Online project | #01 Conversation between Xiao longhua&Strongman
Strongman ask questions, and Xiao longhua answer
SM: Strongman
Longhua: Xiaolonghua
Sm: Before and after the new year of 2020, in addition to moving to a new apartment and staying at home, doing the qurantine for the COVID-19 epidemic, have you created the new works? In 2020 do you have plans to create new fun exhibitions and new editorial projects?
Longhua: Well, The biggest creation this year should be the renovation of my apartment. The new publication project is the "great migration" catalog, and at the moment, with the designer Bai Kui, we are preparing the design plan for the catalog.
In addition to this, following the latest conceptual book "The blind man who touches the elephant" of 2019, we are also working on a new book "Kuafu chased the sun".
Conceptual book "The blind man who touches the elephant"
During the Covid-19 epidemic, I also participated in the creation of the Yanshu book project "Never Ending".
The “Great migration” series installation
Sm: You graduated from the Oil Painting Department, you said you don’t wanted anymore to paint in oil and the human body after graduation. Can you talk about the advantages and disadvantages of university education in China and why are you so opposed to these test-based education methods?
Longhua: I speak “me”personally, I don't like the outdated educational method and the occlusive atmosphere of the Chinese Academy of Fine Arts, I believe that anyone who has studied art in China has the same experience. After seven years of so-called disciplinary training, when I arrived at university, I thought about the previous model of utilitarian education, which was training on "technology", but education on "aesthetics" was far from sufficient.
The painting by Xiaolonghua
With the opening of the market and the opening of my point of view, this educational method became even more obsolete, therefore, after three years of study on oil painting, I have a profound prejudice against this method. I could not be creative freely in class and I had to conform to the "classic" unified format, the same as everyone else.
Sm: You have collected countless large monsters and small monsters(Sm means toy monster). I remember that you are always demanding about certain shapes and have formed your own unique toy aesthetic. How does the training and collection of these toys influence your art creation?
Longhua: The main range of my monster collection are monsters in special films shot by Japanese production companies such as Toho, Daiei, Shochiku and Maruya. With the deepening of the collection, in addition to the Western Harryhausen series, most of the monsters in my collection date back to the years 1954-1971.
The shapes of the monsters at that time were very special: people wore disguises to perform on the stage which purposely imitated the real environment, and the films shot when the technology was not particularly developed had a "defective" aesthetic.
Toy collections of Xiao longhua
I think that, due to the limitations of some technologies, they are more stimulating made in this way for human imagination.
In terms of style, I very much agree with Tōru Narita's three monster design principles: monsters are not demons. I don't make monsters that have so many hands, so many legs and so many heads! I don't only enlarge animals! I don't make monsters that destroy the body and disgust people!
Toy collections of Xiaolonghua
In my way of creating sculptures and paintings, I also pursue this type of modeling full of sincerity, strong vitality and imagination.
SM: You told me that you never paint erotic works. I have always been curious about why you always reject this theme?
Xiaolonghua: I haven't specifically refused, but I'm not good at drawing them. There are hardly any female figures in my creations.
Sm: In general, what is your creative process? What details strike you to make a work and series of works?
Longhua: After years of artistic creation, I gradually formed a set of my creative methods.
1.Collecting materials I usually went to different markets every week, in the antiques market, the grocery market and the home appliances market, and occasionally I went to some demolition sites, where everyone collects creative materials and I find inspiration, except for the materials that can i buy. Furthermore, physical participation, interaction with the outside world and the rich market environment have an impact on my artistic creation. While walking on weekdays, I also paid attention to the ground or what people left on the road.
2.As the material accumulates, I like to dialogue with it and let the objects acquire a strong personality and create new relationships through me which I do as a bridge. Slowly the works "Assorted", "Great Migration" and others have formed. I will spend a lot of time in the studio studying and manipulating these objects, leaving some relatively satisfactory combinations.
The “Assorted” series installation
3.When I am relaxed, I draw some sketches, but in the process of combining materials, several times, I do not completely follow the sketches, I assemble them according to the intuition of that moment. At this point, I try again and again. Each part of the child represents a portion of the whole, which is why it can bring me a lot of satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment.
Sm: It has always seemed to me that you are the type of person who organizes life well also with regard to artistic work, in a very orderly way, so that most of your works do not have many references to the chaos that I see outside . Why do you divide these two things so clearly?
Longhua: The area I live in is one of the most vibrant areas in Shanghai. In fact, in this type of scene, it is inevitable to deal with various people, on which I place my daily gaze.
Xiao longhua’s studio in Shanghai, China
The types of movies and TV series that I love to watch also represent people's daily lives. But when I create, I have to transform this everyday life to make it separate from reality. Only under the constant heating of the flames of life and reality, for example, can the hot air balloon of artistic creation "float".
