Blogpost for the White Rabbit Collection’s Archive, published January 2020, https://blog.jnprojects.net/snapshots-from-the-archive/jiang-pengyi-unpredictable-processes- in-foresight Jiang Pengyi: unpredictable processes in ‘Foresight’ In 2019, The White Rabbit Collection acquired four new works by artist Jiang Pengyi from his photographic series ‘Foresight’ (2017): Foresight No. 19, No. 18, No. 17, and No. 13. Foresight No. 19 and No. 18 (2017) This body of work continues Jiang’s exploration with camera-less photography, pushing boundaries with the materiality of the medium by experimenting with long-exposures and chemical reactions from the organic decay of fruit and vegetables. Exposing sheets of light- sensitive film to the juices and stains of natural foods, Jiang sets up intriguing accidents that only reveal themselves once the film is developed. The resulting images are captivating with grotesque forms and unidentifiable silhouettes against a sea of colour. There are magical hues of deep greens, sky blues, neon aquamarines with shadows of red and purple. A series Jiang has been exploring since 2014, ‘Foresight’ highlights the unforeseeable and essentially uncontrollable nature of the analogue photographic process that the artist has fully embraced. This body of work also adds to the depth of the collection holdings for the artist, given the pre-existing collection of the series Traces and Grace (both 2014-2016). In 2019, Jiang Pengyi donated scans from three spreads of his working notebook for the Judith Neilson/White Rabbit Collection Archive. Two of the spreads, dating back to May and June of 2017, meticulously detail every step of the ‘Foresight’ process, including the exact time he collected the various exposures with mushrooms, tomatoes, watermelon, and many 1 more. The number of exposed sheet films for each fruit and vegetable were noted too, and these records become an attempt to study or at least trace the unexpected outcomes. Jiang Pengyi’s notebook documenting the process of ‘Foresight’ 不能说自己发现了什么，而是所见所思 [I can’t say I discovered anything, but what I saw became and influenced what I thought] There is an element of surprise in this experimental working process that requires Jiang to be open to all possibilities and to hold no expectations. Noting this thought on a page following a record of collecting 6 sheets of exposed film, Jiang reflects on the importance of flexibility in navigating whatever is being presented in front of him. This is further highlighted in the third spread of the notebook that offers reflections from 2018 and 2019. One of the dated entries describes the tension in forcing oneself to not intervene with the natural process of decay for the image-making of ‘Foresight,’ and the irony of that in attempting to prescribe meaning to the final image and intervening in that sense. With a reference to Laozi’s classic Chinese text of the ‘Tao Te Ching’ in another entry, Jiang considers the necessity of ‘following the flow of the natural order’ and embracing unpredictability in artmaking. From this, he also describes a ‘good artist’ as someone who steps of out their comfort zones, experiments with the unfamiliar, and does not subscribe to audience expectations. With an emphasis on respecting process, these spreads almost read like Jiang’s personal art manifesto, providing a unique and an intimate insight into the making of ‘Foresight.’ 2 Scan of a spread from Jiang Pengyi’s notebook documenting and reflecting on the process of making ‘Foresight’ Find out more about Jiang Pengyi and his works in the White Rabbit Collection here. Foresight No. 13 and No. 4 (2017) 3 Blogpost for the White Rabbit Collection’s Archives, published January 2020, https://blog.jnprojects.net/snapshots-from-the-archive/archaeological-details-in-ouyang- chuns-volcanic-ash Archaeological details in Ouyang Chun's ‘Volcanic Ash’ Collection artist Ouyang Chun is most well-known for his idiosyncratic and whimsical paintings. His complex and detailed works are often made up of multiple small, distinct sections, as seen in Cream Cake, Lighthouse, Skyscrapers or Shimmering Anthill (2017). This approach of compiling various element continues into Ouyang’s practice of sculpture and installation, and is most notable in Volcanic Ash (2014), his first large-scale sculptural work made up of 960 tiny clay figures, animals and miscellaneous objects. Detail of Volcanic Ash (2014) Cast in bronze, the multiple parts of Volcanic Ash are laid out like an archeological dig of the 21st century. Ouyang imagines how these tools and precious objects would age if they were covered by volcanic ash that buried our civilisation like Pompeii. What might these items, once uncovered, reveal about our current preoccupations? In September 2019, Ouyang Chun donated two fibreglass maquettes for Volcanic Ash to the White Rabbit Collection Archive. Made in 2013, these two maquettes