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“To complete this piece, the artist Song Chen embarked on a lengthy six-year creative process. Moving forward in this vast world, without a glimmer of light in the heart, one can easily become a traveler in darkness. The reason for persisting in soil art creation is that there are always moments of emotion in life that are worth moving forward for.”            -----Song Chen

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纪录片《殇土》 她把受伤的土壤变为被审美的艺术作品

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World Soil Day (WSD) is held annually on 5 December as a means to focus attention on the importance of healthy soil and to advocate for the sustainable management of soil resources.
The artwork created for "World Soil Day" is titled "Shangtu," which symbolizes the damaged and polluted land affected by human materialism, resembling a dying baby in urgent need of our care, providing healing to the soil. The piece features a large cracked piece of land at the bottom of the "Soil Baby," symbolizing the land's uterus and soil placenta, representing the injured soil - the dead womb. The land awakens, highlighting the damage caused by excessive materialism to the Earth, yearning to restore people's original natural spirit. The artist's creation aims to raise awareness of soil ecology and inspire more people to pay attention to soil ecology from an inner emotional and sentimental perspective. The entire creative process is recorded in a documentary style, calling for the awakening of land justice, hoping to inspire a shared nurturing - soil healing.

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Song Chen, "Shangtu: Soil Baby," Polluted-soil-based installation,2019

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Song Chen, "Shangtu: Soil Baby," Polluted-soil-based installation,2019

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Song Chen's installation "Son of the Earth" returns to nature through soil and branches.The body, curled up in a ball with knees hugged tightly, symbolizes the chaos of the universe's initial creation, contrasting starkly with the dry branches radiating outwards from the body. Finally, the dry branches emanating from the balled-up body connect in the void they invade, forming a non-solid spherical shape, creating a cycle of "body-mind-universe." Sensing the unity of heaven and earth, all things become one. The Son of the Earth ultimately links human beings, the land, and nature in symbiosis. Perhaps because the soil hides the fate of life and death, Song Chen always uses circular shapes in her creations. The circle in Buddhism represents the cycle of life, death, and rebirth; in Christianity, it is the concentric circle leading to hell. Song Chen's circular soil represents her earthy universe, her hope to awaken all humanity's reverence for the land through a form of religious care.

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SongChen, “Son of the Earth”,  Mixed-media installation, soil, branches, 2019

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SongChen, “Son of the Earth”,  Mixed-media installation, soil, branches, 2019

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Song Chen's "Walking Landscape" series of sculpture works creatively blend elements of mountains, waters, human bodies, plant ecology, and architecture in an Eastern-style micro-landscape treatment with a modern twist. This fusion results in a highly interpretive cultural prototype, inviting viewers to engage from various perspectives, sparking imaginative spaces and enabling a wide range of diverse commentary.One of the most important characteristics of shamanic spirit is "mythopoeia," where the world perceived by shamans in altered states of consciousness differs significantly from what ordinary people see through sensory experiences. Shamans possess a mythic prototype landscape that is both enchanting and fantastical.Anthropologist Henry Corbin named the world that shamans perceive in altered states of consciousness as the "mundus imaginalis" world.2. In this pre-conscious state, the surrounding objects we perceive transcend their ordinary existence and transform into symbolic and mythological images with anthropological significance. This constant disruption of the normal sequence in the "creative imagination world" is also at the core of the creation of the "Walking Landscape" series.While modern technological civilization has advanced to the point where humans can freely navigate the vast universe, the ecological environment of Earth, the home to humanity, is facing deterioration. Currently, humanity stands at the threshold of sustainable development. Fortunately, even in the face of the severe global ecological crisis today, we have not completely lost our ability for introspection... There are also the art pieces of the "Walking Landscape" series, walking alone on the vast earth, with the vast universe above their heads, becoming the spiritual pulse connecting the three interfaces of heaven, earth, and humanity. Through this ritualistic experience of communicating with heaven and earth, viewers can experience a spiritual rebirth at the horizon of their souls.

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Song Chen, “Walking Landscape-4”, Soil integrated materials, 220cm*130cm*120cm,2019

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Song Chen, “Walking Landscape-4”, Soil integrated materials, 220cm*130cm*120cm,2019

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With the rapid population and industrial development, the soil faces many problems. In our country alone, 16% of soil and 19% of agricultural soil are classified as contaminated soil, posing a potential threat to the ecological environment and human health.3. In ancient legends of the creation of the universe, Nuwa, at the beginning of the cosmos, molded humans from yellow soil, creating and building human society. Humans come from the soil, and civilization is born from the soil.4. However, as the concrete jungles of cities disconnect us from nature, humanity seems to have forgotten the soil as the source of life. We often forget that we are organic beings constantly interconnected with our environment and others. In her soil ecology art pieces, Song Chen has long adhered to a creative method using "soil" as the "language," expressing and reflecting her ecological philosophy of tracing back to the roots. Through Song Chen's long-term experiments with soil, new styles and meanings are constantly being interpreted, focusing not only on ecological protection issues but also maintaining a very simple and natural essence.

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The Book of Soil series represents a modern reinterpretation of traditional calligraphy by artist Song Chen within the context of contemporary ecological concerns. These works introduce a contemporary twist to calligraphy by utilizing soil as a primary material. The artist's deep dive into originality significantly contributes to the realm of experimental calligraphy, giving rise to a unique calligraphy subculture. In academic terms, a subculture, also known as a non-mainstream culture, emerges from the mainstream culture as a niche culture with distinct values and behaviors. Subculture plays a crucial role in social life as it is often overlooked by cultural scholars. Over time, subcultures may evolve into mainstream cultures as more professionals and scholars engage with them, blurring the lines between what was once considered subculture and mainstream culture.Similarly, with the increasing awareness of ecological conservation, more and more non-mainstream cultural viewpoints are gaining attention. These viewpoints challenge the blind pursuit of anthropocentrism in mainstream culture, emphasizing the balance and interdependence between humans and the natural world. People are gradually realizing that ecological conservation is not only for the present and future benefits, but also a form of respect and appreciation for life, nature, and the entire planet. This shift not only influences individuals' lifestyles and values but also drives policy and industrial transformations at the societal level, prompting greater attention to the importance of sustainable development and environmental protection.

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Song Chen, Book of SoilSeries-Originality, 90cm/140cm ,Soil calligraphy,2018

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Song Chen, Book of SoilSeries-Originality, 90cm/140cm ,Soil calligraphy,2018

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The Book of Soil series are another re-interpretation of traditional calligraphy culture by Song Chen against the background of contemporary ecologism. These works are contemporary calligraphy firstly created by using soil materials now. The artist’s intense exploration of originality is a valuable contribution to contemporary experimental calligraphy, meaning that a calligraphy subculture is born from it. The two characters “BenSe” represent the most authentic and essential form or state of things while nature represents the most primitive and authentic state on Earth.Soil is a crucial component of the natural world, containing rich nutrients and microorganisms that support plant growth and ecosystem functioning. The "true nature" of soil represents its most primitive, natural state, free from pollution or degradation.However, the soil of the world is facing salinization, desertification, acidification and heavy metal pollution, organic pollution, radioactive pollution, pathogenic biological pollution, etc., and has begun to pose a serious threat to the ecological environment and human health. Solving soil problems, improving soil quality and promoting the sustainable use of soil resources will be an important mission of human society today and in the future.

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Song Chen, Book of SoilSeries-Color, 100cm/160cm, Soil calligraphy,2018

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Song Chen, Book of SoilSeries-Color, 100cm/160cm, Soil calligraphy,2018