“When doing installation art, the most important thing is space, emotion, and then materials. Many times I wait until I feel which material speaks to me the most (inspiring me). It may be difficult for you to see it from my works. Pain and struggle. Yes, because that’s who I am.
Some people’s works are records of their reincarnation, expressing strong emotions for people, but I seem to tend to be more broad-minded and gentle in tolerance. I fully accept this kind of myself.”
JUJU grew up in California, USA. Now, with Shanghai as the axis, she has brought her installations and graphic works to many corners of the world. When asked how she views Chinese culture and how she understands interaction with art, she laughed and said she was not qualified enough to comment. But she admires some craftsmen who can do something for a long time, because in the accumulation of time , “there is always something that will tell me something.”
▲ 「Crystal Cave」|Taikooli SWAROVSKI, Chengdu, China, 2019– JUJU WANG
So throughout the conversation, “precipitation”, “temperature” and “time” were words she mentioned repeatedly, and her works were like children left in time to grow freely. JUJU left enough for them. There is room for the stories behind the works to develop, for the past time and the present to come into contact, allowing them to experience something. In the end, these works can also become recorders of time.
To understand JUJU WANG and her works, perhaps “time” is a good entry point.
01.Inspiration arises from richness and simplicity
As a Chinese-American, with a nine-year engineering background, the combined effect of “Eastern and Western cultures”, “rationality and sensibility” on her makes her works and concepts both rich and simple.
▲ 「up north」 SKP Mall,
Beijing,China,2019
– JUJU WANG
▲ 「House of Strawberries」
– JUJU WANG
She once read a philosophy book, and there was a question about the rising of the sun that touched her: “Even if the sun rises hundreds of millions of times, you can’t be sure that the sun will still rise tomorrow.” JUJU put this simple question into perspective. The inspiration turned into an installation work. On the Qingyuan stainless steel base is a gold foil disc sealed by two layers of glass. There is oil inside. According to the engineering matching of the quality and specific gravity of the oil and the external material, the middle disc is It will rise and fall from time to time during rotation, “but you can’t guarantee that the disk will touch the top every time.”
▲ “Rise” | CHAO Hotel,
Beijing, China
– JUJU WANG
Even when faced with philosophical issues, JUJU can always cleverly simplify and outline concepts, and bring people the expression of “above life and under philosophy” through creation . This feeling makes the viewer feel comfortable without greatly elevating the art or making it mysterious. At the same time, it also inspires people to think more deeply. When talking about the relationship between art and people, JUJU believes that viewers will always look for and see the parts of art that are related to themselves. Therefore, art can have high levels, but it will never be divorced from life. They require absolute space and time, transform every day, appear before the eyes of every viewer, and generate new meanings.
Many of JUJU’s works are inspired by life. A graphic work “a beautiful game” that was recently exhibited in France was completed by JUJU’s own fallen eyelashes collected by JUJU. Within half a year, she collected the eyelashes she had lost due to metabolism until she had enough to create a standard pair of eyelashes. She placed the pair of eyelashes in the middle of a thin piece of rice paper, surrounded by scraps of gold and silver foil. You would never guess that this comes from a cute fable among friends in the West: “When your eyelashes fall off naturally, you find it on your face, make a wish on it, and the wish will come true.”
Then she asked me, “Which pair are my eyelashes? In fact , they are all, they just carry myself in different time states. ” JUJU didn’t answer, and then she said, “Look, behind these low-hanging eyelashes , that is, countless wishes are happening. “
▲ 「A Beautiful Games」A beautiful game | Paris
– JUJU WANG
02.When traditional spirituality meets contemporary expression
It has to be said that JUJU has been influenced by Western culture, which makes her pay more attention to pure expression when creating. The origin and essence of the East also make her unable to ignore that there is always a link connecting the East and the West, the past and the present. , constantly extending its tentacles in genes.
The fusion of these two temperaments allowed her to intuitively capture the charm of the door and window patterns of Chinese temples when creating installation works for the Nanjing Chaotian Palace cultural project. However, during the creation process, she put aside all the green paint and red glaze, and did not insist on it. Instead of being limited by the wood material, the extracted patterns are laser-engraved on a very modern material—transparent acrylic board—with simple lines.
▲ “Palasee” Palace Viewing | Solo exhibition, ChaoTian Palace,
Nanjing, China, 2016
– JUJU WANG
When the ancient temple door panels are temporarily relieved of the weight of history, only the intersecting and interlocking lines and contours tell the history. You will see that the solemnity has not diminished, because the foundation is there; you have not questioned the weakening of the aura, but smiled and said: It seems to be a surprise from modern times.
