Tianhang Zhu

The Chinese classical garden is representative of Chinese traditional aesthetics: elegant and exquisite, reflecting the aesthetic level and ideology of ancient scholars and aristocrats. In contemporary China almost every city has a park named ‘People's Park’ and their layout and planning are completely different from those of the old gardens. These parks embody the political and social aesthetics at a national level today.

This project’s concern is the political or social aesthetics that dominate the landscape, in particular, the ‘People’s Anniversary Parks’ and the ways in which they enforce and reflect the position of the government. Parks and gardens are small, but they reflect the gaps that China has experienced in the field of culture and aesthetics. In this People’s Anniversary Park sculptural objects and materials are chosen carefully to represent and symbolise China’s political and industrial policies. Additionally, an Instagram account documents the project and unpacks some of the ideas through hashtags.

These static pictures show the internal structure of The People’s Anniversary Park, it’s materials, slogans, and complex elements. For example metallic materials indicate China's industrial background; huge sculptures represent the power of China; the symmetry of the park's layout embodies political themes; the array of plants expresses collectivism.

This illustration shows the characteristics of traditional gardens: the perfect combination of architecture and natural landscape. The ultimate goal of the traditional Chinese garden is the harmony between man and nature. This illustration contrasts and dialogues with The Peoples Park prompting the audience to think about the reasons for this aesthetic transformation and how this reflects our political and social structures.

The work is inspired by Chinese gardens and traditional landscape paintings. In the Chinese garden, the shape each of garden door is different and each shape represents a different meaning. However, our field of vision is limited by the shape and outline of the door forcing us to imagine the extended scenery inside.

This video creates an ever-changing "window" to view the landscape. The intention is to convey to the viewer that the picture content of the landscape painting is limited, but the spirituality and association of the picture are unlimited. It is an attempt to explore Chinese aesthetics, and hopefully, the viewer will enjoy the landscape change through the "movement" window and imagine it.

This work explores the boundaries between 2D and 3D. It draws on the moire pattern to create a two-dimensional world (a visual principle) that uses lines to reflect a sense of space and then makes this space "real" through visual dynamics. It uses the relationship between different walls to strengthen the sense of space. The end result is deceptive: two-dimensional or three-dimensional? This is Morie Space.