SM: I wondered if you had ever encountered any difficulties or frustrations when creating art. In this case, can you give an example?
Longhua: The artistic creation process for me is just a search for yourself. You are very frustrated when you discover that your artistic creation is limited and not completely and perfectly connected with yourself. I often encounter many obstacles when I explore outside my habitat, but these parts must be slowly digested by me and will not be visible to everyone.
SM: After your 35 years, you have a sense of having wasted or lost something? Have the various expectations of your youth changed along with changes in life?
Xiaolonghua: When I played basketball, of course, I felt a decline in fitness and that occasionally made me very depressed. Compared to the impulses of being young where you run on the street, I am now pursuing a path along a slow stream, leaving me more time to think and absorb, with the ambition to become more and more precise.
SM: Haha, you have a bottle of "thousand year old water" at your house, every time I go to paint you always tell me that you haven't changed it for many years. Do you think you still keep it now that you've just moved?
Xiaolonghua: "the thousand-year-old water" can reduce color saturation very well, I could use it to draw the color shade I like. But recently I haven't used acrylic anymore, so "the thousand year old water" is dry as a "millefeuille".
SM: I remember one year ago you still refused to enter the world of the Internet, you used your super old phone as a communication tool. Now it seems that you too are trapped in the quagmire of smartphones, always "like" in the posts of friends on social networks. What impact does the Internet have on artistic creation? Will you accept live broadcasts or other interactive online ways to promote and create works?
Xiaolonghua: After my wife once had a headache, and I was unable to use the app to call a taxi, I decided to buy an IPHONE. So.., as you said, I was also trapped in the quagmire of smartphones and in the world of the Internet, and I can't extricate myself. This type of transformation is as exciting as a downhill rollercoaster.
The positive effect of the Internet on artistic creation is that you can communicate more with the outside world and also receive many inspirations. The negative effect is that when you pick up the phone, unconsciously, you switch back and forth between various social networks, and the duality of my work between outdoor space and study is somewhat modified: I am only around virtually. I have not yet found a solution to this lack of concreteness. The two do not equal. Regarding live broadcasts or other interactive online ways to promote and create works, dieri who are willing to try it, provided there is a suitable platform and interesting planning.
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Xiao longhua ask questions, and Strongman answer
Longhua: You have always been very diligent since you were a student and have always maintained your vitality and continue to create works. During this process, have you ever felt that you were unable to move forward? How do you keep your creative desire fresh?
SM: It never seemed to me that I can't stand to support anymore, I do it mainly (sm intends to draw) to make me feel happy and satisfied. At this point, I can ignore everything, without being afraid of winning or losing, and make sure that the starting and ending points are always happy. That's all.
Self-portrait, created in Sm college period
The best way to maintain freshness and creative desire is not to take creation seriously, but to play, not be too utilitarian and satisfy, just like eating, simply eating what you want today, not taking care of others what they prefer.
Langweixian, created in 2013
Spokesman, created in 2012
Over, created in 2012
Grand plans, created in 2017
Longhua: I remember that a few years later you graduated, you said that you realized that your works of art in China could not be accepted by the public. So, you had gone to Americana to face a new adventure. What are your biggest changes in recent years? What are the differences between the American living environment and the ideal environment you imagine? Which are compatible?
SM: Those years when I lived in the United States I really experienced a lot of interesting things, at that time the world of the Internet was not "flat" as it is today, and there were not so many platforms. I have seen a variety of art museums in the United States and have traveled half America with my bicycle for more than 2 months, I left San Francisco and went to New York.
On the one hand, I had a profound vision of artistic diversity, which is well beyond the sum of the books and years of visual experience that I had accumulated in school, even a little difficult to digest, on the other hand, even my mentality has become much calmer than before, that is, become more indifferent and I don't give a shit if my job will be liked by everyone.
Bus passenger series, painted in San Francisco, USA
I thought art was a "weapon" mentality, after spending a few years in the United States, art became "clothes" for me, and I only needed it. Initially thinking that there was no longer a censorship system when I went to America, I can finally criticize the social system liberally. But I found that there are many artists in America have the same style as me. Without restrictions, suddenly i lost the motivation to create such works, after seeing many street art and naive style exhibitions, my life in America made me miss my life in China, my old environment and my home , I discovered that I would like to trace my roots back.
San Francisco’s landscapes, sketch work
My friends and schoolmates they has became illustrators and artists in the "international popular style", but instead I hope to pursue a more primitive form of autoart.
