Twenty-Four Seasons:
Critical Temporality and Qiu Zhijie’s Light Writing
Twenty-Four Seasons is the second major exhibition drawn from the large and distinguished Jack and Susy Wadsworth Collection of Contemporary Chinese Photographs, which was donated to the JMSA in 2018. This installation presents a series of 24 large-scale digital prints created by the artist Qiu Zhijie 邱志杰 (born 1969) and explores critical questions about temporality from multiple perspectives, as well as the effects of time on individuals, politics, and social change.
The Chinese title Ershisi jieqi ( 二十四节气 ) denotes a system based on China’s traditional solar calendar. Each jieqi —which can be translated as “solar term” or “seasonal marker” —indicates a 15day period; 24 of these terms constitute one full year. On the first day of each jieqi , Qiu was photographed writing the Chinese name of that solar term with a specially-designed flashlight. Due to the long exposure times, these images render Qiu’s light writing visible, just as paper reveals the momentary brush movements of a calligrapher. Qiu described such composite art as “calli-photography” —an invented term acknowledging the fertile interaction between his calligraphy and photography.
Born in Fujian province, Qiu Zhijie has been a leading figure in contemporary art since the 1990s. In 2012 he served as Chief Curator of the Shanghai Biennial and in 2017 as Curator of the China Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. He is now a professor at the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou, the Dean of the School of Experimental Arts at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, and was recently appointed President of the Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts.
This exhibition was organized by Dr. Yan Geng, Curator of Contemporary and Traditional Chinese Art at the JSMA. Generous support for the exhibition, programs, and forthcoming catalogue were provided by the WLS Spencer Foundation.
All photographs in this exhibition are by QIU Zhijie 邱志杰 (born 1969), Chinese, People’s Republic of China, gift of the Jack and Susy Wadsworth Collection of Contemporary Chinese Photographs.
Twenty-Four Seasons:
Time and Place
The Twenty-Four Seasons are known as Chinese solar calendar. The traditional Chinese calendar is a lunisolar one. While the Twenty-Four Seasons are based on the solar calendar, the months are lunar months. In the astronomical convention of ecliptic longitude, the earth revolves around the sun for 360 degrees, with the seasonal marker Vernal Equinox positioned at zero degree, the Pure Brightness at fifteen degrees, and thereafter every seasonal marker at subsequent fifteen degrees. A year is thus divided into 24 seasons. This system is almost consistent with the Gregorian calendar, the Christian calendar commonly used today. For example, the Winter Solstice is always around December 22. This calendar has been utilized in China since the Xia dynasty four thousand years ago, so it is also called the Xia calendar.
I started writing with light the names of the Twenty-Four Seasons in different places at the beginning of the Summer Solstice in 2005. This series of photography and the content of writing is pre-determined by the sequence of twenty-four seasonal markers. The location of writing changes according to where I was at the time.
— Qiu Zhijie
Spring Begins
Boathouses in Zhangzhou by the
Spring begins when the sun rises to 315 degrees ecliptic longitude between February 3 and 5. From this day to the beginning of summer is the period called spring. On the day of Spring Begins, it is customary for people to eat spring pancakes. Starting at this time, the soil in the middle and lower regions of the Yellow River thaws and hibernating insects begin to move.
The water of the Jiulong River becomes warm in spring, and people living on the boats can stand in the river to wash clothes again. A white cat also comes to the river to drink water, her steps a bit hesitant. Because the electrical power is pulled from the shore, the boats can no longer be moved. These people still live on the boats and I do not know whether it is because of their custom, or because there is no place for them on land. Since the boats have become their home, they take part in the tradition of posting spring festival couplets on the door to bring good fortune. In the distance, the Sun Yat-sen Bridge built by General He Yingqin [1890-1987] during the Republic period has already fallen into disrepair. How long can these boathouses last?
