We (Dongyan and Effie) started this project on the 9th of October 2020. It is an ongoing mailing art project between Singapore and Shenzhen City. Started from Effie in Shenzhen City, by mailing over two paper plaster sculptures made by herself. We are going to take the turn to rework and make changes to the objects and sending them over to each other again and again.

We used to work with different kinds of media, (Dongyan used to work more with videos and  Effie used to work more with 3D sculptures and installations.) But we would like to see what can we create by working on the same piece. During the process, there were and there are going to be a lot of problems and changes, as it is an ongoing project. Our ideas keep changing, as we have no idea of how these objects were being modified by another person. Meanwhile, we are also trying to explore the different ways of documenting and archiving (such as through writing, drawings, photographs…) to record down the whole process. We would like to experiment with various types of installations by creating different kinds of art atmospheres in different countries.

For the most recent update of this project, please visit: https://dongyanchen.com/189-Mailing-Art
2020年发生了太多的事，许多原本计划好的事情都被迫中断。我们（陈东彦与李宛怡）想要通过一种不同的方式，在这个特别的时候做一个特别的合作。一位在新加坡，一位在深圳，由于疫情的原因，跨国旅行变成了一件遥不可及的事情，但是包裹可以。在一次语音谈话中，我们聊到了邮寄“意识”的这个想法。

于是这个远距离合作的邮寄艺术项目，就在深圳跟新加坡之间开始了。

在这个网络发达的年代，除了快递，人们已经不再通过写信来表达自己的想法，情感了。长期隔离在一个地方会让我们的精神开始放空，枯竭。我们相信，思想是需要碰撞的，意识是需要流动的，这样才会有更多新的灵感迸发出来。但是除了网络，通过这种邮寄的古老手段，是否还能够用来表达一段思想，一段感情，一段想法呢？ 我们这个包裹在运输过程当中，其实代替了我们本身去旅行，在这来来回回的过程中，我们不断地对这个包裹进行重组，改造，这不仅是我们自身主动进行的改造，还有在邮寄的过程中，受到的一些震动，一些不可抗力的摩擦，甚至破坏。当我拿回这个包裹的时候，它已经不是跟我寄出的时候一样的包裹了。

这个作品由2020年10月9日开始从深圳寄出，目前已经到了第三个来回。作品的走向由一开始的一个简单石膏雕塑，进化成了我们一开始也想不到的东西。由于是一个合作项目，我们之间对作品不同的想法，也会在这个作品上渐渐体现出来，这是一种碰撞，也是一种融合。在这个过程中，我们也在探索不同的记录方式，我们尝试着用照片，用文字，用影片，社交媒体等方法，把这个过程记录下来，因为这也是这个作品最重要的一部分。这个包裹所经历的一切，也正是我们所经历的。

在接下来日子里，我们也会继续在两地之间不断地邮寄这个作品，我们希望这会是一个长期的项目，随着时间的推移，它或许会慢慢演变成各种各样的形式，这也是这个作品最令人期待的部分，就像是我们想要重新规划的路线，在2020年的疫情发生之后，思考着如何重新开始。



189 Mailing Art, (Ongoing)


‘Study of hands’ is a project that explores the richness in the forms and movements of hands.

The project is inspired by Dunhuang grottoes art. Dunhuang is an ancient oasis town located at a religious and cultural crossroads on China’s Silk Road. The grottoes art in Dunhuang is the finest example of Buddhist art, that had spanned over a period of 1000 years.

A few years ago, I came across a catalogue of Zhang Daqian's copies of Dunhuang mural paintings. I was fascinated by the fluent lines and beautiful colour of Buddhist art. What intrigued me the most is Gandharva (Flying Apsaras), who are the gods in charge of holy songs and dances. They symbolise happiness and joy in heaven and are featured prominently in Buddhist murals as figures playing traditional Chinese instruments.

In an attempt to bring Dunhuang’s mural paintings to the more contemporary media, I began to trace and copy the mural paintings with ink pens and markers. It was during this process when I discovered my interest in hands, which in fact had already been used as an element in some of my previous projects. My interpretation of hands as a symbol for communication solidifies. Gesturing is a language in itself, as shown by the sign language. Furthermore, gesturing is a language that conveys more emotions than words. Instead of accurate expressions of thoughts, gesturing is more spontaneous, if not intuitive.

Working with the murals makes me appreciates the elegant drawing of hands in Dunhuang Buddhist art. Not only the shapes are impeccably reproduced, but the brushstrokes also embed movements in the hands, rendering the drawing more vivid and dynamic. This is the most well illustrated in the paintings of Gandharva. One can almost hear the music from the instruments through their gestures.

I was therefore spurred to bring the underlying movements in the drawings alive through modern technology. I copied the hands from the mural paintings and converted them into animations. By digitalising the shapes of the hands and overlaying the movement of the hands with music created by digital software, I would like to show the possibility of modern technology in engaging with and reinterpreting ancient art.

