All posts by banny

The Southern Fish

April 5, 2016 2016年4月5日

Food is a universal language – it speaks of culture, of heritage, and of the places we call home. People everywhere have a deeply rooted longing for the nostalgic flavors of their hometown. It’s this same longing that motivated Zuo Taiming and his partners to open The Southern Fish. In the vastness that is China, flavors from region to region will of course differ from one another. Generally though, Chinese cuisine has been categorized into dishes from eight provinces, but within every province there are still variances to flavors from city to city. In that regard, rather than classifying The Southern Fish as simply a Hunan restaurant, their dishes should be more appropriately considered as Hengyang cuisine.

人大抵如此罢，两肩担一口，踏遍南北，吃始终是放不下的事，心底最挂念的终究还是那一道家乡味。左太明与他的合作伙伴成立渔芙南时，正是出于对家乡味道的思恋。中华地广，各地菜式自然各自相异，尽管通常按省份地区分为八大菜系，但是同一个省内不同地区又各有各的不同风味。所以，渔芙南，与其说是湘(湖南)菜，不如说是衡阳菜更为合适。

The Southern Fish is located in Beijing’s Qianmen district off of Yangmeizhuxie Street. This Hunan-Hengyang restaurant is tucked away in a traditional hutong alley, inside of a renovated two-story residential building. Zuo Taiming and his wife designed the entire space, working side by side from the conceptual stage all the way up to completion. With a mentality of wanting to preserve the authenticity of their dishes, they source many of their ingredients from Hengyang. But besides the genuine Hengyang food they provide, the creative energy that the restaurant embodies has also been a much-welcomed addition to this hutong alleyway.

这间由胡同里破旧的两层老宅改建而来的湖南衡阳餐厅，渔芙南，就位于北京前门杨梅竹斜街上。整个空间由左太明及其夫人负责方案的设计和实施。为了能够保持菜肴的原汁原味，诸多食材都专从衡阳运送过来。这里除了地道的地方料理，更是以其成功的改造成为了这条胡同上众多出色创意成员之一。

The first and second floor of The Southern Fish adds up to a total of 65 square meters; the interior consists of long, narrow spaces with a width of three meters – yet it doesn’t feel cramped. The first floor is able to accommodate around twenty people, while the second floor is able to accommodate between eight and ten. The designers used multiple vertical, wood-framed windows of varying height for the facade. On one hand, the design of the facade is used to maximize the amount of natural light; on the other hand, it’s to maintain a consistent visual aesthetic with the long and narrow interior space. The challenge of using the long and narrow spaces inside the building is actually what attracted Zuo Taiming to choose this location. Through his clean, simple, and space-effective design, he successfully made the location work for him.

渔芙南整间餐厅上下两层楼加起来也不过65平方米，内部空间狭长，宽仅为3米，却不见局促压迫感。一层空间大致能容纳 20 人左右，二层包间则能容纳 8－10 人。设计师运用许多木质框架的小窗高低错落地排布在沿街一侧的外立面上，一方面给自然采光创造最大的可能，一方面和内部狭长的空间形成一致的视觉印象。初见这座老宅时，左太明正是被它的狭长在空间利用上的挑战所吸引，这个挑战最终被简洁合理有效的空间设计所战胜。

Continuing with the idea of optimizing natural light, the second floor ceiling has been replaced by a see-through skylight. The skylight extends the original space upwards without actually altering it, this eliminates any sense of claustrophobia one might have. Overhead, the dangling branches outside, framed like artwork on a canvas by the skylight, seems to possess an artistic, almost painter-like quality. They have also installed latticed shelves on the same floor, which holds a variety of Hengyang delicacies in large pickling jars, including but not limited to: dried fish, sausages, long beans, and radish skins. These are also some of the most genuine Hengyang dishes you can order in the restaurant, and exemplifies their slogan xiang shi ben wei, which is their goal of producing quality local dishes one can find in Hunan.

餐厅二层的天花板，设计师将其做成了天窗，同样致力于获取充足的采光，也大大拉高了空间，从而消除了其不可改变的物理特点所带来的逼仄感。抬头所见的老树枝，也在天窗中形成了一副画，充满了诗意。此外，设计师还在二楼包间旁设置一排格子架，架上摆放着各种衡阳当地的特色食物，比如腊鱼腊肠、干豆角、萝卜皮、坛子菜等，这些都是渔芙南店里最本土的家乡美食，正应了渔芙南的标语，叫做“湘食本味”。

Besides the labor poured into designing the space, The Southern Fish also places importance on the aesthetics of other visual elements. The logo uses black as the primary color of choice, and is designed as the shape of a fish’s head. In order to maintain a visual consistency for customers, every piece of furniture and even the material used for the first floor ceiling has been carefully selected to ensure the wood color is one in the same. Indoor lighting comes from hanging pendant lights; the cascading lines creates an illusion of spaciousness, the seemingly methodic curvature of the cords further emphasizes the degree of design discipline in play. Even their business cards, napkins, plates adorning the walls, glasses, curtains, uniforms, door handles, and menu all seem to be exercises in meticulousness. In addition to all of these details, they have even designed a font that’s exclusively used for the restaurant. So far, their design team has already created hundreds of Chinese characters.

除了在空间设计上下足了功夫，渔芙南在视觉系统上也同样用心至极。整个品牌以黑色为主色调，以鱼头的形状作为主要的表现元素。从餐厅各种家具，到一楼天花板的木板，都以同一色系的木材，确保了视觉上的统一性；室内照明上则采用了直接从天花板垂下的黑色吊灯，色彩上自不必多说，其线条以下垂营造了层高的错觉，以曲度强调了店内图形设计的高度一致。甚至名片、餐巾盒、墙上的餐盘、水杯、门帘、工作服、门把手以及菜单等各种细节上也不放过。此外，他们还为餐厅设计了专属字体，用于店内功能性文字和装饰性文字，迄今设计团队已经写了好几百个汉字。　

Creatives in the hutong are already regulars of this restaurant, and word of mouth has been attracting even more customers. Currently, Mr. and Mrs. Zuo are running this restaurant together but are also working on their brand consultant company. Taiming focuses more on the restaurant side, and his wife focuses more on the brand consultant side. This restaurant has been the definitive case study to show their clients, and is a great representation of the amount of thought they put into their designs. The popularity and success of The Southern Fish is undoubtedly a persuasive showcase on the importance of well-crafted branding and design for other local businesses.

胡同里的创意人已经成为了这里的常客，其他客人也纷纷慕名而来。目前，左太明与太太一边经营着这家餐厅，一边打理自己的品牌顾问公司。先生负责店面，太太负责公司。而渔芙南自开张以来，它的大受欢迎也让更多本土人士看到了好的设计和品牌的重要性。作为品牌顾问公司的经营者，他们也用这个生动实例的说服力，向公众展示他们的设计能力和理念。

Address:
166 Yangmeizhuxie Street, Dashilan
Xicheng District, Beijing
People’s Republic of China

Phone:
0086-010-83152539

Hours:
Lunch 11:00 – 14:30
Dinner 17:00 – 20:30
Closed Mondays

Weibo: ～/yufunan2014
Wechat: TheSouthernFish

 

Contributors: Banny Wang, Eric Zhang
Images Courtesy of The Southern Fish

地址:
中国
北京市西城区
大栅栏 杨梅竹斜街166号

电话号码:
0086-010-8315 2539

营业时间:
午食 11:00 – 14:30
晚食 17:00 – 20:30
周一定休

微博: ～/yufunan2014
微信: TheSouthernFish

 

供稿人: Banny Wang, Eric Zhang
图片由渔芙南提供

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Dream Chen’s Art

April 1, 2016 2016年4月1日

Chen Mengqian (aka Dream Chen) is a children’s book illustrator and animator from Hainan, China. After graduating from the Communication University of China with a bachelor in animation, she moved to the United States. Dream continued her studies in Minneapolis where she is still currently based, at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, and eventually received her MFA in Visual Arts there. Dream’s illustrations tends to blur the boundaries between commercial work and artistic pursuit, and the playful dreamscapes she creates seems to have the power to captivate the imaginations of readers.

陈梦牵，亦为Dream Chen，来自中国海南岛，是一名儿童插画师和动画师，现居美国明尼阿波利斯。在中国传媒大学获取了动画学士学位后，她又前往明尼阿波利斯艺术设计学院继续深造，并获得视觉艺术的美术硕士学位。她的作品一直游离在商业和艺术的边缘，但是不管是哪种创作形式，她都试图为读者和观众营造如梦一般的感觉。

Dream Chen’s parents were both artists, and the creative energy of this household undeniably played a huge role in her trajectory as an artist. Naturally, she chose a creative major like animation in college. After graduating from CUC, she worked at an animation company for a year before deciding to continue her studies in the United States. However, Minneapolis is quite different from Los Angeles – there are no major animation studios in Minnesota and the state of the entire industry is underdeveloped when compared to that of L.A. She created a children’s book and a short stop-motion film as her thesis for her MFA, and after graduating, she began to submit her work all over. But she was unable to find a full-time position at any animation studios, and she was instead offered a position at a children’s book publishing company that took notice of her work. This led to several collaborative projects, and the success turned into more ongoing collaborations. Dream admits she never thought she would become a professional children’s book illustrator, but that taking this path actually allowed her to maintain her personal aesthetics and she feels like it’s an even better way to make a living.

有着艺术家双亲，梦牵在成长过程中深受艺术熏陶，所以大学时期选择了动画，并以此开始自己的职业便顺理成章。离开工作了一年的动画公司，前往美国求学就业。但明尼阿波利斯不同于洛杉矶，这里并没有大的动画工作室，行业状态更为相异。研究生毕业时，她完成了一本儿童绘本以及一部短片定格动画作为毕业论文，并开始四处投作品。在没有动画工作室愿意给她一个全职工作时，一间儿童图书出版公司对她的作品表示了兴趣。于是他们合作做了几个小的出版项目，一切便很顺利进行了下去。最终会以儿童插画师的身份走在这条职业道路上是她所不曾料到的，但她表示跟动画相比，这或许是一个更好的营生方式，也让她得以保留自己的创作风格。

 

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Her illustration books and animations always drew influence from one another. Creating with one medium would spark ideas for the other; for example, when she made her stop-motion animation, it inspired her to create a three-dimensional doll book. Then during the process of making that book, it started generating ideas for her next animation project. Familiar with both mediums, she feels like there’s more room to play around with ideas when it comes to animated works; but at the same time, the tangibility of printed illustration books makes her feel like her artwork is even more real in a sense. She adds, “I don’t know how many times my hard drive has failed, and resulted in me losing my digital files. But when it comes to printed books, there’s never any concerns about losing my work.”

