On the Other Way

      Actually, I’m really tired of the trend of pursuing sensual stimulation in today’s world, especially
visual stimulation. Everything related to vision is required to be attractive, fancy, and exciting. There are
explosive quantities of special effects with only one destination – to increase the consumption. Any
method that can bring in more money is the “right” aesthetic method (try to consider what does “right”
mean in the art world and design world). As a result, in our daily life, just as Jean Baudrillard has said,
“there is more and more information, and less and less meaning.” The development of technology has
brought us a lot of convenience and plenty of material life. However, it doesn’t fulfill our spirit as much
at the same time. People neglect the demand of their hearts while continuously exploring and grabbing
from the outside world. Now we all feel lost somewhere and somehow without knowing why.

      By the manipulation of technology, what I would like to do is to find the basic and simple peace and
beauty in our daily life. They are usually forgotten by people but always exist deeply in our hearts and
memories. Maybe these things are ordinary, monotonous, and not even visually attractive, but they are
much more real and meaningful than those fussy and flash images. In my works, I want people to find
the original peace in their inner spirits via their experiences and to rethink carefully what can make them
feel truly satisfied and rich.      

      In the six sub-topics of my video installation Flow, it starts from describing the basic sense of time
perceiving then go further to explore the relationships between time and life. I recorded the moving of
light and shadow upon a switch in the morning, the process of full moon rising on the lake, the burning
and melting of candles, and the lumpy waves rolling at sunset. All these things are not novel at all and
they are actually part of our common experiences. However, if one is willing to pay a little bit patience on
them, on these obvious or subtle variations created by Nature long ago, he or she may find the calm of
harmony within, because they are in fact the frequencies of the heart. Patience brings peace, and peace
grants joy to the spirit. It's a simple law, like the budding of a seed, with the nourishment of sunshine,
water, and earth.  

      Those who are willing to listen to their hearts will be my audience. More precisely, they are not my
audience, but the audience of Nature and the inner peace. I wish they all can hear the sound of a seed
sprouting one day.

      Furthermore, because people can’t control their hearts and desires completely, they tend to behave
and create negatively, darkly, and destructively. If this situation happens to the artists, their works will not
only constrains themselves but also perplex the viewers. For me, the final purpose of art is to indicate a
possible direction for people rather than to limit people ending in a dead way. In addition, we all know that
even nature can’t be perfect. Whether to put the energies on constantly emphasizing and repeating the
terror and twist or on dignifying the lives and appeasing the sorrows after seeing the deformity or
experiencing the cruel disaster, I would like to be the latter.

      However, not all the negative artworks are bad. It is also hypocritical and doubtful if we accent only the
positive part of life. Some negative artworks shake me with strong power, even beauty, while others only
make me feel sick and disgusted. What makes these differences? In my opinion, the original idea and the
intention of an art piece determine the feelings of the viewers directly. Besides, after releasing all the negative
emotions and impressions, what remains can become an exit and leave some space and directions for
people to think or just turn into a dead end: this will be the key point. Obviously, the positive and negative
parts coexist simultaneously in our lives. They are all parts of life and only parts of life as well. Some artists
seem to treat and present sex, violence, and pain as their whole lives. I don’t agree with this point of view.

      I have the confidence to predict that people will finally feel tired of all these speedy variations of the
material life in the near future because the situation now is far out of balance. People have stressed too
much on grabbing from the outside world but neglected their impoverished spirits. I believe that there
are a few now, and there will be more and more, people starting to be aware of their inner needs –
something to pacify their hearts and smooth their tensions. That is the value and goal of my art pieces –
to rediscover how beautiful, satisfying, and blissful the simple inner peace can be, in this tumultuous age.

      Therefore, I would like to make my project a public artwork. By constructing the work in the public area,
I can embed some simple beauties I found in the heart in everyone’s busy daily life. I don’t want people to
spend too much time in front of my work; maybe two blinks when going to and leaving from the office are
enough because the real inner peace and delight actually exist nowhere else but the heart all the time. My
work is only the catalyst to change and influence people unobtrusively and subtly.

      Now it's the time for me to face another whole new beginning. According to my plan, obtaining an MFA
degree only gives me the admission to stand on the contemporary art stage. The world waiting behind the
graduation will be the real challenge I should overcome again and again for my art career life. Sometimes
I feel that my past experience and accounting background have almost nothing to assist me in the future.
However, as far as I know, at least my concept and sense of how to deal with money are much better than
those of the artists. That means I can make use of the limited recourses more efficient and concentrate
more on the creating without being disturbed by money. Moreover, paying too much attention to seeking
wealth will only produce slaves of money. For me, the real wealth is to be created by the continuous process
of self-realization. The wealth will not be my goal but be the confirmation and encouragement of my
achievement. If I can insist on going on my way, the money will follow me all the way, no matter how much
it will be. That's my belief. It’s still an important point for an artist to have a clear idea on not only creation
but also reality.  

      As to the future, once again, I have a definite and clear direction in my mind but don’t know how to plan
it and what will happen next at all. Do you worry about me? It doesn’t matter. I have lived my life in this way
for a long time. Every time it came into good results after breaking through the barriers. What do I expect
from myself artistically and will it manifest itself in the future? I have confidence in myself and promise you
that I will go all out to make my story and art strong and wonderful. Believe me, you will not be disappointed.
That's the word I give you.

      I’m on my path. In the end, let me quote some wise words from Rainer Maria Rilke, a great poet of the
German language in the 20th century, as the blessing for my sailing, “Nevertheless, even then, this self –
searching that I as of you will not have been for nothing. Your life will still find its own paths from there, and
that they may be good, rich, and wide is what I wish for you, more then I can say.”