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“Autumn Observation”
Like watching “Water Margin”, Lao Yu made a “Wu Song Fighting Tiger” installation, and liked to eat the handmade tofu next to the studio, so he made a “tofu counter” and offered tofu in his own way. “Get up, I hope to bless him in 2021, he has made another “Love the Cow” work…
“Playing the piano on the cow”
These works are easy and interesting, with cleverness behindMaterial, study a craft.
I have tried all kinds of handicrafts, and after touching different materials, I found that I like wood the most because it is very warm and has different patterns, colors and natural flavors. The process of processing wood is also very enjoyable.
When I first started learning woodworking in 2015, I wanted to make a movable installation. I accidentally saw the work of the Japanese predecessor Kazuaki Harada, and found that this is actually a category, so I was out of control.
After graduation, I first found a job with a good income in Beijing. The company also specially gave me a small space to do carpentry so that I could work and create at the same time.
There were a lot of works I wanted to make at the time, but I really didn’t have the time and energy to realize it outside of work, so in 19 years I quit my job and left Beijing, wanting to devote my time to doing my own thing.
It feels great to incorporate what you are good at into a piece of work!
Automata is a recyclable mechanical device. The timeline is arranged in its mechanism by the creator. It can be called “mechanical doll device” or “ingenuity”.
To make this kind of work, I can do carpentry, as well as sculpting and painting, and I can integrate all the things I am good at. This feeling is really great.
When I first started learning to make, I watched all the videos of such works on the Internet, and found some related blogs and websites, such as Cabaret Mechanical Theater(Cabaret Mechanical Theatre).
Some of the reference books were found on the Internet, and they were returned from Shanghai Shipping through Haitao, and some were bought directly from foreign art museums by friends, and “Human Flesh” returned to me.
The institutional part and the “stage” part are two parts that make up the “ingenuity”. The operation of the organization drives the operation of the stage elements, and finally realizes the function of performance. The internal structure is exposed to increase the appreciation of the work.
“Find Yourself”
At the beginning of the production, I was more familiar with various structures and components: how do this one cam and two gears drive? What functions can they achieve?
Gradually, I have the ability to express myself. After I have an idea, I can build a structure and a “stage” to match different time points to achieve the actions I want.
I have used cherry wood, beech wood, basswood, teak, black walnut, and some hard woods that cannot be named. I will choose different parts of a workhuxiucdn.com/article/content/202103/07/025529661974.jpg?imageView2/2/w/1000/format/jpg/interlace/1/q/85″ data-w=”1000″ data-h=”1568″ >
“The Woodman and the Worm”
To achieve a clever expression in a limited space is a challenge.
Another challenge is the need to have a reasonable arrangement of the time for different character actions. For example, I am a woodcutter. When he cleaves, he must make the wood just open. There is a connection between speed and time.
gantea’s comic “Lifting Cap”
When designing the agency, I hope that when boys approach girls, their hats will perfectly cover the tops of boys’ heads, with a very clever curve.
“Lifting Cap”
After seeing this work, my friend felt that she was drawing a boy and a girl approaching at the same time, while in my work, only the boy was approaching. In fact, what I want to express is that one party in the relationship opens up, and the other party also needs to take the initiative to approach after receiving the signal.
The curvature on the top of the head is because the cam underneath is also curved. I changed the shape of the cam. When the mechanism moves to a certain part, the hat will lift up quickly and then return to the final state, which has both speed and height changes.
The mechanism of “ingenious” is based on more than a dozen components, levers, cranks, gears, ratchets…you have to know how to use them, not necessarily the more complex the better.
I have a friend whose family is a mechanical engineer and think my work is very clever. He said that although I use very simple principles, it is not easy to arrange them into the required content within a period of time and be lively and interesting.
Quit from a high-paying job in Beijing, exhausted 300,000 savings and returned to my hometown to start a business
My father is a policeman and my mother is a housewife. At the beginning, my parents were full of doubts about me quitting my job and returning to work full-time. I don’t understand why I gave up my high-paying job in Beijing, nor do I understand the content and value of what I do.
My father once saw one of my works and said: Give him 500 yuan, but he is not willing to ask for it.
But they saw that I have been working on creation, and they gradually understood that this is a type of work. I think their doubts at the beginning are normal, because this is a very small art form.
My parents fully supported me to build the studio. When I found this space, it was still a clean water room. My parents helped me quickly clean up and construct them through people they knew. All the walls here were added later.
When I first invested, I spent 300,000 of my previous work savings, and my parents would also help me financially. At the beginning, the sales of my works were not so good, and I would also do some previous design work to maintain a balance of income and expenditure.
The rent for the studio is about 5,000 or 6,000 a month, plus living expenses and material costs, I feel quite stressed.
But I will not let the pressure of sales affect my creation. I don’t want to repeatedly produce the same work that sells well, but I want to constantly innovate different works.
“Tofu Counter”
The nearby snack bar and the fireplace in the studio are my sources of inspiration
“Tofu Counter” was inspired by a handmade tofu workshop near the studio.