她的创作历程中，动画和绘本永远都是互相影响的。在一者上的创作总会给另一者予启发。比如，在定格动画的创作会启发她做一个三维的人偶书；创作三维人偶书过程的一切又给了她下一个动画项目很多启发。在这两种创作间游离的她认为，动画有更多可以发挥的创意元素，但是印刷出来的绘本却也给她一种更为真实的感觉。“我不知道有多少次我的硬盘坏了，然后我的所有数码文件也因此全都消失了。但是书，你从来不需要有这样的顾虑。”她补充道。

For Dream, the creative processes behind making animations and illustration books are very different. They do share some similarities, in that they are both storytelling mediums, both have a rhythm in how a story can unfold, and both involve characters. When making animations, she is able to use sounds, music, and movements to establish the mood. Illustration, on the other hand, is a bit more like a silent film by comparison. It has its own distinct characteristics and unique qualities of course – such as the bookbinding, which acts as a separator for the individual frames, but at the same time is also what connects all these frames together. The storytelling aspect is what compels Dream Chen the most. She says, “I am really interested in telling stories. I want people to laugh, to feel sad, to look back on my book and reflect.” Dream tells us that she also likes to hide small Easter eggs in her illustrations to surprise the detail-conscious viewers.

在她看来，动画和绘本的创作思维是非常不一样的，但它们都是关乎故事、节奏和角色。动画里，她可以通过声音、音乐以及角色的表演来塑造氛围；绘本则像是默片，也有自己的特别之处，绘本的装订线将画面分隔开，又让它们作为一帧帧连续的画面连接起来。故事叙述就是梦牵最为着迷的地方。“我想讲故事，我想引人发笑或者悲伤，我想让他们在看过我的书后会有一番思考。”她说。她甚至会在绘本中特意隐秘地放上一些细节作为彩蛋，给细心的读者带来特别的惊喜。

Making animations can be immensely time consuming however. The characters that appear in the story also need to maintain consistency throughout. Compared with animation, illustrating a book is far more laid-back in that sense. Dream feels the whole act of making an animation is a challenging endeavor that really tests the artist’s determination and patience. When asked about her approach to the time-consuming, repetitive animation process, Dream says that she studies the details of the character’s movements, and through practice she is able to maintain the same sense of focus throughout the creative process.

但是，动画这种创作形式相当耗时，其中出现的角色也需要由始至终保持一致性——这点对比绘本形式是有过之无不及。动画创作的这种特点是对创作者在耐心和恒心上的很大考验，至少对梦牵而言是这样。谈到自己创作过程中如何克服这方面的挑战时，梦牵说，她只能对角色动作做更为细致深入的研究，再用更多的练习来保证自己创作过程中的专注。

Dream is currently planning to create her next independent animation The Island. This will be her first animated project since graduation, and it will also be her first project that doesn’t involve any dialogue. Dream says, “My animated works before were only for kids. This time, I want to challenge myself, and create a story that explores adult themes.” She recently received a Film, Video, and Digital Production Grant from the Jerome Foundation, which will provide the financial security for her to put sole focus on her work for the next few months. Dream feels like this project will give her the momentum to propel her further along in her artistic journey.

目前，梦牵正在计划做她的下一个独立动画《The Island》。这将是她第一个无对话、面向成人的动画，也将是她离校后的第一个动画项目。她说: “我之前的所有动画都是儿童友好的作品。但是这次，我想挑战一下，尝试做一个带有成人课题的故事。”梦牵最近刚收到Jerome Foundation的艺术家基金，这能让她接下来几个月不用担心收入问题，全心专注投入在动画创作上。更重要的是对她来说，这可能将带她进入创作的下一阶段。

Website: dreamchen.org
Facebook: ~/DreamChenIllustration
Instagram: @dreamchenillustration

 

Contributor: Banny Wang

网站: dreamchen.org
脸书:~/DreamChenIllustration
Instagram: @dreamchenillustration

 

供稿人: Banny Wang

 

 

 

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Stacking Hasami Ceramics

March 31, 2016 2016年3月31日

25,000 pieces of Japanese crockery – consisting of bowls, plates, and cups, all stacked neatly on top of another, layer upon layer. This was how this magnificent elevated floor, built solely from ceramics, was created. Wooden tables sit on top, with a selection of ceramic tableware available for purchase neatly arranged on them. A small set of brick steps leads visitors up onto the platform, where they are able to walk freely on this stunning installation. High heels, however, are not recommended. This display of engineering ingenuity can be found at the flagship store of the renowned Japanese ceramics company Maruhiro.

層を成して整然と積み重ねられた鉢、皿、茶碗からなる25,000個の日本の陶器。こうして、陶器だけで組み立てられたこの素晴らしい高床が作り出されました。その上に置かれた木製のテーブルには、販売用の陶器の食器がきちんと並べられています。レンガ製の小さな階段を登って壇上に上がると、この見事なインスタレーションの上を自由に歩くことができます。但し、ハイヒール着用でのご利用はご遠慮ください。この工学的創造性にあふれた展示作品は、有名な陶器会社マルヒロの旗艦店でご覧いただけます。

Maruhiro is located in Hasami, Japan, at the junction between Nagasaki and Saga prefectures. This area has a 400 year history with manufacturing ceramics, and is well known for its pottery and porcelain. Hasami is considered to be a central hub for quality Japanese porcelain – the rural but famed town has, in fact, become synonymous with Japanese ceramics. In April of last year, Maruhiro unveiled the complete overhaul and redesign of their flagship store. Through a contemporary reinterpretation of traditional ceramics design, the store has become one of the most unique and must-see destinations in the area.

マルヒロは、長崎県と佐賀県が交差する波佐見町にあります。この地域は、陶器の制作に400年の歴史を誇り、陶磁器で広く知られています。日本の高級磁器の中心といわれる波佐見町は、田園地帯にありながらも高名な町であり、事実上日本の磁器の代名詞となりました。マルヒロは昨年4月、同社の旗艦店の修整作業および再設計を発表しました。伝統的な陶器デザインの現代的な再解釈を経て、この旗艦店はこの地域で屈指のユニークかつ必見の場所となりました。

Japanese designer Yusuke Seki is the mastermind behind the store’s redesign. He was inspired to pursue a career as a professional designer after the Great Hanshin earthquake, when his hometown had to be rebuilt after the disaster. His creative approach is to reinterpret and rethink the essential aspects of a particular design, embracing simplicity and minimalism above all else. Yusuke’s inspiration often comes from things which already exist, such as material, location, and history. The function is, of course, essential in the conceptualization of his designs, but he also takes the surrounding environment and space into careful consideration. He likes to include the traditional tried-and-true design techniques from the past, and bring it together with completely modern elements.

建築デザイナー関祐介氏は、この旗艦店再設計の影の立役者です。関氏は、阪神淡路大震災で大きな被害を受けた故郷の再建を目の当たりにしたのち、プロのデザイナーとしてのキャリアの追求に目覚めました。関氏の独創的なアプローチは、何よりも簡潔性とミニマリズムを活用しつつ、特定のデザインの本質的側面を再解釈および再考することです。関氏のインスピレーションは、物質、場所、歴史など、既存の物事から得られることが多いものです。当然、機能が氏のデザインの概念化に不可欠なものとはいえ、周囲の環境や空間も慎重に考慮しています。関氏は、過去から受け継がれ、実証された伝統的なデザイン技術を取り入れ、まったく現代的な要素と組み合わせる手法を好んで用いています。

For this project, Yusuke decided on using tableware deemed to be flawed and unusable after the initial bisque-firing. He managed to acquire these unwanted objects, which are also known as shinikiji, from some local production facilities in bulk amounts, and after collecting enough of it, Yusuke began filling them up with cement to transform them into the building blocks to be used for the elevated platform. Through his creativity, he managed to give these discarded elements a second life, and showcase their inherent beauty in a new way. The end result is a gorgeous piece of installation art that compliments the store space and reflects the brand’s ethos perfectly. Yusuke Seki’s design marries architectural knowledge with the artisanal expertise of the Hasami region, and in so doing, created a unique location and situation-specific experience. The next time you are in Japan, be sure to give the Maruhiro store a visit!

このプロジェクトに際し、関氏は、死に生地とも呼ばれる、最初のビスク焼成後に傷が入り、使いものにならないと判断された食器を使うことにしました。氏はこれら不要の物体を地域の生産施設から大量に買い取り、十分な量を集めた時点で、それらの器にセメントを詰め、高床を構成するブロックに変えたのです。その創造性を通じて、関氏はこれらの廃棄物に第二の命を吹き込み、本来の美しさを新たな形で展示することに成功しました。その結果、店舗の空間を引き立たせ、ブランド精神を完璧に反映する見事なインスタレーション作品となりました。関祐介氏のデザインは、建築知識と波佐見地方の職人の専門技能を融合するものとなり、ユニークな場所とその場所ならではの経験を作り上げます。お近くにお越しの際は、マルヒロの旗艦店に是非お立ち寄りください。

Address:
775-7 Toyaotsu, Arita,
Nishimatsu-ura, Saga 844-0014
Japan

Hours:
10:00am ~ 5:00 pm
Closed Wednesdays & Every 3rd Saturday and Sunday

Website:
hasamiyaki.jp
yusukeseki.com

住所:
日本佐賀県西松浦郡有田町戸矢乙775-7

営業時間:
10:00～17:00
定休日: 毎週水曜，第3土・日曜

ウェブサイト:
hasamiyaki.jp
yusukeseki.com

Contributor: Banny Wang
Photographer: Takumi Ota
Images Courtesy of Yusuke Seki

寄稿者: Banny Wang
カメラマン: Takumi Ota
Images Courtesy of Yusuke Seki

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The Art of Feifei Ruan

March 25, 2016 2016年3月25日

Feifei Ruan is an artist born and raised in Shenzhen, China. She entered the New York School of Visual Arts in 2013, and is now a member of the New York Society of Illustrators and Art Directors Club. Now living in Brooklyn, she continues her exploration of using illustration as a storytelling device. Her collection of work includes illustrations, prints, storybooks, and graphic designs. The Chinese proverb san sui kan da, an old saying that states how a person will turn out as an adult can be foretold by the time they’re three years old, is perfectly exemplified by Feifei. She was already doodling short stories of her own during her manga and cartoon-filled childhood. After seeing the positive reactions of people that saw her art, Feifei was instilled with a sense of accomplishment which would carry on into her adult life. These feelings of achievement developed into a long-term love affair with illustration and led her onto her current career path as a visual artist.

