NYU Shanghai clinical arts professor Jian-Jun Zhang’s works are featured in 12th National Art Exhibition in Beijing. “Rain between mountain and river, between sky and earth, not yet touching the ground; it is the moment of a process. At this moment it is rain and will become water when touching a surface,” says Zhang. In this project, Zhang highlights the moment of transition. “The mountain and river are not visible, but only in our imagination, a poetic landscape that is between the sky and earth. The calligraphy ‘dot’ becomes rain, as well as embodying the Chinese spirit.”
In this performance, images of calligraphy “dots” and words are projected onto three translucent silk scrolls, passing through one to the next. The video images evolve and change, as Zhang selectively adds to the scrolls, painting rain dots or characters with Chinese ink. Two assistants participate in the performance. When Zhang writes on a movable silk panel, they bring it with its ink dots into the space, spreading out the ink rain to the walls.