Born in Yongshou, Shaanxi Province, Dong Yangyang is about to graduate from CAFA in 2017. He graduated from Xi’an Academy of Fine Arts in 2010, and was admitted to the School of Experimental Art, CAFA in 2015, where he became a postgraduate candidate. Dong Yangyang’s graduation work entitled “Encouraging Each Other to be Dedicated to Farming” is on shown on the 3F, CAFA Art Museum.

Dong Yangyang’s graduation work of “Encouraging Each Other to be Dedicated to Farming” is based on the traditional Chinese weaving process, the special materials are juxtaposed with the traditional concept of “cloth” through a flattening process, placed in the “World of Cloth” built by the artist, thus it forms a unique artistic expression.

Interview Time: May 20, 2017

Interviewee: Dong Yangyang (hereinafter referred to as Dong)

Interviewer: Du Mengqian (hereinafter referred to as CAFA ART INFO)

Editor: Lin Jiabin

Translated by Chen Peihua and edited by Sue/CAFA ART INFO

Dong: In fact, I became attached to weaving when I was a child and I sleep on a bed sheet personally woven by my mother, who came to Beijing to help me finish my graduation creation. As for how to start the creation of “Encouraging Each Other to be Dedicated to Farming”, in addition to my mother’s influence, it is also related to my wife, who studies in Beijing Institute of Clothing Technology and I was inspired by the cloth printing she created, and I began to be particularly interested in this fabric, so I decided to take weaving as the theme of my graduation creation.

Dong: It is diverted from the sentence of Tao Yuanming’s “Poem of Peach Blossom Spring”. At the beginning, I was simply interested in the material itself, after weaving for some time, the power behind is increased and the concept of “Encouraging Each Other to be Dedicated to Farming” naturally emerged. I have never deliberately found a title for the work, but I thought it was exactly consistent with my heart when I read the poem.

Dong: The creation of each artist actually has its own roots, for example, questioning where he/she is from. Rather than inventing a theme, I would like to explore based on my own spiritual roots and traditions. When I choose weaving, I took the “job” into account, namely the concentration and controlling of my workload, in addition to hoping to express a theme. In my artistic concept, only focusing on the expression of concept seems a bit thin in a sense.

Dong: The fabric craft has triggered my inspiration and creative interest. The work applies the traditional weaving process, through the labor-intensive working system I am able to turn the three-dimensional thick old things into a two-dimensional one, starting from a “material” aesthetic to construct a “thing” of another aesthetic. The whole work uses the imperial materials in the past such as peacock tail feathers and old coarse clothes so that these two materials form a huge contrast, which are fair in the world of cloth, removing the noble and gorgeous quality of peacock tail feathers, eliminating classes, “Encouraging Each Other to be Dedicated to Farming” which actually refers to the working attitude of relying on each other, to help people have trust.

Dong: My previous works are different from “Encouraging Each Other to be Dedicated to Farming” in the content, I was more concerned with the traditional themes, and creating a painting like an installation, for example, “Chaos”, “Conquest”. Starting from my personal feelings, the 3 works including “Encouraging Each Other to be Dedicated to Farming” are all in common: they are all in need of a larger amount of workload, in other words, inside it is a repetitive force.

Dong: It started from the “Chaos”, and the starting point of “Chaos” is opposite from “Encouraging Each Other to be Dedicated to Farming”. At that time I first had an idea, and then began to find the suitable material for the creation. It took 3 months to finish the painting of “Chaos”.

Dong: During the early period of study, I learned some weaving processes. I brought a loom of native cloth from my home. At first, I experimented with many ideas, a variety of materials including gloves, masks, underwear were woven in the cloth, and even a letter that I wrote to my wife was woven in the cloth.

Dong: Every step of the textile process is much more difficult than I imagined, and there is no shortcut with the technical skills, once it is short of a step or a line, it will retain a hole, and then it must be demolished. The biggest difficulty is the beam-warping which is completed by a total of more than 20 people.

Dong: It is related to my social experience. After all, there are still vulnerable groups and privileged classes in society. “Encouraging Each Other to be Dedicated to Farming” reflects an idealized state of life, even if the Peach Blossom Spring can’t be achieved to some extent, it can’t prevent a good yearning.

Dong: I graduated from Xi’an Academy of Fine Arts, majored in the comprehensive materials, with a bachelor’s degree, and then started a business rather than being a professional artist after graduation because of economic reasons. Because I hoped to become a professional artist, I chose to come to Beijing, and became an assistant to Prof. Wu Jian’an. Gradually I felt I was poor in capability, and believed that I should enrich myself through the postgraduate’s study.

Dong: In the Academy I have learned a lot of things, including the attitude of doing things and the model of communicating with people. On the other hand it certainly has an impact on professional knowledge.

Dong: My mentor has been particularly helpful. I have learned an attitude from the teacher, being serious to everything. For this graduation creation, Prof. Wu reminded me of boldly experimenting instead of treating it as a fabric, rather than rigidly adhering to the textile process, I joined more experimental materials in it and I am especially moved by Prof. Wu who offered the studio to me for my creation.

Dong: I am going to participate in a Korean Biennale, and some galleries hope to plan exhibitions for me. I want to become a professional artist in the future, after all, I love it and I have thrown myself into it.