TRANSIENT AND ETERNITY – A REFLECTION ON DAWO MIAOMO
In the age of images we comb out aspects such as the psychic, feeling, spirit, etc. of an artist from his works to appreciate his epitome and goal, his theory and value.
In the circle of Chinese calligraphers, those artworks known as Dawo Miaomo have drawn the attention of many since they reveal the change in concept as well as the depth of Shufa (Chinese calligraphy) in which Zhang Dawo himself has been seeking. From his works one can see that Dawo is searching from the fathom of his soul, the strength of creation. He is convinced that he has found his own form of Shufa ‘language ‘ – the lines and strokes that have first been ‘filtered through the soul’ because in the apparent unbalanced chaos found in his artworks is in fact hidden the harmonic strength, the design of ‘space’ indicating his artistic aspiration.
Dawo Miaomo is viewed at the golden time of China’s economic development when many other types of calligraphy writing are becoming more and more fancy and empty forgetting that Shufa should be written and expressed with an accurate ‘language’. Dawo’s work in the age of images, is a representation of the directness of emotional communication and the specification of ‘sensitivity’. This is especially seen in what he has presented: from the image awareness to the technique awareness and back to the inner awareness – a complex twisting path revealing the level of his scholastic achievement.
Something that deserves notice and that is in the traditional strict discipline of calligraphy art: Dawo alone could tussle out a separate path, change the vision and format. Especially during theses past few years, with his frequent commuting between countries, cross-cultural learning, research and comparison of eastern and western arts, he has sharpened the power of observation and focusing and heightened his sensitivity to his environment. All these are revealed in the ways he uses ‘concept’ to reorganize ‘ink, brush, strokes and dots’ (I.B.S&D) of Shufa ; in applying the rhythm of contemporary art; in the understanding and extension of a natural quality to modern calligraphy thereby creating an amazing effect that has never been seen before. At the same time it adds value to the meaning of contemporary art. All these are derived from his confidence in himself and ambition to push the frontier of calligraphic art.
Analysing his works we discover that the motivation and the artistic starting point of his composition is the challenge to the authority of, and the intention to deconstruct, classical calligraphy: the rebellion and mocking of the stiffness of rules and standards and rationality of classical calligraphy; the ‘form experiment’ of returning to the first appealed, when an artist is expelled. The uniqueness of this experiment is: the artistic effect is decided by the attainment of the artists; the ephemeral flow of the psychic; and the instant use of the materials – all these are executed in the subconscious. When one looks carefully, one can find that the making of the images is the combination of the various factors mentioned above to give the special features of Dawo’s work. At the same time it differentiates him from others through his individuality.
A well known artist once said, ‘All great artists pursue the proper utilization of space.’ Confidence in the handling of space is the reflection of the standard of an artist. This is particularly so in contemporary art: how one expresses oneself through the manipulation of space. Dawo Miaomo, viewed from certain perspective, is in fact a fabrication of ‘deception’, since through the elasticity and flexibility of the transient image he changes the I.B.S&D into new traces that are artificially fixed. In between the states of transience and eternity of the ink and brush, the viewers become distant and inhibited. The impression of distance, bizarreness and separation in fact helps to reveal the mind and soul of a cross-cultural artist, at the same time providing another way of viewing the world.
This shows that, facts are timeless but values change with time. The changeability in the chaos is in fact closer to the nature of art itself. Dawo Miamo type of artworks is the resultant interactions of impulsive trails of ink and brush. The patterns of ‘Chaotic’ image are born out of his inner life. The trails of ink and brush are captured from the world of inner soul. Consequently they are vivid, fulfilled and flowy; refreshing and bursting with life – very different from the self indulgent play of the old time calligraphic scholars. The rhythm and tempo of Dawo Miaomo originate from the inner heart. This gives the strong impression of subjective flavour. The I.B.S&D is giving back to the I.B.S&D itself. Dawo uses his style of writing to prove that modern calligraphy is the challenge of the authority of traditional calligraphy. He seeks from the fleeting movements to obtain the effect of perpetuity. He reveals to us that from the style of Miaomo one can perceive the depth of Miaomo and Miaomo beyond: undeniably that the style of writing Miamo is not less authentic than the style of writing calligraphy itself.
It should be said that Dawo is willing to use emotion and mood to do the writing and not just the brush and ink. Through his artworks he conveys his understanding of the world and the perplexity of the world. He is apprehensive about his feelings towards the bizarreness of I.B.S&D; concerned about the complexity and the unpredictability of the inner soul; and thoughtful about the revelation of the spatial arrangement which leads to even more pondering.
In summary, Dawo Miamo, with the image era as a background, the transient mobility as the main form, the abstract like strokes and lines, is no doubt a deconstruction of traditional calligraphy. The basic feature is the disruption of space with the trails of patterns that have been filtered and purified so that his works can be assessed and appreciated from different perspectives. The other two features are his compulsive and pure thirst for the meaning of contemporary art, and his faithful love for the beauty of his surrounds. As far as I know these are the driving forces of his creativity.
And, thus this gives birth to his art life.
Xu Wencun
Senior Researcher, China Research Institute of Art, Beijing
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