Artist Statement
2
Artist Statement
2
Artist Statement
2
LIN ZHU
LIN ZHU
LIN ZHU
My work is to explore the relationship between people and plants with plants as the carrier. In my life, there has always been the shadow of plants, such as the garden in my childhood memory home, I will collect plants mixed with books, as well as the education of Chinese culture from childhood and so on. I started to formally create plants in 2014, mainly focusing on painting. After coming to London, I subjectively began to have a variety of media attempts. I tried to make some new breakthroughs and attempts in materials, and I began to be more interested in using collage and sculpture to express this theme. In the first unit, I made some small collages and models about the garden. In my opinion, people can't leave the city, but they need a spiritual sustenance. The garden of the city becomes the habitat of the spirit.
I will be in unit 2, I will be specific to the relationship between people and plants in the indoor environment. The relationship between human beings and family plants is a relationship of dependence and care. Plants can arouse a kind of sympathy. In terms of materials, I chose cloth collage. As described by Magdalena Abakanowicz, a Polish Artist: "fabric is our covering and our attire. Made with our hands, it is a record of our souls.". This kind of temperature is also what I like to convey to the audience. People and plants are interdependent, and plants can comfort people's hearts.
My work is to explore the relationship between people and plants with plants as the carrier. In my life, there has always been the shadow of plants, such as the garden in my childhood memory home, I will collect plants mixed with books, as well as the education of Chinese culture from childhood and so on. I started to formally create plants in 2014, mainly focusing on painting. After coming to London, I subjectively began to have a variety of media attempts. I tried to make some new breakthroughs and attempts in materials, and I began to be more interested in using collage and sculpture to express this theme. In the first unit, I made some small collages and models about the garden. In my opinion, people can't leave the city, but they need a spiritual sustenance. The garden of the city becomes the habitat of the spirit.
I will be in unit 2, I will be specific to the relationship between people and plants in the indoor environment. The relationship between human beings and family plants is a relationship of dependence and care. Plants can arouse a kind of sympathy. In terms of materials, I chose cloth collage. As described by Magdalena Abakanowicz, a Polish Artist: "fabric is our covering and our attire. Made with our hands, it is a record of our souls.". This kind of temperature is also what I like to convey to the audience. People and plants are interdependent, and plants can comfort people's hearts.
My work is to explore the relationship between people and plants with plants as the carrier. In my life, there has always been the shadow of plants, such as the garden in my childhood memory home, I will collect plants mixed with books, as well as the education of Chinese culture from childhood and so on. I started to formally create plants in 2014, mainly focusing on painting. After coming to London, I subjectively began to have a variety of media attempts. I tried to make some new breakthroughs and attempts in materials, and I began to be more interested in using collage and sculpture to express this theme. In the first unit, I made some small collages and models about the garden. In my opinion, people can't leave the city, but they need a spiritual sustenance. The garden of the city becomes the habitat of the spirit.
I will be in unit 2, I will be specific to the relationship between people and plants in the indoor environment. The relationship between human beings and family plants is a relationship of dependence and care. Plants can arouse a kind of sympathy. In terms of materials, I chose cloth collage. As described by Magdalena Abakanowicz, a Polish Artist: "fabric is our covering and our attire. Made with our hands, it is a record of our souls.". This kind of temperature is also what I like to convey to the audience. People and plants are interdependent, and plants can comfort people's hearts.
Artist Statement
Artist Statement
Artist Statement
My work is to explore the relationship between people and plants with plants as the carrier. In my life, there has always been the shadow of plants, such as the garden in my childhood memory home, I will collect plants mixed with books, as well as the education of Chinese culture from childhood and so on. I started to formally create plants in 2014, mainly focusing on painting. After coming to London, I subjectively began to have a variety of media attempts. I tried to make some new breakthroughs and attempts in materials, and I began to be more interested in using collage and sculpture to express this theme. In the first unit, I made some small collages and models about the garden. In my opinion, people can't leave the city, but they need a spiritual sustenance. The garden of the city becomes the habitat of the spirit.
I will be in unit 2, I will be specific to the relationship between people and plants in the indoor environment. The relationship between human beings and family plants is a relationship of dependence and care. Plants can arouse a kind of sympathy. In terms of materials, I chose cloth collage. As described by Magdalena Abakanowicz, a Polish Artist: "fabric is our covering and our attire. Made with our hands, it is a record of our souls.". This kind of temperature is also what I like to convey to the audience. People and plants are interdependent, and plants can comfort people's hearts.
