Present Encounters : Papers from the conference of the Second Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Brisbane, 1996

turbu lence in our innermost worlds. Furthermore , such rapid reform results in misunderstandings and chaos in our attitudes to the new culture and economy. It is impossible to shake off traditional moral concepts, yet at the same time we must face reality. We often feel and suffer great i njury. This injury comes from traditional morality and its standards of measurement and life aspirations. This complex and immature social background places those people of the relevant age group in a very difficult position. Life's freedoms and China's liberation, along with the relatively long lasting hopes and ideals of our innermost hearts, all create huge contradictions. Perhaps I 'm an overly sensitive and anxious person . My emotional experiences began from as early back as I can remember. My maternal grandmother was my maternal grandfather's first wife . Her i ndecisiveness often made me nervous of her. In pre- 1 940s China, if men had money they could have many wives. This was legal and honourable. Thus our fami ly consisted of a grandfather between two women. My grandmother lived in constant expectation . In my mother's generation, the new direction of society brought about more stable relations between husbands and wives. They spoke of the equality of men and women . Free lifestyles of corruption were uprooted , as a result, divorce was considered morally degenerate and the leaders had the power to i ntervene. Social comment created a l ot of pressure . Even though a marriage may have been fundamentally ruptu red , in order to appear content, the majority of people wouldn't even think of divorce . For people of my generation however, love is an even more complicated th ing . I just mentioned we are positioned i n a period of cultu ral change and changing outlooks on life and values. I think that no matter what age group or place we come from (provided that the physiological structure of humanity is not altered) people all feel the basic emotions of hope, happiness, bewilderment, contradiction and suffering . Probably in this time of change, the transformations that occur are especially penetrating . The majority of those amongst us have no way of casting off the old or moving between the new and the old in this great vortex. This vortex is comprised of our i nnumerable hearts. I want to clearly express my heart through my works, and to create for myself and others an introspective, self questioning effect for the good of us all. I now want to talk of the basic methods of my work procedure. What mediatory process do my feelings and t he feelings o f others go through t o achieve a response which has some resonance? Once again I will clarify my own position . This is a technical issue . I remember once , a g i rlfriend was interviewing me and we were talking of our experiences of love. When I'm talking to people, I usually have to do something with my hands. At the time, I had in one hand a paint box, and with the other hand, I was unconsciously pushi ng tacks for stretchi ng canvas into the box - one into the i nside of the box, then one in the outside of the box, until the whole box was stuck with tacks. A friend of mine who works i n a hospital arrived and when he saw the box stuck through with tacks he got very excited . This type of visual satisfaction brings with it an emotional satisfaction. Looking at that box was just like looking at my own heart. A heart full of trouble. At that time I felt I had found a means of expressing myself. Before this I was searchi ng for a means of expression , as if I hadn't realised that I had a head that was my own, but was looking for someone else to provide me with a head. Actually it is only when one returns to one's own awakening that one finds a solution . Sometimes I 'm awake half the n ight and my mind is very alert. I mage after i mage passes through my head and I pick up a brush and put them on paper. For me, how one awakens oneself is a crucial issue. I can't say what I do is good , what I can say is that I 've merely found my key, a key which can cast off all distractions, allowing me to be pure of heart. When pure of heart the symbols wh ich emerge are in accord with my real feelings. To realise this one doesn't have to be overly delicate, simple, or anxious for advantage. Through work experience , life experiences and cultural saturation , as wel l as through the rewards of constant self-questioning, one's emotional world can become richer and richer in quality. Through emotional development one's emotional world is stimulated , at this time the subconscious promotes an understanding of self and can adjust i n accordance with the new symbols one requ i res. There is no need to search , when the symbol emerges the selection of materials will follow naturally. This is what I 've learnt from my experiences. I think that in a good work, conceptual and visual intensity should be consistent. If it is lacking in even the smallest deg ree, it is not a good work. 1 08