Spring Begins (Lichun 立春), 2006. Color photograph. 39 1/2 x 52 7/16 inches. 2018:28.6a
Jiulong River
Rain Waters
Dwellings under Fortress in Macao
It is Rain Waters when the sun reaches 330 degrees ecliptic longitude on February 19 or 20 every year. The ancient astronomic book Collection of Explanations of the Seventy-Two Monthly Ordinances (Yueling qishi’er hou jijie 月令七十二候集解) says: “In the middle of the first month, the heavenly one generates water. The beginning of spring belongs to wood, but the one that grows wood must be water, so the Rain Waters follows the Spring Begins. As the wind from east makes the ice thaw, so the ice streams into rain.” For farmers, Rain Waters is the key period for the preparation of spring ploughing.
Southern China is rainy and full of non-deciduous trees. The dwellings under fortress are covered with moss, and all the daily items are piled in the place where they are sheltered from the rain.
Rain Waters (Yushui 雨水), 2006. Color photograph. 39 1/2 x 52 7/16 inches. 2018:28.6b
Insects Awaken
Public Telephone Booth under Sihui Bridge in Beijing
It is Insects Awaken when the Big Dipper points to the celestial stem Ding (丁) Thunder rumbles, hibernating insects wake and come out, hence the name.
The willow trees begin budding, and millions of migrant workers fly into Beijing and dispersed to various construction sites. The simple yellow apartment houses in the distance are their temporary dormitory, at times filled with dozens of people in each room. The tower farther away is what they build. From now on, these public telephone booths are the main way for them to communicate with their wives and children in their hometowns. On the night when I was writing and taking pictures here, a migrant worker made a phone call for more than an hour in a distant telephone booth. As I was writing, I kept wondering whether the news he heard was good or bad.
Insects Awaken (Jingzhe 驚蟄), 2006. Color photograph. 39 1/2 x 52 7/16 inches. 2018:28.6c
Vernal Equinox
Rear wall of Lama Temple in Beijing
4
On the Vernal Equinox, the sun will rise from due east and set in due west. The sun shines vertically on the equator, and the daylight hours are equal to nighttime hours everywhere on earth. So in ancient times the Vernal Equinox and the Autumn Equinox were also called “the (equal) division between day and night”.
Since the spring comes late in Beijing, the flowers are in full bloom during the Vernal Equinox. The most beautiful are the magnolias inside and outside the red wall south of Zhongnanhai on Chang’an Avenue. The trees are old and the flowers are big, representing floral perfection. Unfortunately, it is impossible to take pictures slowly in that place. I wandered around Yanyuan and Tsinghua Garden for several days, but unexpectedly found my ideal spring scene by the rear wall of Lama Temple. The red wall on the left is the northern wall of the temple, and the viaduct on the right is the North Second Ring Road of Beijing. This is the location of the city ramparts in the past. From time to time in the night racing cars whiz by. The electrical wires penetrate peach blossoms of the trees, as the dense blooming branches are about to overtake the entire city. The old city ramparts are already nowhere to be found, but the peach blossoms are still smiling at the spring breeze.
Vernal Equinox (Chunfen 春分), 2006. Color photograph. 39 1/2 x 52 7/16 inches. 2018:28.6d
Pure Brightness
Zhuangyuan Alley Community, Minsheng Road, Hangzhou
The ancient astronomic book Almanac (Lishu 历书) states: “Fifteen days after the Vernal Equinox is Pure Brightness, when the Big Dipper points to the celestial stem Ding (丁). At this time, everything is clear and bright.” Pure Brightness is not only a farming season, but also an important festival. It is also a seasonal marker that indicates climate and natural phenomena, which means clear weather and lush vegetation. On this day, people go on outings, eat cold food, and clean their family tombs.
