THE INVISIBLE LAWS

Dawei Dong Jingfang Hao & Lingjie Wang Jie Ren

Jul 21, 2018 ~ Sep 8

Although the wind is too free to be grasped, we are still questioning where it’s coming and where it’s heading.
Once we believe that the universe is created upon some profound laws, the closer we approach them, the more we can interpret about the diverse world. M Art Center is honored to announce The Invisible Laws, a group exhibition presented by Dawei Dong, Jingfang Hao & Lingjie Wang and Jie Ren. The involved artists reflect on different topics through a similar path that is to follow and represent the laws of creation, during which something new is born and brings about extra inspirations and a welcome relief to the artists.

THE INVISIBLE LAWS
Critical Review: Can Cui

The wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.
Psalm 103:15-16

Wind can be felt on flags, willows and hands stuck out the window, however, can never be caught.

We persist on seeking the direction of the wind as studying the law of the world which is concealed occasionally while revealed in other cases. Those with more sensitive perception and more serious obsession probably have an even greater chance to approach the truth. The art pieces in this exhibition reflect on different perspectives of the theme and it is intriguing that the three involved artists (group) are coincidentally chasing after the wind through some rules, phenomena and characteristics in their individual manners.

Certaines âmes vont à l’absolu comme l’eau va à la mer makes references to the laws of nature on the earth. In this piece, the artist duo Jingfang Hao and Lingjie Wang simulate the circulation in three states of water which is regarded as the art of daily life on the blue planet. The living changes in states melt the solidity of language (ABSOLU), and also give a proof to energy conservation during transformation on a general level. The name of this work is quoted from a sentence in Les Jeunes Filles, a novel by Henry de Montherlant. It is so beautiful to make the metaphor that the soul flows as water. There is no more appropriate metaphor than the laws of nature, for the tenor resonates with the vehicle in the structure, while material and immaterial substances, body and soul long live the loop of life and death which never ends.

Up in the universe and down on tiles and bricks lies the principle.

The material itself is generated by the mode of laws, which in other words is that materials are the result of laws. To some extent, Jie Ren’s work is based on the interactions between qualities and natures of different materials. De Nachtwacht is knitted with reflective and non-reflective materials. Exposed under flash, the object’s texture appears in high contrast on the screen through the camera. Occasionally inspired by materials, Jie Ren gives birth to AbuildingIII. When once using hot melt glue to stick other materials, the artist found a method to eliminate glue’s capability of stickiness and endow it to plasticity. The special interaction between materials helps Jie Ren complete her reproduction of space with new manipulation on materials.

Dawei Dong received a similar gift as well. His series of works are developed from the scattered ink dot dropped on the rice paper. Rather than avoiding more ink dots, the artist chooses to give new rules to paper and brushes, viewing the mistake as a normal property of the material. The law always reflects its real essence when there emerges divergence between reality and presupposition. The differences unfold the law and then brand-new possibilities burst into view.

In spite of different contexts, the works of Jie Ren and Dawei Dong share some visual similarity on geometrization. In one sense, it is the power of general laws of materials that lead their creations to the same track from various origins. Properly speaking, the basic elements of these works are more discoveries than inventions by Dawei Dong and Jie Ren. They find the concealed appearance of things, then represent, emphasize and witness it through their precise systems.

Discovery is a path where they firmly follow the visible and invisible laws and properties inside materials rather than the apple dropping on Newton’s head by accident. They are devoted in the un-caught wind.

The understanding of structures comes before the action of deconstruction which in essence is the recognition and homage towards structures, and even an extension experiment towards other states of existence of structures. Similarly, the best method of proving a law is to disassemble it. In the work of AbuidingIII, hot melt glue becomes the principal part other than a sticky auxiliary medium between surfaces, which breaks the restriction of the usual functions of materials. Not only a self-contained phenomenon, Dawei Dong uses scattering as a method to limit itself, developing a corresponding language to frame a dialogue and also set restraints towards the former system.

We feel relieved by understanding the laws. Gravity2002 by Jingfang Hao and Lingjie Wang deals with the mutual gravity between beings in the universe. We are being impacted every second by the gravity force from a star millions of light years away from us, and vice versa, the same force of our bodies is influencing every star in the galaxy. Gravity force distributes at the velocity of light, so we may probably arrive at a reasonable conclusion that the gravity of the quality having disappeared here can still be traced in the limitless distance. Lingjie Wang said, “my father passed away in 2002, but perhaps I can find his gravity on the planet of Gliese 832 (Grus, 16.1 light year away from the earth).” Human beings pin their deepest comfort and vastest fear to the spacetime in the unreachable distance.

The ultimate romance of the world originates from the laws of creation. It is admirable that things are still open to abundant possibilities under the system of the authoritative universal laws which prove to be the truth in everything.

The laws are in the wind.

2018.7 Venice