Gongshi
Incinerator Gallery
August/September 2015
The ‘gongshi’ or scholar’s rock is an asymmetrical rock found in traditional Chinese gardens, selected for its ability to spark poetic and artistic inspiration, and to transport the viewer to imagined landscapes that the gongshi might resemble. Particular aesthetic features are sought in the natural specimens, though the forms are unashamedly enhanced with tools if not considered right for sustained contemplation.
This gongshi proposes a reversal of this process, and invites natural forces to intervene. A low-fired ceramic structure, laboriously fabricated by hand and referencing a structurally-maligned Frank Lloyd Wright house – which in turn was based on the jungle-covered ruins of Mayan temples – will deteriorate during the exhibition, showcasing nature’s ‘rusticating’ response to human construction. The resulting folly plays with the values ascribed to ancient things while celebrating the persistence of life as the gongshi gradually becomes a habitat for living organisms in the gallery's Garden space.
Incinerator Gallery
August/September 2015
The ‘gongshi’ or scholar’s rock is an asymmetrical rock found in traditional Chinese gardens, selected for its ability to spark poetic and artistic inspiration, and to transport the viewer to imagined landscapes that the gongshi might resemble. Particular aesthetic features are sought in the natural specimens, though the forms are unashamedly enhanced with tools if not considered right for sustained contemplation.
This gongshi proposes a reversal of this process, and invites natural forces to intervene. A low-fired ceramic structure, laboriously fabricated by hand and referencing a structurally-maligned Frank Lloyd Wright house – which in turn was based on the jungle-covered ruins of Mayan temples – will deteriorate during the exhibition, showcasing nature’s ‘rusticating’ response to human construction. The resulting folly plays with the values ascribed to ancient things while celebrating the persistence of life as the gongshi gradually becomes a habitat for living organisms in the gallery's Garden space.