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#photography #photo #photographers on tumblr #nature #rock #gongshi #scholar's rocks #stone #china #chinese #suzhou #surreal #dream #nightmare

little turtle (and seal) "scholar's rocks" at the national arboretum

#turtle #scholar's rocks #chinese art #cool rocks #i love the lil carved feets base

Artificial Rocks by Zhan Wang 展望 (1962-) who studied at the Beijing Industrial Arts College as well as in the Department of Sculpture, Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing where he is now a professor. Zhan Wang's sculptures which transforms and replicates traditional Chinese scholar's rocks are formed from a modern material- polished, mirror-like stainless steel. He is concerned with dualities, and the relationships between old and new, natural and man-made form, real and illusory, and the possible loss of nature and connection to nature especially in Chinese cities and metropolises. Zhan's "rocks" are formed by moulding sheets of pliable stainless steel around an actual rock. He then removes the sheets, reassembles and welds them together to form a hollow stainless steel "rock", which he polishes to a mirror-like shine. The sculptures have the appearance of a solid form, yet are hollow. Zhan's "shan shui" work captures both the qualities of mountain (through the rock form itself) and water/mist through the shimmering and reflective quality of the steel. He places his artificial rocks outside the entrance of modern buildings or on outdoor plazas, as well as changing up the scale, creating smaller ones for interior display. This practice is analogous to the Chinese custom of scholar’s rocks for gardens and for interior display as objects for meditation. A monumental sculpture was on loan to the British Museum and displayed in the Great Court in 2008.

Artist website: www.zhanwangart.com

Sources: British Museum, CAFA Art Info, Spencer Alley

#Zhan Wang #展望 #sculpture #scholar's rocks #Chinese art

Chinese scholar's rocks (From Wikipedia)

Chinese scholars' rocks or Gongshi (Chinese: 供石; pinyin: gōngshí), also known as scholar stones or viewing stones, are small shaped or naturally occurring rocks appreciated by Chinese scholars from the Song dynasty onwards, and quite frequently found in traditional Chinese gardens.

The most highly regarded stones are lingbi rocks (Chinese: 灵璧; pinyin: língbì) from Lingbi County of Anhui Province, with the finest examples dating from the Ming dynasty and Song dynasty. Taihu rocks are also prized, and are commonly used as garden stones. They influenced the development of Korean suseok and Japanese suiseki aesthetics and styles and were an important part of Confucian art.

Stone appreciation

Natural stone and rock formations, with no artificial carvings, are preferred. Rocks would sometimes be carved and then thrown back into a lake so that any markings could be washed away. Scholars rocks can be any color, and contrasting colors are not uncommon. Sometimes they feature painted patterns, which can be of any subject, either natural or abstract. The size of the stone can also be quite varied: scholars rocks can weigh either hundreds of pounds or less than one pound. Subtlety of color, shape, and markings is also desired, as is beauty of texture and shape. Scholars stones are usually reminiscent of someone or something, or it may convey a spiritual nature that moves viewers in some way. They are usually set upon a stable surface, such as a rosewood pedestal that has been carved specifically for the stone.

By the Tang dynasty, a set of four principal aesthetic qualities for the rocks had emerged consisting of: thinness (shou), openness (tou), perforations (lou), and wrinkling (zhou).[1]

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