Breaking Through the Trandition

LuBin”s Recent Works and Contemporary Ceramics

Write by Dr Sun zhenhua Issue 47\2003 <Ceramics Art and Perceptio> Issue 6\2002 <Jiangsu Art Monthly>
Translator: caroline cheng

Nowadays, there is not much discussion in China of whether or not ceramic art is "pure art." Many Chinese ceramists are ambivalent on the issue. The question of the value of ceramic art has two aspects; opening up the field of ceramics, and the emergence of ceramic art from its traditional forms.

It is not a question anymore of whether that making a pot is art or not. On the contrary, staying where they are is really a big question when inquiring about the philosophy of art. When contemporary Chinese critics and curators fail to give due respect to modern ceramic art just because of past categorization, the public is led to believe, mistakenly, that ceramic art is not a viable contemporary medium.

The perception in China of ceramics as only a traditional art form continues to cast a shadow over efforts to develop a modern expression or movement. It is not that ceramic artists are afraid to get involved in contemporary art; rather, they are often simply not willing. In order for ceramic artists to make an impact in the ideology of the contemporary art world, they must break through the accepted popular view of pottery as a centuries old tradition with no relevance to modern times.

In today's Chinese ceramics circle, my colleague, Lu Bin, together with a group of young ceramic artists called "The Fourth Generation," is doing a great deal of hard work for modernizing ceramics. In my opinion, they have understood the basic need that exists in today's ceramics circle.

Lu Bin graduated from the Ceramics Department of Nanjing College of Art in 1988. Like most young artists in the 8os, he was also influenced greatly by western modern formalism. The key words of the ceramics circle during this period were "rebellion" and "language." The focus then was on rebelling against the confinement of traditional ceramics forms and its consequent categorization a branch of industrial art. They did this by setting up a ceramics language that is expressive, individual, creative and different.

Modernism emphasizes beautiful and meaningful forms. It also pays much attention to the inherited harmony of rules of beauty and the language itself within ceramics. The communication between ceramics and the ethics of modernism is facilitated by the ceramic artist's concern for materials, and by sensitivity to abstract body and its subtle grasp of meaning in life.

Modern ceramics is quite different from the traditional. Modern ceramic works combine practicality to a pure aesthetic vision, It expands the aesthetic scope of traditional ceramics by introducing non-firing materials into clay, bringing even ugliness, eccentricity and disharmony into the works, and introducing the individual vision of the artist to a much greater degree.

There is no technical barrier to the emergence of modern ceramics as a recognized contemporary art form in China. The most serious challenge facing contemporary ceramics is not to solve technical problems, but to change the mind, the orientation of the artist, to consider fresh ideas. The influence of modernism has offered the ceramists a good start.

Lu Bin's hard work during this period has made a great influence on his following creation. Because of his diligent practice on ceramic form and language, he has already succeeded in how to deal with technical problems such as mastering material attributes of pottery, firing skills and artistic expressive force. As far as the techniques of ceramics are concerned, he qualifies as an outstanding ceramic artist.

Sometimes, when people are talking about art, they fail to appreciate the complicated technical problems associated with the medium. This is especially true of ceramic art. When I view Lu Bin's works, I would ponder what technique means to him. If he had not such exquisite pottery making techniques, what would his work be like?

The sentiment I have for him, as noted above, is to a great extent based on my observation of his works. His studio is very crowded with day, semi-finished pieces of work and finished ones.

Whenever I visited his studio, he was always busy, or, working on other projects while waiting for a kiln to fire. His kiln is very small, and takes more than ten hours for a single firing. Each of his pieces is usually fired more than 3 times; and invariably about 3o percent of firings do not turn out right. He always keeps a book by his kiln. During the long firing and waiting process, we can see the aspects of ceramic creation that one usually does not see at a gallery or exhibition -- its hardship, its monotony, endured with a little mystery and solemnity, and alsothe sacrifice; Lu Bin has been ill.

From the mid-90s, when Lu Bin chose an artistic direction towards a more contemporary expression, it was the old and entrenched ways of a decades old modernism, rather than tradition, that challenged him.