阮菲菲出生成长于中国深圳，2013年前往纽约视觉艺术学院读研，现为纽约插画家协会会员和纽约艺术指导俱乐部会员，居住在布鲁克林，进行有关视觉叙事的艺术创作。她的作品主要包括插画、故事书、手工印刷以及平面设计。中国人相信的“三岁看大”在她身上似乎一点不假。在卡通和漫画中度过的童年时期，她就开始涂涂画画一些小故事，并以此为娱乐。将这些小故事和小伙伴们分享并引起大家的情绪反应为菲菲所带来的成就感，大概就是她这个长期兴趣和未来职业的原始动力罢。

Finding inspiration in the people and events in her life, Feifei’s work touches on themes related to humanity and the universe at large. Her skill lies in her ability to use visual narratives to explore abstract topics, and also in her ability to create a unique atmospheric mood in her illustrations. The images she creates contains oriental charm, but at the same time, is very different from the style of traditional Eastern art. Feifei is able to evoke a sense of mystery in her artwork that piques the curiosity of viewers and draws them into her immersive creations. Whether it’s commercial work, like a huge wall mural commissioned by a ramen restaurant, or her personal works like Welcome to Chinatown and Sashimi, her style is distinct and easily recognizable. Neocha recently spoke to Feifei about her inspirations and storytelling approach.

以身边的人和事为灵感，菲菲作品的内容大多围绕着人文与宇宙。她善于用视觉语言表现抽象话题，用画笔营造特定的氛围和感觉。她的画面沁透着异于传统的东方韵味，有着某种悠远的神秘感，一笔一划都是戏，令读者深深沉浸其中。不管是为拉面馆绘制的大型壁画这种商业作品，还是像《Welcome to Chinatown》和 《Sashimi》这样的个人故事绘本创作，她的风格都显而易见。阅读我们以下对她的采访，了解更多。

Neocha: How did the two stories Welcome to Chinatown and Sashimi come about? What are you trying to convey through them?

Feifei: I always find New York’s Chinatown to be very interesting. It’s like a cup of yuanyang made with coffee and tea. It tastes like both of them but neither of them. Sometimes, I just grab a newspaper, get some dimsum, and listen to the elders tell stories about their past. The comic Welcome to Chinatown is an adaptation of the stories I have heard. They are a bit funny, a bit absurd, and a bit heavy all at the same time.

The picture book Sashimi is also an absurd story with a depressing tone. It’s about a boy who works at a sashimi restaurant and then a mysterious event occurs in the fishing village. This project was actually inspired by my own nightmares. I tried to visualize the feeling of standing at the gap between dream and reality. Since many of my nightmares were related to the ocean, this book illustrates the waves and the stories these waves carry with them.

Neocha: 《Welcome to Chinatown》和《Sashimi》这两个故事是怎么来的呢? 在这两部作品的背后你想表现的是什么呢？

Feifei: 我一直觉得纽约唐人街非常有意思。就像一杯中美文化冲撞出来的鸳鸯茶，有着独特的社会关系以及浓浓的人情味。平时没事我都喜欢到这里转转。夹份报纸，叫个点心，听老一辈讲“旧阵时”。而《Welcome to Chinatown》就是由一些听回来的故事改编而成的小漫画。有点好玩，有点荒诞，也有点沉重。

绘本《Sashimi》也是一个荒诞的故事，但基调更为压抑。内容是关于一个在刺身店工作的小男孩与小渔村里发生的离奇事件。灵感主要来源于自己以往的梦境。并尝试把那种在梦境与现实中游离的精神状态视觉化。由于过去许多梦境都和大海有关,所以创作下了这一个充满海腥味的故事。

Neocha: Why did you decide to illustrate both of your stories with only two colors?

Feifei: When I read stories I prefer simple colors. I believe reading something in monochrome makes it easier to take in, compared to something with a lot of colors. Viewers can be easily distracted from the story by glaring images, so to keep the viewers focused on the story, I minimized the amount of colors.

Neocha: 这两个故事都是用双色完成的，为什么？

Feifei: 当我自己阅读故事的时候我比较偏好简单的颜色。我觉得单色在阅读体验上比全彩要顺畅。读者可以不被过多的细节干扰从而把注意力集中到故事的本身。所以在创作自己作品的时候我也会尽量控制颜色的数量。

Neocha: Your work has a suspenseful and mysterious feel. Why do you have this predilection?

Feifei: I enjoy translating abstract feelings into visual images that could be interpreted as suspense, fear or sorrow. Finding the right language is a big challenge here. Rather than merely using words, it instead requires the use of atmosphere to speak. I’m still practicing.

Neocha: 你的作品总给人一种神秘悬疑的感觉，为什么你有这种偏好呢？

Feifei: 我主要偏好于将一些抽象的感觉转化成视觉图像，像是悬疑、恐惧或忧伤。而视觉语言在这里是个很大的挑战。因为除了用“言语”更多的是要用“气氛”说话。而我也一直在做各种尝试。

Neocha: Which artists or illustrators are your favorites? Which do you consider to have inspired you the most? 

Feifei: There are many artists I like. I think James Jean and Tomer Hanuka inspired me the most in the early years. It’s always impressive to see James Jean’s art. It feels like those drawings all have souls, which can touch the hearts of people. Seeing Tomer Hanuka’s work is like seeing a movie. His images are always full of stories and energy. Since both of them along with many other artists I like are all from the School of Visual Arts, it influenced my decision to study at SVA and it’s also what brought me to New York.

Neocha: 哪些艺术家对你有着最深的影响？ 

Feifei: 早期影响我最大的艺术家是James Jean和Tomer Hanuka。好看的作品很多，能触动人心的却不多。James Jean的作品就充满了灵性，能带给人一种感动的感觉。另一位艺术家Tomer Hanuka的作品叙事性非常强，看他的插画就像是看一场电影，非常带感。由于他们以及其他一些我喜欢的艺术家都是纽约视觉艺术学院毕业的，这直接影响我作出了来SVA学习的决定。也是促成我来纽约的原因。

Neocha: How would you define good storytelling?

Feifei: The first thing is being able to draw the viewer’s attention and intriguing them at the very beginning. Second, it’s being able to motivate and stimulate them at the end. When it comes to storytelling, a lot of people consider the most important thing is what to say. But I believe how you tell a story is even more important, since the same message can be delivered in many different ways. Figuring out the best method is what all storytellers should strive for.

Neocha: 你怎么定义好的叙事呢？

Feifei: 一是在一开始能快速引起人们的关注并让人有往下看的兴趣；二是能让人看完后意犹未尽，有所触动或是行动。很多人认为讲故事最重要的是“讲什么”，但我认为“怎么讲”其实更为重要。同一个信息能有无数种传达方式，而我们需要做的就是找到一个最合适的方式。

Photo Credit / 图片来源: Aline Müller

Neocha: Do you consider Asian culture an influence in your work? Does New York inspire you as well?

Feifei: New York is the blood of my work, which regenerates everyday. The whole city is a great inspirational fair. You can easily discover something when you stroll around. What interests me most is New Yorkers – everyone lives crazily and does crazy things. It’s hard not to be inspired by them.

Asian culture is the bone of my work. Growing up in an Asian culture influenced my thoughts, values, and tastes. After coming to New York and learning about many different cultures, I found that I’m still more obsessed with Asian culture than the others. Currently, I’m working on a new story about Shanghai back in the 1900s. It’s a graphic novel that’s being created in collaboration with writer Mark Sable. I’m very excited about it, it will be a challenge for me.

Neocha: 亚洲文化对你的作品有很大的影响？你现在所住的城市对你也有所启发吗？

Feifei: 纽约就像是我作品的血液，每天都在不断更新再造。整座城市就像是个灵感集市，随便走走逛逛都会有新发现。其中最有意思的是纽约人 – 几乎每个人都在疯狂地干事或干着疯狂的事。而你很难不被他们感染。

亚洲文化就像是我作品的骨骼。由于从小就在亚洲文化下长大，无论思想审美价值都 离不开这个框架。来美国后接触了很多不同的文化，在对比下发现自己还是对亚洲文化感触最深。我最近在准备的一个新故事就是关于中国老上海的题材。这将是一本和脚本作家Mark Sable合作的长篇漫画。虽然对我来说是一个很大的挑战，但还是蛮期待的。

Photo Credit / 图片来源: Aline Müller
Photo Credit / 图片来源: Aline Müller

Website: feifeiruan.com
Instagram: @ruan0v0

 

Contributor: Banny Wang
Images Courtesy of Feifei Ruan & Aline Müller

网站: feifeiruan.com
Instagram: @ruan0v0

 

供稿人: Banny Wang
图片由阮菲菲和Aline Müller提供

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Pencil & Ink

March 24, 2016 2016年3月24日

Born in Jinan in Shandong province, Li Shuai is a graphic designer and illustrator who is now currently based in Shanghai. She works full-time as a graphic designer, but in her free time, she creates colorful pencil and ink illustrations as a means of expressing her personal emotions and views. Her artwork is often a reflection of her daily life, inner thoughts, as well as feelings towards various worldly issues. Li Shuai’s goal is to make people think more with her visual stories. Her collection of work includes Someone and FLASH ACTION, along with her educational children’s books Veruca’s Home and A First Book of Hairstyle.