It would be especially natural for me to form this state. There could be two reasons: one is that I am a primitive creature. The second is that I think it is particularly stupid to paint in that "international popular style", and of course I have to keep my distance from them. Life in America was truly free and the professionalism of the teachers is generally better than that of China. I predicted it, but I discovered that I am not really a person who cannot learn through professional "education".
Songhe Figure, created in San Francisco
Lobster Train, created in San Francisco
Going to university in America is just like going to high school. You cannot arrive late for the lesson (credits will be deducted). And so I had resumed my old business, I always used a thousand excuses for not going to class and not doing homework. I always went out of town and hid in the mountains and drew landscapes, or went to the body drawing workshop to draw.
Body sketching series, created in San Francisco
Longhua: You like Bruticus（Bruticus is a character who was the first combinator created by the mad scientist Shockwave in the anime Transformers series) in the Chinese civilian toy collection industry, what do you think is the real charm of the collection for you? What do you think the value of toys is? Can you choose three or five of your favorite toy collections and tell the story how they were found?
SM: Hahahhah ... what a Bruticus !! in fact, I had never seriously thought about the charm of toy collections. I'm just buying them from all over the world. In fact, if you think about it, this feeling is like the same mentality when you were a kid at the school entrance, you bought toys at a small dirty shop, felt the fun of the toy that you can buy with your money and you lacked super cool toys they are in the shop window that you can't buy with your money, so far I have not yet bought very expensive toys for my childhood complaints. The value of toys is to have fun, I enjoy playing with them, that ten millionths of a second of satisfaction of putting them on the locker in my house.
“Wild taste is hard to find” collection series
The collection processes of my many collections are particularly interesting. These memories make me think that toy sellers always said "meeting fate". This pair of small ornaments was collected in different places and in different areas about three years apart, it is absurd that they can be compatible and can only be described as "meeting fate".
"Meeting fate" series
2. The reason why my collection is particularly different from other collectors is that my "system" I see objects everywhere, in Chinese it is said I come from the sky and to the sea, whether they are toys or instruments, with their aesthetics and their natural shapes, then I put them together, I often don't give a nothing about their material, shapes or their ages. I only care if they have something in common. Based on this, I can complete the "system" and my feeling.
"Small Decoration" Series
3. There are some toys that I bought at random: when I bought them, I thought I can save them and give them life. For example, this "duck leg" ukulele I bought in the old flea market, at 10 yuan, The neck and head are particularly similar to a duck paw, so I have restored and repainted it, and now I can even play it sometimes.
"Duck Leg" Ukulele
"Collection" Series
My room, when i was in American
Longhua: If you play music, what kind of band do you want to build?
Sm:I would like to build a band that can incite the atmosphere of the whole live house, but the music should be super strange but very beautiful, like Misfits and The cramps, I can't completely free my hormones by painting, so every time I have to let off steam on the stage. I also like Togawa Jun and Rammstein a lot, I used to sing sad songs to cry a bit :p .
Screenshot of the video I made for the band
The posters series I did for the band
Of course, I thought I was starting a band, it's just that the music is too direct to express my feelings. Especially when you play live, I'm a little shy and I'm afraid to express feelings directly between people and the public.
Longhua: Your paintings are full of porn and violence and extreme expressions of social chaos. What is the origin of this repressive outbreak? Have you had a real experience in your life?
SM: I don't admit that my paintings are full of porn and violence ... I had seriously thought about this problem. These themes can represent only 30% to 40% of the content of my work. The main reason could be that porn and violence are too impressive to people, so some foreseen perspectives think my works are only these themes, if you look better at all my works, I had also painted countless landscapes and figures, these themes are much greater of those of the sensitive theme, There are also some cute animals and comics, which are not so extreme, of course, "social chaos" was born in fact randomly, it is only a branch of my artistic creation and I gave this series a name called "evil society".
“Evil society" series
From the beginning the first works seem to have a sense of depression and full of anger: later it was more a mapping, a mapping of absurd reality and a mockery of male creatures. I believe i’m passed the punk state in adolescence, now I am using a playful way to feel the daily life.
What is the reason for this repression? Maybe read Freud you will understand better. It is really difficult to answer, I have had various experiences in my life, I remember that before going to study abroad, I was the type of person who could not sleep at night because before had read some stupid news, and I often quarreled with others people on the internet. After returning to China for a few years, my emotions seem to have changed, they are much quieter than before, but of course I was always angry, only that, only used this negative energy in my works, not in response to my physiology.
“Cute animals” series
Longhua: I remember from many years ago you always convinced me to go out more to sketching, can you talk to us about why sketch is essential for you?
SM: Sketch is a very mental exercise, which mainly emphasizes a sort of non-reproducible "presence".
