The six images of “Superstars” come from online pictures. They are idols in contemporary music, film and television, sports, and science. Reflect the influence of pop idols on us by creating a special visual experience through the particularity of the material.
I sang a song for my own work, and posted the video on Weibo, which received tens of thousands of repost and more than 3 million page views. This is also my attempt to spread this work in today's media era.
The six images of “Superstars” come from online pictures. They are idols in contemporary music, film and television, sports, and science. Reflect the influence of pop idols on us by creating a special visual experience through the particularity of the material.
I sang a song for my own work, and posted the video on Weibo, which received tens of thousands of repost and more than 3 million page views. This is also my attempt to spread this work in today's media era.
The image of the redeemer comes from the oil painting "The Passion of Christ" by the Italian Renaissance painter Guido Reni in the 16th century. The work uses rice paper as a material, and by arranging the positions of papers of different thicknesses, the internal light produces a visual effect of external light irradiation due to different physical states of the materials. During the exhibition, the internal LED light and dark alternated slowly, and the pure white majestic classic image alternated with the vivid portrait with expressions.
The paper machine is made of rice paper and hand-bonded into mechanical parts of different sizes and shapes. Each part is hollow, very fragile and light, in stark contrast to the metal mechanics of the usual impression. The lower part of the board has a motor that is connected to a simple mechanical structure to drive the upper paper parts. When the switch is turned on, they will slowly coordinate with each other.
This series of works selects a city or region and combines landmarks with elements of an adult shape. The human form floats in the black background, and the buildings are in the state of night lights. The traditional single light source has disappeared. Complex light sources affect each other's color changes. This is the environment in which people live, the embodiment of the ideals of the world, or the people themselves. The action of the humanoid movement in daily life. Actions are boring, absurd, and unconscious. The cities in this series are: Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, New York, Tokyo, etc.
Zhenpeng started my postgraduate study in 2013. Participated in my Phoenix project during the period, during this period we have more contacts. Between teaching and learning is a process of mutual experience and discovery. I found that he has few mundane things. He always has a kind of childish curiosity and devotion to things and art. People who are engaged in work can develop their abilities more easily. Later, he drew this experience into a comic book, which was very popular.
The first thing I felt about Zhenpeng’s work was not his undergraduate engraving work that he seriously completed, but the funny animation "Central Martial Academy" he made with his classmates for a school party. You play this person among classmates, and I will play that person, like a "play house". They are so smart that they converted the "low-tech" restriction into "fun". His master's degree creation "Thank God if I can transfer", with the strongest process control ability, finally made an active mechanical device with paper, like a big toy for himself, which is amazing. Some time ago, he assigned a rap for his new work "Superstar" as part of the work. After the launch, a lot of traffic was generated on the network. I said, "The lyrics are well written." He said, "I don't sing professionally." I said, "You just grow up like this, your style will appear, and you will become professional."
I can see from Zhenpeng's series of creations that his potential lies in the loose appearance of his works; it does not belong to any existing field; and the use of popular media as art materials. He knows to work in places where the so-called "orthodox" art does not focus, so he often surrenders something that surprises "adults" like a child. Indeed, today, interesting things happen in areas that are outside of the realm or in areas that are not yet clear. -Xu Bing (Artist)
