To Explore the Spiritual Root in Wild Weald

To Explore the Spiritual Root in Wild Weald
–A Talk among Guan Yuda, Luo Fei and He Libin
Keywords: Weald Wildness Regression Factors beyond civilization Observation with distance

In the talk, Guan Yuda thought that discussing art in Yunnan can’t go without the nature. Although there was some relationship between He Libin’s painting ‘Weald’ and the natural sceneries, this painting should be put in a even broader contemporary cultural vision, and He Libin is not a scenery painter. In Luo Fei’s view, the first time when modernism regressed to weald, what was got were vanity and desperation. Today if weald is going to be the subject again, either go back to modernism or create the classic for the second time. As far as He Libin is concerned, he thought painting was to solve the ultimate problem of human beings: ‘where to come and where to go’. Going back to the spiritual original weald was exactly the factors beyond civilization, which were more natural, distant and clearer solutions to many problems in today’s city life.

The comments about He Libin’s arts

From ‘The Way to Come and Go’ to ‘Overlapped View’
–A Talk between Cheng Changwei and He Libin
Keywords: Earth Fantasy and reality Contrast Material experiment

In the talk, He Libin depicted the relationship between his own artworks and life, and an important one was the relationship between human beings and the earth. In 1994 and 1995, He Libin traveled to the west of China, such as Gan Su, Xing Jiang, Shan’Xi and Inner Mongolia. He was deeply touched by the desolation and emptiness in the west and created his first series about that: ‘Views in the West’. During the following years, He Libin has also been expressing the relationship between human beings and the environment by his artworks and doing material experiments in accordance to the changes of his feelings. He Libin answered some questions like what was the relationship between painting language and art history. In the talk, the ideas about contemporary art in Yunnan were also mentioned. According to He, contemporary art in Yunnan was dynamic and with very strong inclination to be experimental, and existed in a free and loose atmosphere to build itself.

Thoughts in Lapse
–A Talk between Zhang Guanghua and He Libin
Keyword: Skeptic Forgotten views Lost world Lapse Inspiration

In the talk, He Libin explained the reason why he created ‘The Lost Writing’ and ‘The Forgotten Views’ by newspaper. Newspaper is of mass production, cheap and with rough touch. After being folded and twisted, the change of black, grey and white of newspaper is what He Libin wanted to express about the forgotten views. In He’s opinion, ‘Everything in the world is wearing away’, and he wanted to express the lapse of time by his artworks.

To Explore the Spiritual Root in Wild Weald
–A Talk among Guan Yuda, Luo Fei and He Libin
Keywords: Weald Wildness Regression Factors beyond civilization Observation with distance

In the talk, Guan Yuda thought that discussing art in Yunnan can’t go without the nature. Although there was some relationship between He Libin’s painting ‘Weald’ and the natural sceneries, this painting should be put in a even broader contemporary cultural vision, and He Libin is not a scenery painter. In Luo Fei’s view, the first time when modernism regressed to weald, what was got were vanity and desperation. Today if weald is going to be the subject again, either go back to modernism or create the classic for the second time. As far as He Libin is concerned, he thought painting was to solve the ultimate problem of human beings: ‘where to come and where to go’. Going back to the spiritual original weald was exactly the factors beyond civilization, which were more natural, distant and clearer solutions to many problems in today’s city life.

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Some comments about He libin’s arts:

He Libin is good at using the integrated materials in a plane to imitate the model of Chinese ancient landscape paintings, expressing a deep rusting memory as well as the rejection and disappointment of the reality.

- Mao Xuhui,The prologue of “Altitude Reaction - Yunnan Young Artist Joint Exhibition”, 2003

The language pattern of He Libin’s works is an approach with multiple parallel language layers. The main scene comes from the traditional Chinese landscape painting but its underlying media is the background that combines calligraphy, printed texts, as well as modern synthetic-coated paint, which displays a more self-expressed narrative text style.

