text by Kuo Sin-Sin
A little more strength, a little lighter… Tsong Pu uses the technique of stamping and imprinting instead of brush painting. He began his art career in the late 70s, which coincided with the time when printing technology flourished. In every single one of his imprints, there is always a feeling of continuity and a strong mechanical aspect; they are both bulletins and accusations at the same time. Each of the stamps is just like the Chinese character of his given name「普」, one of the many symmetrical characters; if you place a mirror exactly in the middle of the character, it is almost identical. The shape and proportions of the character stay the same. It is only when the mirror is tilted to either side that the proportions start to change. After more than 30 years in a creative profession, the artist achieves a kind of headstrong lightheartedness, a kind of toughness and resilience. Just like the rest of humanity after they accepted Darwin's theory of evolution; we live in a time where constantly everything can exist, while at the same time, everything can be wiped out.
The word "experience" is very broad and vague, maybe just like Darwin's theory of evolution; but with the only difference that experience cannot be determined through scientific experimentation. An artist's experience is most obvious in the way he overcomes the limitations of executing artistic skills and the way he conducts his art and contemplates the relationship between the real world and the one created in his art. This is the way the renowned Taiwanese artist Tsong Pu views his more than 30 years of experience. As one of the baby boomer generation, he grew up in the exciting and rebellious period of the 60s and 70s. He describes himself as one who is given the choice, he would always choose to walk new paths and revolt against conventions and traditions. In his early years, he went abroad to study in Madrid, Spain; witnessing the intense and productive atmosphere of that time. When he returned to Taiwan in the 80s, he brought back some of the vibrant and rebellious spirit of the artists he encountered in Madrid. In 1983, before Taiwan's first modern art museum (the Taipei Fine Arts Museum) was even established, Tsong Pu stated the theory of how important it is for art to be experienced in the right presentation and in the right location.
Tsong Pu uses carefully manufactured stamps in a mechanized process to apply them on the canvas, this is where the human soul is taken out of the process. Through the mechanization, it is possible to maintain consistency during the whole process because of the regular flow of strength and the precision in placing the stamps on the canvas. The artist turns into a mere gambler that witnesses the work of the machines and hopes for a favorable outcome, caught up in the eternal attempt to create a lasting and neat piece of work from all the confusion. This way, even the most pale and unnoticeable details are immersed and held together by a vigorously ruling spirit. Tsong Pu deals with his memories in the most rational way, and his happiness shines through in the details of his artworks, which strongly engages the viewer. It enables us to bridge the distance that is often created by the limits of visual perception; his works show the discrepancy between different inner intentions and the realization by means of physical skills and knowledge in creating art. "Real artworks are like experiences in life that are hard to explain, it is impossible to finish the story in just one go," says Tsong Pu meaningfully. The life of an artist and his thoughts are always closely related work. This is why sometimes artworks seem just like a mirror of an artist's personality and what he experienced in life. Artworks are just like extracts from every stage of an artist's life. They are just like one single-side of a carved and polished diamond; they cast off the inner glow that is contained inside the diamond without revealing all of its beauty at the same time. But those shining extracts from the creation of an artist foreshadow the beauty of his work as a whole.
Tsong Pu has made the transition from paintings to an art that combines materials in a more complex manner; his works are a kind of announcement, but also a method to find an order or a melody in every possible object. His art might sometimes be strong and sometimes fragile, sometimes he borrows an idea from the past and at other times he takes something from the future. It is impossible to get the essence of his work by looking at it from outside, because it’s actually from the inside. Tsong Pu doesn’t hide his narcissism, in many ways this is a means to survive for artists. From the age of 40, Tsong Pu relied heavily on emotions to drive his creative output, but after 50 he became much calmer. The process of maturing for an artist takes time and much patience, it also takes time to free yourself from the constraints of time and create without the pressure while being comfortable and at ease. Sometimes Tsong Pu likes to turn his daydreams into reality, while always reconsidering and checking his conceptual thoughts during the creative process. He spends quite a bit of time on his own, organizing and taking care of his ideas to prevent them from going wild and out of order. This takes a lot of effort and patience, but it is necessary to keep moving forward.
Cacao Vol.5, 2011.12 |
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