Lot 328. Zhan Wang (China, B. 1962), Artificial Rock, signed in Chinese, dated ‘2006’ and numbered ‘6/8’, stainless steel sculpture; sculpture: 43 x 34 x 16.5 cm. (16 7/8 x 13 3/8 x 6 ½ in.); stand: 5.5 × 41 × 20 cm. (2 1/8 × 16 1/8 × 7 7/8 in.) Executed in 2006, edition: 6/8. Estimate CNY 300,000 - CNY 600,000 (USD 42,778 - USD 85,557). © Christie's Image Ltd 2019. 

Provenance: Guardian Beijing, 15 May 2012, Lot 4949
Private Collection, Asia.

Note: The reason Chinese people love rock formations can be found in the world of inner beauty within them. Rocks have form as well as spirit, and their forms are but vessels for that all-important spiritual essence. Therefore, the appreciation of rocks must be achieved through experiencing each piece’s spirit, as encapsulated within its form, which also means that the tradition of rock appreciation reflects Chinese philosophy’s emphasis on inner beauty. By early Song dynasty, miniature rock curios have become a fixture in the studies of scholars and the intelligentsia – they were symbols of refinement as well as reminders for reflection. Since then, rocks leapt into traditional Chinese paintings, and the techniques or processes used to depict them have spawned new styles and inspirations belonging to a hundred different schools, putting rocks on the same pedestal with other forms of traditional art such as calligraphy and poetry.

Zhan Wang’s Artificial Rock is a dialogue with this millennia-old tradition, using modern craftsmanship to reimagine the essence of rock appreciation for the modern world. This series of works feature sheets of soft stainless steel that are hammered and sculpted onto the surfaces of actual rock formations by hand; afterwards, the underlying rock piece had to be broken into small pieces and carefully extracted from the base, allowing the steel form to be closed through delicate hammer work or welding. This painstaking and time-consuming process leaves behind a hollowed-out piece of rock, frozen in time for posterity in its new vessel of artificial materials.

Because each stainless-steel Artificial Rock is born of a unique piece of rock, this series can be interpreted as a carbon copy of an existing object, not unlike Marcel Duchamp’s concept of found art. Equally, the rocks can be said to channel the works of Duchamp’s student, the Korean installation artist Do-ho Suh, whose methods share striking similarities with Zhan Wang: Suh’s use of bright, light silken fabrics adds an ephemeral texture to one’s remembrance of space, and he also plays upon the method of medium-swapping to blur the line between imagination and reality, inspiring us to reflect upon our identity in this curious and extraordinary gap between realms.

Based on that foundation, Zhan Wang further placed himself in a wider social context: his Artificial Rock preserves the form of the source stone, but the change in materials and his workmanship also provokes a modern interpretation of the stone’s spirit. Traditionally, the appreciation of rocks by the Chinese follow the principles of “fineness, spirited energy, porosity, and translucency”, not to mention the evanescence of the rock. Stout and palpable rocks are sculpted by nature to form perforations, which show off their finesse, and move one’s heart to the beat of the world’s rhythms and motions. The extraordinary artistry shown off in this particular piece is thus a perfect encapsulation of nature’s authentic erosion, elevated to a new level: the hollowed-out piece of the stainless-steel rock seem to soar and peak above the clouds, subtly fuelling our imagination and carrying it into the beyond.

How can one find the heart’s quintessence amidst the scaly and gnarly forest of steel? How do we tell apart the dichotomies of truth and falsity, the past and the present, man and heavens, and why do we even seek to discern them? Zhan Wang’s Artificial Rock puts viewers in dialogue with the ancients: in face of this work, we are no different from the scholars of old, who admired its exquisite and enigmatic form, reflected upon its solemn and serene spirit, and sought one’s own path in the world.

Christie's. 20th Century & Contemporary Art (Evening Sale), Shanghai, 21 September 2019