Wilton Quarry 2007-2009

My work is the hybrid of landscape photographs, self-performance and language. The completed work consists of two panels with the same size and format: one is a large landscape photograph featuring me acting as four different figures in a disused quarry site; another panel is a work site slogan widely seen in China, which translates as ‘Mountains are wealth; Work is Pride’.

With the work I intend to discuss the relationship between us and nature, especially the paradox which we keep holding the romantic concept of nature whilst continuing to ruin it. By doing self-performance instead of documenting some real activities, I hope to establish an imaged space, since nature as a concept is created by us anyway; I also hope to use the image-making process as a way of self-reflection, because I, among others, am also responsible for the exploitation of nature. The Chinese language is an important part, it reveals the lifeline of quarries, and represents the juxtaposition of how the same nature is used differently by different cultures, in different economic stages.

To read the full essay, please click .