Yangjiang Group: Coordinated Attack, Wave Upon Wave

The Yangjiang group was founded by Zheng Guogu, Chen Zaiyan, Sun Qinglin in 2005. Yangjiang Group tastes the new possibility of the Chinese calligraphy in the contemporary society, and tries to find the form of language for the age-old art. A “flat” aesthetics is subverted in their creative works.

Rather than rebelling against the tradition of Chinese calligraphy, Yangjiang Group gets its inspiration from the origin of the 'long river' of Chinese calligraphy - the ancient days when painting and writing forms were not divided. For Yangjiang Group, the momentum of modern society is calligraphy coming to life and the process of creating calligraphy becomes a way for the artists to reflect the world. Combining calligraphy with the unknowable dynamics of life force, the art of Yangjiang Group forges a unique style - I make calligraphy therefore I am.

—Excerpts from Hu Fang: Yangjiang Group, contribution to the exhibition catalogue of The 5th Auckland Triennial: "if you were to live here…", 2013, p. 165.

The publication is response to questions of “What is synergy?” from “Strategic Questions” curated by Gavin Wade. “Strategic Questions” is a project from 2002 to 2010 to develop 40 projects in response to 40 questions written by R. Buckminster Fuller in 1966.

About Yangjiang Group

Yangjiang Group is an artistic group founded in 2002 by Zheng Guogu (b. 1970, Yangjiang, China), Chen Zaiyan (b.1971, Yangchun, China) and Sun Qinglin (b.1974, Yangjiang, China). Yangjiang Group takes its name from their hometown where the artists are based. They use the unique medium of Chinese calligraphy to develop a diverse contemporary practice.

Rather than rebelling against the tradition of Chinese calligraphy, Yangjiang Group gets its inspiration from the origin of the “long river” of Chinese calligraphy – the ancient days when painting and writing forms were not divided. For Yangjiang Group, the momentum of modern society is calligraphy coming to life and the process of creating calligraphy becomes a way for the artists to reflect the world. Combining calligraphy with the unknowable dynamics of life force, the art of Yangjiang Group forges a unique style – I make calligraphy therefore I am. Known for their playful attacks on traditional calligraphy and attempts to subvert socio-cultural conventions and values, their works explore many different formats such as painting, multimedia installation, and performance and use materials such as wax, food and foam. Audience participation is a significant component of their work, ordinary events such as eating, tea drinking are vital to their convivial working process and cultivation of community-based exhibition experiences. Elements from everyday life - news talks, gambling, soccer games, discount sales etc.- give birth to a new approach of making calligraphy. Time and materials are transformed into a comprehensive situation by the fermentation of interaction with wine, tea, discourses and daily situations.

Image and Text: the shop, ©Authors, the shop, 2019

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