My work is to explore the relationship between people and plants with plants as the carrier. In my life, there has always been the shadow of plants, such as the garden in my childhood memory home, I will collect plants mixed with books, as well as the education of Chinese culture from childhood and so on. I started to formally create plants in 2014, mainly focusing on painting. After coming to London, I subjectively began to have a variety of media attempts. I tried to make some new breakthroughs and attempts in materials, and I began to be more interested in using collage and sculpture to express this theme. In the first unit, I made some small collages and models about the garden. In my opinion, people can't leave the city, but they need a spiritual sustenance. The garden of the city becomes the habitat of the spirit.
I will be in unit 2, I will be specific to the relationship between people and plants in the indoor environment. The relationship between human beings and family plants is a relationship of dependence and care. Plants can arouse a kind of sympathy. In terms of materials, I chose cloth collage. As described by Magdalena Abakanowicz, a Polish Artist: "fabric is our covering and our attire. Made with our hands, it is a record of our souls.". This kind of temperature is also what I like to convey to the audience. People and plants are interdependent, and plants can comfort people's hearts.
My work is to explore the relationship between people and plants with plants as the carrier. In my life, there has always been the shadow of plants, such as the garden in my childhood memory home, I will collect plants mixed with books, as well as the education of Chinese culture from childhood and so on. I started to formally create plants in 2014, mainly focusing on painting. After coming to London, I subjectively began to have a variety of media attempts. I tried to make some new breakthroughs and attempts in materials, and I began to be more interested in using collage and sculpture to express this theme. In the first unit, I made some small collages and models about the garden. In my opinion, people can't leave the city, but they need a spiritual sustenance. The garden of the city becomes the habitat of the spirit.
I will be in unit 2, I will be specific to the relationship between people and plants in the indoor environment. The relationship between human beings and family plants is a relationship of dependence and care. Plants can arouse a kind of sympathy. In terms of materials, I chose cloth collage. As described by Magdalena Abakanowicz, a Polish Artist: "fabric is our covering and our attire. Made with our hands, it is a record of our souls.". This kind of temperature is also what I like to convey to the audience. People and plants are interdependent, and plants can comfort people's hearts.
Education
·MA-Fine Arts: Painting,UAL : Camberwell College of Arts, UK
·MA-Oil Painting,Capital Normal University, China
·BA-Art&Design,Beijing University of Technology, China
work Experience
Art Teacher, Chen Jinglun Middle School, Beijing
exhibitions
Solo
Personal Exhibition of Zhu Lin`s Oil Painting, Joy City of Chaoyang , Beijing, China, 2017
“Colorful World” , Song Yang Art Gallery, Beijing, China, 2016
Zhu Lin photography exhibition, Beijing University of technology, Beijing, China, 2011
Group
“Distance to No. 2 Ganjiang West Road”: International Art Exhibition, Suzhou, China, 2019
“Back to The Perceptual” Cross-year Exhibition of Contemporary Art, Hangzhou, China, 2018
“Focus on China”: French Exhibition of Contemporary Artworks, France, Mar 2017
“Blooming space”: Invitational Exhibition, Ishikawa Gallery, Japan, 2017
Beijing Summer Exhibition 17, Enlai Art Gallery, Beijing, China, 2017
“Under the reality”: Young Joint Exhibition, Times Fangyuan Gallery, Beijing, China, 2017
“Hi Art” :New Art Fair, Liang Maqiao Residence, Beijing, China, 2017
Publication
Two Worlds: Diary of mobile phone photography, Jiangsu Phoenix Publisher, 2018
Awards
The Sixth Diary Painting of Chaoyang District, The First Prize, 2018
23rd National Calligraphy Painting Competition, The First Prize, 2018
Outstanding Student Scholarship at Beijing Capital Normal University, The First Class, 2015
Outstanding Student Scholarship at Beijing University of technology, The First Class, 2011
Education
·MA-Fine Arts: Painting,UAL : Camberwell College of Arts, UK
·MA-Oil Painting,Capital Normal University, China
·BA-Art&Design,Beijing University of Technology, China
work Experience
Art Teacher, Chen Jinglun Middle School, Beijing