▲ “Palasee” Palace Viewing | Solo exhibition, ChaoTian Palace, Nanjing, China, 2016– JUJU WANG
The front corridor of the main hall is covered with 50 mirrored stainless steel boxes by JUJU. Viewed from different angles, when people are inside, they often cannot tell which is the reflected miniature of the ancient temple and which is the real main hall. The light and shadow game activates the long-standing memory of this ancient southern city in an instant, making the building no longer a separate area and behemoth, but a link that connects emotions and interprets culture. Viewers sometimes ask: “Did you design this?” JUJU’s usual answer is, “It’s more like I interpret the ancient aura of culture in a modern way.”
▲ “Palasee” Palace Viewing | Solo exhibition, ChaoTian Palace,Nanjing, China, 2016 – JUJU WANG
03.The works are for people to perceive, but they also reflect themselves.
JUJU is not shy about mentioning that many of his works are projects in cooperation with commercial brands. Art and commerce are always placed on opposite sides unconsciously, but this is not the case in JUJU’s creations. The cooperation between art and business is a kind of mutuality, so we can also see how the creators balance and find the connection between them. “When your own ideas are put into the interests of the collective, they will be appropriately narrowed. At this time, the DNA of the work is no longer your own emotions but the exclusive temperament of the brand.”
Referring to her early collaborations with Acqua Di Parma, a high-end salon perfume brand, and her collaboration with Olay, which was exhibited at the Minsheng Art Museum, compared to the “violation” and “accommodation” commonly used by the public, she said that she felt that she came from Commercial brands have special respect for artists.
▲「Acqua Di Parma」Merry boX-mas Christmas gift box|
Shanghai, China, 2017
– JUJU WANG
▲ 「Trigger the cell」cell | MinSheng Art Museum,
Beijing, China, 2017
– JUJU WANG
The installation “Secret” is a special cross-border collaboration between JUJU WANG and Swarovski. She combined the light spots of crystal with the ripples of the California coast of her childhood. 70 acrylic plates of different blues were twisted and bent to varying degrees to form a curved wave. Some people will find tranquility while others will feel surging. It all depends on the heart of the viewer. Art is for people to appreciate, for people to perceive, and sometimes it can also be for people to see themselves.
▲ “Sea-cret” The secret of the ocean | SWAROVSKI x Design Miami
Basel, Switzerland, 2019
– JUJU WANG
04.Let the work become a “recorder”
Completing a work, setting up the exhibition, and developing it are never the end of creation. For JUJU, what she is looking forward to and grateful for after that is interpretations from people’s different perspectives. Just like she always remembers that when many viewers were intoxicated in the dream of an installation called “Cloud House”, some people felt loneliness in it. Yunshu Yunjuan, whether you feel the richness or the clarity, it doesn’t matter, anyway, the change has already happened the next second you blurt it out. Just like the sunrise and sunset mentioned at the beginning, at which time do you think the sun is the sun? At which moment are you you again?
▲ 「House of Clouds」Cloud House | Solo exhibition,
2015
– JUJU WANG
A good work will not only leave traces in people’s memory and time, but the work itself can also leave memories generated during its interaction with the viewer. Every action of people can add different emotions to the work.
Treating these works is like raising children who are still waiting to grow. It should not be shy or closed-off. It is always eager to communicate with space, grow and explore in time; it needs to watch each other with the viewer and Learn to accept and extend yourself and life through interaction. There is no right or wrong sound in this. No matter what you see, it is a reflection of your heart.
▲ “Restless” is uneasy | Shanghai W Hotel,
Shanghai, China
– JUJU WANG
▲ 「Passion」passion | Solo exhibition, Houtan Warehouse,
Shanghai, China, 2017
– JUJU WANG
▲ 「Below Surface」| Collected by the Obaek Jang-goon Gallery, Jeju,Korea, 2019
– JUJU WANG
▲「Overcome」| Collected by SWAROVSKI, Basel,
Switzerland, 2019
– JUJU WANG
The works are self-explanatory, but the artworks reflect the artist’s thoughts and thoughts at every moment. Therefore, rather than saying that JUJU created these works, it is better to say that she “discovered” them with her hands and heart. For installation art, “material”, “space”, “emotion” and “being viewed” overlap and are indispensable. They shape each other and record each other.
These works are undoubtedly lucky. They have grown without boundaries under every delicate inspiration and Eastern and Western heritage of JUJU; they have also been able to receive countless curious gazes, perceive and connect in the inclusive environment she created. Diverse voices from ancient times to modern times, from east to west.
There is a connection between the silence of the work and the gaze of the viewer, connecting the dots to form a line, and the connecting lines to form a surface. At this time, you can see that there has never been any separation between the East and the West, the ancient and the contemporary, and art and life as we often say. There is an obvious barrier. When these perceptions and perspectives are thrown into the track called “time”, experience, change, and growth are its eternal DNA. The track has no end, because everything is happening and waiting to be perceived. Use your eyes and heart to discover JUJU’s works and discover her world.
Thanks to teacher JUJU WANG for accepting the exclusive interview with Linjiao
The copyright of the pictures in this article belongs to JUJU WANG
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