Study of hands (dance), 2021

Study of hands (tables), 2021

'You Know' is a sound installation inspired by Freudian Slip, with two hidden speakers in the studio. I adopted the words ‘you know’ from two different sound clips: one is from a concert record of my favorite rapper Shing02; another one is from an interview by artist Shezad Dawood. ‘You know’ is a language habit that English speakers always like to say in their daily lives, and it is one which sometimes gets quite annoying when people say it too much. By hiding two speakers in the dark studio and played them with the light off, it allows the audience to pay more attention to what they hear as opposed to what they see. When the repetition of the words ‘you know’ goes faster and louder towards the end, it created an atmosphere of anxiety. In this work, there is an emphasis on the lack of knowledge in languages, whilst also implying that ‘nothing’ could be ‘something’; and that ‘something’ could be ‘nothing’.

You Know, 2018

Poiesis is a single channel video installation juxtaposed with a piece of experimental writing on the wall.

It was originally inspired by Benjamin Whorf’s Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, which led Chen to think about how will people react to when they heard different languages at the same time? If one could not understand the languages he or she is listening to, does that mean the language lost it’s function to deliver messages?

In this video installation, most of the texts and moving images are very fragmental, it seems to suggest something, but did not really deliver a clear information to the audience. The piece of texts on the wall works is more like a collage rather than a piece of writing. If we could not understand the text, will it just become a image or collage?

The video was lated presented in the exhibition ‘Déjà Vu’ at Freud Museum London.

Poiesis, 2018

The Dream Universe of J is an ongoing art project that Chen did during her residency in Shanghai and Berlin. One of the videos ‘A Brief Introduction of J’s  Dream Universe’ was firstly presented in the exhibition ‘Distilled Revery’ at Untitled Space, Shanghai.  It was later developed into an immersive video installation that was presented to popular acclaim in the group exhibition ‘Orphaned Memories’, at SomoS exhibition space as part of the official program of the 2019 municipal 48Hours Neukölln Arts Festival.

This multi-media installation took the shape of an imaginary crime scene. Deepening her preoccupation with subconscious processes, the audience was invited to psychically follow the clues, ranging from poetic interventions and light/video installations to references to masters of Automatism, Brion Gysin and William S. Burroughs.

The Dream Universe of J, 2019

'Sewbrella Machine' is a video project concerned with an imag­inary radio broadcast, produced when coronavirus first start­ed spreading across China.

Chen happened to be in China to celebrate Chinese New Year with her family during this period. As a measure to decrease the chance of being infected or of spreading the virus, the Chinese government asked people to stay at home as much as possible. Consequentially, Chen decided to invite her friends in China, who were also trapped at home during Chinese New Year, to be the audience of her ra­dio broadcasting. She invited them to write and send stories to her and to ask her any questions via an online platform. As the host of this fictional broadcasting channel, Chen used her per­sonal interpretation to respond to the messages she received.

The work demonstrates the significance of the internet in contemporary culture, as a platform to maintain, tighten, and strengthen our social relationships, during times when we are unable to meet face to face.
 
This work was part of the exhibition  ‘Across the Haze’ at Trocadero Art Space, Melbourne, and was nominated for ACCIDENTING, CSSA-Goldsmiths International Youth Art & Design Exhibition.

《缝伞台》是2020年初，我回到中国过春节期间创作的一个“虚拟电台”作品。当时中国新冠疫情刚刚爆发，我刚下飞机的第二天，武汉便封城了。而2020年的整个春节，我都不得不呆在家里，除了家人之外，见不到想见的好友，吃不到想吃的火锅。于是我便萌生了一个念头，就是在这大家都得自我隔离的特殊日子里，搞一个虚拟的电台节目，每天在朋友圈更新，邀请我的好友们通过提问箱匿名给我投稿。这些投稿里，有些是他们自己创作的故事，有些是他们的心情写照，更有些是他们对这段日子的一些想法与看法。有些我一眼就能看得出是谁，而有些我到现在都不知道是谁的投稿。一开始我也不太确定这个项目是否能做的起来，但是幸运的是，似乎大家在家里也都没什么事儿干，收到的投稿数量也超出了我的想象。

由于时长原因，我无法把每个投稿都放入这个最终的影片里，但是在中国被迫隔离的两个月，这个项目也的确让我感受到了很多，作为一个倾听者，收到的这些投稿也觉得很有意思。

“缝伞台 ”这个名字来源于法国诗人洛特雷阿蒙的作品《马尔多罗之歌》中的一句话：“美丽的机会，就像在缝纫机和雨伞邂逅于手术台。” 我希望《缝伞台》能够把在这疫情期间大家的想法与创造都拼接在一起，成为一种特殊的记录方式。

里面的歌单也是我自己在那时候一直听的，喜欢的歌曲，希望大家在看（听）这个影片的时候，把他当做一个工作，学习时候的背景音乐，收音机播放的电台节目，轻松地，无压力地去享受它。 

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Dongyan Chen