Hello everyone, I am the channel host Siying Duan, currently conducting my doctoral research in new media instillation and comparative aesthetics at Shanghai University. In this episode, I introduce the main contents of this podcast channel with a particular focus on the idea of “象(Xiang)” which has both the connotation of “elephant” and “image”. In Chinese aesthetics, “象(Xiang)” is an important concept which basically means an aesthetic object that both present and absent, which creates an effect transcends the barrier between viewer and artwork. This kind of aesthetic thinking is not exclusive to traditional Chinese art practice; on the contrary, its dynamic, relational and non-dualistic features resonate with characteristics of contemporary media art practices.
In order to make these art practices more visible and accessible, in this podcast, Chinese artists who are experimenting with all kinds of interesting media will be invited to the conversion in this channel, to share about their artworks, their feelings and motivations, their working methods, how they react to the contemporary world with these works, how they relating themselves to the tradition, not in the sense of kongfu panda or spring roll, but as natural and at the same time unavoidable as the mode of thinking lurking in the language being spoken everyday, and so on.
I am sorry that probably most of the episodes will be in Chinese, please don’t hesitate to contact me via duansiying@gmail.com if you would like to learn more about them or have any suggestion.
