PREFACE
Article: Chen Rui
Liu Tongbin's Journal of Travelling Around is an artistic concept and artistic action throughout.
A few years ago, Liu Tongbin started to prepare for ‘travelling around’. He knew that courage and faith alone are not enough, and more importantly, a changeable and practical method. He always carries a small notebook with him, and he paints a few strokes wherever he goes. The colors are basically gold, silver and black markers, and occasionally he adds images clipped from magazines and pastes them together. These manuscripts are not only a simple concept of sketching, but also a collection and analysis of iconography with a very clear direction, and there is a very intuitive judgment behind it. These seemingly random and fragmented elements have become the foundation for his creation in the future.
‘Travelling Around’ is Liu Tongbin's personal choice and a response to this era. Just like outdoor camping and hiking, which have become a trend in recent years, the other side of the phenomenon is the ‘hard shell’ formed by the general anxiety, involution and mental internal friction. Yu Hua said that he had experienced mental internal friction for 40 years in his writing, but to some extent, it was a good thing. Without internal friction, there will be no thinking, and without thinking, there will be no inner throbbing. Therefore, Yu Hua concluded that the essence of mental internal friction is actually a process of finding an exit. As long as you have higher requirements for yourself, there will be internal friction. I believe that Liu Tongbin has the same experience, as evidenced by his artistic journey, in which he has experimented with various materials, painting methods and the transformation of concepts. He has been looking for an artistic exit, and ‘travelling around’ is his own way.
The state represented by the ‘travelling around’ is not just about running away and self-exile again and again. In addition to a series of processes and moods of searching, exploring, wandering, leaving, and returning, what is more important is what kind of artistic way he used to record and express in this process. I think the dozens of manuscripts created by Liu Tongbin are the best proof.
Of course, Liu Tongbin's methods of creation are diverse and multi-dimensional. In addition to the above-mentioned travels and records, it also includes field exhibition practice, painting material research, field investigation, and contemporary art research and dissemination. Especially the series of contemporary artcuratorial practices around ‘Shooting Wushan’, which used abandoned factories and mountains as testing grounds to explore issues such as urbanization, consumerism, and environmental protection. And it expanded the possibilities of curatorial concepts and exhibition expressions which is quite impressive. In the process of presiding over the ‘Watermark Print Techniques and Materials Laboratory’ , Liu Tongbin started from the materials and tracing back to the source. He inspected and studied paper, plates, tools, filling the gaps and building the foundation for watermark print. He leaves a clear footnote in the artistic practice with the concept of ‘reading ten thousand volumes of books and traveling ten thousand miles’ and unity of knowledge and action. The two paths of the metaphysical and the physical are also integrated in this exhibition. This also allows us to better understand that Liu Tongbin presents this exhibition with brand-new looks, materials and expressions. It is not a transformation on a whim or an inspirational catharsis. He has been making such efforts, including the accumulation of materials, feelings and the exploration of materials. Then he finally presents a unique and natural creative state in a comprehensive and relaxed way.