exhibitions
Solo
Personal Exhibition of Zhu Lin`s Oil Painting, Joy City of Chaoyang , Beijing, China, 2017
“Colorful World” , Song Yang Art Gallery, Beijing, China, 2016
Zhu Lin photography exhibition, Beijing University of technology, Beijing, China, 2011
Group
“Distance to No. 2 Ganjiang West Road”: International Art Exhibition, Suzhou, China, 2019
“Back to The Perceptual” Cross-year Exhibition of Contemporary Art, Hangzhou, China, 2018
“Focus on China”: French Exhibition of Contemporary Artworks, France, Mar 2017
“Blooming space”: Invitational Exhibition, Ishikawa Gallery, Japan, 2017
Beijing Summer Exhibition 17, Enlai Art Gallery, Beijing, China, 2017
“Under the reality”: Young Joint Exhibition, Times Fangyuan Gallery, Beijing, China, 2017
“Hi Art” :New Art Fair, Liang Maqiao Residence, Beijing, China, 2017
Publication
Two Worlds: Diary of mobile phone photography, Jiangsu Phoenix Publisher, 2018
Awards
The Sixth Diary Painting of Chaoyang District, The First Prize, 2018
23rd National Calligraphy Painting Competition, The First Prize, 2018
Outstanding Student Scholarship at Beijing Capital Normal University, The First Class, 2015
Outstanding Student Scholarship at Beijing University of technology, The First Class, 2011
Education
·MA-Fine Arts: Painting,UAL : Camberwell College of Arts, UK
·MA-Oil Painting,Capital Normal University, China
·BA-Art&Design,Beijing University of Technology, China
work Experience
Art Teacher, Chen Jinglun Middle School, Beijing
exhibitions
Solo
Personal Exhibition of Zhu Lin`s Oil Painting, Joy City of Chaoyang , Beijing, China, 2017
“Colorful World” , Song Yang Art Gallery, Beijing, China, 2016
Zhu Lin photography exhibition, Beijing University of technology, Beijing, China, 2011
Group
“Distance to No. 2 Ganjiang West Road”: International Art Exhibition, Suzhou, China, 2019
“Back to The Perceptual” Cross-year Exhibition of Contemporary Art, Hangzhou, China, 2018
“Focus on China”: French Exhibition of Contemporary Artworks, France, Mar 2017
“Blooming space”: Invitational Exhibition, Ishikawa Gallery, Japan, 2017
Beijing Summer Exhibition 17, Enlai Art Gallery, Beijing, China, 2017
“Under the reality”: Young Joint Exhibition, Times Fangyuan Gallery, Beijing, China, 2017
“Hi Art” :New Art Fair, Liang Maqiao Residence, Beijing, China, 2017
Publication
Two Worlds: Diary of mobile phone photography, Jiangsu Phoenix Publisher, 2018
Awards
The Sixth Diary Painting of Chaoyang District, The First Prize, 2018
23rd National Calligraphy Painting Competition, The First Prize, 2018
Outstanding Student Scholarship at Beijing Capital Normal University, The First Class, 2015
Outstanding Student Scholarship at Beijing University of technology, The First Class, 2011
UNIT 2
OTHERS
UNIT 3
Visit: June 2
Qingdao
By June, the virus in China was no longer serious. Invited by my friends, I went to Qingdao, a city near the sea. This is a beautiful city, when I walk on the road of the city. All of a sudden, there is an interesting phenomenon of blue and red tulips in the flower beds of the city. Because their colors are so bright that they are not in harmony with the natural grassland. They look more like an installation. This kind of human behavior, let me think of a lot of people deliberately change the behavior of plants. For example, in order to promote the growth of plants, people will use LED that imitate the sun to illuminate plants, so that they can grow more luxuriantly. These behaviors make me feel that people need plants from the bottom of my heart. This demand is reflected in our daily life through the behavior of artificial transformation of plants.
Book: The plant that shakes the world history
The plant that shakes the world history is a book that looks at the world and history from the perspective of plants, with a unique narrative angle. The author combines multi-disciplinary knowledge and writes many interesting stories in the process of globalization from the birth of human civilization into the process of globalization with ease. He tells the story of wheat, rice, sugarcane, pepper, tulip and other seemingly common but extremely important plants. Their cultivation, dissemination, taste and value have an impact on human economy, society, culture, science and technology . A little rice is the origin of human civilization; behind a spoonful of sweet sugar, it may be that countless people were forced to leave their hometown as slaves Behind the history of mankind, there are always plants, and the history of plants is also a human history.