It seems that breaking through the tradition now is not such a rebellious action, as it was years ago. Instead of a loud or shocking rebellion against older forms, Lu Bin quietly and methodically explores new forms and expression, not in order to disturb or destroy anything, but instead re-examining the distance between ceramics and spectators, and seeking to unify.

Contemporary ceramics has now begun to face society and contemporary culture. When ceramic artists consciously seek to make works which break down thepublic bias against ceramics as contemporary art, then the main purpose of contemporary ceramics is no longer the pure creation of beauty. If modernism changes ceramics into art, as we say, contemporary ceramics hopes to change from the art of beauty into a cultural art form. Acquiring its pure aesthetic taste, the ceramics of modernism gave up its inherent relation with life. When it regards creation as the only purpose and discards cultural meaning as relevant to the process, the creation of form becomes a repetitive game that closes its door of the reality of human existence.

The contemporary characteristics of Lu Bin's work first lie in explorin9 the possibility of ceramics getting involved in contemporary culture while keeping his sensitivity to materials and his exquisite technical firing skills.

One of the differences between contemporary culture and modern culture lies in its relative access to masses of people. Modern culture is no longer made solely for the appreciation of elites; neither is it any longer just an experimental field for a few intellectuals. It has begun to face the life experience of the public and returned from the pure and beautiful altar to reality. Ceramics was once the art form perhaps closest toJifein its cultural pedigree. Lu Bin revives this spirit of ceramics with his contemporary ceramics. "The Matrix," "Chinese Characters," and "Pills" in his Type Series, or "Big Gloves" and "Fish" in his Urban Series are all representative of the most common things in our daily lives. It presents a new twist on the relationship between life and art. If we say that traditional ceramics expresses its relationship with life through practicality, and the ceramics of modernism rebels this kind of relationship altogether by emphasizing pure form, then Lu Bin's contemporary ceramics offers us a completely new outlook. It is certainly not a renaissance on traditional practicality, but takes on the spirit of daily life through the realization of common themes.

Lu Bin combines the popularization of themes and the originality of his choice of themes for his creation, tn traditional ceramics, such popularized objects don't exist, while in contemporary ceramics, its themes become away from the daily life because its abstractness. This kind of theme expands when Lu Bin shows in his sculptures a concern for things of our everyday life.

There is always something that keeps the root of culture unintentionally belonging to our matrix culture existing in Lu Bin's works. I am not sure whether such words like nationality and national customs can describe this attribute correctly. On the surface, a series of works "Brick Frame" still emphasize the form, but in practice, they emphasize the culture as well. Lu Bin used such fairly national status is a rebellion against universalism. Conversely, "The Needle Pointing to the North," as well as the Urban Series and Type Series mentioned above, express the awakening of a strong Chinese cultural sense; they devote themselves to fighting for the survival of this feeling within the deeper roots of our culture.

Chinese traditional ceramics reflects an era of impersonality in the past, and therefore it is a passive form. The harmony of contemporary ceramics within the matrix culture expresses more active creation. That is to say, it is an active expression facing the actual world.

We can clearly sense the spirit of culture's critics in Lu Bin's works, and we can realize the pertinence to the real world and his concern for existing problems. We also feel that he shows great concern for national spirit; his Urban Series works show a real worry about contemporary spirit. These character symbols show his sarcastic criticism of the material world. The "Pot" and"Happy Life" in "Urban Series," in which he expresses his wisdom in a comedic and humorous style, are more euphemistic and folksy.

Recently, Lu Bin has made a new series of work called "Fossils ~ooo". These works are his interpretation of a fictional history. Using modern daily living objects and making them into fossils, these time-warped objects reflect his views on contemporary issues, and look at present history as a whole.

Lu Bin's creation is still in progress. From his several articles on ceramics, a clear understanding of modern ceramics can be found. Where will ceramics go? The path Lu Bin chooses is one that seeks ceramics' popularization, which is not the easiest path. This implies that he has to give up many familiar things and keep his mind sharp at all times. Yet it is only when thoughts are alive, that the arts thrive. Once the thoughts are aroused, many concepts are changed; then things can be done in a new way. Then, the life of the artist, and the art, expands.