来自山东济南的李帅，现在是一名居住在上海的平面设计师和插画师。在平面设计工作之外，她喜欢用颜色来表达自己的情绪和观点；用画面记录自己生活中的故事、内向的想法，或者是对于自己不能触及到事物的感受；用讲述故事引发读者更多的思考。她的作品包括《Someone》、《FLASH ACTION》等，以及《Veruca’s Home》和《A First Book of Hairstyle》这样的儿童教育绘本。

After graduating from Northeastern University in 2011 with a degree in graphic design, Li Shuai decided to move to the UK. There, she continued her studies of graphic design and illustration – first at Kingston University, and then later at the Edinburgh College of Art. In her first year of living abroad, she met a Portuguese illustrator. This new acquaintance showed her a side of painting she’s never seen before. She no longer dwelled on the techniques of other artists, their content matter, or subject, but rather started creating from her heart with a focus on feelings and emotions rather than the technical aspects. Her mentality shifted and saw the process of creating art more as a means of self-expression, which led to her following a mantra of “BE MYSELF!” Around this time, she began to sit in on illustration classes and attending more workshops. This was when Li Shuai met Robin Harris, a professor of illustration, who then became a mentor to her. “He provided me a lot of information, and a back-and-forth with him through e-mail helped me solve a lot of problems,” she says. It was during this time when Li Shuai first began her official foray into the world of illustration.

2011年从东北大学的平面设计毕业后，李帅前往英国，分别于金士顿大学和爱丁堡艺术学院研读平面设计和插画艺术。来到英国的第一年，她认识了一位葡萄牙插画师。这位插画师的作品以及他讲的诸多故事，让原本就喜欢画画的李帅看到了绘画不一样的一面。她不再只一味研究别人的绘画技法、内容以及题材，而是开始跟随感觉用插画去表达自己，简而言之，“ BE MYSELF! ”。而后，她开始经常去插画系蹭课，参加他们的workshop，在那认识的插画系教授Robin在后来的日子里更是给予她很多指导。“他给了我很多资料，和他的邮件来往帮我解除了很多疑问”李帅说道。自此，她踏上了插画的创作之路。

In the beginning, children’s picture books were the first thing that appealed to her. She says, “The picture books for young kids in England are really interesting. They explore a variety of subjects, and some even tell strange and horrific stories in a cutesy and charming way. This was what attracted me to them.” At the same time, she was interested in hairstyles, and researched the interesting characteristics of different styles of hair in Egypt, Greece, France, among other European countries. And thus her interactive children’s illustration book A First Book of Hairstyle came into being. This project made her realize she enjoys illustrative projects that takes a lengthier amount of time to complete. “This way, I can dig deeper into my own mind and produce something that more people will find interesting,” she explains.

儿童绘本是最先吸引到她的一种插画。她说:“英国的儿童绘本很有意思，各种题材都有。有的居然可以用很可爱的方式讲述略恐怖诡异的剧情，当时对于我来说很有吸引力。”出于对发型的兴趣，对埃及、希腊、法国等欧洲国家有趣且特殊的发型进行一番研究后，她创作了一本适合给小朋友看的互动插画书籍，于是有了《A First Book of Hairstyle》。这个项目也让她意识到自己喜欢时间稍微长一点的插画项目，“这样子我可以发掘且自产很多能让大家觉得有意思的东西”。

Later at Edinburgh, she invested a year towards studying the subject of humans that eat dog meat to fully develop her emotions, views and opinions towards the matter. Eating Dogs in China was the project that resulted from this period of time, which involves two illustrated storybooks, a graphic map, and four zines. She says, “In this project, my favorite piece of work was the graphics map which I sketched out with pencils. At the time, the creepy scenes in the Hannibal television series really inspired me.” This project ignited her interest with creating art based on her observations of current societal issues. Another theme Li Shuai started exploring was the single child policy in China and how it ties into the way Chinese parents spoil their kids. Despite the extreme nature of the topic, she succeeded by going with a tactful approach and painting it into a meaningful narrative that explored ideas beyond the original topic. She says, “everyone loves seeing beautiful things, but in reality, the ugly things that people don’t want to see is way more thought-provoking. To present the complexities of societal issues in a simple and quirky way is actually really fun for me.”

之后在爱丁堡的时候，她花了一年时间来发掘自己对于“人吃狗肉”这个事情的感觉、看法和观点。《Eating Dogs in China》项目就是这样诞生的，是李帅对于社会问题的关注的起点。这个项目包含了两本插画故事书籍，graphic map，四本zine。她说: “在这个项目中，我自己最喜欢的是用素描来表现的graphics map。当时美剧《汉尼拔》里面的一些恐怖场景也给我了很多灵感。”此外，独身子女政策下中国家长对孩子的溺爱也是她表现的另一个主题。 她成功地以一种委婉的方式，用自己的画笔为这些具有极端倾向的话题注入叙述性，从而让画面超越她所表达的主题。她认为:“大家都喜欢美好的事物，但是其实不美好的事物更加会引起大家的思考。把复杂的社会性问题用比较简单且有趣味的形式表达出来也是很好玩的。”

Like many artists, Li Shuai unashamedly reveals she also started by imitating the style of her favorite illustrators. But now, having found her own artistic voice, she has begun experimenting with different types of paint and techniques. As a way of training her sensitivity to colors, she started combining colored pencils with ink to create some of her recent artwork. She says her favorite artist and a big inspiration is Australian architect and illustrator Hundred Wasser. His selective use of colors and shapes creates surreal dream-like scenes that have left a deep impression on her. As far as storytelling goes, she shares, “I don’t like the traditional storytelling style, I like it when an artist might have a personal interpretation of their work, but viewers are able to extract their own meaning out of it.”

固然也曾和很多人一样，选择模仿自己喜欢的插画师以及插画风格，但现在她倾向于基于自己的想法，探索不同绘画材质碰撞出的火花。为了锻炼自己的色彩敏感度，她使用彩色铅笔结合ink创作。说到色彩，李帅说她最爱奥地利艺术家和建筑师Hundert Wasser，他的色彩以及运用形状来表现的画面营造出近乎梦境的景象给了她很多启发。 至于讲故事，她是这么看的:“我自己不是很喜欢传统意义的讲故事风格。我喜欢那种自己给画面某种特殊定义，但是每个人又会有自己的不同理解的画面。 ” 

As a versatile multi-disciplined designer, Li Shuai has also revealed some plans of wanting to dabble in different mediums. She expressed interest in playing around with textile design, and also experimenting with 3D illustration techniques used in exhibition design. According to Li Shuai, being creative is as easy as “identifying what interests you – then actually working towards creating it after forming the idea, maintaining an open mind to keep a fresh perspective on things, and trying things you’ve never tried before.”

自诩多技能设计师的她，表示近期她还想创作一些印花设计，以及应用于展示设计中的3D插画创作。总之，创作于她就是“发现自己喜欢的感兴趣的点， 想到然后再做到， 保持对于新鲜事物的感受，然后尝试自己未曾尝试的东西。”

Website: cargocollective.com/shuaili0808
Behance: ~/azurali
Instagram: @shuaion

 

Contributor: Banny Wang

网站: cargocollective.com/shuaili0808
Behance: ~/azurali
Instagram: @shuaion

 

供稿人: Banny Wang

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The Art of Qi Mengli

March 22, 2016 2016年3月22日

At first glance, Qi Mengli’s artwork seems to be only comprised of overtly sexual images. Upon a closer inspection, viewers will discover that sex serves only as a small part of a bigger picture, yet is a necessity for what the work seeks to convey. Her recent project Xiao Ren Shu, tells candid tales about some of the men she has encountered in her life. It is considered to be a very personal piece of work and is presented like a monologue. It explores love and relationships, among many other themes. Born in Nanjing, China, Qi Mengli utilizes the familiarity of her birthplace as the backdrop in Miss Known and Sister Known. These two projects transport the viewers to the sites of some well-known Nanjing landmarks, such as the old Chinese presidential quarters and Dr. Sun Yatsen’s Mausoleum.

戚梦莉的作品，让人乍一看会以为是一些以性为主题的绘画，可是细读过后便能发现性在这些作品里只是一些插曲，当然也是必不可少的工具。《小人书》系列是梦莉近年的项目，主要围绕着作者与不同男性、不同人接触的一些故事，可以说是“私房”画，类似一种独白，近期还在发展亲情和其他主题。梦莉是南京人，作品《懂姐姐》和《懂妹妹》等都是以南京为背景，里面涉及到总统府、中山陵等地。

Miss Known is a story about the founding of the Republic of China. Sister Known, on the other hand, has a visual style reminiscent of the music video Ninety-nine Roses, by the famous Chinese singer Samuel Tai. “For example, when someone I meet is giving off a Samuel Tai-style vibe, then that might inspire a story that fits the vibe,” she explains. “The entirety of Xiao Ren Shu follows the traditional comic creation process. But my narrative style is closer to the style of older movies. I like to envision them as old-fashioned music videos.”

《懂姐姐》是关于民国穿越的故事，《懂妹妹》则是受到歌手邰正宵的歌曲《九十九朵玫瑰》MV的启发。谈及创作过程，她说：“比如我遇到的这个角色像邰正宵style，那么我就给他们模拟成那样的故事。”她创作的所有小人书都以传统的连环画形式构成，其叙事上应用了老电影的形式，可以其称之为old-fashioned MV。

Mengli’s work is greatly influenced by the filmmakers Wong Kar-Wai and Tsai Ming-liang. In her comic art, every frame has a cinematic feel instilled in it. That particular style is especially common in Japanese manga and Western comics.

梦莉的作品在故事模式上大有王家卫与蔡明亮二位导演电影的风格。她连环画中的每一页都应用了电影式的镜头，这种现代手法不管是在日本漫画还是欧美漫画中都被普遍地使用。

The Xiao Ren Shu series had previously been displayed in an exhibition hosted in the US, but the reception it got didn’t meet Mengli’s expectations. She feels this series mostly contains Chinese influences and themes, and thus would be more suitable for the exhibition to be held in China. She sees the exhibit more fittingly being hosted in an older Chinese building with a historic past; for example, she envisions architecture such as the historic old Shanghai buildings near Yuyuan. Mengli also considers an intimate and artsy café space to be a suitable place to exhibit her work. In the future, she hopes that her collection of picture books can have a spot on bookshelves for interested readers.

