce turbulence and confusion to the audience, thus reminding people to get rid of the limitation of local areas, bravely laugh at their own lingering narrow vision.
Chongqing Thinker by Yue Minjun.
Yin Xiuzhen’s Tail Throat shows the importance of environmental protection. The huge muffler tail throat is not only a reflection of the impact of industrialization on the environment but also a reflection on the environment.
Tail Throat by Yin Xiuzhen.
Zhang Dali's The World of Senses focus on the relationship between people and nature. In Chinese culture, character for an elephant is “xiang”. It also means a structure, an image, an imagination, and a symbol. That “elephant is invisible” is the realm and presentation of Tao. Tao cannot be visible and imagined, but humans must image and learn it. The human body above the elephant is a copy of the real human body that emphasizes and represents the human of the real world.
The World of Senses by Zhang Dali.
The volume of artworks on exhibition is not small. For instance, “Chongqing” Beilin Qi Department-c is 3 meters high, Tail Throat 10 meters high, and The World of Senses 8 meters high.
Build an urban culture with public art
There are numerous successful cases around the world to build an urban culture with public art. For example, the Public Art Project of Chicago has collected hundreds of public artworks and displayed them in the public space of Chicago. It has improved the local cultural environment and humanism, and also attracted countless audiences from all over the world. Similar examples include Echigo-Tsumari Triennial of Japan and Sculpture Projects Münster of Germany.
The 10 artworks introduced by Yuelai Public Art Exhibition will be permanently displayed around Chongqing International Expo Center. Therefore, the exhibition will continue to nourish the public mind and improve the taste of the city.