The traditional Chinese system of self-government developed into an effective modern resident’s committee system. This was a complex reorganization process. Urbanization has changed the traditional mode of living with big families under one roof, and residential compounds became the basic units of public space. The leisure spaces in these compounds also form the center of public opinion in the community, and the main activities are run by the elderly. These worn-out sofas were discarded from different households in the community. At dusk the community elderly sit here, spinning stories and hearsay. When the crowd drifts away at night, the desolate sofas resemble tomb steles in a cemetery. Day after day, year after year, the people who occupied these seats drop away, but new ones are always coming. One month after I took this photo, the old sofas disappeared and was replaced by a row of new rattan chairs.
Pure Brightness (Qingming 清明), 2006. Color photograph. 39 1/2 x 52 7/16 inches. 2018:28.6e
Grain Rains
6
Grain Rains means that the rain helps hundreds of grains grow. It starts around April 20 every year when the sun reaches 30 degrees ecliptic longitude.
There are a group of satellite antennae around the foot of the Jinmao Tower in Shanghai. From a practical point of view, such communication equipment is usually installed on the top of high-rise buildings. However, the top of this pagoda-shaped building only has a symbolic function. The sharpness of the peak at the top piercing the blue sky must not be affected by these huge mushroom shapes. Therefore, the satellite antennae have been moved to the ground at the foot of the building. I wonder if this will affect the signal reception.
This is the tallest building in China at this moment. I wonder where it ranks in the global skyscraper competition. Grain Rains makes plants grow, and these mushroomlike satellite antennae help set up a global communication network. Now what we see growing under the heavens is the skyscraper, representing the desire and ambition of modern society.
Grain Rains (Guyu 谷雨), 2006. Color photograph. 39 1/2 x 52 7/16 inches. 2018:28.6f
Jinmao Tower, Shanghai
Summer Begins
On May 5 or 6 every year, when the sun reaches 45 degrees ecliptic longitude, it is the Summer Begins. Traditionally, Chinese regarded this day as the beginning of summer. According to climatological standards, the summer arrives only when the daily average temperature rises steadily to 22°C and above. Around the time of “Summer Begins,” only the area south of Fuzhou and the Nanling mountain range in China truly enters summer. Different regions have unique climates, so the start of summer varies from place to place.
On July 7, 1937, the Marco Polo Bridge Incident broke out in the southwest of Beijing, marking the beginning of the Japanese invasion of China.
The villagers nearby told me that the river channel under the Marco Polo Bridge gradually dried up around twenty years ago. Ten years ago, in order to celebrate the 800th anniversary of this famous bridge, the local government brought water from somewhere and poured it into the river way. Many fiberglass boats for tourists were also placed in the river. The boats were in the shape of ducks and fish. After the celebration, the river dried up again, stranding dozens of boats on the river channel. Grass grew near the side of the boats, and cars drove through the grass, forming the roads.
Beijing is still very arid at the beginning of summer, and the grass has not yet completely shed its winter yellow. Now there are two highway bridges parallel to the Marco Polo Bridge and a railway bridge to the northwest, passing by Wanping City.
Summer Begins (Lixia 立夏), 2006. Color photograph. 39 1/2 x 52 7/16 inches. 2018:28.6g
Marco Polo Bridge, Beijing
Grain Forms
Yan’an Pagoda Mountain
The sun has risen to 60 degrees ecliptic longitude. The summer crops such as wheat are in the stage of milky ripe, the kernel filled but not mature, and the trees begin to flourish with leaves. Pagoda Mountain in Yan’an is a totem of the Chinese revolution. The pagoda was built during the Tang dynasty but still stands after more than a thousand of years and the bombing by the Japanese air force during the [Second Sino-Japanese] war. Nowadays, the pagoda is illuminated with lights during important festivals. Four years ago, when I came to Yan’an for the second time, the area was still poor. Now with the recent discovery of oil, there are high-rise buildings built below the Pagoda Mountain. Telecom poles are halfway up the mountain, and a road for heavy trucks is at the foot of the mountain. The Yan River used to be described as a torrent in old revolutionary songs, but it is little even in the rainy season. All over the iron railings of the Yan River are the words left by frustrated lovers, saying “I love you” and “Why is it so difficult to love someone?”