此前，《小人书》系列曾在美国展出一次，当时效果并未达到梦莉的期待。梦莉认为，这样一个很“中国”的系列更应该放在国内展出。至于展览场所，梦莉表示像豫园之类的历史老建筑自是最合适不过，当然文艺小资的咖啡店也可。这些小人书将是一整套的作品，是届时可以放在书架一角供人阅读的小故事。

Mengli reveals that she is currently working on a series of black-and-white comics, as well as being in the process of turning the Xiao Ren Shu series into a puppet animation. The decision to use puppets is mainly because of her personal interest and childhood nostalgia towards them. She explains, “I loved Afanti when I was a child. The textures and colors in that world are what I seek to recreate with my future animation.”

目前梦莉正在制作一批黑白版本的小人书，也正在筹划将《小人书》的故事拍成木偶动画。选择木偶来做动画纯粹是因为个人喜好，她说：“小时候看过阿凡提的故事，里面的颜色和质感也是我追求的一种环境。”

Similar to Mengli, plenty of other artists in China pay out of their own pocket and publish independently. In doing so, it makes it incredibly difficult for the artists to make any profits. Fortunately, there are now more and more channels from which talented creators can be discovered. Many artists, including Meng Li, believes the future for them will hold a more nurturing environment for their craft. Xiao Ren Shu is now available for purchase in the New York Printed Matter store and select book fairs in the United States.

如同梦莉的做法一样，很多艺术家都选择了独自出版自费印刷。这其中的经济利益是很低的，对于艺术发展也并不良性。好在这些年我们对于这些艺术家的了解方式越来越多，也涌现了很多如戚梦莉一般的优秀艺术家相信往后的创作环境会更好。《小人书》在纽约的Printed Matter等一些外国小众书展已经开始出售。

Website: ~/qimengli

 

Contributor: Sonic Yuan

网站: ~/qimengli

 

供稿人: Sonic Yuan

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Hisyamuddin Abdullah

March 17, 2016 2016年3月17日

UsopSontorian and Anak-AnakSidek were two popular cartoon series in Malaysia during the 1990s. One of the animators for both of these series was Hisyamuddin Abdullah’s late brother. Watching the work of his brother come alive on screen transformed what was only a childlike infatuation with cartoons into something more. It became an indescribable feeling of pride and satisfaction that eventually altered the way he looked at art as a whole. These events from his childhood led him to where he is now – being widely praised as a talented up-and-coming artist.

Usop Sontorian dan Anak-Anak Sidek merupakan dua siri kartun popular di Malaysia pada tahun 1990an. Salah seorang juruanimasi untuk kedua-dua siri ini ialah abang kepada Hisyamuddin Abdullah. Menyaksikan karya-karya abang beliau menjadi bergerak dan hidup di kaca TV telah mentransformasikan apa yang dahulunya minat seorang kanak-kanak dengan kartun kepada sesuatu yang lebih lagi. Ia menjadi satu perasaan bangga dan puas yang tidak dapat diucapkan dengan kata-kata yang selanjutnya telah mengubah cara beliau melihat dunia seni secara keseluruhannya. Peristiwa-peristiwa daripada zaman kanak-kanak beliau ini membawa kepada kedudukan beliau sekarang – sebagai pelukis baharu berbakat yang mendapat pujian sewajarnya.

Hisyamuddin Abdullah, now based in Kuala Lumpur, describes his own creations as “painting-drawing.” For the majority of his work, he almost exclusively works with charcoal and acrylic. His artwork can be distinguished by their moments of serenity, but at the same time is powerful and filled with tension; these qualities are further emphasized through his choice of color, tones, and composition. He works with a more realistic approach, and the main subject tends to be a person’s exaggerated expressions or movements. At other times, he will instead opt for a more cartoon-like sketch approach to create quirky, but also dramatic, illustrations. Satire, humor, and sarcasm are the foundations of his work. His self-portrait series, which might appear a bit narcissistic at first, is actually rhetoric that conveys his personal beliefs about the current sociopolitical climate of modern-day Malaysia.

Hisyamuddin Abdullah, kini berpangkalan di Kuala Lumpur, memerihalkan ciptaan beliau sendiri sebagai “catan dan lukisan.” Dalam kebanyakan hasil karyanya, beliau hampir-hampir secara eksklusif melukis menggunakan kayu arang dan akrilik. Karya seni beliau dapat dibezakan melalui penerapan saat-saat mendamaikan dalam lukisan beliau, namun pada masa yang sama ia bertenaga dan penuh dengan ketegangan; semua kualiti ini ditekankan lagi melalui pilihan warna, tona dan komposisi beliau. Beliau menerapkan pendekatan realistic, dan subjek utama cenderung kepada ekspresi atau pergerakan seseorang yang dilebih-lebihkan. Pada masa yang lain, beliau sebaliknya akan memilih pendekatan yang lebih kepada lakaran mirip kartun untuk menghasilkan ilustrasi yang aneh namun dramatik. Satira, humor dan sindiran menjadi asas kepada hasil karya beliau. Siri potret diri beliau, yang mungkin kelihatan agak narsisistik pada awalnya, sebenarnya merupakan retorik yang menceritakan kepercayaan peribadi beliau tentang iklim sosio-politik semasa Malaysia dalam dunia moden.

Born in a small village, located on an island off the eastern shores of Malaysia, Hisyamuddin’s art education didn’t officially start until 2008. That was the year where he graduated from the University of Technology with a Diploma in Fine Art before continuing on to obtain a Bachelor’s degree in painting. This was also the time when he was first exposed to the commotion and bustle of life in a big city like Kuala Lumpur. For him, being far away from the familiarity of home and having to navigate around a metropolitan city was emotionally and mentally taxing. He now considers that period of time as an immensely crucial part of his personal creative journey.

Dilahirkan di sebuah kampung kecil yang terletak di sebuah pulau di pantai timur Malaysia, pengajian seni Hisyamuddin tidak bermula secara rasmi sehingga tahun 2008. Pada tahun itulah beliau telah dikalungkan dengan Diploma Seni Halus daripada Universiti Teknologi, sebelum meneruskan usaha untuk mendapatkan pula ijazah sarjana muda dalam lukisan cat. Ini juga merupakan waktu di mana beliau mula didedahkan kepada barisan hadapan kesibukan sebuah bandar raya besar seperti Kuala Lumpur. Berada jauh daripada keselesaan di kampung dan terpaksa pula mengemudi melalui celah-celah bandar raya metropolitan, menjadi bebanan berat ke atas mental dan emosi beliau. Beliau menganggap bahawa tempoh masa tersebut merupakan bahagian yang amat penting dalam perjalanan seni beliau.

Rather than being inspired by a certain space or place, Hisyamuddin finds that his work changes according to the different phases of his life. For example, when he was in school and felt homesick, his work would reflect that sense of longing for home. During that time, his creations focused around family bonding, particularly exploring his relationship with his father. “But now as I begin to live my own life in society, my work tends to have more emphasis on current issues that affects the people of Malaysia at large,” he reveals. His work is based on pop realism, using the figurative as a narrative device to express his ideas. The concepts he prefers to explore tends to revolve around the world around him, from personal experiences to national events. Hisyamuddin believes that an artist’s creativity and the view they try to share with the world will only be meaningful if it’s based on reality.

Daripada dipengaruhi oleh ruang atau tempat tertentu, Hisyamuddin sebaliknya mendapati bahawa karya seni beliau berubah mengikut fasa berbeza dalam hidup beliau. Sebagai contoh, ketika beliau masih belajar dan berasa rindu dengan kampung halaman, karya beliau mencerminkan perasaan kerinduan terhadap kampung halaman itu. Pada ketika itu, karya seni beliau bertumpu ke arah ikatan kekeluargaan, khususnya meneroka perhubungan yang terjalin antara beliau dengan bapa kandung beliau. “Tetapi sekarang sambil saya mula menjalani hidup saya sendiri dalam masyarakat, karya saya cenderung ke arah lebih penekanan ke atas isu-isu semasa yang mengesankan rakyat Malaysia secara amnya,” dedah beliau. Karya beliau berasaskan poprealisme, menggunakan figuratif sebagai alat naratif untuk meluahkan idea beliau. Konsep yang beliau gemar terokai kebiasaannya berkisar tentang dunia di sekeliling diri beliau, daripada pengalaman peribadi hingga peristiwa kebangsaan. Hisyamuddin percaya bahawa kreativiti seorang pelukis dan pandangan yang mereka cuba kongsi bersama dengan seluruh dunia akan membawa lebih makna seandainya ia berdasarkan realiti.

Even though Hisyamuddin sold every piece of artwork at his debut exhibit, he still expresses his concern about the financial instability of artists. “Being a full-time artist means that you depend on the sale of artworks alone for a living,” he says. “On top of that, the Malaysian art scene is still considered young and small, when compared to other countries like Indonesia or the Philippines, which means that the global art market does not really favor the works of Malaysian artists.” He believes that for now, Malaysian artists can only rely on a very small pool of art collectors willing to invest in local talent.

Walapun Hisyamuddin berjaya menjual setiap hasil karyanya di pameran julung beliau, beliau masih meluahkan perasaan bimbangnya tentang ketidakstabilan kewangan seorang pelukis. “Menjadi seorang pelukis sepenuh masa bermakna anda bergantung kepada jualan hasil karya semata-mata sebagai mata pencarian,” ujar beliau. “Selain itu, persekitaran seni di Malaysia masih dianggap awal dan kecil apabila dibandingkan dengan negara lain seperti Indonesia dan Filipina, bererti pasaran seni global tidak menggemari hasil karya pelukis Malaysia.” Beliau percaya bahawa buat masa ini, pelukis Malaysia hanya dapat bergantung kepada sebilangan kecil pengumpul karya seni yang sanggup melabur ke arah bakat-bakat tempatan.

