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27 May 2022_Thinkings on print, paper and time

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The wonderful thing to test monoprints on the bamboo paper I brought for my project is the dialogue it creates. This kind of traditional paper, completely handmade, with incredible texture, now bears the 'mark' of western methods of repetition. The ink remains on the paper, recall the method of 'rubbings'. I tried to create a variety of shades and translate the Chinese ink painting into a print I printed the sentence which gave me strength whenever I think of my situation, an international student who has been isolated because of Covid-19. I personally prefer the printed one on the test paper, because the paper is not thin and fragile, able to hold the content. However, printing on bamboo paper brought me a fresh feeling of time, a situation that all things may happen through time. The sentence has had a conversation with this particular paper. On the other hand, this kind of paper(the Liansi paper) has at least been used for hundreds of years and is famous for not deco...
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28 April 2022 Making_add the thickness of a piece of paper

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  Add a piece of paper in the back of the thin bamboo paper An example of disgraceful mounting (by putting too much water) When the shape which stands for a moon is sealed on the paper
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27 April, 2022 - On Repairing: for the past or for the future?

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Recent, I have read this book on Chinese mounting technique. In a chapter, the author records how he and his colleague repaired an ancient scroll.  The repairing reminds me there are many institutions around the world making painstaking effort to preserve and recover the ancient materials. I think this is a spectrum which I really want to study, as well as what the Diamond Sutra, the first printed book, may indicate. The history, our collective memory, are such an important and touchable part of our life, even if we haven't lived in the ancient time. Situatedness? Mirroring? What can we gain from the ancient material? Why we keep on repairing? Are we care about the past, and repair for the future? Do we unconsciously situate ourselves in a non-linear temporal structure that links the past and the future to one moment? Upper: a damaged ancient scroll; Lower:The damaged ancient scroll before and after repairing work 1 & 2  ( to be mounted) other works (to be mounted) 
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18 April 2022, drafts and marks2

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 The River Map  and the Lo Shu Square , or He Tu (河图) and Luo Shu (洛书), are two mysterious diagrams from ancient China, though extremely simple, it is widely believed that the two diagrams indicate particular mathematical sequences and changes of the universe. The river which is in the name of the river map sometimes is explained as the yellow river, and the other times are explained as the Milky Way ( for its Chinese name is the silver river). It is widely accepted that the two shapes reflect the sequence of change of the great universe.  Based on the two diagrams, Fu Xi, the one who is said to have invented the ancient Chinese Characters made the diagram of  Bagua .  Left: River Map                            Right: Lo Shu Square   It is impressive how such simple diagrams record and predict the moving tracks of important constellations. The Yin and Yang , in the diagrams, black and w...
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18 April 2022, drafts and marks1

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Through reading, drawing and revising, it seems that I feel more clear what I want to make. Today's blog is aimed to show a part of the drafts made for an installation work, the work for me now will contain audios which are not made and decided at this stage. Reflections from the readings and thinkings about this work will be presented in this blog tomorrow.  Tracing the outline of the mark left on the ceiling outside the library cave in Mogao Grottoes Draft - one page    Colors applied inside the outline of the traces. The circle will be made by putting the round side of an object, then remove the object.  Draft-three pages, the mark will be expanded everyday, until the 100th day. Draft - more pages Problems at this stage: 1. the rice paper requires great mounting skills to add a piece of paper in the back and put together.  2. the circles are out of shape compared to my drafts. For me, it reduces the effect. 3. What kind of audios are still not decided. ...
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13 April, 2022 Sample of drawings piece together

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  Images were pieced together to see the effect. To strengthen the effect and to better articulate the idea of temporal structure in my research proposal, it seems that the ideas are still to be developed.
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12 April, 2022 Emotion and writing

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emotion and writing, 12 April, 2022 In the Asia culture, especially in China, handwritings is widely regarded to reflect the emotion and character of the writer. All individuals, not only calligraphist, can express through their handwritings. Like artist Qiu Zhijie applied calligraphic writings on places in a market, each stroke in each Chinese characters exhibits its emotions. Writing in a market at the same time is a method of communication between the traditional unearthly literati's calligraphic art and the most mundane life. I then question, is my handwriting yesterday "I still believe that the Covid-19 pandemic will vanish" be capable to expose more emotions?  linked from artist Qiu Zhijie's website The first instantly recalled after this idea is the  drawings and writings of poet William Blake. I then raise the question why writings and prints in the Diamond Sutra are so different? This question is not expected to be answered by the culture, but rather only on ...
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