Colossal, Classical, Contemporary

Today, and moving into our paper craft assignment, I choose to focus on the work of Li Hongbo.

Hongbo is responsible for these remarkable paper sculptures. The Beijing artist uses thousands of sheets of soft white paper as a base to carve these intriguing sculptures. Hongbo derives his interest in paper from a previous career publishing books, making decisions surrounding the paper used in each product. To begin, he took a cue from traditional paper gourd techniques that have existed for a long time, although the two vary greatly in complexity, the core technique remains synonymous between Hongbo's work and traditional Chinese decorations. 

Because it is an innovating process the sculptures are built from the ground up with the original paper blocks being fabricated by Hongbo himself. Sheet by sheet he stacks the paper, with some sculptures requiring as many as 20 000 pieces of paper. Although the art he references might be known for its artistic interpretation, Li Hongbo is based much much more in physical perfection, taking many measurements to ensure he has the right dimensions. because of the fact he is using stacked paper, he must also keep a close watch over where his middle balance point is. If he isn't careful, the whole sculpture may become unstable, causing the slinky like structure to topple. 

I enjoy the notion brought up in his works. That something with such preconceived notions can be made new with nothing but a new material. That is really what Li Hongbo has done; take something of the classical era, and through creative innovation, make it represent our contemporary world. This elegant merging of old and new is what inspires me, and rightly so. As we proceed into this digital age the context and viewership of art is shifting dramatically. Gone are the days where art is only viewed or made in a purely physical space, and as art evolves so must we. I believe this idea is what I would like to reference in my paper-craft project. 

Peace and love,

Naish.

Works Cited:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gttdbqX4SWA 

http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2014/02/new-flexible-paper-sculptures-by-li-hongbo/