Wind in the Wild

There is wind in the wilderness, there is fire in the wilderness, there are songs in the wilderness.

The wilderness promises the unknown and danger, while also bestowing courage and vastness. Let us venture into the wilderness.
Go to the wilderness, close your eyes and feel the wind.
We must acknowledge that we have entered a new era.

In the wilderness, there are gentle breezes brushing against our faces, as well as howling gales roaring all around. Just like this uncertain world, we must forge a new path for ourselves, even if time may bury it.
The creations of the three artists in this exhibition will inspire us along this journey. Whether facing the urban jungle or the swirling sands, rediscovering the wilderness means rediscovering oneself. The resolute and insightful works of these award-winning artists connect diverse realities, evoking multiple perceptions and energies within the poetic nature of the wilderness. They provide a vast space for imagination and offer an array of spiritual resources for contemporary life and action.

In the wilderness, there is wind. From different perspectives, we observe the artist TONG Wenmin’s artwork “The Rock.” What the wind does in the wilderness is also what she does on paper – using her body to brush against the earth, softly or swiftly, leaving traces of action or covering them repeatedly. “Flicking” makes us reconsider the relationship between the body and the world: the fast and slow, the light and heavy, the physical and natural. Everything the wind does will be covered by the earth, but the wind gives its all every time. The wilderness inspires instinct and power in people, allowing them to get closer in warmth, sing in the night, and gather in solitude. In the wilderness, there are songs to seek companionship, and the firelight in “Temperature” illuminates each other. With their primal power, people become new paths and new landscapes in the wilderness, giving their all even if they are covered. In “Archive of Botanical Specimens”, TONG Wenmin allows plants to take on astonishing forms on her own skin under scorching sun, traversing spaces that plants cannot reach. Her body becomes the wind that carries seeds to distant places.

The wilderness is a state of the mind. The image jungle created by Li Hanwei confronts us with an inescapable reality: the barrenness of the mental state that contemporary people face amidst the infinitely superimposed digital torrent. Whether it is the disorder and inflation in “Sixty Million Dollar Man” or the intentional destruction of brushwork and painting in “Exercise,” these are the furious winds blowing in the digital reality of life. The space constructed by Li Hanwei offers a deep experience of the invasion of living spaces by technology in urban caves. His creative system may appear to be phenomenology of internet media, but its profound thoughts stem from reflecting on the existentialism of this era’s digital presence. “Liquid Health” provides a glimmer of hope as the artist reconstructs a kind of utopia through humor.

Adventures await in the wilderness. Li Ming leads our gaze into the distance, where even on the screen, mountains are tall and waters are vast. Each swipe on a mobile phone screen, akin to the wind chasing across the open wild. Artists translate these screens, filled with traces, into kites that soar in the sky - those screens that once imprisoned time and life can also take flight, becoming the wilderness of the soul. “The Phantom That is Screen” poetically transforms screens into the wilderness of the soul, where, amidst the faint shadows of distant mountains, the destiny of kites is realized - self-fulfillment after being freed from the tether.

One of the promises of the wilderness is that the act of searching holds its own value, and that solitude is so precious.

The wilderness is a trial. “Dolens”, a profoundly sensuous film, portrays characters who achieve wondrous connections between different realities. Like a long meditation, individuals return to the inner depths of the wilderness, defining their own sense of time and purpose, recognizing the self, and reimagining reality. The vastness and freedom come at a cost, but when you hear the call of the wilderness, it is an irresistible and absolute command.

Through this exhibition, we hope to inspire people’s courage. The artists offer their exploration and perspectives, becoming the doers, and embodying the winds of the wilderness with their bravery. 

May everyone find the fuel for life in the wilderness and harvest their own vastness.

Listen, for the wilderness sings.