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“寻山问水”  Fányuàn 璠苑 & SEPIA

—GOLD REPAIR PAPER LAMP

polymer, gold, mercury lamp

Height: 14.5cm Width: 19.6cm Length: 28cm

Shanghai

2022

Opportunity：

The opportunity to create “寻山问水” was our desire to explore the deeper meaning of the work in the context of industrial standard production methods.

The fusion of two very different materials, industrial polymers and handmade crops, has given rise to new materials, forms and creative concepts, which is the new direction that FánYuàn璠苑 will reach.










Experiment:

How can we fuse industrial polymers with handicrafts in a way that retains the advantages of industrial standards and production, while at the same time carrying the traces and temperature of the handicrafts in the material? This fusion is what we have been thinking about in our practice.

For the first time we have used the traditional Chinese technique of printing and dyeing, hoping to incorporate the special colours and smells of the Chinese herbal culture. The polymers were steamed, dyed and dried with carefully selected herbs. The aim is to take this opportunity to reemphasise the importance that FánYuàn璠苑has placed on the aesthetic narrative of the Chinese Orient since its inception.

After many attempts to infuse the herbs into the polymer, and to give off the scent of the herbs, we did not feel that we had reached a perfect fit. So we put the journey on hold. On the way to thinking about how the ancients had fused, we discovered the technique of gold repair. This helped us to realise the concept of fusion in the midst of contradictions, and to build on it with a deeper meaning, appropriate content and sufficient expressiveness.













Fusion:

Gold restoration, an ancient traditional Chinese technique, aims to restore a broken object and bring it back to life. What is added to it as a result of restoration is embedded in China's unique aesthetic culture.

And what is a fragment and what is a new life? In our view, the 'restoration' of seemingly flawless industrial objects through gold restoration, and the warmth it gives to the work, is a way of thinking about how to innovate and how to incorporate traditional Chinese culture into it. The work is repeatedly pounded, pounded and kneaded, adapting the techniques and craftsmanship of traditional Chinese aesthetic culture and exploring its hidden cultural values. Like a phoenix in nirvana, the work is reborn from a new beginning.












Innovation:

We have taken these seemingly flawless industrial polymers and reshaped them, leaving behind the natural patterns on their surfaces and filling in the gaps with natural lacquer, one by one, to create a 'new life'. The manipulation of the natural lacquer has very strict requirements and standards, requiring time and technique to stack it in the gaps little by little, each step requiring care and caution, and the slightest lapse in effort will result in the loss of all work. As the lacquer continues to fill in the 'gaps', the final step is to dust it with a very fine gold powder to give it a new lease of life.

This is how FánYuàn璠苑 aims to take Chinese aesthetics as a starting point and to make the smallest of these techniques more resonant with Chinese classics and oriental aesthetics in the context of international integration.

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