Fu Wenjun’s photography series Leaving the Stage shows the viewers images of the abandoned engines and factories retired from their “posts”. Both the theme and visual effect of Leaving the Stage series indicate that the creator presents and expresses the modern industrial civilization from a special post-modern aspect and viewpoint. That is to say, the selection and modification of these images by Fu not only landscaped and artistic, but more importantly, he made them historicized. It means that what matters to the artist is not the fact that the old engines and factories retreated from the historical stage because they were worn out or replaced by the newer equipment after being used for a long time, but the artist’s cultural, artistic and aesthetic stance and attitude towards the objects symbolizing the industrial civilization.

　　I think Fu’s interests in the engines and factories “leaving the stage”can be seen from two aspects. Firstly, they are beautiful in form. Apparently, such a sense of beauty was achieved by Fu’s photography skills and his artistic processing and modification of the photos. InRhythm, Linear Structure, Where Came from, Where to Go he deliberately strengthened the black and white contrast of the pictures and make the straight and rigid lines and geometric blocks in white, black and grey have a tensile relationship and visual beauty. I think such beauty comes from the aesthetics of the modern machinery, which is abstract, rational, ordered and cool beauty. However, such beauty with a little indifference, as the result of modern industry is warm and beautiful in Fu Wenjun’s photography works. I believe that is because he has a special connection with such beauty. Besides the expression of the visual beauty of the modern industry, Fu also shows great respect towards the power contained by the engines and factories leaving the historical stage. In True Hermit, Strength, Just Congealing Here and Back, Fu strengthens the in-depth and historical sense of the engines and factories, and he thus reveals the great responsibility and the great contribution the machines and factories has taken and made in the development of human history. Therefore, as to the beauty in form, these engines and factories in Fu’s works are elegant as well as noble.

　　Secondly, the rusty engines and factories and the visual effect of old pictures in the series of Leaving the Stage seem to confide and present the historical and humane meaning to the viewers. Such historical memories that have been processed by Fu with artistic techniques and narration methods are manifested especially fully in Plot, Where Came from, Where to Go, People’s Livelihood, Watch of Autumn, Fading Memories, True Hermit, Leaving over. Undoubtedly, this is a kind of reminiscence, and because the artist gives personalistic connotation to the engines and the factories (such as Watch of Autumn and Leaving over), the reminiscence is filled with human warmth.

　　The second series of Fu Wenjun is Twelve Chinese Zodiac Signs. Responding to important events and the conceptuality of the photography are two important features of the series. The former is relevant to an event happened this year: from 23rd February to 25th February in 2009, Christies held a special auction of “Yve Saint Laurent’s and Pierre Beij’s Collections”. The auction included bronze heads of a rat and a rabbit, two pieces that had been looted from the Old Summer Palace by French and British soldiers in the opium wars in 1860 and had been sold times again overseas for many years. The event had incurred drastic reaction of Chinese people and also had caught special attention of the Chinese government and the Chinese heritage world, because it had went beyond the economic bound of auction and became an important issue that related to Chinese history and national emotions. This is the exact point that pushed Fu Wenjun to present the statues of the twelve Chinese zodiac signs in the OldSummerPalaceand the palace itself and the relationship between the above mentioned events. In a sense, it is the exact advantage of photography especially the documentary photography and news photography to respond promptly to the certain events or even happen simultaneously with some events.

　　From this aspect, there is nothing to boast about Fu Wenjun’s responding to the current important issue with photography. However, the meaning of this series of Fu lies in that the works do not record the current event like news photography but they reflect on the event in a wider and deeper historical background after it happened. This is apparently related to the modern artistic method of conceptual photography he adopted to respond to the event.

　　Fu Wenjun reflected on the event by connecting the past with the present. In other words, he did the reflection by pitching the present into history. For this purpose, Fu emphasized the implied historical meaning behind the auction of Christies by restoring the image of ruins of theOldSummerPalace. The twelve lap-tops intentionally put in front of the ruins and the images of the twelve Chinese zodiac signs and the captions in both Chinese and English in the screens undoubtedly reveal and present the connection between the Old Summer Palace, as historical remains, with the present world, or the importance of the auction for the reconstruction and narration of the past history. In such a sense, as a historical view, the response of Twelve Chinese Zodiac Signs to the current big event emphasizes the great importance and value of rethinking about and reflecting on history.

　　May 20th, 2009

　　Wangjing GardenBeijing