| Possibly influenced by the cartoon culture, Xia Hang’s graduation project was a man in the form of a comma. In the three years he’s trying to enter an MA program, Xia developed this concept of the comma man with the support of the New Era Gallery. First, he made the comma man in stainless steel, and then polished it bright as a mirror, breathing new life into the comma man. The spirit of the comma man comes from the modern material, stainless steel, which transforms the comma man into a shiny extraterrestrial. Xia then tried to further the concept of the comma man. First, he equipped him with armors that could be put on and taken off. This was inspired by the notion of costume, and was also an initiative experiment on sculptures that could be disassembled. |
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Sui Jian-Guo
Xia Hang, Winning, 2005. Stainless steel, 100 Ãâ 45 Ãâ 90 cm. Courtesy of New Era Gallery.
Possibly influenced by the cartoon culture, Xia Hang’s graduation project was a man in the form of a comma. In the three years he’s trying to enter an MA program, Xia developed this concept of the comma man with the support of the New Era Gallery. First, he made the comma man in stainless steel, and then polished it bright as a mirror, breathing new life into the comma man. The spirit of the comma man comes from the modern material, stainless steel, which transforms the comma man into a shiny extraterrestrial.
Xia then tried to further the concept of the comma man. First, he equipped him with armors that could be put on and taken off. This was inspired by the notion of costume, and was also an initiative experiment on sculptures that could be disassembled. With further development, the comma man could be divided and reassembled into several combinations. Wheels and wings were added to some parts. The form of a comma became secondary. The main body of his work became metal parts that could be assembled, combined, and disassembled. The forms of these parts are organic, like parts of plants or animals, but mechanical and geometric at the same time. They can be independent from each other, and combine with each other, or even replace each other. They are like a set of tableware, which contains different utensils for different purposes. Yet it is possible for them to replace each other. These metal parts are like nebulas in the universe, attracting and repelling each other, forming a huge interactive space. They are like Meccano. You can create different shapes and structures with different combinations.
Xia’s work is characteristic of a shell shape with a shining and thin texture. When trying the possibilities of different combinations, Xia developed a rule. That is, to start from a single unit and combine each unit afterward. The combination gets bigger and bigger until it becomes a system like a family tree. Through this process, Xia left behind the naive cartoon shape and entered a new phase where sculpture was combined with play, something rarely seen in the Chinese art circle. Recently, Xia has been trying to make his sculptures move with several mechanical driving cores (the oldest principle of mechanical drive of spring). This indicates that his new work will be more complex and have more sense of movement.
Xia designs and creates sculptures like huge toys. His sculpture becomes an object to play with, and the process of making sculptures is like a game. Through making sculptures, Xia found his instinct to play games and is trying to extend it to a sensibility of life. In this assembling process, all the factors—shape, space, textile quality, technique, and the possibilities of combinations—become part of a sensible game to him. Today in Xia’s studio, his works are his toy sculptures. Later, in the hands of collectors, his works would become their sculpture toys. One thing Xia and his collectors have in common is a long hidden inclination toward play that has been awoken.