This book can not only refresh my understanding of plants, but also let me re-examine and think about the relationship between man and nature. Whether in the ancient times with underdeveloped transportation or in the modern society with advanced science and technology, perhaps understanding plants can help us better understand ourselves. At the end of the book, the author says, "the history of mankind is actually the history of plants." In other words, "human beings are just pitiful creatures who take care of plants", which may be a better reminder to the arrogant human beings.
Course Journal:
Group Crits with Mark
At the group crits, Mark recommended the Chelsea Flower Show to me, and I started looking for information about the show. Its origin dates back to the association's first flower show in its Chelsea garden in 1827. The Chelsea Flower Show quickly became "one of the main attractions of the fashion season." Due to expensive to build and maintain, the rock garden is considered a status symbol, a wealthy gardener. A lot of planning is needed to get the garden and Exhibition ready for Chelsea in time. This requires growers to move plants that normally do not bloom in the spring between the cold storage and the greenhouse to delay or advance flowering in order to achieve the perfect flowering at Chelsea week.
People are crazy about these flowers, for me, it can be seen that such a flower show is a product of meeting human desires. On the one hand, it is sought after by people and can reflect their social status. On the other hand, people carefully choose their favorite plants, even if they are not seasonal flowers, they will try to create conditions
Book: Walden
I believe that many people have seen Walden, can not help yearning for Thoreau retired to the forest life. He wrote down the relationship between man and nature, the plight of man in society and the habit of man's desire to improve his spirit. Thoreau thought that the taste of beauty is best cultivated in the open air, and there is no one more happy than those who enjoy the broad horizon freely. It may not be enough to say that Thoreau is "the lover of nature". He is often integrated with nature. He is a part of nature.
Under the pressure of modern civilization, most of us are always in a hurry. It seems that we always have to get there. Even when we are on vacation and playing, we are also in a hurry to finish all the scenic spots marked on the map, take beautiful scenery photos everywhere to prove that we have been to this place, and then bring back the photos that can show us to people. We seldom stop, stop to listen to the wind, look at the clouds, recognize the vegetation, and watch a bug crawl. People have been more and more far away from the simple nature, some primitive life that people yearn for has been more and more far away from us, replaced by anxiety, fickleness and uneasiness. After all, man is also a part of nature. Human's heart of advocating nature and yearning for nature is hard to die. Walden lake just brings people a new understanding of the concept of nature and life in our society, so that we can realize the importance of harmony between man and nature. This return to nature, like the plants in my works, is also the hope that people can re-examine the tiny plants and our lives.
Suttons flower exhibition 1958
Garden from international exhibition, 1862
Video：Great Gardens: “Prospect Cottage”
UNIT 2
All Videos
Derek Jarman, the late pioneer filmmaker, has left behind not only the pioneering works with profound enlightenment significance for the world, but also the "prospect cottage" built by him in 1986 in the barren coastal town of Dungeness, Kent, England. The artist, who is also a master of Horticultural Design, once described the building adjacent to the nuclear power plant as: "the garden contains the immortal spirit of heaven, which is exactly what my garden is like."
I believe that there is a garden in everyone's heart. This is Derek Jarman's ideal garden, and what is your ideal garden like? Garden, to some extent, is the spiritual sustenance of human beings and a utopian spiritual world. In my work Utopia garden, what I want to embody is such a man-made spiritual world.
Derek Jarman’s poem
I waited a lifetime to build my garden,
I built my garden with the colours of healing,
On the sepia shingle at Dungeness.
I planted a rose and then an elder,
Lavender, sage, and Crambe maritima,
Lovage, parsley and santolina,
Hore hound, fennel, mint and rue.
Here was a garden to soothe the mind,
A garden of circles and wooden henges,
Circles of stone, and sea defences.
Film : “Little Joe”
The film is about Alice, a female scientist at the Institute of Botany, who has developed a new plant for the flower show - a flower that can improve people's moods through smell, both of which are fascinating. She hopes to win the prize at the flower fair and make profits by selling the plant. In her breeding thought, it will be a delicate flower, which must be carefully cared for by the owner, constant temperature and humidity, and even talk with it to stimulate its growth. In return, the flower will give off an unprecedented pleasant smell and make people happy. However, things go against one's wishes. People often think that they can control everything, but how small they are in front of nature. In the end, Alice, like the people around her, was controlled by the flowers she created.
This movie is very dramatic and the whole picture and tone are very artistic, which can be seen from the stills I am looking for. In my creation, I also want to show the relationship between man and nature. This film gives me a new idea, that is, the contradiction between man and nature, who controls who.