I really enjoy being able to eat this kind of handmade tofu, so I got a membership card at their place. You can eat 12 times with one recharge, so there will be 12 numbers on my “Tofu Counter”, and the numbers change. When it is 0, the tofu on the top will disappear from the bowl, which means it is time to recharge and the tofu has been eaten.
“Fireplace Imagination”
The work “Fireplace Imagination” actually stems from my obsession with fireplaces.
When I was in Beijing, I already wanted to have my own fireplace. I would even use the computer screen to play a high-definition picture of the fire. Listening to the sound of the firewood makes me feel safe.
The floor height of the studio is relatively high, and the space is relatively open. The winter in Chengdu is very gloomy and cold. The effect of turning on the air conditioner is not as direct as the fireplace, so it can be realized in my studio. Some of the waste generated by the woodworking trade union is reluctant to throw it away or use it, and it happens to have a destination.
At the top of the work is a house in the shape of a thumbs up. The thumb is a chimney. This shape is actually saying that the fireplace is really good. The house closed very violently because I was afraid of the cold, and if the door was left open for too long, the heating would run away.
There will be some good things or worries I imagined below. I will imagine that the fireplace can also do some happiness things, such as roasting sweet potatoes and potatoes. I would also imagine that when I was installing a fireplace, there would be complaints from neighbors, so I made a man staring at a fireplace chimney, paying close attention to what this chimney is.
But in fact, after I had a real fireplace, the neighbors were very kind to me. From time to time, they would hand me some firewood across the wall and burn it for me, which made me very happy.
China is a big country of “ingenious” collectors
The history of “ingenuity” is very long, and its existence is accompanied by the process of human exploration of the entire machine.
“Automaton” is actually an ancient Greek word composed of auto and maton. It literally means “machine that can move by itself”, because ancient craftsmen usually hid complex mechanisms and power inside objects, which they didn’t understand at the time. The ancients superstitiously believed that this kind of thing had “automatic” magic.
In the era of religious prevalence, “ingenuity” is also used for religious propaganda and rule. In the first century AD, the Greek mathematician Hiro had invented a large number of religious devices. The first vending machine in human history was one of them. It sold not conventional goods, but cast holy water to the masses through coin-operated coins.
“Panda”
China is actually a big country of “ingenious” collectors. Around the 18th century, some British businessmen discovered business opportunities. Our country is self-sufficient in everything. The dignitaries are not interested in other things, but they are only fascinated by movable and performance clockwork. Many of the installations in the Watch House of the Palace Museum are from that period.
China’s machinery is used more in agriculture, war, royal honor guards, and astronomy.surface. During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States period in my country, there were reel wheels, orange water extraction devices, mechanical crossbows, etc., all of which were designed with wisdom.
The Jili Drum Cart is a horse-drawn carriage used to record the distance traveled by vehicles in ancient China. The gears are driven by the rotation of the wheel hub to let the wooden figure on it beat the drums. It has a sense of ritual to beat each mile. There is a wooden man on the guide car, no matter if the car is turned in any direction, the wooden man’s hand will always point in one direction.
“Feeding”
Folk small toys, those “jokers”, toys in which a wooden board shakes a group of chickens while pecking rice, etc., actually have similar and very simple mechanical structures.
Although I don’t know much about the specific organs in the ancient tomb, I often imagine such organs. Later in my own studio, I would also like to try to do some secret rooms, secret doors and small organs. I think it is very interesting.
“Ball You Run” community interactive installation
Last year, I participated in an artist-community joint art project. I made a work that connects people with people in Yulin community in Chengdu. It is a big toy that people of all ages can participate in sports. Adults can go. On bicycles, children can deliver and catch balls.
This is my own attempt to “break the circle”, turning the gadgets on the desktop into big toys that everyone in the community can play with. The process is very interesting.
This year, I have made a new work called “Love the Cow”.
The two cows above will split their hearts when they are separated, and when they get closer, their broken hearts will converge, and the two calves below will work hard.
“Talking to the Cow” Design Sketch
The calf pattern is also exquisite. One is 20 and the other is 21. I hope that in 2021, the year of the ox, I wish you all happiness.
I am single so far, and I think it must have something to do with my type of work.
I don’t look at my mobile phone at work, and I often don’t respond to messages. Many girls complain about it. I know this is a very serious problem, but I can’t help it because it takes a lot of time to create, and I have to concentrate when I work, otherwise I will get hurt easily.
taken before the old fish surgery
“Stranded Fish”
A few months ago, when I was chopping the wood, the wood might be off. I accidentally stabbed the instep of my right foot with an axe and broke my tendon.
After the operation, in order to make the anesthetic go away, I couldn’t move even when I lay down for eight hours. I couldn’t lift my head or use a pillow.
Lying on the bed, trying to move, but unable to move. It reminds me of a previous work. It was a fish that was constantly fluttering, trying to struggle, and then very weak. This experience made me deeply realize that “life lies in movement”, and I want to return to work soon.
I am very fortunate to have found something I really love. Just like my work, our life is also a relative cycle. In this cycle, we should fill every day in the way we like.
Reference material: Yu Chenrui’s graduation thesis “An analysis of Automata’s design concept”, picture provided by: Yu Chenrui
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