of a ‘spittoon’ and a ‘lighthouse’ are examples of the complicated casting and molding process used to create all 960 objects for Volcanic Ash. The fibreglass maquettes are made from clay models, and 1 then taken to a foundry to create the final bronze sculptures. The casting process ensures that every detail of the original, hand-molded clay model is intact. Fibreglass maquette of a ‘spittoon’ and a ‘lighthouse’ Traces of the artist’s hand can be seen and felt along the rough, textured edges of the two maquettes, providing an intimate insight into Volcanic Ash’s grand installation. The ‘lighthouse’ has clear strokes that shape its long form, and a series of irregular indentations that mark the windows of the lighthouse. The ‘spittoon’ is hand-pinched, with an asymmetrical body that reveals the form’s awkward, patchy construction. The two maquettes do not stand perfectly straight as their bases are not molded flat, but these are not defects that would be noticed amongst the group of 960 objects, especially since each of the items are handcrafted in the same manner. In this way, Volcanic Ash is stylistically similar to Ouyang Chun’s paintings, with a focus on a distant viewing of the holistic picture made up of roughly detailed, playful individual items. Find out more about Ouyang Chun and his works in the White Rabbit Collection here. 2 Blogpost for the White Rabbit Collection’s Archives, published July 2019, https://blog.jnprojects.net/snapshots-from-the-archive/tang-nannan-casting-waves-into- mountains Tang Nannan: casting waves into mountains The White Rabbit Collection holds four of Tang Nannan’s artworks: Billennium Waves (2015, video, 4’3’’), The Sea in the Sea 60, 61 (both 2015, ink on paper, 124 x 246 cm) and Phonixalis Bird of Wonder (2013, colour video, 5’11’’). Billennium Waves, a mesmerising, slow-motion video of waves shot at dusk before a thunderstorm, is currently being exhibited at the National Gallery of Victoria as part of A Fairy Tale in Red Times: Works from the White Rabbit Collection. It was previously also exhibited in The Dark Matters (2017) at the White Rabbit Gallery alongside two of Tang’s ink wash paintings The Sea in the Sea 60 and 61. In 2018, Tang Nannan donated a smaller ink wash painting to the White Rabbit Collection Archive, a work related to both Billennium Waves and The Sea in the Sea 60 and 61. Completed around 2013 at Mountain-facing Hall (dui shan tan), this painting demonstrates Tang’s contemporary approach to the tradition of shuimo (ink wash painting), and highlights his understanding of the essence of shanshui (“mountain-water”) painting that focuses more on the shui (water), a subject matter thoroughly explored across the related three works in the collection. Growing up by the sea in Xiamen, Tang is sensitive to vast bodies of water and remains intrigued by its powerful presence and mysterious character. While he trained as an oil painter at the Art College of Xiamen University, his love for Chinese classic poems and daily practice of calligraphy inspired him to explore the world that traditional ink paintings depicted simply. Making the transition to ink wash painting was surprisingly easy, as Tang focused less so on replicating shui mo’s elaborate techniques, and more so on the spiritual essence, attitudes and philosophies that grounded the painting tradition. Turning to the Chinese landscape painting style of shan shui, he noticed that water (shui) was always supplementary to the mountains (shan), which had “hundreds of techniques for painting… but few for lakes and streams and almost none for the ocean.” Struggling to find many resources on the vast sea as the subject of ink wash paintings, Tang experimented alone to develop a unique technique and style that would capture the spirit of the ocean. In the process as he embraced the old masters’ ethos, Tang realised that he was painting waves as if they were mountains. In further observing the rise and fall of waves along the coast of Taiwan, he saw that the movements echoed the shifting of tectonic plates, a process by which mountains are formed. This discovery draws a deep interrelation between mountains and oceans, between the literal shan and the shui in Chinese shan shui paintings. The ink wash painting donated by Tang to the White Rabbit Collection Archive clearly explore the intimate relation between the two natural forms. While the subject may be highlighting mountains (being painted at a Mountain-facing Hall), its relation to Tang’s Billennium Waves and The Sea in the Sea 60 and 61 in the Collection is undeniable with its zigzagged composition in a dynamic, flowing rhythm; one that is fluid and irregular like the ocean. 1 Ink wash painting by Tang Nannan donated to the White Rabbit Collection Archive The influence of Tang’s painting practice and unique observations between the ocean and mountain is clear in Billennium Waves (2015).