低头看太阳

Looking Down at the Sun

Installation, 2023

当在水边低头能看见太阳，就是我们和它距离最近的时候。

When we look down at the water and see the sun, it is the closest we get to it.

先人认为太阳之所以在天上，是因为有鸟背着它飞上天，将鸟的飞翔和太阳的运行生动地结合。陈粉丸爱这种天真，也爱太阳。并天真地设问：我们和太阳的距离什么时候最近？她最终用这个作品来回答。

Ancestors believed that the sun was carried by birds to the sky, combining the flight of birds with the movement of the sun in a vivid way. Chen Fanwan loves this innocence and also loves the sun. And naively asked: when is the distance between us and the sun closest? She finally answered with this piece of work.

《低头看太阳》用大量的工作铺陈的放射状太阳图腾，是艺术家用精致形式开的一个天真玩笑。以密集劳动的艺术生产方式制造一个景观，就是为了回答由自己设下陷阱的提问。

The radiating sun totems, laid out with a lot of preparation, are an innocent joke in the artist's delicate form. To create a landscape through labor-intensive artistic production is to answer the questions set by herself.

“水之回响”展以黄河文化精神为始，通过每位艺术家微观的视角组成一道「抽象的长河」，糅合于银川当代美术馆于黄河畔的展厅空间中，引发河的回响。

The exhibition "Echoe of Water" begins with the cultural spirit of the Yellow River, and forms an abstract river from the microscopic perspective of each artist, which is incorporated into the Yinchuan Contemporary Art Museum beside the Yellow River, triggering the echoes of the river.

粉丸在作品中的每组太阳图腾都设置了垫高结构，使纸张在视觉看来具有水中漂浮感。这也呼应了水之主题，营造出一片需低头俯视的倒映景观。

Each group of sun totems is set with several pillars, so that the paper has a sense of floating on water. This also echoes the theme of water, creating a reflected landscape that needs to be looked down.

镂空的剪纸也透过灯光在地面上形成明显的倒影。如若彩色的表面已经象征抽象水面上的太阳，这多出来的一层光影则提供了更多的想象空间。

The cut-outs also create a clear reflection on the ground through the light. If the colorful surface already represents the sun on the abstract water, this extra layer of light and shadow provides more space for imagination.

俯视角度下，作品的平面稿件。除去现场增设的两道斜坡为观众制造通行和观看的高度，其余位置便是放射状散开的圆形图腾组。

The graphic manuscript of the work from the top view. Except for the two slopes added on the site to create a height for the audience to pass and watch, the rest of the location is the radial spread of the circular totems.

布展时，团队需借由事先排布的射线进行定位，类似于太阳光线的牵引，秩序感是作品布局里不可或缺的因素。

When arranging the work, the team needs to be positioned by center radiating rays, similar to the traction of the sunlight, and a sense of order is an indispensable factor in the layout of the work.

因此实际上，观众并不能亲身靠近这些图腾，就像展厅真的化作一道想象的无尽的河，上面清楚地刻画太阳的纹路和色彩。

So, in fact, the audience couldn’t get physically close to these totems, as if the exhibition hall is really an imaginary endless river, clearly carved with the lines and colors of the sun.

粉丸在近年来对于传统纹样和意象的不断学习，对她的剪纸图腾创作产生了重要的影响。

In recent years, Fenwan's continuous study of traditional patterns and stories has exerted an important influence on her paper-cut creation.

“在不断探索纸这种材料的过程中，我发现从纸张的发明就是我们自己很重要的文化历史，这些你是不可回避的，其次再是用什么样的方式去创作，剪纸当然是一个很重要的手段。民间艺术于是成为我重新学习的对象。而且当我回头去梳理自己作品的时候，发现一些传统纹样可能是生长在我血液里的，我从小就喜欢画一些纹样图形。”

"In the process of constantly exploring paper as a material, I found that the invention of paper is already a very important cultural history, which we can't avoid, and then what kind of way to create, paper-cutting is of course a very important means. Folk art then became my object of relearning. And when I look back at my work, I find that some of the traditional patterns are probably in my blood. I have loved to draw patterns since I was a child."

然而对于粉丸来说，还有一件意义重大的事 —— 这次作品《低头看太阳》和已故民间艺术家库淑兰奶奶的部分作品一同展出，并隔着一展圆形的小窗，相互对望。库淑兰奶奶在粉丸早期的创作阶段甚至决定成为艺术家之前，就已产生过震撼与启发。

However, for Fenwan, there is another significant event — the work Looking Down at the Sun is exhibited alongside pieces by the late folk artist Ku Shulan, with a small round window separating them, allowing the works to gaze at each other. Ku Shulan had already profoundly impacted and inspired Fenwan even before she decided to become an artist during her early creative stages.

库淑兰奶奶曾说过“女人是太阳，男人是月亮。” 当偶然抬头，墙内作品投进了墙外作品的光时，粉丸也写下一句：“剪花娘子看着我时，我也是一个剪花娘子了。”

Ku Shulan once said, "Women are the sun, men are the moon." When Fenwan happened to look up and saw the light from the work inside the wall shining on the work outside, she wrote: "When the flower-cutting lady looks at me, I too become a flower-cutting lady."

我被一个关于太阳的传说打动过。

问，太阳为什么会在天上？

答，那是因为有鸟背着它飞上去的。

I was touched by a legend about the sun.

Why is the sun in the sky?

A: That's because a bird carried it up.

在美术馆的三层（《低头看太阳》作品在负一层），一道狭长而通透的玻璃曾经在创作前考察时打动了粉丸。从剪纸作为窗花流传的记忆走来，窗户是一扇恒久浪漫的符号。于是在展厅的另一处有了作品的延伸 —— 在天朗气清时会形成光影的「太阳鸟」。

On the third floor of the art museum (the work Looking Down at the Sun is on the negative floor), a narrow and transparent glass once touched Fenwan during the pre-creation investigation. From the memory of paper-cutting as a window decoration, window becomes a symbol of eternal romance. Thus, in another part of the exhibition hall, there is an extension of the work -- the Sun Bird that forms light and shadow.

前记：平移银川

Before: Fly to Yinchuan

创作启动前，粉丸就前往银川进行考察过。作品的首次呈现，是在有肌理的大地上展开的。

Before the project started, Fenwan went to Yinchuan for investigation. The first presentation of the work is unfolded on the ground with texture.

作品首次展出于银川当代美术馆展览“水之回响——2023中国银川黄河文化旅游节特展”。

Looking Down at the Sun was first exhibited in EHCO OF WATER in Yinchuan Contemporary Art Museum.