The Gale Blows
——Bending,Powerlessness, and the Illusion of Freedom

大风吹
——折弯、无力感和自由幻觉

"The Gale Blows " consists of six chapters, each depicting different scenes: "24 cypress trees bent by the strong winds
along the riverbank," "an artist's transformation of plant shapes," "the struggle of grass to find a way to grow upwards
under oppression," "beautifully pruned and restrained bonsai," "all kinds of objects bent in the studio," and " pagodas
over the Yangtze River bent by modern digital means."
Since ancient times, and especially in the modern era, people have invented all kinds of extreme technological methods
to transform cultivated plants to satisfy their own aesthetic desires. Faced with nature that cannot fight back, humans
have acquired increasingly powerful abilities, thus granting themselves this power and feeling perfectly justified.
In my studio, I do just that: I simulate the force of the gale and transform my plants, making them bend in the
directions I desire.
Furthermore, I have granted myself absolute power, using mechanical and digital technology to bend everything I wish
to bend. This is the artistic illusion within the studio.
This work was created during three years of suffering under the pressure of the COVID-19 virus and its derived
circumstances.
During these three years, the world seemed to enter a period of shock, undergoing earth-shattering changes.
Everything became uncertain.
Between nature and humans, among family members, within groups, between groups, classes, regions, and
internationally, enormous pressures from all directions fall on each individual in various forms, leaving us with a
widespread sense of powerlessness under a heavy burden.
In various contexts and times, we may transform into those who exert pressure, flipping between roles of being
oppressed and being oppressors, often without self-awareness.
But, can this world really allow us to do as we please?

“大风吹”共有 6 个章节，分别描绘了“江边被大风吹弯的 24 棵柏树”、“艺术家对植物外型的改造”、“小草在压迫中
寻找向上生长的出口”、“被绑缚修剪的美丽盆景”、“工作室里无所不弯的物件”、“现代数字手段弯掉的长江上的塔”
等图景。
自古以来，特别是现代，人们发明了各种无所不用其极的技术方法，对栽培的植物进行改造，以满足自己的审美欲望。
面对没有反抗力的自然，人类拥有越来越强大的能力，因而赋予自己这种权力，并心安理得。
我在我的工作室就是这样，模拟大风吹的力量，对我的植物实施了改造，让它们按我的意志，定向折弯。
进一步的，我赋予了自己绝对的权力，用机械及数字技术去折弯我想弯的一切东西。这是工作室里的艺术幻觉。
本作品是在这个世界饱受新冠病毒及其衍生事物的压榨折磨的 3 年中被创作成型的。
在这三年里，这个世界仿佛进入了一个震荡期，发生着翻天地覆的变化。一切变得不确定。
在自然与人类之间、在家庭成员之间、在团体内部、团体之间、阶层之间、地域之间、以及国际之间，来自四面
八方的巨大压力以各种形式落在每一个个体身上，让我们普遍有一种重负压身的无力感。
在不同的场域和时段，我们又可能变身为给出压力的那一方，在受压和施压的的角色里翻转穿越，却不自知。
只是，这世界真的可能让我们随心所欲么？

Prologue
引子
24 cypress trees by the river
江边的二十四棵柏树

My home is by the Yangtze River.
I often see cypress trees leaning in one direction.
These oddly shaped cypress trees made a particularly deep impression on me when I was a child. I asked
the elders about them, and they said the trees were bent by the strong winds. I was full of wonder—how strong
must the wind be to bend such large trees?
Later I learned that the wind was not only strong but also consistent in direction, and it lasted for a long time.
Blown by the wind over and over, the trees eventually leaned.

我家在长江边。
常常能见到朝一个方向歪长的的柏树。
这些身姿怪异的柏树在我小时候就给我留下特别深的印象。问长辈，说是被大风吹歪的。心中好生疑惑，这得
有多大的风才能吹歪这么大的树啊？
后来知道了，风不仅大，方向还一致，时间还持续很长。
吹着吹着，树就歪了。

Chapter 1
第一章
The gale blows
大风吹

Trees bent by the wind are beautiful, and they cast their silhouettes in many artistic forms such as
iterature, painting, and photography.
In my studio, I simulate the force of the gale, transforming my plants to bend according to my will, directing their growth.
The plants "bent" by the simulated wind will continue to be nurtured by me for at least a year. Some will die, others
will thrive. Some will remain frozen in their bent shape, while others will straighten up and continue to grow upwards.
The largest plant I "bent" is a poplar tree over twenty meters tall, growing in the wild.

被风吹歪的树，很美，在很多文学、绘画、摄影等艺术作品中都有它们的影子。
我在工作室就模拟大风吹的力量，对我的植物实施了改造，让它们按我的意志，定向折弯。
被“吹弯”植物会继续被我养着，至少一年。有的会死去，有的会活得很好。有的就此定格在弯的形状，有的会重
新抬头，继续向上生长。
我“吹弯”的最大的植物是一棵在野外生长的二十多米高的杨树。
(9x3 photos 8 videos)

Chapter 2
第二章
The Herbaceous Plant Growing Upward
向上生长的草本

I cultivated a pea seedling in my studio.
I covered it with a glass dome, which had a small hole at the top on one side. The pea seedling would search
for this sole upward exit to emerge through.
Just when it thought it could grow freely, I would cover it with another glass dome, with another small hole
at the opposite side at the top. The pea seedling would search for this new sole upward exit and emerge through it.
This cycle repeated until it flowered and bore fruit, completing its lifecycle.
A total of nine glass domes were used.
A total of 203 days passed.

