About Shū Gé · Qiū Hóng
The bookshelf is open on all four sides, each level has an embedded wood board with a heightened border, where books can be placed. Its structure airy and rhythmic, standing freely without decoration, and the lines that run through its whole body come from ripple patterns.
When water runs rapidly and its momentum too strong, the water surface tumbles up and down, whose image are not to be used; instead, Shu would compare it to the autumn water, which is tranquil and deep. When autumn winds blow, water surface starts trembling and gentle waves are sent, the designer borrowed this image to represent the bookshelf, beautiful as it is: autumn water.
—Ma Shu
More information
Shū Gé ·Qiū Hóng used the imagery of autumn water, bringing the viewer into a tranquil and open space through a relationship of curvature and straightness between lines, surface and the entire spatial formulation of wood. The “rippling” edges are withdrawn yet suggestive: its liveliness is reserved in the autumn winds and the trembling water surfaces, ready to flourish. When the viewer looks at any of its pillars at a 45degree angle, the invisible straight line at its very core will immediately emerge from the subtle curve. The overall spatiality of the bookshelf enters physicality from intangibility, and use physicality to testify intangibility. The mutual reflection and confirmation between physicality and intangibility sweep away any sense of emptiness and giddiness, allowing the viewer and its user to breath freely in the world.
Shū Gé ·Qiū Hóng, The Literati’s Mind That Transcends (Wen Xin Fei Du), P56-58
About Ma Shu
Ma Shu, born in Pingyu, Henan province, has been committed to the thinking on the aesthetics and dispositions of Chinese Renwen Furniture. He aims at presenting new spatial elements and a new life style based on the heritage of Chinese ancient woodcraft to our era. The furniture he made originated from Tao and took on their forms as utensils, with graceful bearing and artistic conceptions as their carriages. Ma Shu has published several monographs on antiquate furniture including: Made in Ming Qing (Míng Qīng Zhì Zào), The Imagery of Ming Qing (Míng Qīng Yì Xiàng), Sitting Insight (Zuò Guān); the collections of works: The Literati’s Mind That Transcends (Wén Xīn Fēi Dù). The forthcoming publications include a monograph on the aesthetic of Ge Shan (the partition doors and windows of the ancient Chinese architectures), called Crafting Doors and Windows (Kāi Xuān) with six volumes as well as a monograph on the aesthetic of Song furniture (from Song Dynasty of China): Seeing through the Nature’s Secrets and Standing Aloof from the World (Dòng Tiān Wàng Jī), etc..
Special Reminder
More and more woodcraft furniture users and designers are highlighting the natural qualities of wood and respect its nature and the breathability of wood fibers, so wood’s true characters tend to be preserved in the making and using of woodcraft furniture. Ma Shu also applies this way of thinking to his own furniture, respects the life of wood itself and let the material breath naturally. When the wood is placed in different regions under different climate conditions, minor changes to its appearance might occur, which are determined by the material’s natural characteristics. When this occurs, please don’t worry. You can contact us for further consultation and solutions for your situation.
Texts: Ma Shu, You Zhengyu
Photo: Ma Shu, Feng Zhiyin, Wen Peng
Translation: Ouyang Yangyi
Image and Text: the shop, ©Authors, the shop, 2019
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Material: African sandalwood
Year: 2013
Dimensions: L 87.5 × W 38 × H 190 cm