Apart from doing local group exhibitions and international art fairs, Hisyamuddin is currently working towards hosting his second solo exhibition. “If the opportunity arises, I would like to partake in art residencies outside of Malaysia,” he adds. “It will be a welcome challenge. I like stepping outside of my comfort zone.”

Selain mengadakan pameran berkumpulan tempatan dan pertunjukan seni antarabangsa, Hisyamuddin kini sedang dalam usaha menjayakan pameran solo kedua beliau. “Sekiranya peluang timbul, saya ingin menyertai dalam residensi seni di luar Malaysia,” tambah beliau. “Ia akan menjadi cabaran yang dinanti-nantikan. Saya suka keluar daripada zon selesa saya.”

Website: hisyamuddinabdullah.blogspot.com
Instagram: @hisyamuddinahmad

 

Contributor: Banny Wang

Laman web: hisyamuddinabdullah.blogspot.com
Instagram: @hisyamuddinahmad

 

Penyumbang: Banny Wang

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Mixing Architecture with Comics

March 9, 2016 2016年3月9日

Eu Jin Lim is a Kuala Lumpur-based artist and architect, who graduated from The Glasgow School of Arts. Having previously worked in firms in Malaysia, China and Japan, he has managed to accumulate graphical and architectural experience both locally and abroad. Growing up, he was exposed to comic books and manga. The illustrations of these graphic novels left a deep impression on him, and Eu Jin’s fascination with the medium only grew from there. Nowadays, he creates comics of his own by combining stylistic elements of technical architectural blueprints into manga-styled sequential frames.

Eu Jin Lim merupakan seorang artis dan arkitek yang berpangkalan di Kuala Lumpur, berkelulusan daripada Glasgow School of Arts. Dengan bekerja dalam firma-firma di Malaysia, China dan Jepun sebelum ini, beliau telah berjaya mengumpulkan pengalaman grafik dan senibina kedua-duanya dari dalam dan luar negeri. Semasa membesar, beliau telah didedahkan dengan buku-buku komik dan manga. Ilustrasi dalam novel grafik ini meninggalkan kesan mendalam ke atas beliau, dan ketaksuban Eu Jin dalam media ini berkembang dari situ. Dewasa ini, beliau mencipta komik tersendiri dengan menggabungkan unsur-unsur yang mempunyai gaya cetakan biru senibina dengan petak-petak turutan dalam gaya manga.

Eu Jin’s first project was A Repository for the Fairy Tales Culture. This piece of work celebrates the history and tradition of fairy tales culture in Copenhagen. He drew inspiration from the popular fantastical tales written by the famed Danish author, Hans Christian Anderson, and it was created as part of Eu Jin Lim’s master thesis. Forgoing the typical style of architectural diagrams filled with arrows, figures and numbers, he creatively added other fantastical elements and details by weaving in a story about a character running through the actual city of Copenhagen. Eu Jin continued his experimentation of mixing architecture with comics in his next two series, Drawing Soane’s and Drawing the Blue Mansion.

Projek pertama Eu Jin ialah Repositori untuk Budaya Hikayat Dongeng Pari-pari. Hasil kerja ini meraikan sejarah dan tradisi budaya hikayat dongeng pari-pari di Copenhagen. Beliau memerah ilham daripada hikayat popular mengagumkan nukilan pengarang terkenal Denmark, Hans Christian Anderson, dan ia dicipta sebagai sebahagian daripada tesis sarjana Eu Jin Lim. Dengan melepaskan gaya diagram senibina yang lazimnya dipenuhi dengan anak panah, angka dan nombor, beliau secara kreatif menambah unsur-unsur dan butir-butir mengagumkan yang lain dengan menyulamkan kisah tentang watak yang melalui bandar raya Copenhagen yang sebenar. Eu Jin meneruskan eksperimen beliau yang mencampur aduk senibina dengan komik dalam dua siri beliau yang seterusnya, Melukis Soane dan Melukis Rumah Agam Biru.

Drawing the Blue Mansion was published in collaboration with Laurence Loh and Lin Lee Loh Lim of the landmark Blue Mansion in Penang, Malaysia. It is based on the romanticized daily life of Cheong Fatt Tze and his seventh wife, Tan Tay Po. The drawings are a pictorial and graphical narration to the history and heritage of the Blue Mansion. Neocha recently had the opportunity to talk to Eu Jin about the inspiration behind this project as well as his artistic approach.

Melukis Rumah Agam Biru telah diterbitkan dengan kerjasama Laurence Loh dan Lin Lee Loh Lim daripada Rumah Agam Biru yang menjadi satu mercu tanda di Pulau Pinang, Malaysia. Ia didasarkan daripada olahan secara romantik kehidupan harian Cheong Fatt Tze dan isteri ketujuh beliau, Tan Tay Po. Lukisan-lukisan adalah penceritaan bergambar dan bergrafik ke atas sejarah dan warisan Rumah Agam Biru. Neocha baru-baru ini telah berpeluang untuk berbual dengan Eu Jin tentang ilham di sebalik projek ini serta pendekatan seni yang beliau gunakan.

Neocha: Can you share with us how the Blue Mansion became a source of inspiration for you?

Eu Jin: After being back home in Malaysia, I was looking for a piece of architecture that has qualities I could use to put my art to the test. The iconic Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion (aka The Blue Mansion) was the best place for the job. It’s situated in the world heritage site of George Town. This award-winning edifice is a testimony to the stunning brilliance of eclectic architecture in the Straits Settlements and has been an unending source of creativity. There are so many hidden stories that lie behind the architectural details, form, and spaces. On the other hand, it is also a place that has a romantic love story to go along with the architecture. The idea was to put the heritage of the architecture into a newly drawn perspective – for both tourists and locals alike.

Neocha: Bolehkah anda berkongsi dengan kami bagaimana Rumah Agam Biru menjadi sumber ilham anda?

Eu Jin: Selepas kembali ke Malaysia, saya tercari-cari karya senibina yang mempunyai kualiti yang saya boleh gunakan sebagai ujian ke atas karya seni saya. Rumah Agam Cheong Fatt Tze (juga dikenali sebagai Rumah Agam Biru) yang ikonik merupakan calon terbaik untuk tugasan ini. Ia terletak dalam tapak warisan dunia George Town. Bangunan yang memenangi anugerah ini adalah perakuan kepada keunggulan mengagumkan senibina eklektik di Negeri-negeri Selat dan telah menjadi sumber kreativiti yang tiada hentinya. Terdapat banyak kisah tersembunyi yang tersirat di sebalik perincian, bentuk dan ruang senibinanya. Dengan kata lain, ia juga merupakan tempat yang memiliki kisah cinta romantik untuk diceritakan bersama-sama dengan senibinanya. Ideanya ialah untuk meletakkan warisan senibina ke dalam perspektif baharu yang dilukiskan  – untuk kedua-dua pelancong dan juga penduduk tempatan.

Neocha: When did you first become interested in drawing?

Eu Jin: I have always been a big fan of comics. But I am more fascinated by their illustration techniques than the actual stories. I was exposed to many works from Japanese manga, Hong-Kong man-wa, western comics, and Malaysian comic strips at a very young age. They were all conveniently available at barbershops, grocery shops and even hawker stores. At that time, I would even select a page with a layout I liked, then try to imitate it exactly on another sheet of paper, and I would consider it to be my own work. Maybe that explains the strict, poster-like page layout in in the majority of my work.

Neocha: Bilakah anda mula-mula menanam minat melukis?

Eu Jin: Saya sememangnya selama ini seorang peminat setia komik. Tetapi saya lebih teruja dengan teknik ilustrasinya daripada kisah sebenar yang dijalinkan. Saya telah didedahkan dengan banyak hasil kerja daripada manga Jepun, man-wa Hong-Kong, komic barat dan jalur komik Malaysia pada usia yang amat muda. Semuanya boleh didapati dengan mudah di kedai gunting, kedai runcit malah di kedai makan juga. Pada ketika itu, saya akan memilih halaman dengan tataletak yang saya suka, kemudian menirunya bulat-bulat di atas sehelai kertas lain dan saya anggap itu ialah hasil kerja saya sendiri. Mungkin inilah sebabnya mengapa kebanyakan hasil kerja saya mempunyai tataletak halaman seperti poster yang kemas.

Neocha: How did you get the idea to combine storytelling with architectural orthographic drawings?

Eu Jin: I have no intentions of challenging the precision and informative qualities orthographic drawings can offer. However, architecture in most cases, is good only with the stories of people in it. I’ve always found both sides of the stories relevant in any great architecture. For me, having the crossover between both mediums is when you’d find interesting moments in your drawings. They share many technical similarities in terms of how they deal with lines, frames, gutters, and layout. I have borrowed techniques from both comic artists and architects. Scripting, planning, and storyboarding in general took a long time compared to the actual production of these drawings.

Neocha: Bagaimanakah anda mendapat idea untuk menggabungkan penceritaan kisah dengan lukisan ortografi senibina?

Eu Jin: Saya tidak berniat untuk mencabar kualiti bermaklumat dan berketepatan yang ditawarkan oleh sesebuah lukisan ortografi. Walau bagaimanapun, dalam kebanyakan kes, senibina adalah menarik hanya apabila dihiasi dengan kisah daripada mereka yang mendiaminya. Saya sering dapati bahawa kedua-dua sudut cerita adalah relevan dalam mana-mana senibina yang hebat. Bagi saya, mempunyai silang lintas di antara kedua-dua media adalah apabila anda menemui saat-saat menarik dalam lukisan anda. Ia berkongsi banyak persamaan teknikal dari segi bagaimana garisan, rangka, alur dan tataletak digunakan. Saya telah meminjam teknik daripada kedua-dua artis komik dan arkitek. Penulisan skrip, perancangan dan pembuatan papan cerita secara amnya mengambil masa yang lama berbanding penghasilan sebenar lukisan-lukisan ini.

Neocha: Does the way you approach these drawings affect how you think as an architect? What do you have planned for the future?