Book: Shi Jing
The Book of Songs, Shi Jing, is the earliest poetry collection in China, which collects 305 poems from the early Western Zhou Dynasty to the middle of the spring and Autumn period. At that time, people integrated the plants and trees of nature into the most simple emotions. For more than 2500 years, it is still the spirit of the Chinese people and the basis of aestheticists. Confucius said, "if you don't learn poetry, you can't speak". If you don't read Shi Jing, you don't know how to speak.
I think of reading the book of songs because I want to find my deeper feelings for plants. For a Chinese, in our education, we began to contact Chinese poetry from primary school. We read and recited some beautiful sentences. In Chinese classical literature, many scholars like to express their feelings with plants. Shi Jing is the beginning of Chinese poetry, the source of Chinese literature, and the earliest collection of Chinese poems. The sentimental plants in the poem confirm the eternal entanglement between man and nature. These seemingly mysterious plants carry a body of unknown poetry. After more than two thousand years, they still grow silently around us.
Visit: February 15
The Garden Museum
At the beginning of the new term, I have no idea about how to continue my theme. For finding inspiration, I just searched some museum what I interested in. Then, I found the Garden Museum. The Garden Museum was founded by Rosemary and John Nicholson in 1977 in order to rescue the abandoned church of St Mary’s at Lambeth, which was due for demolition. The church is the burial place of John Tradescant (c1570 – 1638), the first great gardener and plant-hunter in British history. The whole museum is not very big. There are several scattered exhibitions in different places. What attracts me most is work in front of the museum. Several plants are covered by a glasshouse . Without the glass cover, the plant would not have attracted much attention. A simple glass cover highlights the theme of the garden. It is a recombination of plants in a certain area, no longer a natural plant. This visit makes me using glass cover in my work Utopia Garden.
Visit: February 23
Royal Academy of Arts
I was going to see Picasso's exhibition at the Royal Academy of fine arts, but I was attracted by a group exhibition of students from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in other exhibition halls. One of the most impressive artists is Millie Layton, she graduated from the Glasgow School of art in sculpture and environmental art in 2017. Her works are used bright colours and a big scale. like a child in a toy shop. I like candy colors and exhibition forms like this. In Unit 1, my works are too small. In Unit 2, I like to try some large-scale works. This kind of work has a different impact on our vision. Therefore, I made some attempts in my work, Hug.
Course Journal:
Group Crits with Daniel
I didn't think much about the colour before when Daniel saw my work Utopia garden. He thinks that I use too many people's body parts and skin color, which will mislead people in the direction of erotic. I did think of this problem after the discussion with Daniel. Due to the influence of Fred Tomaselli's collage, my work also uses partial pictures of the human body to collage, which is intended to emphasize that the garden is the result of human beings. And eroticism is not my original intention. Daniel gave me a good reminder to be more cautious in colour selection in the future. So later, I made a few experiments and changes to this work.
Book: Art & the garden: travels in the contemporary mindscape/guest edited by Anne de Charmant.
Some useful sentences:
PAGE 2
“In the beginning was the Garden; Garden of Eden or the Hesperides, Pardes of the Kabbala or Paradise on the Earth from which man and woman were banished. The garden has always been the precious space where man situates his utopias, collecting there the best of creation and the highest designs in an attempt to shape his vision of paradise.”
“What this paradise presumes to be and which utopia is illustrated is however a changeable matter and has given rise to many lost masterpieces from Egypt to Rome and from Persia to China. Whether a representation of the sacred, of power, of memory or even of fantasy, the garden is the place of culture and art par excellence.”
PAGE 20
This model remains tried to an urban escapist mentality that promotes a desire to pursue a “simple” life in the heart of the countryside.
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UNIT 1
Book: Collage, montage, assemblage : history and contemporary techniques
Norman Laliberté, Alex Mogelon
The symbols with the collage, montage, assemblage and construction must be interpreted and related to human feelings, experiences, and values in order to evoke individual reaction and understanding on the part of the viewer. Thus the power of a collage composition rests in the use of novel and many times as to elicit psychological from the viewer.
