Curator: Bu Bing, Sun Tian

Participating Artists: Bu Bing, Ding Yi, Da She, Ma Qingyun, Liu Jiakun, Hua Li, Zhang Yonghe, Zhang Ke, Zhang Bin, Chen Xudong, Meng Yan, Zheng Zaidong, Zhu Xiaofeng, Xu Tiantian

In this exhibition, the very traditional passion of Chinese intellectuals towards nature is displayed in an “un-natural” way. Materials from Formica usually seen in kitchen, laboratory, or fast-food restaurant are here deployed by 14 Chinese architects and artists to build forms of furniture, space, or even artifact undefined with a purpose.

We choose the theme “un-natural” to rethink ecology and sustainability issues through synthetic material. As the awareness of environmentalism always mis-leads people to prefer natural materials, ignoring the truth that some of them are actually not reproducible. The ethical or esthetic value of material can be always argued, but a life style, maybe un-natural, in today’s synthetic environment is pressingly needed here.

Furthermore, “un-natural” is a revisit to the unique subject of nature in Chinese literati tradition such as stone connoisseurship. Although object touve is replaced here by art work, the passion to interpret nature remains alive in contribution to this exhibition. Artist Ding Yi, Cheng Tsai-Tung, and architect Yan Meng, Chen Xudong, Li Hua presented their private stones, while Xiaofeng Zhu, Bing Bu, and Tiantian Xu refer their works to cloud, water, and coral respectively. Qingyun Ma’s loop and Zhang Bin/Zhou Wei’s seductive ball are rather abstract and both involve body interactions. Yung-Ho Chang and Liu Jiakun explored the intrinsic beauty of such synthetic material to extremes.