Grain Forms (Xiaoman 小满), 2006. Color photograph. 39 1/2 x 52 7/16 inches. 2018:28.6h
Grain in Ear
“Triangle”
at Peking University
Grain in Ear is between June 5 and 7. The sun is at 75 degrees ecliptic longitude. It is the time to reap wheat plants and to start the busy autumn planting. An adage says, “Grain in Ear is busy at both ends, busy harvesting and busy sowing.”
“Triangle” at Peking University is a historically important site for of political activities and uprisings in China over the past decades. Originally, this was a place for posters about various academic lectures and was also used to hang famous big-character posters. Now, most of the postings are drumming up business for TOEFL and GRE classes.
Grain in Ear (Mangzhong 芒種), 2006. Color photograph. 39 1/2 x 52 7/16 inches. 2018:28.6i
Summer Solstice
Beijing 798 Factory
On this day, the sun is point-blank on the Tropic of Cancer. This is the longest day in the Northern Hemisphere. The masculine (yang 阳) energy is at its peak.
This series of works Twenty-Four Seasons started from the summer solstice last year. At that time I wrote the “Summer Solstice” only once, and it turned out to be perfect. (Since I use a flashlight to write in the air and have to write in reverse for the camera, it is hard to control the construction of the characters. Sometimes I have to try 40 or 50 times before I get a good one). But the camera I used at that time was not good enough and the photo quality was problematic, so I decided to remake it today. I came to the same location and found the place where I took the photo last year. But the scene is quite different. Not only is the ivy not as exuberant as last year, the curtain on the small window on the right has disappeared and an iron door has been put into the front wall! Gas or liquid is still flushing through pipelines in the picture, because the factory is still in production. There is a light in the window at the upper right –that is another new gallery installing an exhibition overnight and getting ready for tomorrow’s opening. This is 798 factory, the hotspot of the art world today.
Summer Solstice (Xiazhi 夏至), 2006. Color photograph. 39 1/2 x 52 7/16 inches. 2018:28.6j
Slight Heat
Beekeepers behind the Mountain of the Jietai Temple
It is Slight Heat, when the sun reaches 105 degrees ecliptic longitude on July 7 or 8 every year. The weather begins to get hot, but it is not yet peaked. On this day of Slight Heat, I took a photo of the beekeepers’ huts on the roadside behind the Mountain of the Jietai Temple in Beijing. These beekeepers come from the Huangshan mountain area in Anhui province. All year long, they live nomadically, chasing after the flowers and moving to different regions. In winter, they are always in southern China. In summer, after the flower season ends there, they migrate to the north, going as far as the northeast provinces and Inner Mongolia. They rarely make it back home within a year. Because they have to live in the mountains with the flowers, there is no electricity in the tents they live in. They eat, live and work in the tents and never watch TV. They also produce royal jelly and pollen, selling them to passersby. Local governments do not collect taxes from them, which is a common practice. Because they often eat honey, they all have good skin and they are very proud of it. They say this kind of life is “very romantic.”
Slight Heat (Xiaoshu 小暑), 2006. Color photograph. 39 1/2 x 52 7/16 inches. 2018:28.6k
Great Heat
The Quarry in Mount Untersberg
Mount Untersberg is located in Grödig on the border between Austria and Germany, at the forefront of the Alps. It is a famous marble quarry site. The cliffs are cut straight, forming a spectacular towering vertical slope. Mr. Milos Chlupac, an 86-year-old sculptor, works here with a group of apprentices. They live a communal life, taking turns cooking and doing chores. The old man said that he witnessed five regime changes during his lifetime, and his understanding about art underwent even more changes. He has been to China and made sculptures in Guilin. Now he is still working hard every day, bare-chested, swinging a hammer and chiseling. He starts at sunrise and finishes at sunset. In this place, apart from writing this “Great Heat”, I also wrote another piece “Will” to express my respect.