Some useful sentences:
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[Page 7] Earlier, Dutch and Flemish artists of the 16th century had produced a number of still-life painting which deceived the eye with lottery tickets, cards, and torn papers that appeared to be so real that the view was tempted to touch them. Raphael Peale, John Peto, and William Harnett were among those artists who continued in this vein in the 1800s.Finally, during the early 1900s, collage became a form of serious artistic expression as a consequence of the pioneering works of Braque and Picasso.Very probably the camera contributed to the rapid emergence of the collage as a serious art medium.
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[Page 11]" The waste of the world becomes my art," a quotation attributed to Kurt Schwitters in the 1930s, and re-emphasized in contemporary times by Marshall McLuhan, expresses a philosophy basic to the evolution of many kinds of fork art. Kurt Schwitters explained his search for new meanings with discarded materials as follows:" I did not understand why one could not use...(in the sane way one uses color made in a factory) material such as old tramway and bus tickets, washed up pieces of wood from the seashore, cloak-room numbers, bits of string...From my standpoint, it involved a social attitude and on the artistic level, a personal pleasure…”
Book: Art forms in the plant world
Karl Blossfeldt
Karl Blossfeldt, a German photographer, enlarges in on parts of the plants to show them a sculptural and architectural quality. This book comprises 120 plates from this rich material, and each reveals the unity of creative will in nature and art. It is not by chance that a work is now published which, with the aid of phtotographic camera, by giving enlargements of parts of plants, reveals a relationship between art and nature never heretofore represented with such startling immediately.It's also about plants. His way of shooting has changed our view of plants, and we can see plants in a new way. Karl Blossfeldt has re-examined the plants we are used to in our daily life from a new perspective, breaking our existing thinking pattern. This is also what I hope my works can bring to people. Break our inherent thinking and dig out new perspectives.
Book: The plant contract : art's return to vegetal life
Prudence Gibson
The book of natural contract explores the symbiotic relationship between human beings and nature. It is interesting that plants can't sit down and sign contracts with people, and the same contracts are not binding. However, I think such a book is very useful for my creative practice, it can help me to take a more comprehensive view of the relationship between people and plants and the expression of plants in art. Here, I excerpt some of the passages that I personally agree with.
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The discourse of plants and art falls within enviro-aesthetics. All that we yearn for, within a context of aesthetics, stems from conscious spirited awareness, a sentient life.
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Art can address the problems of no longer recognizing nature, by re-introducting us to it. This is more than a call for a return to nature and specifically to plants. It is also an effort to engage with the massively distributed and globalized issue of climate change, in a small and localized way, human by human, artist by artist, plant by plant.
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If we can "see" the vegetal world once more, we might remember what we are. Plants are the key to curing vegetal blindness.
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Plants are calling us back to the world. Somewhere, somehow, we have lost respect for the world, for nature and for each other.
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If art is a social dynamic where peopele gather to see, to experience, to participate and to be changed,then art may have the capacity to change our attitude to plants, and nature widely.
Visit: October 10
Anthony Gormley
This autumn the Royal Academy of art in London is bringing the Gormley's most ambitious solo exhibition in nearly a decade, including work from Gormley's career over the past 45 years and a large new installation dedicated to the show.The exhibition explores the industrial and organic mediums Anthony Gormley has used over the years, including iron, steel, hand beaten lead, seawater and clay. These include Gormley's lesser-known early works from the 1970s and 1980s, such as sculptures in which the artist used his own body as a creative tool, and a selection of sketches and works on paper.
Gormley's creation theme is about the human and nature and formed from his childhood experience. I like his water color series which using human image. He added the earth to his work to make it textured.This kind of excitation can make the picture appear a sense of hierarchy, which is not so monotonous. Although this part of small paper paintings are based on a person's image as the theme, but it is very vivid, you can see his attempt in composition and techniques. I think my plant series can also refer to his methods to make the plants I draw look not so simple.
It is worth mentioning that his exhibition is also highly interactive. The audience can not only see the paintings and sculptures, but also participate in his large sculptures. I think the atmosphere created by the interaction will make the audience have a very different experience. I hope that in my future works, such interactivity can also be increased
2019, Anthony Gormley‘s solo exhibition
Visit: November 1
Nam June Paik, Tate Modern
Nam June Paik is known as the "father of video art". A major retrospective at Tate modern for Nam June Paik offers a glimpse into the meaning of "the future is now" in the jungle of more than 200 still-chic works. One of my favorite works is TV Garden, because it is an installation about plants. Paik imagined a future landscape where technology is an integral part of the natural world. Placing TV sets alongside live plants, he creates an environment in which the seemingly distinct realms of electronics and nature coexist. His approach follows the Buddhist belief that all things are interdependent and closely connected. It also suggests that technology is not in conflict with nature but an extension of the human realm. I was surprised that he was able to make such avant-garde art in the 1960s. In this "garden" created by Nam June Paik, hidden in a cluster of living plants are video monitors of various sizes. All the monitors in the installation play "Global Groove," a collaboration between Paige and John j. Godfrey in 1973, which cuts performers from around the world into a rotating visual mix, while the audio track of the videotape ACTS as a counterpoint to music and dialogue, contrasting with the flickering lights on the monitor.
