Phonixalis Bird of Wonder
Tang Nannan
汤南南
Production date
2013
Object Detail
Media
video (colour, sound)
Measurements
5 min 11 sec
Notes
Phonixalis Bird of Wonder (2013), reveals Tang’s interest in the aesthetic and symbolic properties of Chinese ink – a contemporary take on the tradition of shui mo (ink wash) painting, and a reference to a mythological phoenix found in the ancient Chinese text The Book of Mountains and Seas, or Shan Hai Jing. The imagery is compelling: a book sinks through water, its yellowing pages slowly riffling. Black ink falls from the top of the screen, then slowly rises, as if the words on the book’s pages are dissolving, liquefying. A bird drifts and flutters, sinking, before beating its wings against the resistance of the water. It rises briefly, only to sink again, wings outstretched like fans. A plane plummets. Its engines bleed ink that diffuses like dark smoke. Suddenly, surreally, a giant human arm is thrust into the frame and pulls the sodden pages of the book upwards. Threads of black ink fill the water like mist. Will the phoenix rise again? Phonixalis Bird of Wonder suggests that the disintegration of ancient texts and traditional philosophies is cyclical and recoverable, rather than inevitable. Tang’s immersion in the Buddhist philosophy of the classical ink painters has encouraged him to develop a meditative approach to artmaking, and a quiet optimism emerges in this work
Accession number
2016.048