Yunpeng Wang

I was born in Jiaozuo, China, a city rich in coal resources. A hundred years ago, the British built China’s first mining university in my hometown, which promoted China’s industrialisation. It has brought great material development and also manyproblems.

Five years ago, I began to focus on these unspoken public tensions and created a series of critical works, such as carbon finance and Ecological Reflection and so on.

Last year, because of the outbreak of covid-19, the sudden loss of many lives triggered my childhood memory . I think epidemic and disaster all nature's response to human behaviour . I want to use my practice to warn and reflection for people.

My experience living and studying in Denmark and the UK has turned my artistic perspective on climate change from land to sea. Which let me realised the urgency of this problem again was the voice made at the cop26 climate summit last year: “Now is the last chance!” What can I do as an artist?

We all know that this is a serious problem . Now we don’t need more warnings, but more solutions.

If you want to respect nature, firstly, you must understand it.

In order to seek an objective scientific basis, I look for references and support from relevant experts and research institutions. Luckily, we have held many online meetings in order to ensure every step makes sense.

My works’ audiences are human beings and nature.

My idea is to take the protection of coral as the starting point to explore the rebuilding of homes for marine creatures. My principle is that I do half, and the other half is left to nature to build a process of equal dialogue and interaction with nature. I work together with nature to build the foundation of sustainable development.

Collapse – I wanted to express the physical and mental pain of the miners when a mine disaster occurs

Buried Flowers – My lament for the waning and passing of life

Prayers 1 – 'Prayers' expresses prayers for the victims of the disaster

Prayers 2 – 'Prayers' expresses prayers for the victims of the disaster

Memory – "Memory" The indelible memory of the loved ones of the mining disaster

In the face of the current epidemic, the sudden loss of countless living beings has triggered me to think about the nature of life, emotions, social relationships and other issues. What can artists do in the face of disaster? It inspired my childhood memories of the rescue scene of a mine disaster, where an accident took the lives of hundreds of people.

Medium:

slag

Size:

variable

Environment

Restitution

Restitution（Video） – The time is a big challenge, because the coral growth needs a long process. Therefore, according to the scientific data, I use virtual digital technology to show the interaction between sculpture and coral, froming to a whole. The development and future outcome will be seen after many years. This video shows that I focus on fast-growing and heat-tolerant coral species to improve survival rates and cope with challenging future

I chose the “Restitution” as my project and I prove it in two points.

1. Material:

(1) Rationality of concrete:

Coral reefs are formed from calcium carbonate, which is similar to concrete. It has been proved that artificial reefs can be built to provide survival homes for corals and other creatures.

(2) Alleviate water pollution: calcium carbonate can neutralise the water acidity (because the pH changes make coral death)

2. shape:

(1) Using natural forms:

Coral reefs are made of stone corals. We respect their original form and rebuild their natural shapes.

(2) Rough surfaces and complex forms:

Experts found that coral larvae prefer to root and grow on complex and rough surfaces. Medium complexity is the best.

(3) void of air and water form:

Provide space for planting coral, while water flows freely.

(4) Diverse form:

Complex space is the foundation of biodiversity. It provides a diverse environment for different marine creatures.

(5) Flexible and convenient:

It is a prefabricated item .it can be disassemble and assembled (I was inspired by LEGO toys). Its shape and size can be freely combined according to different environments. For example, the underwater ground is uneven, which is a solution. It is also convenient for assembly and handling.

In Collaboration with:

College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University

Medium:

Concrete

Size:

variable

Yunpeng Wang

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In Collaboration with:

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About

Royal College of Art