WHAT ON EARTH
by Lion Nie, Liu Mao Nian 

Where should we begin when we attempt to understand what Being is and the significance of the Being of all things? Two artists try to respond to these questions about the ontology of life in their respective artistic languages. 
 
The philosopher Heidegger once proposed that solving the problem of Being should start with the Being of the problem itself. It's rational that artists view everything from the perspective of humans themselves. They express their inner cognition in different artistic ways. These two artists have made their own choices and established a relationship with Being, exploring the characteristics of human life. 

So, we cannot help but ask, what are the characteristics of human life? Its chief characteristic lies in its transience. When people perceive life from the perspective of time, they are part of a temporal Being. In other words, among all living things, only humans have a clear understanding of time, which explains that they are worried about nothingness and death. When time passes and never returns, people will always live in a moment of reality. When you say "now", this moment has already passed. Time will inevitably ensure its endpoint, indicating that people have to acknowledge their limitations. It is within this limited life that humans seek infinite transcendence and eternal love. Abstract art has a special charm in expressing metaphysical concepts like absurdity and rationality, life and death, corruption and salvation. 

The concept of abstract art has a history of over a hundred years. The reason it can continue to attract people's attention is because it can help every viewer eliminate any sense of distance during the exhibition, strongly feel their own Being, and fully appreciate insights they can comprehend. This confidence guides and develops every person who loves art and awakens their creativity. On the other hand, the uncertainties inherent in abstract art are also very attractive. In any one scene, it's impossible to replicate oneself and draw two identical works. Abstract art breaks away from concrete cognition and develops people's observational ability and imagination. Art has its own logic and pursuits; it requires a rigorous thought process and disciplined creative techniques. It is more about making things that ordinary people cannot overcome. Our daily routine becomes the normal state of life. Years going by is just time passing, but having a rigid outlook is the worst reality. Only rigorous examination can reveal life’s difficulties, and only after enlightenment can one know its meaning. This exhibition showcases the accumulation of time, perhaps the best observation of interpreting it. 

Life is absurd. Therefore, when art expresses absurdity, it contains the power of resistance. According to Albert Camus, "I resist, so we exist." The front is "me", and the back is "us". Artists resist for the sake of human nature, for the sake of this human situation. We resist for the sake of humanity being in absurd situations, and we think about this issue on behalf of humanity. The two artists have swept away the absurd and rebuilt it from the ground, which fits the situation of modern people, and we call it postmodern society.