“Self portrait” sketch series
If you don't paint well, you will feel the frustration you don't usually create. As if you could go back to a starting point and review your work again, the randomness and unfinished sense of drawing are also fascinating. In short, there will be many unexpected accidents that belong to you. It belongs to the moment of "relief" in creation. Our annual sketch party is a particularly good entertainment event.
“Little black bear”
"My classmates" sketch series
"Mother of the Galaxy" Sketch Series
“Stupid Martin”
"Landscape" Sketch Series
Longhua: Tell us about some unforgettable alcoholic evenings.
SM：There are too many unforgettable alcoholic evenings ... (laughs) Once I was with you and uncle Zhang Fei (friend of Xiaolonghua). After finishing attending the "Yueshi" art event in Hangzhou, after having dinner and drinking a lot of alcohol, we went back to the hotels all drunk .. You dropped your uncle in bed and then you put the skateboard on your back and you were climbed onto his back to play human surf (see photo) .. then you started making a sound in the mouth like the tsunami .. and then you dragged me to the hotel corridor to continue fighting! It was the most exaggerated moment in which I saw you drinking, while we were fighting, you were only talking Shanghainese swearing! And the other time it was in the winter, I was drinking with a big guy who comes from Shandong (a province in the north of China) after drinking half a kilo of Chinese liqueur, we both felt a bit stunned, I indicated the persimmons that I just bought in I study and I said to him: "do you have the courage to eat it ?!" because we both knew that if eating them together the alcohol and persimmon can be fatal, afterwards, however, the two of us have swallowed a persimmon each without hesitation! At the time, I really thought I could die wisely, but the next day, besides being a little stunned, we were both alive and healthy.
"Human Body Surfing" scene
Then a more recent and fun evening was at the Singularity Art Festival in Guangzhou. I had been drinking all day and intermittently, then dinner comes with all the participants and we started a fighting game with the wheel. Subsequently, ET ordered some McDonalds the night to fill the stomach, I was too drunk .. the next day I woke up and found McDonald's chicken wings in my pants pocket? !
Longhua: What is the most joyful and frustrating thing in recent years?
Sm: It seems that there is nothing that makes me feel particularly happy, and it is not too frustrating to be depressed. I like to wrap myself up. Hahaha, I hope it can be done not to be happy but not sad ~
"Mermaid" Comic Series
"Xiaoluohao" Comic Series
"Shoot star" comic series
"Rain" Comic Series
"。。。。。。" Comic Series
Longhua: Your artistic creation, the toy collection, the daily dress, the lifestyle, etc..they are a system created over many years. This system is somehow closely related to the time and space in which it is now located, but it is misaligned and distant. If you could arbitrarily choose to position yourself in any space-time coordinate, how would you choose?
SM: Yes, I think that you too, like any artist, you guys have own aesthetic creation system, which is consciously built during your artistic development. I also wonder why I tend to be so different from the environment in which I find myself, because in truth it is not so. I am willing to move the coordinates of my work back and forth.
New series
This type of collocation has its own value that cannot be copied: when I was a child, I desperately wanted to touch comics, toys, films (animations), games and fresh rock music. I always have a sense of thirst that is unsatisfactory. These interests are also caused by the culture and history of that special period. Today, children certainly do not absorb novelties in a nonconformist way as we did. Our era has lost its taste for niche things. It no longer reflects what you want, everything is already ready and you frantically swallow it. By dint of "ruminating" we have lost the desire to taste. Who knows in the future which monsters will be regurgitated by this indigestible and continuous way of binging.
New series
Longhua: Everyone will have a special year in 2020. How did you spend the time when the new coronavirus was raging? What are your plans after this?
SM:I can’t play basketball because of the epidemic. I closed myself at home and painted every day, when I was tired of painting, playing the flute or doing sports. After that, I will produce some paper books or zines. I will make some other toys this year. An animated film of over 4 minutes, I hope to do a fun show (I have to wait as the epidemic evolves), outside of painting I'm too lazy to do everything, I'm passive, so please, give me a kick in the ass.
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Xiao Longhua Born in 1982 in Shanghai, and now working and living in Shanghai. Works refer to paintings, devices, comics and sculptures. Xiao Longhua's works focus on exploring the interactions and possibilities of new creations between materials based on their raw shapes, textures, colors and natures, and seizing the impromptu relations.
Strongman
Currently lives and works in Beijing.
He likes to draw pictures and collect all kinds of toys.
His creative methods are mainly painting and sketching. The prototypes of his sketching and painting are basically friends and family around him, as well as people on the street and various landscapes. His creative inspiration comes from his hobbies and his daily life.
Contact:
Instagram: xiaolonghuaer & yuweigong