- Wu Jun,”Creativity and Cultural Significance of Contemporary Institute” (Review On The Second Biennial Guiyang Painting Exhibition), 2003

The work (”Lost writing”) is made up of strongly distorted newspaper that is turned into long sticks and in a smart way be neatly pinned together with nails, and the calligraphy comes from the distorted newspaper is embedded in them. These materials and methods make the exciting writing process suffocated, and traces of abstract cursive handwriting become vaguely visible.

- An Li (East Asian Media Anthropology Institute, Germany) ,”Wandering Lives - Individual Disasters & Non-art Uncooperative”, Experimental Art Exhibition Review, 2005

The Naxi Minority artist from Lijiang is known for his deep and internal artistic style, whose painting materials and topics are full of the artist’s inherent personality and great creativity.

- Lin Qingquan”New Living” B42, July 14, 2005

From the naming of the “Western Landscape” in 1995 to “Memories”, “The Come-and-go Road” to “Drifting Shadow”, “The Duplication of Sceneries”, “Lost Writing”, “Dedicated to my Hometown of Lijiang - the 100 moments on December 24, 2005″, such titles are throughout his all works in the past 10 years, including the naming of the exhibitions that he organized or participated, such as “A Tale of Two Cities”, “Mirage”, all expressing his memorial feelings. He has always been careful to find, in his stirring heart, the bygone years and time. It is precisely this consanguinity of historical awareness and the sharing of space-time that consists of the scenery with the preciousness of multiple significances.

- Lin Shanwen,”Art Cases”, April 2006

Walking away from various temporal issues, leaving the noisy and complicated world behind and coming into a no man’s land, when a man is with himself in the wilderness and solitude, he, so small under the sky, is no longer just a short-lived breathing creature on the earth but getting started to regain the thought of eternity and truth; he will rethink his own values and his physical body and mind will no longer be vulnerable to temptation of desires. The lonely heart stays calm and the lonely soul rests at peace without any confusion but with contemplation at the empty land and wilderness, the sole contemplation, the contemplation of himself and of the world around himself and of his conditions as a man who lives in the world. In the process of contemplation, the lonely heart and soul are fully open and released to experience the contemplation condition of “I am in the world and the world is in me” in the empty land and wilderness. However, as an artist, why does he choose to live lonely and in contemplation? I think that an artist has to live in the world where he is not belonged to, since he is the watcher of human being’s soul.

I think that is a link between the deep soul experience and He Libin’s recent works – the “wilderness” series, and the experience can be created and shared between every lonely person who lives in contemplation.

He Libin has walked away from the landscape model, and out of the symbolism of materials and signs. In my opinion, that is a qualitative leap for his artistic life. He once entered a world, looking around in the widely spread images and signs, then he retreated into wilderness full of weeds to contemplate; entered a world of traditional Chinese academic landscape images, then retreated into this world’s paintings of contemplation; entered a mixed signs and materials to have the meanings of culture expression, then retreated into a life experience of the dialogue between himself and soul wildness. As I once said, Libin is that kind of artist who seeks for dual dialogues. Today, the dual dialogues are no longer the dialogues of history, images, signs and materials, but the dialogues between him, as a person who have real lives and feelings and the world. This is gradually emerging through the dialogues about the history, images, signs and materials. Although there are anxieties and struggles during the contemplation in the wilderness, it is the real soul experience for a person who gets started to walk into the way of contemplation and loneliness. The loneliness and pain during the contemplation and loneliness will return eternal soul relief.

I think that it is the wilderness, rather than the yard beauty, that represents the real progress of Chinese academic landscape paintings.

- Luo Fei,”The Contemplation Conception in the Wilderness”, December 31, 2006

Recently Li Bin and Lan Qingxing went to the Tiger Leaping Gorge, where I had been in 2003, for sketching and drew a number of landscape paintings, all of which are pressing stone mountains where clouds are flying around, and that is cool. You will always feel the fragile and short lives when you face the steep mountains. I was wondering why Li Bin and his companies would transport frame canvas so far for sketching under the hot sunshine and in the rain. Nowadays, although there are countryside going and materials collections during an art course, few students can truly comprehend the wonders of the Nature, since the countryside going and materials collections have become formalized and superficial teaching mode: there are no emotional dialogues with the locals during the countryside goings, and the sketching have not built a link between the students’ heart and world, or the Jingjie (state or the level of one’s perception).