His works make me feel that I should not exclude new technologies, but try to integrate the sense of technology into my works. We live in a technology era, and we should better use these technologies to help our own creation.
TV Garden, 1974-77, Nan June Paik
Visit: November 10
Barbican Centre
Barbican Art Center hides the second largest tropical greenhouse in London, which contains more than 2000 kinds of tropical plants and trees. This Sunday I went to the greenhouse garden of Barbican Art Center to collect some materials about plants. There were few people on the way. When I got to the greenhouse on the third floor, I was surprised that the garden was full of people. I was thinking that people want to come to contact with nature on weekends. Nature can make people feel relaxed. People move slowly, looking at these common and unusual plants. For example, I have only seen the fruits of bananas and ginger, but I have not seen what kind of plants they grow on. What attracts me most is cactus greenhouse, all kinds of cactus. I like cacti very much, maybe because they have a strong sense of form, and they grow in a special way.
Conservatory, Barbican Centre
When I saw this cactus growing hard, I was very moved, in order to survive. It changes its growth direction and curls up together. However, he is still struggling to grow. How can I not be like us? In order to survive, we polish the edges and corners to better adapt to the society.
Visit: November 17
Natural History Museum
At Mark's suggestion, I went to the natural history museum. It's really a big museum. In my opinion, it's a combination of technology, history and art. There are various exhibition halls in the museum, such as those about ore, insects, human beings, etc. I saw this exhibit of seaweed in the hall of the museum. We can see red, green and brown algae. Seaweed shows the amazing complexity of the tree of life. Red and green seaweed are close relatives of land plants. And brown algae are very different in evolution. At the same time, I considered that seeweed's transparent material for showing is also very special. This exhibition form is like a work of art.
Visit: December 19
South London Gallery
I went to South London Gallery and saw an exhibition of portraits on the third floor. The color of the wall and the photos of the exhibition are very beautiful. I think when I set up my own exhibition in the future, I will think more about the surrounding environment and color. Such a combination of colors obviously adds points to the whole exhibition.
Course Journal 2019 - 2020
October 10 Pecha Kucha
It was my first time to make a presentation by Pecha Kucha style. The presentation includes 10 images and you must finish each image in 20 seconds. I was a bit nervous and practiced many times.
My 10 were :
1.Hello, everyone! I’m Lin Zhu. Today, I would like to share my creative experience with you.
When I was in high school, I had a habit of collecting leaves and flowers and put them in my diary. Writing down my thoughts or feelings.
2.I would pay attention to the plants in my daily life. Such as plants on balcony, plants in flower bed. For collecting materials, I often go to botanical gardens to sketch or take photos of plants.
3.Last month, I went to the Royal Botanical Garden and took many pictures of plants, I planned to make some creations later. In the process of creation, I also researched some painters' works.
4.In the development of Chinese ink painting, there is an independent classification of flower and bird painting. Painters are not only describing flowers and birds, but also expressing their feelings through pictures.
5.In Western art history，it was 16th century that still life painting became an independent theme. This Caravaggio’s work is said to be the earliest still life painting.
6. Yan Ping is my favorite painter in China. Perhaps compared with male artists, female artists’ works of art are more delicate and more emotional. it is easier for me to experience her feelings in her paintings.
7.Marlene Dumas is a brilliant South African artist. Her works have strong visual impact and can attract your attention immediately. I think, for me, there is much to learn from her works.
8.David Hockney is also one of my favorite artists. He spent his life trying and exploring new art forms. His iPad series has changed the way of painting medium. In the following creation, I also expect to try different ways.
9.Last but not least, I would like to say that even if a painter is skilled enough, he is only a craftsman. An artist needs to feel like, whether it is pain or joy.
10.Only by moving your own works can you move others. Just like Van Gogh’s plants, they go far beyond ordinary still life paintings. The plants he describes are fresh, as if they are growing all the time.