Great Heat begins around July 23 every year when the sun reaches 120 degrees ecliptic longitude. It is the peak of the heat.
Great Heat (Dashu 大暑), 2006. Color photograph. 39 1/2 x 52 7/16 inches. 22018:28.6l
Autumn Begins
Swings in the southern suburbs of Salzburg
Salzburg’s tourism culture centers on the theme of Mozart’s hometown. The exhibition currently in the city’s museum is entitled “In Memory of a Genius”. When speaking about geniuses, we usually talk about their childhood. We do not talk about the genius of the old masters. Because of this theme of childhood, I found such a swing in the woods. Mozart’s childhood must have been filled with performing and receiving praise because of his precocious musicality. I don’t know if he had chances to have fun and play on the swings like other children. If I have a child, I hope he can enjoy the swings instead of being a genius. In fact, Mozart has little influence on me. The Austrians who really influenced me a lot are [writer] Rainer Maria Rilke and [philosopher Ludwig] Wittgenstein. The latter is the kind of person who lives in the moment and keeps asking question like a child even when he is old.
On the day of Autumn Begins, I just finished teaching at the Salzburg Summer Academy and was preparing to return China. This is also the last piece of the TwentyFour Seasons I wrote with light. Writing calligraphy with light and being on the road for one year, I encountered music at this last stop. This is like a metaphor.
On this day every year, the sun reaches 135 degrees ecliptic longitude. In ancient times, the emperor led the three dukes, nine ministers, princes and officials to the western suburb of the capital to welcome autumn and hold a sacrificial ceremony.
Autumn Begins (Liqiu 立秋), 2006. Color photograph. 39 1/2 x 52 7/16 inches. 2018:28.6m
End of Heat
Yu
The Chinese character 處 (chu) means go or leave, so the word 處暑 (chushu) means that the heat goes away on this day. It indicates that the hot summer is about to end.
Yu Qian’s Tomb of the Ming dynasty is at the foot of Mount Santai. In 1994, I spent some time living in seclusion near this spot and used to linger in front of Yu Qian’s Tomb, reading books and shooting works here. At that time, there were vegetable plots and tea gardens around, and wild dogs everywhere. Yu Qian’s shrine next to it was just a place for piling up building materials. Coincidentally, there was also a limestone burning kiln. It made me think about Yu Qian’s famous poem on limestone: “I never fear of being smashed in pieces; I just want to leave brightness in the world.” Now, Yu Qian’s Tomb has been renovated, and the stone sculptures have been brought in from somewhere else.
End of Heat (Chushu 處暑), 2006. Color photograph. 39 1/2 x 52 7/16 inches. 2018:28.6n
Qian’s Tomb in Hangzhou
White Dew
Side of Jingshun Road,
Beijing
The air temperature grows cooler, and white dew can be seen on the grass and trees at nighttime. The sun is at 165 degrees ecliptic longitude. The wild geese come, and the swallows return.
Alongside Jingshun Road in the northeast suburb of Beijing, amid the high-end villa areas, there are a bunch of wholesale markets specializing in gardening materials. There are flower markets and building materials markets selling classical Roman decorations. Of course, there are also markets for rockery stones, large vases and stone lions. The merchants selling stone lions are all from Quyang city, Hebei Province, the famous stone sculpture production town. They said that in their hometown, one can see thousands of stone lions packed together and it is even more spectacular than here. When the lions are transported to the government offices and mansions in the city and placed on either side of the red gates, they become symbols of status and power. In the eyes of foreigners, they are also regarded as a symbol of Chinese culture. But here they are just mass-produced commodities for livelihood, no different from crops.
