浮·现场
Floating on Site
01
In Cai Dong's artistic practice, the expression of "repetition" has been taken to the extreme. He regards this kind of "repetition" as a constant reference, even aiming to experiment for a hundred years if possible. His exploration revolves around understanding what elements remain stable and unchanged in a rapidly evolving and iterative society. For him, "repetition" is, in a sense, a stance of preservation. Faced with radical times, he uses this approach to express and construct his identity.
In the 1980s, Cai Dong studied mural painting at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, developing a strong interest in free imagination and realistic observation. By the 1990s, he embarked on nearly two decades of large-scale mural and sculpture creation. Among these works, the monumental mural "Journey of Chinese Civilization" (9x85m) at the 2005 Aichi Expo China Pavilion stands out as a notable achievement. After years of engagement in these massive commercial creations, he felt the need to step back, marking a turning point in his artistic career.
In 2006, Cai Dong introduced the Warrior Series, encompassing paintings on canvas and paintings on steles. His creative thinking began to focus on history and contemporary societal realities. In canvas paintings, Cai Dong ingeniously integrated Western expressionism with the essence of Eastern freehand painting. Through depictions of countless historical figures' heads, he conveyed memories of the past and reflections on the present. As for the paintings on steles, Cai Dong adopted the method of replicating ancient stone inscriptions, turning them into carriers for contemplative painting. This approach not only gave the works a sense of volume but also shattered the myth of the uniqueness of cultural relics, placing them within a broader cultural context.
This stark contrast and transformation between form and content signify a breakthrough in Cai Dong's inner consciousness. His adept use of a wide range of materials provides possibilities for crossing boundaries in his creations, including painting, sculpture, and installations, utilizing mediums such as oil painting, watercolor, sketching, metal, stone, and wood.
02
No matter how Chinese painting evolves, its most captivating "essence" of aesthetics remains the vibrant artistic conception. Cai Dong undeniably stands as a distinctive narrator within this aesthetic realm. Starting with the prominent use of the most typical artistic symbol in his works - the "dot", he effectively departs from the vocabulary of expressionism, constructing a language uniquely his own.
The "dot" serves as the starting point for everything in Cai Dong's works, with all elements and themes revolving around it. This "dot" is not only a concrete image, emotion, or thought but also an abstract concept or philosophical contemplation. Through the presentation and development of the "dot", Cai Dong's works unfold a unique style and substance. Whether in the variation of form or color, these small black dots share a common gene - as the starting point for everything, accumulating into lines, surfaces, and bodies, creating their own aura.
During his studies at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Cai Dong had extensive exposure to ancient Chinese art. In the caves of Dunhuang, in front of the paintings on the coffins of the Han tombs at Mawangdui, on the lacquerware of the Zenghouyi tomb, his heart was once deeply pierced by the beauty that had endured for centuries. The profound impact of the ancient beauty resonated deeply with Cai Dong's conceptualization of creation and aesthetic orientation.
Cai Dong's paintings are like a brocade accumulated over the years, resplendent yet muted, unable to conceal their radiance. In the depiction of countless starry dots, he uses delicate and weaving-like expressive forms to articulate the intangible and formless nature of the heart. His intricate painting techniques, free-spirited temperament, and elegant charm create an atmosphere that, when viewed, is reminiscent of an elaborate stage production of "Night Performance on the Golden Mountain":
"As the play ends, dawn breaks, and the actors untie the boat to cross the river. A monk arrives at the foot of the mountain, staring at them for a long time, unable to tell if they are humans, monsters, or ghosts."
03
Influenced by the mysterious romanticism of ancient Chu culture, Cai Dong, while perpetually exploring the invisible and intangible in art, reveals a vivacity and mystique closer to the coexistence of the visible and invisible in the natural world, such as gods, wizards, humans, and animals. This determines that the imagery in his works is not a majestic and vast aura like that of a grand bell but a spacious, spontaneous, and dynamic lovely little world free from the shackles of knowledge and logic.
