The spirit of the times and contemporary culture of stainless - steel metal sculptures

Since the 1990s, Chinese modern metal sculpture has begun to return to and awaken the spirit of traditional culture, focusing on the exploration and research of the ideological connotation and spiritual significance of traditional Chinese sculpture in order to maintain its independence and existence in a world where globalization is constantly strengthening.

However, there is a practical problem that Chinese contemporary metal sculptors cannot avoid: the question of purpose versus means. Chinese contemporary metal sculpture learns from traditional sculpture, absorbing and restoring its ideological connotations and spiritual significance. No matter how profound the theory, how progressive the meaning, or how far-reaching the influence, it is ultimately a means, not the end goal.

As stated in the book's introduction: The spirit of the times is a crucial criterion for judging the value of sculptural art; a sculptor's ideas and creative practices cannot exist independently of their era. Therefore, the ultimate goal of learning from and drawing upon tradition is to embody the spiritual essence and cultural significance of our time. In other words, in the study of traditional Chinese sculpture by modern Chinese metal sculpture, we should avoid putting the cart before the horse, avoiding learning for the sake of learning, treating learning as the end goal, or simply learning and drawing upon the spirit of traditional culture and art. Instead, we should understand that the significance of learning from tradition lies in enabling a modern transformation of traditional culture, combining it with the thoughts and consciousness of modern people, solving modern problems, and reflecting the spiritual needs and values ​​of modern people.

Zhan Wang's metal sculpture series, "Artificial Rocks," is a typical example of using traditional symbols to express contemporary culture. His inheritance and study of traditional Chinese sculpture are mainly reflected in two aspects.

This reflects the broad range of subject matter chosen in traditional Chinese sculpture. Unlike Western sculpture, which emphasizes the human form, traditional Chinese sculpture tends to focus on depicting objects: animals, landscapes, local customs, legends, and scenes of daily life. For example, the "Mountain and Pool Shaped Water Scroll" unearthed in Zhongbao Village, western suburbs of Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, features mountains, water, trees, and bridges all together, resembling a lifelike landscape painting. The choice of "artificial rocks" as a subject likely reflects this influence.

Secondly, there is the Taoist concept of the unity of opposites, Yin and Yang. Influenced by this idea, traditional Chinese sculpture emphasizes the contrast between sculpture and its environment, solidity and openness, embodying a profound philosophical meaning in the interplay of movement and stillness, sparseness and density, tightness and looseness, and concealment and revelation. This is likely another reason why the artist chose "artificial rocks" as the subject of his design.

While reflecting the influence of traditional sculpture, the "Artificial Rocks" series of sculptures also demonstrates that the artist is not simply learning and copying tradition, but rather transforming tradition into a modern language to contemplate cultural issues in contemporary society. Using polished mirror-finish stainless steel and employing a naturalistic reproduction technique, the works express the artist's strong concern for the rapidly changing Chinese society, exploring a profound contemporary cultural issue: the role of classical culture represented by artificial rocks in contemporary social life, thus possessing strong cultural relevance.