我在工作室养了一棵豌豆苗。
我用一个玻璃罩罩住它，玻璃罩的一侧顶部有一个小孔，豌豆苗会去寻找这个唯一的向上的出口，由此钻出。
每当它以为就此可以自由生长的时候，我会在上面罩上另一个玻璃罩，顶部的另一侧有一个小孔，豌豆苗会去
寻找这个唯一的向上的出口，由此钻出。
循环往复，直到它开花结果，走完它的一生。
总共用了 9 个玻璃罩。
总共 203 天。
(1 photo 1 video)

Chapter 3
第三章
The Beautiful Plants
美丽的植物

There are twelve basic techniques for styling bonsai plants, which include: pruning branches, iring, pinching
to control height, knot art, bark peeling art, branch bending, exposing roots, trunk plitting, stick bending,
thick trunk bending, trunk cutting and branch preservation, and trunk plitting.
As for pruning, the branches that typically need to be removed include: crossed branches, verlapping
branches, parallel branches, whorled branches, opposite branches, reverse branches, upright branches,
congested branches, cut branches, crotch branches, obstructive branches, axillary branches, root branches,
weak branches, and diseased branches.
The resulting types of branches include: chicken claw branches, deer horn branches, returning branches,
natural branches, spread hand branches, floating branches, probing branches, dragging branches, falling
branches, cascading branches, drooping branches, and windblown branches. The styling of branches pays
attention to following the natural growth direction, countering it, dropping, rising, spreading, folding,
controlling, pausing, extending, bending—constantly changing and arying with time.
Wiring with metal wire is a primary technique for fixing the main trunk's shape. As the plant grows with the
wire, the shape of the branches is fixed within a few months, after which the wire can be removed.
The principle of styling is not the plant's natural inclination but entirely derived from human desire.
盆景植物造型有十二种基本技法，包括：枝条修剪、铁丝蟠扎、摘心限高、疙瘩艺术、撬皮艺术、折枝成型、
露根、剖干、棍棒弯曲、粗干拿弯、截干蓄枝、劈干。
就修剪而言，需要剪去的枝条通常包括：交叉枝、重叠枝、平行枝、轮生枝、对生枝、逆向枝、直立枝、闷
心枝、切干枝、丫杈枝、堵面枝、腋下枝、根枝、瘦弱枝、病态枝。
枝片类型有：鸡爪枝、鹿角枝、回头枝、自然枝、摊手枝、飘枝、探枝、拖枝、跌枝、泻枝、垂枝、
风吹枝，枝条造型讲究顺、逆、落、起、展、折、制、顿、伸、屈，千变万化，因时而异。
金属丝蟠扎是主要的主干定型技法。植物枝条随着蟠扎生长，几个月之后枝条形状就固定了，随后即可拆除
蟠扎金
属丝。
造型的原则非植物本愿，全起于人欲。
(22 photos)

Chapter 4
第四章
Juci
锔活儿

Juci, one of the ancient seventy-two artisanship trades known among the folk, also called " Drill and Pin
Repair," is a technique for restoring broken pottery through processes like identifying cracks, marking
positioning points, drilling for kintsugi pins, and mixing fillers to seal leaks. This allows the damaged
vessel to be returned to its original form and charm to be reborn. Scenes of kintsugi craftsmen at work
are depicted in the Song Dynasty's "Along the River During the Qingming Festival." It has grown
symbiotically with Chinese porcelain and has endured through the years.
After breaking and bending, and then employing Juci, I "bent" many "unbendable" objects in my studio,
ranging from pencils to ladders., Among them, bending 100 pencils took me a full two months.
During that time, although pressed by the COVID-19 pandemic within the confines of the studio, the
thrill of controlling the world was born from the art of kintsugi. My heart swelled with pride, and I even
exclaimed the slogan "All things can be bent."

锔瓷，民间古老的七十二行当之一，又称锔活儿，是通过找碴对缝、定位点记、打孔锔钉、调粉补漏等环节，
让破损的器皿恢复原样，再次绽放魅力的技术。宋代《清明上河图》中就有锔匠工作的场景。它与中国的瓷器相生，
经年不衰。
断后折弯而锔，我在工作室里“弯”了诸多“不可弯之物”，小至铅笔，大致爬梯。其中，弯掉 100 只铅笔，耗费我
整整两个月。
那段时间里，虽然被新冠疫情压迫在工作室内，掌控世界的快感却因锔活儿而生，胸中豪情万丈，甚至喊出
“万物皆可弯”的口号。
(16 installations+photos)

Additional chapter
外一章
The 12 towers on the Yangtze River
长江上的十二座塔

Compared to ancient craftsmanship, the advancement of modern technology continuously urpasses human
imagination.
Modern digital techniques have truly granted me the ability to "bend all things."
As representatives of "all things," the "Twelve Towers over the Yangtze River" have been bent by me.
But, is this a true picture of freedom, or merely a dopamine illusion destined to shatter?

相对于古老技艺，现代技术的进步不断突破人的想象。
现代数字手段，让我真正拥有了“万物皆可弯”的能力。
作为“万物“的代表，“长江上的十二座塔”，被我弯掉了。
只是，这究竟是一幅真实的自由图景，还是一种终究会破灭的多巴胺幻觉？
(12 photos)