In this phase and related series of works, even with the most intricate painting techniques—some pieces requiring the use of the finest needle-point pens for thousands upon thousands of highly delicate repetitive actions — Cai Dong's artistic spirit also presents a surprisingly "refined" quality. This refinement is deeply influenced by the culture of Hunan and Hunanese people in terms of spirit, mind, and temperament.
On the other hand, in the expression of the works' temperament, Cai Dong is also influenced by the simplicity and the beauty of the force, movement, and speed in Han Dynasty art. The artistic expressions found in Southern Chu region's Zenghouyi tomb lacquer paintings, Mawangdui coffin paintings and silk paintings, as well as in Northern Han Dynasty murals of Bu Qianqiu's tomb chamber, provide a sense of aesthetics. Under such aesthetic interests, the forms presented by Cai Dong in the images, detached from concrete shapes, still release an air of carefree and innocent simplicity through abstract brushwork and exaggeration.
Poet James Hesfield, when discussing what makes good poetry, said that if an idea is both finely textured and broad in scope, and can bring multiple qualities into a new, unified, and usable overall structure, then we can call it "subtle". A good poem provides an ever-increasing subtlety.
Applying this perspective to the appreciation of art remains effective. Cai Dong's Scenery Series present us with such a sensation, where "a small knock produces a resounding noise, occasionally mixed with a soft hum," and the subtlety of the imagery is like a pair of small rabbits, agilely leaping with flexibility and lightness.
04
"The words of the world are a forest." This metaphor by science fiction writer Ursula K. Le Guin is a fitting commentary on Cai Dong's series of works titled "Floating".
On an island named "Junshan" located in Dongting Lake, a canvas is spread amidst the reeds at the heart of the island. Various plants surrounding the canvas are gathered and thrown onto it. They are invited words, interwoven with the colors sprayed and applied by the artist to create new syntax. In the end, the plants, stripped from the canvas, return to the earth, while the canvas is brought back to the human realm.
The creative process above Dongting Lake is a spiritual cleansing journey for Cai Dong. He believes that the judgment of art should not be confined to the present; the bravery of an artist lies in navigating and positioning themselves in the river of art that spans ancient and modern times. Behind those mysterious works is a spiritual exploration that reaches across centuries. However, his eyes are not the eyes of the ancient Chu people over two thousand years ago; he is heading towards a genuine spirituality, a distant imagery.
In front of his works, whether it's the pure power presented in black and white or the colors rendered in ink, it tells a narrative of another time and space. It's a language that expands the boundaries of possibilities, a life thrown into the deep with a "gudong" sound — after a brief suffocation, profound stillness, ancient stillness, surging like the vast grasslands. We turn our heads from the real and vibrant world: in this world, a slow and deep breath arrives, the forgotten expansiveness and vastness are rediscovered.
From the unique use of the symbol "dot" to various artistic practices from dots to lines and surfaces, to the collaboration of materials from the natural world with pigments and canvases, Cai Dong's expansive and creative application of materials has paved the way for his new language style. Everything becomes a new "word", writing new syntax on different materials, unfolding new narratives.
As a defender in the contemporary art field, in recent years, Cai Dong has rarely participated in large-scale art events, and he has little inclination to discuss his own works extensively. He deeply focuses on reality, on the human condition, yet he integrates his compassionate concern for reality into the subtle textures buried within his works with deeper and more restrained emotions. In this way, we faintly sense an underlying color of a defender that has not faded and his powerful counterattacks.
As for what others see in Cai Dong's works, and what he hopes people see, resonating or critiquing with laughter is all fine, but it should never come from "Cai Dong says". His works are his language, and he consistently stands behind his creations. Whether in the best or worst states, what he can face is only his own canvas.
艺 术 家
The Artist
Author: Liu Siyuan
Artwork images: Cai Dong
Translator: Karen Ma
