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Celebrate with recyclable rabbit art
January 31, 2011, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
CORRUGATED paper is usually not the first choice of material for artists, but as Tan Weiyun discovers, a group exhibition is displaying some interesting creations in this medium with a familiar furry festive theme.
Bunny mania is here and it's almost impossible to escape representations of the cute little animal as we approach the Year of the Rabbit.
Even a modern art exhibition using the medium of recyclable corrugated paper, currently in full swing at the LifeHub@JinQiao in the Pudong New Area, has a rabbit theme.
A joint effort between 10 leading contemporary artists in China and three young visual art pioneers, the show includes 12 art pieces, ranging from fresco, sculpture to interior deco and miniature architecture.
Scattered throughout the plaza, the rabbit artworks can be found at the central square, in the shopping malls, on the shop windows and next to the elevators.
"It is a new challenge for us to bring contemporary art that is loved by a minor group into the public eye on a bigger stage like this," says art critic Li Xu, the exhibition's curator and also director of the Shanghai Zhangjiang Museum of Modern Art based in Pudong.
The two key themes for this show are "rabbit" and "eco-friendly."
"I've found it very interesting that the rabbit is an image that has been the most adapted in a wide range of Chinese cartoons, children's songs and fairytales," Li says. "The artists are free to extend their imagination and interpret this cute animal in their own ways."
Corrugated paper, easily recyclable, is the only material that is required for the rabbit show. "Low-carbon life has become a fashion in recent years and it would be a great thing to combine environmental protection with modern art, both displayed in this shopping complex to large crowds every day," Li says.
The curator has launched many art shows but a corrugated paper-only exhibition is a first for him. "I got the inspiration from a fashion show where models were wearing paper clothes, so I was thinking of doing an art show with recycled paper, especially when I saw many art pieces became a total waste after the exhibition was over."
The rabbit-themed art exhibition has outdoor and indoor displays. The indoor show adopts corrugated paper, while the outdoor part is allowed to use recyclable plastics, which will stand up to the changing weather conditions for the show's duration until the end of April.
For all the artists, it was their first time using this kind of rigid, stackable and cushioning material.
"It was a fun experience for me, but also a big challenge," says Xiang Jing, a leading contemporary sculptress, who focuses mainly on images of adolescent girls and women in real life.
Her piece is titled "Rainbow Rabbit" and is highlighted with a pair of colorful long ears, while the rest of the body is ginger-yellow, the original color of the corrugated paper. It can be found on the first floor of the shopping mall near the elevator.
With smooth lines and feminine curves, the rabbit holding her arms across her chest presents female elegance and self-assertion using the rigid and dark-colored fluted paper.
"To work with corrugated paper is much harder than I thought," the sculptress says. "It requires longer time, more energy and patience because the material is totally different from glass, steel and clay, materials that I'm good with."
The rabbit is made of more than 700 sheets of carefully cut corrugated paper, which took Xiang almost a week to finish.
"I had to cut them to as many slices as possible in order to underline the curves of the rabbit," she says, adding that only a miniature sample took her three days to make. "The creation process gives me lots of new ideas and I will try more with new materials in my work in future."
"The Instant," an outdoor artwork by sculptor Liu Jianhua, is a colorful plastic cube hollowed out with a rabbit shape in the center, exhibited at the north of the square. It replays the slow motion of a rabbit running through the cube within a split second.
"I was going to build a much bigger cube, which visitors could interact with," Liu says, explaining that visitors would be able to walk into or climb onto it. "Children would love it."
However, Liu compromised and the idea was finally shelved over safety concerns.
"I've been trying to integrate my modern artwork into public places in recent years, which is entirely different from the exhibitions I've done in the museums and art galleries," Liu says. "Every little thing from weather changes to the venue condition has to be taken into consideration."
Young artist Zhou Beili, another pioneering sculptress, creates the show's biggest artwork - the walking houses.
Combined by corrugated paper and plastic, the houses look like rabbits, sprouting cute ears and long legs, while windows and doors are their eyes and mouths.
All of Zhou's works feature long legs, which are a symbol of the young artist.
