La traversée de la Mer Rouge

Installation，dimension variable
​2019

image courtesy to Qimu Space

Et in Arcadia Ego is the famous painting of the classical painter Nicolas Poussin of France. The meaning of Et in Arcadia Ego in Latin was quite controversial in history of art. According to the interpretation of Panofsky, an expert in iconology, it means that I (Ego) still exist even in Arcadia. The “Ego” here refers to death itself. 

To some people, recalling the history of art from the angle of creation is nothing but artistic discourse system muttering to itself again. But I still firmly hold that the only truth is originated from the vision in recalling when one falls into the mind state of intriguing emptiness. Arcadia was reconstructed in the era when Poussin was alive, but it can never be seen today. We are familiar with more and more places and we are also capable of arriving at any corner of the world overnight. Nevertheless, we’ve lost our ability to imagine what Heaven looks like.

French word “délocalisation” can be simply understood as “relocation, leaving” and it can also be viewed as the denial of “localisation” (localization). It is the modern scientific terms like “localization” that creates so many words and images concentrating on “ 风景 ”. But the precise pursuit in geography also destroys the original indifference to nature. Just like what Cioran said, “Human beings have escaped from nature. The successful runaway is nothing but tragedy of them.” “One’s love for nature is the expression of re- morse.” Artists in the new generation are also busy with leaving and they are trying to spread the universal remorse for the vanishing of Eden Garden in the post-truth era.

The cautious attempt to return to “Arcadia” was finished in Poussin’s another painting The Crossing of the Red Sea. The painting is composed of several parts independent from and also closely linked with each other.