Contexts

Matthew Barney, Redoubt

Redoubt represent a major new direction for Matthew Barney, addressing themes as vast and varied as cosmology, ecology and the role of artistic creation. The exhibition is centred around a feature-length film and includes a series of imposing and intricate sculptures cast from burned trees and over 40 engravings refer to, and expand on, the filmic scenario, which explores questions of access rights and trusteeship of common lands through the story of a wolf hunt.

Through his works, Matthew attempts to explore a very complex social issue related to environment. Trough his interest in classical mythology, he integrates documentary, drama, ritual dance and special effects, full of tension and deep grandeur, grand and focused. I think he’s very good at using conflict. As shown in the exhibition, the huge and rugged sculpture cast is a striking contrast to the small and delicate works surrounding it. The former is like an epic representation of nature, while the latter is like letters and poems in the author’s boudoir. His awe of nature and discussion about the complex relationship between man and nature in the human activities are very enlightening.

In addition, the application of copper also aroused my great interest. The copper produced wonderful chemical and physical changes under the action of electroplating, presenting a magnificent effect. I also used copper in my work, and through chemical reactions, I got special color effects.

Igshaan Adams, Kicking Dust

Igshaan Adams’ art combines aspects of weaving, sculpture and installation while exploring concerns related to race, religion and sexuality.

The exhibition’s title Kicking Dust references the ‘Rieldans’,a dance from the Northern Cape which Adams witnessed as child.

From the choice of materials to visual presentation, the whole work perfectly explain the thinking behind it. Throughout the exhibition, a large amount of wire mesh suspended from the gallery’s ceiling looks like mist and dust ,which not only resonated with the image of dust erupting from the earth as ,but also alludes the mark left by people when they move through private and public spaces.

Building on this sense of movement and journeying, the artist has created pathways through the gallery with the placement of his floor weavings. These pathways are mapped the borders of different townships that were formed during the apartheid era.

Interestingly, the space created with wire mesh looks chaotic and disorderly, but there is strong internal logic behind it. In terms of selection and performance of materials, I gain a lot from his work about how to better adhere to the internal logic of work. More noteworthy is that he adds various beads to the meshes, enhancing the sense of disorder, but this is like crossing roads left with marks of people from different walks of life. In this way, the artist tries to convey a complicated theme involving fusion, cooperation and conflict.

Serpentine Pavilion 2021

Serpentine’s Pavilion project is very renowned. Since 2000, Serpentine has commissioned internationally renowned and emerging architects to create their first built structure in England. It happens that the name of my work is Pavilion as well. Though it is not a large architecture, they bear similarities. I am eager to see what can be learned and find any new thinking angle from different cultural backgrounds and creations demands.

Serpentine Pavilion 2021 highlights the history and community culture of London which is an international hub enjoying various cultures. Obviously, Pavilion has served as a bridge between cultures. At the same time, the form in the Pavilion are a result of abstracting, superimposing and splicing elements from architectures that vary in scales of intimacy, translating the shapes of London into the Pavilion structure in Kensington Gardens. Where these forms meet, they create a new place for gathering in the Pavilion. Thanks to such strong connection property, it gathers, fuses and binds human and nature in different cultures, times and spaces.

A world of gardens ,John Dixon Hunt

A world of Gardens looks at key moments in the history of lanscape aesthetics and design,

reviewing their significance both past and present while tracing the recurrence of different themes and motifs throughout the world. The author's impressive range includes coverage of ancient Greece and Rome. Islamic and Mughal examples,

gardens hemmed in by walls and canals in Venice，poets and monks in China and Japan.

And the book also contains the invention of the landscape garden in England as well as the rise and development of the modern public park.

The gardens of Suzhou ,Ron Henderson

The book explores UNESCO world cultural heritage sites such as the Master of the Nets Garden, Humble Administrator's Garden, Lingering Garden, and Garden of the Peaceful Mind, as well as other lesser-known but equally significant gardens in the Suzhou region. Unlike the acclaimed religious and imperial gardens found elsewhere in Asia, Suzhou's gardens were designed by scholars and intellectuals to be domestic spaces that drew upon China's rich visual and literary tradition, embedding cultural references within the landscapes. The elements of the gardens confront the visitor: rocks, trees, and walls are pushed into the foreground to compress and compact space, as if great hands had gathered a mountainous territory of rocky cliffs, forests, and streams, then squeezed it tightly until the entire region would fit into a small city garden. Henderson's commentary opens Suzhou's gardens, with their literary and musical references, to non-Chinese visitors. Drawing on years of intimate experience and study, he combines the history and spatial organization of each garden with personal insights into their rockeries, architecture, plants, and waters. Fully illustrated with newly drawn plans, maps, and original photographs, The Gardens of Suzhou invites visitors, researchers, and designers to pause and observe astonishing works from one of the world's greatest garden design traditions.