"The houses present city life, while the rabbit imitation gives it an easy and childlike feel, which might be my wish for city life," she says.
Bunny mania is here and it's almost impossible to escape representations of the cute little animal as we approach the Year of the Rabbit.
Even a modern art exhibition using the medium of recyclable corrugated paper, currently in full swing at the LifeHub@JinQiao in the Pudong New Area, has a rabbit theme.
A joint effort between 10 leading contemporary artists in China and three young visual art pioneers, the show includes 12 art pieces, ranging from fresco, sculpture to interior deco and miniature architecture.
Scattered throughout the plaza, the rabbit artworks can be found at the central square, in the shopping malls, on the shop windows and next to the elevators.
"It is a new challenge for us to bring contemporary art that is loved by a minor group into the public eye on a bigger stage like this," says art critic Li Xu, the exhibition's curator and also director of the Shanghai Zhangjiang Museum of Modern Art based in Pudong.
The two key themes for this show are "rabbit" and "eco-friendly."
"I've found it very interesting that the rabbit is an image that has been the most adapted in a wide range of Chinese cartoons, children's songs and fairytales," Li says. "The artists are free to extend their imagination and interpret this cute animal in their own ways."
Corrugated paper, easily recyclable, is the only material that is required for the rabbit show. "Low-carbon life has become a fashion in recent years and it would be a great thing to combine environmental protection with modern art, both displayed in this shopping complex to large crowds every day," Li says.
The curator has launched many art shows but a corrugated paper-only exhibition is a first for him. "I got the inspiration from a fashion show where models were wearing paper clothes, so I was thinking of doing an art show with recycled paper, especially when I saw many art pieces became a total waste after the exhibition was over."
The rabbit-themed art exhibition has outdoor and indoor displays. The indoor show adopts corrugated paper, while the outdoor part is allowed to use recyclable plastics, which will stand up to the changing weather conditions for the show's duration until the end of April.
For all the artists, it was their first time using this kind of rigid, stackable and cushioning material.
"It was a fun experience for me, but also a big challenge," says Xiang Jing, a leading contemporary sculptress, who focuses mainly on images of adolescent girls and women in real life.
Her piece is titled "Rainbow Rabbit" and is highlighted with a pair of colorful long ears, while the rest of the body is ginger-yellow, the original color of the corrugated paper. It can be found on the first floor of the shopping mall near the elevator.
With smooth lines and feminine curves, the rabbit holding her arms across her chest presents female elegance and self-assertion using the rigid and dark-colored fluted paper.
"To work with corrugated paper is much harder than I thought," the sculptress says. "It requires longer time, more energy and patience because the material is totally different from glass, steel and clay, materials that I'm good with."
The rabbit is made of more than 700 sheets of carefully cut corrugated paper, which took Xiang almost a week to finish.
"I had to cut them to as many slices as possible in order to underline the curves of the rabbit," she says, adding that only a miniature sample took her three days to make. "The creation process gives me lots of new ideas and I will try more with new materials in my work in future."
"The Instant," an outdoor artwork by sculptor Liu Jianhua, is a colorful plastic cube hollowed out with a rabbit shape in the center, exhibited at the north of the square. It replays the slow motion of a rabbit running through the cube within a split second.
"I was going to build a much bigger cube, which visitors could interact with," Liu says, explaining that visitors would be able to walk into or climb onto it. "Children would love it."
However, Liu compromised and the idea was finally shelved over safety concerns.
"I've been trying to integrate my modern artwork into public places in recent years, which is entirely different from the exhibitions I've done in the museums and art galleries," Liu says. "Every little thing from weather changes to the venue condition has to be taken into consideration."
Young artist Zhou Beili, another pioneering sculptress, creates the show's biggest artwork - the walking houses.
Combined by corrugated paper and plastic, the houses look like rabbits, sprouting cute ears and long legs, while windows and doors are their eyes and mouths.
All of Zhou's works feature long legs, which are a symbol of the young artist.
"The houses present city life, while the rabbit imitation gives it an easy and childlike feel, which might be my wish for city life," she says.
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