2016年CRI Seven Days Art Project Inspires New Thinking about Art Education

Zhang Bin 1 and Ye Hongtu are two teachers from the College of Art and Architecture in Dalian University of Technology. They form an Art Education Group, imparting a great deal of their innovative 2 ideas in art to their students. 

This fact is demonstrated via an exhibition, full of rich-colored big paintings on deities 3 from China as well as the western countries.

But Zhang Bin disclosed these paintings are actually composed of many small sketches 5.

"The sketches were all drawn 6 by ball pens, spanning just ten different colors. Each small segment of this huge painting was drawn with just two colors at most, such as blue and red. If you concentrate on just an area of the painting, you may find it is still a sketch 4, but sketches made in different colors have enriched the visual effect of the artwork as a whole. It extends from sketches to computer images."

Hung on the walls of the exhibition hall on the second floor of Today Art Museum are over twenty big paintings, which all look like a hybrid 7 of different images.

Art curator Feng Boyi shows particular interest in one of these artworks, composed of 300 small images each indicating a blurred 8 TV screen.

"A total of 300 images constitute a piece of abstract art. The artwork, which is a product from the joint 9 effots of the two teachers and their students, shows how they've made strenuous 10 efforts to teach their students how to create. Quite often, art teachers focus on their artistic 11 creations and pay inadequate 12 attention to combine their own projects with the art education."

This art education group doesn't separate art and education; instead, they unify 13 them to impact how young artists should take on their pursuit. 

Ye Hongtu is Zhang Bin's partner, following him all along in their innovative teaching practices which the pair regard an experiment on art and also social education. 

Ye took pleasure in explaining why their artworks are made so colorful.

"I like the word 'positive energy'. In order to gain positive energy and a happy mood, I am fond of colorful designs, which I think my young students are also interested in and would like to join us."

The Today Art Museum provides them with a week-long display period, during which some famous art critics, like Feng Boyi, have been invited to evaluate their art project and also discuss with the art education revolution.

Feng Boyi thinks the two artists are bringing a totally new-style of exhibition, with a strong sense of the present era.

"The exhibition is a vivid reflection of the present Image Era. Social media network on mobile phone and laptop enrich the variety of images. There are a host of mixed images and pictures, reflecting gaudy 14 art. The artworks are featured with postmodernism and collage 15. In fact, many of these images and pictures already exist there."

The Today Art Museum's Seven Days Art Project is another exhibition aiming to help young artists in their pursuit in Chinese contemporary art and more importantly encourage them to challenge the stereotypes 16 of the institution and freely explore the possibility of art world.

For Studio Plus, I'm Wang Lei.