White Dew (Bailu 白露), 2006. Color photograph. 39 1/2 x 52 7/16 inches. 2018:28.6o
Autumn Equinox
Xinzhai Village in Yushu, Qinghai Province
Next to this line of trees is the world’s largest mani stone mound in Xinzhai. It is said to be made of 2.5 billion mani stones (stones inscribed with words or images as a form of prayer in Tibetan Buddhism). One can vaguely see the prayer wheels and prayer flags in front of the temple. In the daytime groups of Tibetans circle around the large mani mound. At night, the three-minute exposure time of this photograph makes the movement of the stars appear like many short lines in the sky.
On this day, the sun is at 180 degrees ecliptic longitude. The sun is aligned point-blank with the equator. The day and night are almost equal in length.
Autumn Equinox (Qiufen 秋分), 2006. Color photograph. 39 1/2 x 52 7/16 inches. 2018:28.6p
Cold Dew
The dew is cold and about to condense. The masculine (yang 阳) energy gradually retreats and the feminine (yin 阴) energy gradually grows. The weather also gradually turns from cool to cold.
Mount Wu is located in the urban area of Hangzhou and people can climb it. The mountain is full of ancient camphor trees and strange rocks. This is the most convenient place for Hangzhou residents to get in touch with nature. At night people ignore the parking lots and drive straight along the stone path. They park in the depth of the mountain and look for a secluded place for romance.
A German TV reporter asked me why I always take pictures of ruins. I pointed to this picture and said: This is a scene of the prosperous time.
On the top of Mount Wu there is a couplet written by Xu Wei at the Pavilion of Total View of the Lakes and Rivers. It says: when these eight hundred miles of lakes and mountains were painted, here and at present is the view of the light from a hundred thousand families.
Cold Dew (Hanlu 寒露), 2006. Color photograph. 9 1/2 x 52 7/16 inches. 2018:28.6q
Mount Wu, Hangzhou
Frost Descends
Farmhouse in Fuyang, Zhejiang Province
Southern China has entered the busy season of autumn harvest and planting, and the first frost appears in the areas around the Yellow River. The sun is at 210 degrees ecliptic longitude. The grass and leaves turn yellow and fall, and the insects began to hibernate.
During this season of Frost Descends, in order to locate a water buffalo for a performance work, I started from the suburbs of Hangzhou and asked around the villages one by one. I kept asking all the way until Shouxiang town in Fuyang county where I found the buffalo I was looking for. Farmers now live in four-story buildings covered with mosaic tiles, and every family has a car. Farmhouses like this one have long been uninhabited. The wooden cart leaning against the door evokes memories of my grandfather.
Frost Descends (Shuangjiang 霜降), 2006. Color photograph. 39 1/2 x 52 7/16 inches. 2018:28.6rw
Winter Begins
Zhongshan Middle Road, Hangzhou
On the day of Winter Begins, the water turns into ice and the earth freezes. Winter is the end [of the year].
Zhongshan Middle Road is an old street left from the Republic period. The place where I took this photo is in the southern section of the street, close to the Drum Tower. This was the location of the downtown area of Hangzhou during the Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279), equivalent to today’s Wangfujing in Beijing. The old houses built in the period of the Republic of China have mixed facades of both Chinese and Western styles. At that time, they must have looked as bizarre as the postmodern Roman columns in today’s entertainment venues. After dozens of Winter Begins, they aged together and lean upon one another in the early winds of winter.
Winter Begins (Lidong 立冬), 2006. Color photograph. 39 1/2 x 52 7/16 inches. 2018:28.6s
Light Snow
Mechanical and Electrical Factory Dormitory, Shenyang
The sky is already cloudy, but it is not particularly cold and the snow is not heavy. Therefore, it is called Light Snow. At this time, the first snow appears in the northern regions of China.
These red-brick buildings are obviously the buildings built with Soviet aid in the 1950s. During those years, these were the residence for the highest-rank cadres. But now they have moved to a new district and the people who live here are from the lowest level of society. The slide in the picture was built in 1983, when state-owned enterprises were still in their heyday. Working in a factory was considered a secure and honorable profession, which required knowing somebody in charge to achieve. One can easily envision the happiness and joy of the workers’ children playing in such a yard during the Light Snow. The slope of the slide is now blocked by the trunk of a crooked tree. The children have grown up and I don’t know what they do for a living.
