Pine Tree Garden, Shi Jinsong, "The Section of Experimental Art at the 24th National Art Exhibition"

This is a new conceptual work, composed of two previous works. The “pine tree” is based on the famous “Guest-Greeting” pine tree in Huangshan, and it is patched together with fragments of damaged wood. The natural inspiration to many poets has been transformed into a lifeless, dull ornament, with bleached branches telling sad stories of a lost culture. The “garden” is made of debris collected from demolition sites, which have been re-sculptured into peculiar shapes of Taihu rocks, thus shifting aesthetics of the ancient worship of sacred rocks into debris of modernization process, an alien landscape of ruins.

When poetic cultural traditions have encountered with the social transitions and contemporary globalization, the artist feels the weight of the loss, as he watches the cultural heritages, material or immaterial, are reused as lucrative tools for attract tourists. Inspired by this loss, he endeavors to recreate an intelligent, graceful dream to against the vulgar reality. Using his refined craft skills, the artist aims to stimulate the passion and talents vanished in contemporary life.