21 Conjectures of Jade. Student works from Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology
Exhibition
/
15 Jun 2023
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18 Jun 2023
Published: 14.06.2023
126.com
The show pieces to be exhibited this time were generated from the jewelry design course “Jewelry Art and Material Expression” of Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology. The students were encouraged to conduct dialectical thinking through questioning and conjectures by starting from the nature of jade materials and were guided to explore the connotation and extension of jade.
Artist list
Xinyue Chen, Zhi Chou, Xiaolan Fu, Xinyue Gu, Qinyu Hu, Junjie Hua, Siyu Huang, Jiawei Li, Xinjie Liu, Jiarong Shen, Kexin Shen, Qi Sun, Yayi Wang, Zhaoyi Wang, Lanxin Xi, Zhuo Yin, Jiayi Zhang, Qiuyi Zhang, Yibo Zhang, Yuman Zhang, Zehao Zhang
Following theoretical lectures, different types of jade objects were brought into the classroom to allow the students to establish a preliminary connection with jade through direct observation and body contact.
On such a basis, the students were instructed to question about the history, culture, material characteristics, and value judgment of jade. Throughout this course, their understanding of jade would gradually shift from external forms to internal meanings, reflecting a speculative process of observation and learning from the inside out.
"Jade culture is the mother culture of the Chinese nation. The belief and reverence for jade have been deeply imprinted in the genes of Chinese people. The Confucian moral theories of personality ideals derived from jade (benevolence, righteousness, wisdom, bravery, and purity), the educational learning paradigm derived from the jade carving process (learning from constant polishing), the social rules with jade as the fashion taste (gentlemen must wear jade), and the language customs formed around the ultimate value of jade (Chinese characters and phrases containing “jade”) have altogether formed the basic elements of the whole Chinese cultural identity.
One of my research directions in teaching has always been the inheritance and innovation of jade culture.
The original intention of choosing jade as the creation material is to see how the young people evaluate jade and how they play with it, and whether the thousands of years of jade culture is a burden or a source of design inspiration for them. In the early theoretical section, I had lectured on the cultural, visual, tactile, auditory, taste, and olfactory aspects of jade, and tried to inspire the students’ thinking through a large number of case studies.
I hoped to see some interesting works created by the students using jade."
/ Dudu Xiong, supervisor
"Tracing back the millennium development and evolution of jewelry, its concept has been continuously expanded and fused with the wisdom of many other disciplines. From traditional craftsmanship to avant-garde expression of modern ideas, jewelry has always wandered at the intersection between handicrafts, art, design, and fashion.
In such a context, this course encourages students to regard jade as a starting point for speculation to create reflective jewelry design works, while also considering the decorative and wearing properties of jewelry for restraint expression.
In the brainstorming camp at the early stage of the course, I attempted to guide students to ask questions about the external form and internal content of jade through keywords such as “what”, “why”, and “what if...”, and to come out with a series of reasonable associations. In the process of “from one to another, from outside to inside”, they gradually established a desire to explore the jade culture, break through stereotyped biases, and expand cognitive boundaries.
I hope to stimulate the students’ creativity by gaining a deep understanding about jade, so that jade with a profound sense of history can present its diverse facets."
/ Xiaoqi Liu, supervisor
On such a basis, the students were instructed to question about the history, culture, material characteristics, and value judgment of jade. Throughout this course, their understanding of jade would gradually shift from external forms to internal meanings, reflecting a speculative process of observation and learning from the inside out.
"Jade culture is the mother culture of the Chinese nation. The belief and reverence for jade have been deeply imprinted in the genes of Chinese people. The Confucian moral theories of personality ideals derived from jade (benevolence, righteousness, wisdom, bravery, and purity), the educational learning paradigm derived from the jade carving process (learning from constant polishing), the social rules with jade as the fashion taste (gentlemen must wear jade), and the language customs formed around the ultimate value of jade (Chinese characters and phrases containing “jade”) have altogether formed the basic elements of the whole Chinese cultural identity.
One of my research directions in teaching has always been the inheritance and innovation of jade culture.
The original intention of choosing jade as the creation material is to see how the young people evaluate jade and how they play with it, and whether the thousands of years of jade culture is a burden or a source of design inspiration for them. In the early theoretical section, I had lectured on the cultural, visual, tactile, auditory, taste, and olfactory aspects of jade, and tried to inspire the students’ thinking through a large number of case studies.
I hoped to see some interesting works created by the students using jade."
/ Dudu Xiong, supervisor
"Tracing back the millennium development and evolution of jewelry, its concept has been continuously expanded and fused with the wisdom of many other disciplines. From traditional craftsmanship to avant-garde expression of modern ideas, jewelry has always wandered at the intersection between handicrafts, art, design, and fashion.
In such a context, this course encourages students to regard jade as a starting point for speculation to create reflective jewelry design works, while also considering the decorative and wearing properties of jewelry for restraint expression.
In the brainstorming camp at the early stage of the course, I attempted to guide students to ask questions about the external form and internal content of jade through keywords such as “what”, “why”, and “what if...”, and to come out with a series of reasonable associations. In the process of “from one to another, from outside to inside”, they gradually established a desire to explore the jade culture, break through stereotyped biases, and expand cognitive boundaries.
I hope to stimulate the students’ creativity by gaining a deep understanding about jade, so that jade with a profound sense of history can present its diverse facets."
/ Xiaoqi Liu, supervisor
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