Light Snow (Xiaoxue 小雪), 2006. Color photograph. 39 1/2 x 52 7/16 inches. 2018:28.6t
Heavy Snow
On the Bank of the Weiming Lake, Peking University
On December 7, the sun is at 255 degrees ecliptic longitude. The Chinese word 大 (Da) means great, and thus this is the time when the snow becomes heavy.
As soon as the heavy snow started, I hurriedly drove to Peking University. I did not expect that the snow there would have already turned into a mess. But I could imagine how much excitement this snow brought to the people. From these benches on the bank of the Weiming Lake, who knows how many promises and ambitions have been nurtured from the people coming and going?
Heavy Snow (Daxue 大雪), 2006. Color photograph. 39 1/2 x 52 7/16 inches. 2018:28.6u
Winter Solstice
Dartington,
England
The Dartington Arts School hopes to use my work for this year’s Christmas card. I photographed the 800-year-old medieval stone houses in Dartington Hall. Such a large number of chimneys are ideal for Santa Claus to crawl in and bring presents to the children. The Christmas season in Western Christianity is equivalent to the Winter Solstice in my country.
The sun is at 270 degrees ecliptic longitude and casts its light straight onto the Tropic of Capricorn. It is the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. More than 2,500 years ago during the Spring and Autumn period, Chinese people used a gnomon (in Chinese 土圭 tugui, a shadow-measuring device) to observe the sun and to determine the winter solstice. It was the earliest seasonal marker known among the Twenty-Four Seasons. The Winter Solstice is an important seasonal marker and also a traditional festival, which is still celebrated in many places.
Winter Solstice (Dongzhi 冬至), 2006. Color photograph. 39 1/2 x 52 7/16 inches. 22018:28.6v
Slight Cold
An Old Factory in Zhabei, Shanghai
Slight Cold takes place between January 5 and 7. The sun is at 285 degrees ecliptic longitude. Geese fly northward, magpies start to nest, and pheasants start to use communal roosts. Slight Cold is the coldest time of the year in most parts of China. Once Slight Cold elapses, it enters the so-called “Third Nine” wintertime (the third nineday period after the Winter Solstice and also the coldest days of the year), when people come out and walk on the ice.
Almost all large state-owned factories have similar garden landscapes scattered among the factory areas. At one time they helped to add a flash of brightness in the tense and serious socialist collective life. Now the old factories have been relocated to the suburbs, and the property agents are developing new projects here on the original site. These huge trees from the old factory become the biggest selling point of the real estate projects. The crane fountain made of reinforced concrete appears worn out, but behind it, high-rise residential buildings are already springing up.
Slight Cold (Xiaohan 小寒), 2006. Color photograph. 39 1/2 x 52 7/16 inches. 22018:28.6w
Severe Cold
An Old Factory in Zhabei, Shanghai
24
This iron sheet house is the place in the old factory where defective products are crushed. Inside, there is a giant electromagnet to hold the large wrecking ball in place and then unleash it from above so it smashes the casts on the ground into broken pieces. When the iron ball drops, heaven and earth tremble, and your soul feels snatched away. The iron pieces fly out and strike the thick rubber strips on the inner wall, and the walls and roof of the iron house are riddled with holes. In the factory’s heyday, this iron house roared all day long, making any art installation inferior by comparison. Moreover, the operator of the machine is a slim female worker. Now the land of the old factory has been sold to a real estate developer, leaving this iron house silent in the overly bright night of the metropolis. The safety helmets on the ground are not those from the old factory workers but belong to the migrant workers who are there building the new houses. The old factory workers were not likely to wantonly discard their safety helmets.
