035 Blur
034 Swings
033 Little boy
032 Guy
AEPtittude
In All It’s Grandio-city
Loong Cui Wen
Nanyang Junior College
2006
A sign of urban progress is often seen through relentless construction and architectural upgrading. Each new development, though grand and awe-inspiring, will eventually be replaced by newer and larger ones. The artist sees such cycle of construction, destruction and reconstruction as futile pursuit.
Firstly, I must express my utmost admiration for the artist. Not just for her artistic skills and interesting choice of medium, but also the immense effort put into painstakingly detailing the ‘city’ with rust!
I did some research on how to use rust to draw 0.o In fact, there’s not much on the net about rust drawings. However, I do have one artwork entitled “Tokyo” by Richard Heinrich. Apparently, he loves to use rusted steel to draw – maybe this is what Cui Wen did too!
Comparing Cui Wen with Heinrich, I feel that Cui Wen’s content is more detailed. However, Heinrich has a better control of this tool. He is able to manipulate the rusted steel to form shades and gradients. Whereas Cui Wen’s drawing is relatively flat. At some parts of the drawing, the lines are also too light; therefore, some parts may appear unclear – This may be intentional though. However, given her lack of experience and time constraints, it is nevertheless an amazing piece of work.
About her concept, I disagree with generalizing all ‘cycles of construction, destruction and reconstruction as (a) futile pursuit’. Without change, there will be no progress. After all, not all changes are useless; some are for the better! Cui Wen views urban progress in a negative light. She sees it as the destruction of the valuable past. She sees reconstruction as a mere copy of the original construction. However, I would view it as the remodeling of the original construction to meet the needs of a new society in the new age of technology. Reconstruction allows for greater expansion of creativity. It allows for the exploration of a new perspective that could well be beneficial breathe of fresh air to the constricted society we live in!