We once talked about the importance of the wilderness experience for individual lives and ethnic groups. Although Li Bin does not understand Christian spiritual theology, his deep experience of wilderness/empty land makes him know about the need for soul building and makes him understand the meaning of loneness in this noisy and complicated world, which makes him understand that the wild is the source of power. It was the end of last year when I first saw him getting started to paint the two or three of the “wilderness” series, then I wrote down my feelings about that when I came back and sent the article to him with uncertainty, since I do not understand why he was concerned about wilderness. I only turned my experience at the belief and spiritual level into artistic language to describe the “wilderness.” Later on, he said: “Although the words are very short, it was very in line with my mood.” I think the real soul experience on art and religion is the same.

The Jews are very familiar to wilderness since their ethnic history is generated from the wilderness, and nowadays they often live outside with the whole family. But for Chinese, especially intellectuals, wilderness is so far away that there are many pretty hills, green waters and pleasant courtyards in our traditional culture but no a barren wilderness.

On the going into wilderness, there are two points must be explained. Firstly, living alone in wilderness is not escaping but regaining strength and listening to the voices of his own soul, whose charming can not be understood by those who do not have the deep lonely living experience. Chinese literati like to go to beautiful landscapes being with themselves, but as I once said, it is the wilderness, rather than the yard beauty, that represents the real progress of the Chinese academic landscape paintings, because it surpassed the transmigrate fate that Chinese literati can not avoid: escape and seclusion. Today, there are still many artists who agree with this idea and value - “studio artists”, who make works in the studio working with workers or assistants and let the finished works sent to the agents for high money rewards, then continue to their next studio works. This very safe and hidden way is very appealing for some young artists, since it will make them happy and famous without at lower prices. Secondly, going out into wilderness is not resulting from himself but for the calls from the wilderness and the attraction to our spiritual personality from the personification of the wilderness. Libin agreed with me by saying that we need to repeatedly return to the original point looking up to the light of spirit; otherwise we will be lost in this era.

Libin asked me, “Is there a word to describe my art and thought?” I thought for a while and said no, especially today - there are not so many people who are willing to climb up to barren heights of solitude of the spirit and soul to contemplate. If we have to use a word to describe his art, the word should be “spiritual art” (it is not about the art of spirituality, but about the spirituality of art). It is not a rapid and fashionable response to the current mainstream but the experience of an individual living alone to seek for the universal human spirit of the ultimate brilliance. I said to him, your works is so very close to God!
Every time I talked to Libin I was astonished to see the two light beams of thought that are repeatedly staggered to integrate and bring out the new beams in the dark.

- Luo Fei’s blog “The Spiritual Level in Arts”, 5 September, 2007

In “Western Landscapes” series 12 years ago and current “wilderness” series, He Libin has been trying to “seek for a kind of strong self-exile”, and go back into “coldest and most lonely stage of heart” to liberate the human being’s soul from the heavy shackles of the various desires that derive from the modern material civilization, going back to the calm and natural soul stage, going into the deeper realm of human being’s life to look at themselves, then to face current realities with clearer mind.
In his works, two color modeling elements, which are flowing brushwork full of life passion and the simple black-and-white color, have the dominant position with the light and shape at its services. Shapes are fading away from highly dynamic brushworks that were distorted and rolling, “broken” but not losing its overall internal structural changes. These brushworks, which are full of life energy and touching, learned from Chinese Painting’s conception of “using ink to replace color” to display the meaning of nature by using the black-and-white color, “broken” but not losing the overall body shape, as well as rocks, treetops, and the dramatic flashing lights from the grass, which built a single and unified scene of the whole world.

In his “wilderness” series, the man’s body wrapped for a long time and the stillness of everything in the wilderness has been opened completely. Human being, as presence of the world, is linked to the whole world. The visual world that was experienced by He Libin but was often “forgotten” by the busy people has been reopened.

- Zhu Jun,”The Beard of Realism” (The Preface to “Color World” Exhibition), February, 2008