October 16, 2019 The first group crits
Today was my first group crits. Each student had 20 or 30 minutes to introduce and discuss with classmates and the teacher.
First, I introduced my creative ideas and show my works. Then, I discussed with classmates. Finally, the teacher summarized and gave me some suggestion.Mark, a teacher in my group, suggested that I needed to study the history of plants and flowers to find out what I was interested in. For example: go to the National Gallery to see the 17th century plant painting. He thought that the relationship between plants and people changed in that period. In addition, some of my classmate suggested I could try screen-painting to magnify my works. It sounded great, and I was planning to try later.
At last, we all agreed that the research methods of scientists and artists were different. Mark thought that the research of scientists was that if you wanted to define a problem, then you did many things to solve it. Through experiments, we could get the results. Every step must have the evidence, but the research of artists was not like this. There were many ways to study art. It should not only necessarily by reading, but also by taking photos and other ways. You can even talk with staff in the museum for doing research.
This could make me realize that the research of artists is very extensive and abstract. Your research can start with a small idea or an unspecified feeling. After you repeatedly explore the idea and feeling, they will flourish like trees.
October 22, 2019 the first 1-2-1 tutorials with Geraint
This time, I showed Geraint my sketches and collages, and told him some of my creative ideas. Geraint asked me not only to explore my creative themes in depth and breadth, but also to think about the significance of my core theme - the relationship between humans and plants. He also suggested that I should look at relevant artists's works, and see how critics evaluate their works. Geraint recommended many excellent artists, such as Maria Sibylla Meridian, Michael Landy, Mona Luison and so on. I've heard of many artists for the first time. I was planning to learn more about these artists and their works after class.
Among them, Geraint got an example of the British Lake District, which he thought was an example of man-made transformation of nature. Let me think: This is the natural landscape after human transformation. Do you think it is beautiful? The relationship between human and nature is something I never thought about before. It provided me another perspective to think deeply. I thought I should try to broaden my thinking as much as possible.
November 14, 2019 with Mark Fairnington: Gogol - the Nose
This reading group activity is not about the theme of painting, but a novel of Gogol, a Russian novelist. First of all, we talked about our feelings. In my opinion, this novel is like a surrealistic painting. Because the novel begins with a person who claims to be major who loses his nose, and then revolves around the protagonist's psychology of losing his nose and the depiction of the people around him. Although the whole novel seems strange, it depicts the whole society in a very realistic way. This makes me think that there is a similarity between painting and novel writing, that is, what the creators create may be different from the objective world, but to some extent, they are related to each other. Painting, as well as writing novels, is also a space for the viewer to imagine.
November 14, 2019 the second 1-2-1 tutorials with Geraint
In this discussion, I introduced some of my creations and progress to Geraint, who suggested that I could continue to go deep into the collage series and recommended some of my related books and artists, like Zoe Walker and Neil Bromwich. I proposed to make some small sculptures. Geraint asked me to slow down and recommended that I try the material of inflation. I think I will consider this material in the future when conditions permit. We also discussed how plants reflect people's state. I feel that I still lack of in-depth research and exploration. I decided to read more books in the following time.
November 27, 2019 Identity through textiles with Sukie
Last Friday, I attended a textile material course which I booked from academic support. Because recently I plan to use some soft materials to create. At first, I thought the course was to teach us how to use materials. Later, it was found that this course emphasizes the use of materials to think. The teacher, Sukie, didn't give us a detailed introduction of all the materials on the table, but gave us a question to answer with materials. Questions are more abstract, such as ：
1.What does identity mean to you as an Artist?
2.Illustrate how you express identity in your creative practice?
3.What's one thing you hope people take away about you from viewing your work?
4.How has your view of identity changed since studying at UAL?
5.What is one thing that you believe that requires a significant change in your industry or today's society? e.g. sustainability, social change etc
You need answer each question by creating new works using to different textiles. When I heard the word 'identity', I was a bit confused because I never thought about it in my creation process. So, Sukie patiently introduced to me what identity is, which can include gender, ethnicity, race, religion, language, material/relationship status, care responsibility, family size, sexual orientation, education, career.
After that, I gradually understood that we need to define each material and explain its significance in your works. Among them, another question asked: "what do you want others to think of your work?" According to this question, I make a small divergent model. Sukie said that if the model is large, the effect should be very good. This inspired me that the size of the work will also give the viewer different experience.