Eu Jin: Very much so. Hopefully other people who have the same passion can see it. However, I am hoping that these drawings could maybe take shape in a three dimensional format in the near future. These techniques are not something totally new, we’ve seen recent architects and artists like Jimenez Lai, Chris Ware, Li Han, CJ Lim, Joost Swarte, and many others that have constantly explored the potential of these mediums that I’ve referred to throughout the course of my works. I hope that my drawings can be on par with the work of my idols someday.

Neocha: Adakah cara anda mendekati lukisan-lukisan ini memberi kesan kepada bagaimana anda berfikir sebagai seorang arkitek? Apakah yang anda telah rancang untuk masa depan?

Eu Jin: Lebih kurang begitulah. Harap-harap orang lain yang mempunyai minat yang sama dapat merasakannya. Walau bagaimanapun, saya berharap agar lukisan-lukisan ini mungkin dapat dibentuk dalam format tiga dimensi tidak lama lagi. Teknik ini bukanlah sesuatu yang baharu sepenuhnya, kita telah melihat arkitek-arkitek yang baharu seperti Jimenez Lai, Chris Ware, Li Han, CJ Lim, Joost Swarte dan ramai lagi yang telah secara berterusan menerokai potensi yang ada pada media ini yang telah saya terapkan ke keseluruhan karya saya. Saya berharap agar lukisan-lukisan saya dapat mencapai tahap yang setara dengan karya idola saya satu hari nanti.

Website: cargocollective.com/eujinlim

 

Contributor: Banny Wang

Laman web: cargocollective.com/eujinlim

 

Penyumbang: Banny Wang

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TRIBE

March 7, 2016 2016年3月7日

TRIBE, located in Beijing’s Sanlitun, is a restaurant founded by Yu Min (Yvonne Yu). It’s an all-organic restaurant, a rarity in the city. Operating with the concept of “you are what you eat, drink, breathe.” This sleek and modern restaurant uses only the freshest ingredients for all of their dishes, evident from their ever-changing menu that varies based on the season. TRIBE offers delicious and all-organic food, alongside a wide selection of tasty beverages. Yvonne, born in Sichuan, still holds a nostalgic fondness for the food she grew up with and finds inspiration in those familiar flavors from her childhood. This nostalgia carries over to the restaurant, where they cook up reimagined, healthier versions of traditional Sichuan dishes.

TRIBE由创意人余敏（Yvonne Yu）女士开设于北京三里屯，是京城少有的有机食品餐厅之一。秉承着”you are what you eat, drink, breathe”，从有机农产品，到各类饮品，在这个现代简洁的餐厅里，有着新鲜健康的当季菜品和每一季不同的菜式。因为来自四川的Yvonne对家乡菜的念念不忘，这里甚至有着用TRIBE的方式改进的四川菜。

“Oat noodles, Sichuan chicken salad – these are some of the menu items based around traditional Sichuan dishes, but done in a healthier manner. For all of our dishes, we try to use vegetables from the current season, less cooking, and no frying. We try to preserve all possible nutrients in every dish, while also factoring in the amount protein and carbohydrates. We want each single one of our dishes to be nutritionally balanced,” Yvonne tells us. In the ten years that she’s spent in Beijing, she has seen the city’s culinary scene flourish and become more and more creative. When it comes to better dining choices, the gap between Beijing and other metropolitan cities have shrunk, but there’s still a long way to go.

“筱面，四川鸡肉沙拉，我们都是用四川菜改的，用健康方法来做。所有的菜我们尽量用当季的菜，少烹饪，不油炸。尽量每一道菜有更多的营养，保证有蛋白质，有碳水化合物……做到营养均衡。” Yvonne说。生活在北京的十多年里，她看到这座城市有了更多的新式创意食物。她说北京和世界上其他大城市的距离正在缩小，但是他们仍然面对着巨大的挑战。

It is a challenging task running an all-organic restaurant in this vast expanse of traditional restaurants that most people are accustomed to. TRIBE has to change people’s preconceived notions of all-organic food, first by increasing people’s understanding of the benefits from eating nutritionally balanced meals, and then getting them more used to food with a lighter taste. Besides their regularly hosted seminars, TRIBE also spreads awareness through their WeChat account. “To be honest, everyone already knows that there are benefits to eating organic food, but they feel like it’s meaningless in Beijing,” says Yvonne. “It’s impossible to improve the air quality here anytime soon, but people can still choose to use naturally grown ingredients. When there’s more demand for these types of ingredients, it will encourage more farms to employ organic methods. Then at the same time, it will draw more attention to the importance of a healthy environment. Step by step, we can slowly change people’s perspectives and eventually make positive changes to the environment.”

在传统餐厅的天下做这样一家餐厅的挑战，必然是改变人们的固有观念。让人们对所谓“清淡口味”的习惯，对营养均衡的正确理解，都是TRIBE需要去做的。除了不定期举办seminar，TRIBE也通过微信平台推广。“其实大家都知道吃有机食品有好处，可是觉得在北京就没有意义。” Yvonne说，“你不可能一时半会儿间改变空气，但是你至少可以选择用自然方式种植的食材。对这些食材的更多使用，一方面能鼓励农场用自然方法种植，另一方面也能唤起更多人对健康生活环境的关注。从而一步步改变更多人的看法，改变环境。”

Before founding TRIBE in 2014, Yvonne ran her own brand design company. But her ongoing quest for thoughtfully prepared cuisine and a healthier lifestyle led to the creation of TRIBE. Coming from a creative background, she recalls the tightly knit sense of community that workshops can offer. With that in mind, TRIBE often hosts many different events: themed runs with participants wearing Halloween costumes; yoga classes; face-to-face lessons with hat designers; and even having dinner with candlemakers to learn how to make scented candles.

在2014年开设TRIBE之前，Yvonne经营着自己的品牌设计公司。她对美食和健康的追求是TRIBE成立的原因。但是自己的创意人背景，让她仍不忘记以workshop的方式与整个创意社区保持紧密的联系。在这里，你更可以换上万圣节戏服一起参加趣味跑步，体验瑜伽；可以有机会和帽饰设计师面对面学习时尚，或者和香薰蜡烛制作师共进晚餐并尝试做出自己的蜡烛……

“From paying more attention to personal health, to being more aware about our environment. Just individuals doing these things aren’t enough, we need entire communities to work towards these goals for it to be meaningful.” Yvonne’s conviction carries over to TRIBE’s entire mentality. Recently, she opened TRIBE Nutrition at the SOHO in Sanlitun. This new store of hers is focused around tailoring nutritionally balanced meals for fitness enthusiasts. Furthermore, their new store in Lido will be opening just around the corner. Many guest chefs will be collaborating with this store, and the larger space will be also be able to host live performances, as well as more frequent workshop sessions. TRIBE is a perfect example of successfully balancing creativity and entrepreneurship. It isn’t just a restaurant – the very name itself represents the power of a group of like-minded people coming together in passionate pursuit of a common goal.

“从关注自己自身的健康，去提倡各位关注环境问题。不只个人，更要有社区的发展，这才是有意义的。”这正是Yvonne所坚信的，也是TRIBE所坚信的。最近TRIBE在三里屯SOHO开设了TRIBE Nutrition，为健身人士量身定制营养餐。此外丽都新店也开张在即，届时将有与不同嘉宾厨师的合作，有更大的场地以提供现场音乐表演，以及更为频繁的workshop。TRIBE正在努力做着商业和创意的平衡。 正如这间餐厅的名字一样，TRIBE不只是一家餐厅，更似一个将拥有同样追求和生活热情的人群聚集一起的力量。

Address:
Hongjie Mansion, Bldg 3, 1F, South Entrance
2 Workers’ Stadium E. Road (Workers’ Stadium East Entrance)
Chaoyang District, Beijing
People’s Republic of China

Website: tribeorganic.com
WeChat: tribeorganic

 

Contributors: Banny Wang, Eric Zhang
Photographer: Banny Wang

地址:
中国
北京市朝阳区
工体东路2号中国红街大厦3号楼1楼入口南侧
(工人体育场东门）

网站: tribeorganic.com
微信: tribeorganic

 

供稿人: Banny Wang, Eric Zhang
摄影师: Banny Wang

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Between The Past and Present

February 23, 2016 2016年2月23日

The Miao is an ethnic minority in China that do not have their own language, but their culture and history remains well-preserved through the distinct designs of their clothing. They have over 200 different clothing styles, all created through batiking and embroidering. The Miao people’s use of geometric patterns is one of the most striking features of their clothing. Between the Past and Present  is a collection created by designer Zeng Lu, and shot by photographer Esa Kapila. The collection is a reimagining of traditional Miao apparel. The design manages to exude elegance through an air of simplicity, while still maintaining the cultural characteristics and charm of original Miao clothing. From design to photography, traditional to contemporary, Asia to Scandinavia – this collection is a balancing act that manages to delicately tip-toe between all these different elements with perfect equilibrium.

苗族这个没有自己文字的中国少数民族，得名于将自己的文化和历史精美地展示在他们的服饰中。在他们200多种的服饰里，蜡染、刺绣、几何图案都是其中最为显著的部分特点。《Between the Past and Present》是设计师曾璐是对中国苗族的图案制作传统进行了一次新的工业尝试，并由Esa Kapila摄影呈现的服装系列。这个系列简洁精美，散发着独特的文化魅力。不管是在设计，还是摄影上，传统和现代、东亚和斯堪的纳维亚碰撞的趣味，都在这个系列中达到完美的平衡。

Zeng Lu is an avid fashion designer that only recently moved back to China. In her eyes, the fusion of contemporary and the traditional design is a projection of the globalization evident in our modern lifestyle. Her concept asks the question: “how can we preserve our cultural roots in the current fast-paced societal progression?”

Esa Kapila is a Helsinki-born photographer, who previously studied interior design in Finland and Japan. He has traveled around the globe, and lived in Japan as well as Indonesia. Through his travels, he has attained a better understanding of foreign culture and a refreshed perspective on aesthetics. Esa found Zeng Lu’s project to be very interesting, and was impressed by her professionalism as well as the entire concept behind the collection. After formally introduced through a mutual friend, they collaborated together to present her Between the Past and Present collection in a visually stimulating photoset. Through Esa’s clean photographs, the essence of the collection was captured – revealing the subtle exchange between static and dynamic moments while placing emphasis on Lu’s intricate designs. The clothing and the photographs flawlessly complements one another.

