Wencun Chen's work revolves around experimentation with the power of language. His works frame the process of thought and creation, capturing the dynamics of expanding the boundaries of expression. In his solo exhibition "Make a Sentence" at Nan Ke Gallery, Wencun Chen presents new works from recent years, demonstrating his understanding and innovative use of different creative mediums, such as painting, collage, video and installation, as well as his retrospective and prospective view of his own customary artistic language.
Artist Wencun Chen's studio © Courtesy of the artist
Q: There seems to be a lot of discussion about identity in your work. Can you tell us about your thoughts?
A: I hope to convey some of my concerns and perspectives in my works, these things will change with my life, where I am, my state of mind at that time will be revealed in my works, what I want to express is the world I know and speculate. When I was studying in the UK, my works may show more of my "oriental background", but this is not subjective to emphasise, I am originally oriental, I just keep the progress of my works.
Maybe it's because there are some textual elements in my works, I like to use fragments of words and phrases to create some kind of 'reading' behaviour. Of course colours, images and so on are just as important, but words always catch the eye very quickly and you start to read them immediately, uncontrollably.
Artist Wencun Chen's studio © Courtesy of the artist
Q: I'd like to ask you what you think about digitisation, and what specifically has changed in the way you create. How do you think such changes have helped with ideation?
Installation view of Red is the colour of forever, December 24, 2023 - January 28, 2024, Nan Ke Gallery, Shanghai © Wencun Chen. Courtesy Nan Ke Gallery
A: Broadly speaking I don't have any particular opinion, it's just the course of the times, the times make the man (and the man includes the artist), we are pushed by technology, and we are all doing our own attempts. My personal way of creating has changed, but it's not because of digitalisation, it's because I've chosen to do something new for a certain theme or idea, or I simply like music, but I don't know how to play the instruments, so I've used the computer to make some sound works based on my feelings.
So digitisation for me may not be in the medium, but in the idea. I'm interested in the digital age because of the innovations in technology and media, the changing ways of providing information, the changing modes of shopping and consumption, the changing ways of connecting people, and so on, and a lot of what I'm working on is born out of these places.
Artist Wencun Chen's studio © Courtesy of the artist
Q: On a more specific note, what are your views on taglines and what do you think about street graffiti, which is also characterised by taglines?
A: Slogans seem to me like a kind of seduction, which is usually associated with a predetermined group, where the emotion to be activated is like a light bulb on a wire in a hall, and the slogan is the switch. It fits our reading habits and preferences, as well as the needs of our group lifestyle. A shop in my neighbourhood put up a slogan one day: "You'll definitely win the lottery". You can imagine the traffic that day. So it's not like it's something so serious, it's just me expressing it, and I want it to be easy to read and good. Street graffiti too.
Artist Wencun Chen's studio © Courtesy of the artist
Q: Do you have any thoughts you would like to share about this solo exhibition project?
A: I'm speaking in a creative way. Whether it's like a riddle, or expressing some kind of immediate emotion. For both the creator and the viewer, it's about using a new language, or embracing a non-verbal "language". Just as we learnt to speak, read and write when we were children, it is full of possibilities, and we may be in a process where a lot of new technological and artistic languages are emerging, including the digital art we talked about before, all of which are filling in the gaps in the pure language, so that this matter of expression can be more like what people want it to be.
Installation view of Make a Sentence, December 24, 2023 - January 28, 2024, Nan Ke Gallery, Shanghai © Wencun Chen. Courtesy Nan Ke Gallery
In the process of learning a language, we all learn "abcd" at some point, and in my own case, I'm still trying to learn and try to use my "abcd" in the field of art, and my solo exhibition is a small platform for communication. The solo exhibition is a small communication platform, and I am still making progress. I hope that the solo exhibition will present a very imaginative state of mind, and that the creation will take place at such a time and keep it alive.
