Penpa

(Video is available for viewings upon request.  Please contact Elaine.Wang@wmingart.com)

Pen Pa (b. 1974), I'm Moving to the Mountain, 2014, 3 video clips, 60 x 90 cm             
Image recording: Wu Jiang (Beijing), photogtaphic imgae: Tashi Norpu, Phurbu, On-site guidance: Gade, Nortse, Driver: Zhandui, Chef: Penpa's mother, Porter: three Bocun Art Space artists and three local villagers.

I used to be a rural teacher in Ma Xiang for eight years. When I first saw this ruin place, I was shocked. And then I painted a few oil paintings of it. According to the locals: this building was destroyed in “the war with Dzungar Khanate”. Later, I was transferred to the county town to work and almost forgot this ruin place with the time. In 2014, 12 years after leaving Ma Xiang, me and the other couple of artists came back. When facing to the vicissitudes of the strong earthen walls, we decided to make a difference with this ruin place. The original idea was to buy and set up some stylish glass furniture in the place. Comparing with the ancient earth walls, we wanted to present an absurd contrasting scene. However, after conducting an in-depth discussion with Gade about this preliminary idea, we found that this project lacked for authenticity because the glass furniture did not have much connections with our previous experience. Finally, we decided to do a performance art by bringing the things, which I used, up to the mountain. That was to say, I would move to live there. I rented a large truck to move all the stuffs to the mountain, and arranged them in the different ruined places, as living room, bedroom and studio. I was living there for a while. Some people thought it was a work about environmental issues; someone felt that it was a work about housing prices; someone said it was a work about cultural faults; and others thought it presented a dialogue with the ancients. There were a thousand hamlets in a thousand people's eyes.

边巴（b. 1974），《我要搬到山上住》，2014年，3张影像图片，60 x 90 cm
影像记录：吴疆（北京）、图片摄影：扎西罗布，普布、现场指导：嘎德，诺次、司机：占堆 厨师：德吉（母亲）、搬运工：琼达，云丹加措，阿扎西（博存空间艺术家）以及三位当地村民。

《我要搬到山上住》我曾经在玛乡当过八年的乡村教师，第一次见到这个废墟时很震撼，当时画了几幅油画。据当地人讲：这个建筑毁于“跟蒙古准葛尔的战火中”。后来调到县城工作，随着时间几乎忘记了这个废墟。2014年在阔别玛乡12年之后，我们几个艺术家再次来到这个废墟里，面对着沧桑有力的土墙，想要做点什么。  最初的想法是买一些时尚的玻璃家具摆放在废墟当中，跟古老的土墙做出对比，想做出有荒谬感的图片作品。再后来和嘎德对这个作品进行一次深入的探讨，认为玻璃家具与我自身没有太大的关系。缺乏真实性。最后决定做一次行为艺术，把我用过的东西带到山上，也就是说搬家，我租了一辆大货车把家里的所有东西搬到了山上，布置在废墟的几个房间里，分别做为：客厅、卧室、工作室，在那里生活一段时间。有人认为它是一个有关环境问题的作品，有人认为它是一个房价问题的作品、有人说它是一个有关文化断层的作品、还有人说是与古人对话。不同的人读出了不同的语境。

(Video is available for viewings upon request.  Please contact Elaine.Wang@wmingart.com)

The Last Spring Plow, 2016, 6 images, 100 x 100 cm

With the expansion of the urban city, all the farmland in our village was requisitioned. I always feel like I have a lot to say about the land I'm about to lose, but I have no idea where to start recalling. "The Last Spring Plow" shows a history of family changes and also a farewell ceremony for generations of farming families to the land on which they live.

In the spring of 2016, I took the whole family, plowing for the last time on the barley land that was about to be used for other purposes. And the whole process was recorded. After finishing the plow, me and my other two brothers each packed a sack of soil for the souvenir, and then bid farewell to the land we cultivated for generations. "The Last Spring Plow" is composed of paintings, installations, videos, and so on.

Painting: Many abandoned agricultural tools were painted in the form of sketches.
Video: The recording process of the last cultivated land for the whole family.
Installation: The soil taken from the land and then used to grow barley in the exhibition hall.