新近返回中国的曾璐，是位服装设计师，曾在芬兰学习工作。在她看来，以现代和传统结合的设计是国际化环境中生活方式的映射，是对在现代社会发展中如何保留我们根基的一种思考。

来自赫尔辛基的Esa Kapila，曾在芬兰和日本学习室内设计。在世界各地的旅行和随后在日本和印尼的居住，给了他了解异域文化和美学的激情。自然，他对她作品的主题热情高涨，而她也认可他的职业和对这个设计系列的理解。于是这两人经友人介绍后便一拍即合，用干净的画面，捕捉静与动的氛围，重笔表现精美的图案，与设计本身相得益彰。

Neocha: Can you tell us about how this collection came about?

Lu: I am from the southern part of China, but lived in Finland. I was inspired by the Scandinavian lifestyle a lot. I saw the way people respected traditions there. Moreover, living so far from China allowed me to observe my culture from a different angle. It made me passionate about creating something based on my own experiences. The first fabric I made myself was a piece of wax-resistant dyeing swatch. It’s the starting point of my design career. I decided to combine my traditional techniques with my understanding of Scandinavian culture. The juxtaposition is exciting to me. On one hand, it’s the style famous for industrial simplicity. On the other hand is a culture that admires extreme exquisiteness. I’ve always been interested in traditional culture and how they work in a modern context. This collection was an experimental project that tries to bring the old traditions into the modern world.

Neocha: 这个系列设计的创意从何而来呢？

曾璐: 来自中国南方的我深受斯堪的纳维亚生活方式启发。我注意到他们对自己传统的尊重。而距离也让我有机会从不同的角度去审视自己的文化。这让我非常想对此做点什么。第一次给自己做的布料是蜡染布样。这是我设计职业的起点。于是我决定要融合这种传统的技术和我理解的斯堪的纳维亚文化。事实上，这两者所产生的冲突是非常激动人心的。一来，这种风格得名于工业上的简单易行；二来，这是种尊重极度精华绝妙的文化。他们共同组成了我的经验。我总是对传统文化有着浓厚的兴趣，也担心在现代社会中他们的情况。我想用这个系列作为一个将传统带进现代社会的实验。

Neocha: How did you decide on a suitable visual style for her collection?

Esa: After seeing Lu’s collection and hearing all of her ideas behind it, we were immediately on the same page on the atmosphere of the photos. Lu showed me the models we were going to work with, and then we looked for the right location that would allow us to use natural light and have ideal textures on the floor and walls. The white cubes emitted the feeling of simplicity, but in a modern way. At the same time, those cubes allowed us to play around with model placement – to effortlessly make the compositions more alive and playful. I understood Lu’s vision on the clothing and how she wanted the girls to showcase them. It was really fun to shoot the collection.

Neocha: 是什么让你决定以这种形式进行拍摄呈现呢？

Esa: 看了璐的系列，听了她背后的创意之后，我们马上就这些照片应该有着什么样的氛围上立刻达成一致。璐给我看了我们将要拍的模特，然后我们找了允许我们利用自然光和地板墙壁有我们想要的纹理的合适的地点。白色方块以一种现代的方式给人一种简洁的感觉。同时，它们与许我们玩转，让模特站在不同位置，构成不同的构图，更加生动，更加富有生趣，但是是一一种不费力的简单方式。在理解了璐关于布料的想法，以及她想让模特展现的方式，最后的拍摄就水到渠成了。

Neocha: Can you tell us about some of the challenges you faced while working on this collection?

Lu: The working process is actually a process that involves solving all kinds of problems. I’d say the most challenging part was the early research stage. Although I’m from China, what I understood about Chinese folk wax-resist dyeing wasn’t in-depth. I needed a deeper understanding but I was staying in another country. This made the work more difficult. At the same time, since my intent was to bring the traditional into the modern world, I needed to figure out how to translate this kind of time-consuming manual technique into highly efficient industrial work. That was when I found out about this ethnic group that didn’t have their own language. Their designs alone communicated plenty – it reveals culture, history, religion, and so on. So I decided to focus on digging up their stories and patterns, to try and create my modern take on it – while also still keeping the essence of their culture. To bring the traditional culture into the industrial world, I decided to employ a modern creation process. Though the collection was finished, it was only the beginning for me.

Neocha: 这个系列中你们遇到最大的挑战是什么？

曾璐: 前期的调查。我虽来自中国，但对中国民间蜡染知之甚少。当我需要更深入更具体地了解它时却身在异邦，这让工作更为困难了。同时，鉴于要把传统带进现代世界，我需要考虑怎将这种旧时作业转化为高效的工业操作。我发现对于一个没有自己文字的民族来说，图案中就包含了他们的文化、历史、宗教等。于是我决定专注于挖掘出图案背后的故事和人物，并试图在保留住传统本质的基础上，根据研究创造出现代的图案。此外，为了将传统文化带入工业世界，我决定用现代制作方式来联系这些传统的东西。这个系列虽然完成了，但是它只是这个话题的一个开端。

Esa: When working with a new team and designer you haven’t worked with or know before, it usually takes some time to get to know one another’s style and ways of working. With Lu, I was surprised how quickly we found common ground and figured out the direction we wanted to go. In these photographs, the biggest challenge for me was to have both natural light and supporting lights to work together. We had a limited amount of equipment, but this also reinforced the simplicity we were looking for. Another funny difficulty was the language! I was the only non-Chinese speaker in our team, so sometimes I found myself in the middle of a brainstorming session in a language I really don’t know

Esa: 和一个你先前并未合作过甚至完全不知道的团队，通常需要一些时间来了解对方的风格和思考方式。我当时被我们这么快就找到共同点、找到我们的工作方向惊讶到。这系列的照片，对我来说最大的挑战就是同时利用自然光和辅助光。我们的器材有限，但是这也倒也和我们要的简单风格相匹配。还有一个好玩的挑战（如果你想这么叫它的话）是语言。我是团队里唯一一个不会讲中文的，所以有的时候我发现我置身于用一个我完全不懂的语言进行的头脑风暴中。

Neocha: What do you enjoy about the collaboration process?

Lu: I enjoyed all of it. The most exciting part for me was the tryouts. We had a lot of ideas, tried many different styles, and discussed how to improve on our ideas. I enjoyed the feeling of being on the same page, working on the same thing, and we basically had no difficulties understanding with one another. Esa worked in a professional way and treated details very carefully.

Esa: This collaboration had all of the elements I love working with: a talented designer with a great point of view, a concept with many strong cultural ties, an inspiring atmosphere, and a friendly team. I learned a lot from Lu, through her aesthetics and approach on directing models. For example, she noticed small details like arm placement.

Neocha: 这次的合作过程中有什么是让你们觉得最为享受的？

曾璐: 我喜欢这个过程中的所有东西。最令人兴奋的是这中间的探索，esa和我有相当多的创意。我们试了不同的风格，互相讨论并改进这些想法。我喜欢我们意见一致，共同为一个东西而工作，我们理解起对方也毫无困难。Esa非常职业，他对待细节非常细心。

Esa: 这个合作有着我爱的所有元素。有好观点、有才华的设计师，和文化紧密结合的对象，启发身心的气氛，一个友好的团队。通过追随璐在知道模特时的美学和手法，我从璐身上学到很多，还有她希望她们怎么摆放她们的手臂等等诸多细节。我想作为团队，我们找到了一个很好又自然的方式一起工作。

Neocha: As you described, this collection “took a new, industrial approach to the traditional patterns created by the Miao people in China.” What do you think of the future of this kind of merging in fashion design?

Lu: We own such ancient and rich culture, but most of them are fading out due to modernization. However, I believe there will come a time when more and more Chinese designers will want to find out who they were and tell the world. I think it is a topic with potential. Currently, I can’t tell how this work will evolve. But I know that this conflict of the new and the old will have people thinking more about the relationship between culture and design. For me, my work is alive. Whether it’s the traditional patterns, or the shapes of collections. They seem to tell a mythical and ancient Oriental story. The way that viewers think about the work is precisely the communication. This interaction breaks through the limitations of time and space.

Neocha: 你说这个系列是“对中国苗族的图案制作传统进行了一次新的工业尝试”。在你看来，服装设计中这样一种结合的未来是什么呢？

曾璐: 我们的文化如此古老和丰富，但多数在现代化的影响下都渐渐消逝。然而，我相信现在正是中国设计师自我探寻并对世界宣告我们身份的时候。总体而言，我认为这是个具有深厚潜力的话题。当下，我很难说这个作品是否包含其中，又或，未来的具体形态会是怎样。但我知道这种冲突能在设计领域给人们带来一股清新的文化思考。于我而言，这件作品就是活的。不管是这个系列的传统图案或是外形，看起来都像是像向人讲述一个古老神秘的东方故事。引发观者的思考就是一种交流。这种互动打破了时空的限制。

Esa tells us, in addition to his current ongoing projects, he has plans of moving back to Asia. He wants to continue his visual exploration of people and culture through portraits and fashion. In the future, Lu plans to continue experimenting and attempt to modernize old Chinese traditions through different pieces of work. Even though the conflicting elements of her work results in unpredictability in the early stages of design, she tells us the challenging nature of her work has shifted her attitude towards difficulties. She now views these challenges as an exciting part of creation.

Esa告诉我们，除了目前手上的个人拍摄项目外，他也在计划搬回亚洲居住，继续用时尚和人物肖像摄影进行对人和文化的视觉研究，并期待几年后可以在中国居住一阵子。曾璐将继续通过不同的尝试，把中国传统带入现代社会中，用多面化的方式去演绎冲突的艺术。这种冲突结果在设计的早期阶段的不可预见性，可以让她面对任何困难和挑战时都保持着兴奋状态。

Website: Between the Past and Present

 

Contributor: Banny Wang
Images Courtesy of Zeng Lu and Esa Kapila

网站: Between the Past and Present

 

供稿人: Banny Wang
图片由曾璐和Esa Kapila提供

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