Severe Cold is the last season of the year. It is still a cold period, though not as cold as during the period from the Heavy Snow to the Winter Solstice and the Slight Cold. Every year when the Severe Cold comes, people are busy preparing for the arrival of spring, starting to get rid of the old and bring in the new, pickling foods for New Year dishes, and taking care of purchases for the Spring Festival.
Severe Cold (Dahan 大寒), 2006. Color photograph. 39 1/2 x 52 7/16 inches. 2018:28.6x
About the Artist Qiu Zhijie 邱志杰
Born in 1969, in Zhangzhou, Fujian province, China, Qiu Zhijie graduated in 1992 from the Printmaking Department of Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts (now China Academy of Art, CAA). He is the President of the Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts and a Central Academy of Fine Arts professor. As an artist, he is known for his calligraphy and ink painting, photography, video, installation, performance, and works of Technology and Art.
As an art writer, Qiu Zhijie has published dozens of books including On Total Art, The Image and Post-Modernism , Give Me a Mask , The Limit of Freedom , Post-Photography Photography , Experimentalist , How to Become a Loser , How to Become Ignorant , The Spoiler , etc. Catalogues on his work include Breaking Through the Ice , The Shape of Time , Archeology of Memory , and more.
Qiu Zhijie has had dozens of solo exhibitions in art museums both domestically and internationally and participated in hundreds of group exhibitions. In 1996 he curated Phenomena / Image , the first video art exhibition China. He also curated a series of “Post-sense Sensibility” exhibitions between 1999 and 2005 promoting a young generation of Chinese artists. In 2012 he was the chief curator of the 9 th Shanghai Biennale “Reactivation”, and in 2017 he was the chief curator of the Chinese Pavilion of the 57 th Venice Biennale. He also curated and launched the International Children’s Poetry Beach Project.
Qiu Zhijie has been engaged in contemporary art education since 2003. His concept of Total Art ( Zongti yishu 总体艺术 ) is based on cultural research, from which he developed a practice that integrates observation, creation, scene, event, writing, and curation to seek a thorough connection between art and life and art and society. In recent years, he has been committed to the construction of an experimental art education system, especially for social and technological arts. In 2017, he established the EAST International Alliance for Sci-Tech Arts at the Central Academy of Fine Arts.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2024 Old Soul, Kulangsu Center for Contemporary Art, Xiamen
2022 Talbot Rice Gallery - The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh
2021 Market Writing, Sanyuanli Market, Beijing
2019 Mappa Mundi, Ullens Contemporary Art Center, Beijing
2018 Living Writing, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa
2018 Qiu’s Notes on the Colorful Lantern Scroll, Minsheng Art Museum, Beijing
2017 Journey without Arrivals, Center of Contemporary Art Geneva, Geneva
2017 Journey without Arrivals, Van Abbe Musuem, Eindhoven
2015 The Big Project, Fujian Art Museum, Fuzhou
2015 Ink Remix: Contemporary art from China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, Canberra Museum and Gallery, Bendigo Art Gallery, the UNSW Galleries in Sydney, and the Museum of Brisbane
2015 So, we’ll go no more a roving, Café Florian project, Venice
2013 The Unicorn and The Dragon, Fondazione Querini Stampalia, Venice
2012 Blueprints, Witte De With Contemporary Art Center, Rotterdam
2009 Twilight of the Idols, Haus of World Culture, Berlin
2009 Breaking Through the Ice, Ullens Contemporary Art Center, Beijing
University of Oregon
The only academic art museum in Oregon accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, the University of Oregon’s Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art (JSMA) features engaging exhibitions, significant collections of historic and contemporary art, and exciting educational programs that support the university’s academic mission and the diverse interests of its off-campus communities. The JSMA’s collections galleries present selections from its extensive holdings of Chinese, Japanese, Korean and American art. Special exhibitions galleries display works from the collection and on loan, representing many cultures of the world, past and present. The JSMA continues a long tradition of bridging international cultures and offers a welcoming destination for discovery and education centered on artistic expression that deepens the appreciation and understanding of the human condition.
About the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art