page 8
daily nebraskan
friday, march 13, 1981
Artist Li Shan transcends language barrier
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in part the speech of Li Shan himself, and in part Leung's
translation.
Shan began his lecture by staring quietly into space.
Then folding his hands he said softly, "My painting is
very bad, I will welcome your criticism so that 1 can im
prove." What followed was a presentation, both verbal and
nonverbal, so consumed with aesthetic awareness of
nature, that it mattered very little to the audience that
they could not understand Mandarin.
Shan first went to his paintings and pointed out trees.
"Tree, tree, tree, one, two, three, four, but they are
not the same even though trees are the same for every
body. The reason they are different," he said, "is that at
the time they were painted the emotion was different."
Relies on mood
He then went on to single out specific works to further
illustrate the reliance of his work upon mood.
profile
Daily Nebraskan Photo
Li Shan
By Penelope M. Smith
Li Slum's work is an essence that encompasses all the
seasons of the self with nature, presenting to the world
a harmony that transcends the bounds of corporeal self.
It is the poetry of light, wind and water, and the mauni
tude and strength of the universe.
Li Shan, one of his country's most popular artists,
is on cultural loan to America for six months from the
People's Republic of China. The 57-year old Nanjing
artist's works arc on display at Sheldon Art Gallery, and
he has been presenting lectures and demonstrations at the
request of the I'NL art department.
Li Shan spoke to a group ol students Tuesday night at
Sheldon concerning his art. Professor Leung of the I'NL
physics department acted as translator.
Shan is a slight man with an underlying tranquility and
strength even in his frequent animation. What follows is
"In this paintingStepping on the Morning Dew to Get
Water.' the girl is getting water in the morning, the little
lamb is bouncing and the feeling is very fresh and happy,"
he explained. He then made bouncing motions with his
hands over the elements of the painting like the bouncing
of the lamb's feet.
"This technique, di-ta, di-ta, the dots in the trees
creates the whole effect of the painting. It's dancing mood
and freshness are reflected in every object."
Vital to Li Shan's art is not only the quality of ink
used but the tempo of his strokes, how quickly or how
slowly he chooses to paint. He used a work entitled
"Human Heroism Through Cherry Blossoms" to explain
this.
"In the branch of cherry blossom the speed differs
from length to length of the branch. As I go slowly, the
water spreads. I express the strength of the branch the
worst tiling is uniformity, therefore in one line we have
dark and light, fast and slow."
"Here." he said, pointing to a heavy aiea of a branch,
"I wet very slowly. I put pressure on the branch bending
it down, but it comes back up. I used this tree to express
heroism, the forceful qualitv of a very strong person. It is
winter in this painting, but the tree is very stiong. It is
the same thing when a stiong character is exposed to a
strong outside force, you will see a dip in the tree but it
alvvavs comes back up again. I hope that this (lower ex
pressed the emotion that heroic people cannot be re
pressed." he said.
In many of Li Shan's paintings like "Binds on the
Vine." the color exceeds the fine ink boundary line. Lor
Commercial subtlety costs $9
I; used to be that I could watch television cominei cials
for tree on the three majoi networks. Now . thanks to the
ever-growing field of cable television. p.iy nine bucks a
month for the privilege.
dark
If I'm going to pay to watch commercials. I want to
see something really outstanding. No more biaen and
unashamed hucksters for me: no moie hank Sinatia
bowling me over with the viitues of the K-('ar when I
know that in real life he wouldn't let his dog be chaul
feured around town in one. no moie Cool Whip at Tuckei
Inn. no more McDonaldland characters, no more col tee
with Mrs. Olsen. no more Wessonality. no more leading
pain killers, no more doctor's survey's, no more minimum
daily vitamin requirements, no more anything. It I'm
going to watch commercials that I have paid to watch,
I want them to be diabolically subtle.
Subtle messages
I have seen one scries of such commercials.
Getty Oil Company has put together a series of messages
in favor of the decontrol of the oil industry that never
once say the words "oil," "profits." "prices," "OPLC," or'
"here to serve you." Most of these advertisements run on
LSPN, the cable all-sports channel. Controlling interest
in LSPN is owned by, you guessed it , Getty Oil.
The first time I saw one, I didn't even know if it was
a commercial. It was a videotape of ran Klammer,
the Austrian skier, blazing down the slope at some import
ant international meet. The announcer was making a big
deal out o the tact that Klammer was going all-out.
striving as haul as he could. I hen the videotape stopped,
and a second announcer with a slow, aulhoiitativc. aged-in-a-keg
mellow voice came on to explain that the reason
Klammei succeeded that dav was that he was free to
win 01 lose on Ins own. Then, at last, came the message:
"Sadlv . neitliei ou nor we enjoy such ficedom in our
ilailv lives. The government will piotect us from it.
Something to think about, tiom the people at Getty."
Ad genius
Sheei genius. Since the Klammei advei tisement .
we have seen a manned balloon ascend to a record height,
we have seen a speed record broken on the Bonneville
Salt f lats, a inan-poweicd flight across the I nghsh Chan
nel, and a woman walking the ocean llooi . Never does
Gelt Oil try to make foi ustheralher flimsy association
between these accomplishments and the abilitv of an oil
coinpanv to generate piofits in a tree economv . But
you've got to believe that Getty wouldn't feel ton bad
if sometime, like maybe during the droning tick-talk
that passes between Dick Vitale and Jim Simpson dis
guised as basketball insights. von made the connection m
your own mind.
Very likely, this kind o! advertising is less effective
in the short run than the hard-sell approach, because of the
inherent problem ot giving a television audience "some
thing to think about" when one of the reasons people
watch television is to avoid doing too much thinking.
But Getty Oil has plenty of tune and money, and there
must be more videotapes of great achievements that
worked because the participants were free, lltimatclv.
this kind of message is probably more effective because
the viewer draws his or her own conclusions, so wc are
likely to sec Getty Oil continue with this campaign It
is, as they say. something to think about.
Shan this expresses the life of the (lower itself.
No boundaries
"The color walks." he explained. "It is greater than the
object itself. I care about balance but not about the
boundaries, the (lower, because it has no boundaries, is no
longer static. No longer bound, it becomes emotion."
An integral element in Li Shan's paintings is the
accompanying calligraphy, which is just as important as
the painting itself. Li Shan explained simply how a
westerner can understand calligraphy, even though he can
not comprehend the meaning.
"There are two things. Simply, the element of under
standing the character, but also the expression of the
character, its shape or style or form." he said, producing
one of his works.
"In this work, the two character mean 'dragon song' or
'chant.' I used different strokes to keep the dragon feel
ing." Shan went on to trace his finger over the drawing,
slithering his fiimcr down the undulatine feeling of scales
and bony tail, stopping slowly at the heavy dark "headot
the dragon," he drew his hand along "The Chant" itself,
moving it like a fading echo as the ink itself had faded.
F iiir idyllic years
When Shan gradm ed from Zhejiang Art Institute he
requested and receiv-d a position as art reporter in the
far western province of Xinjiang. Some of his pictures
express what were for him four idyllic years spent in the
mountains among the tribesmen, living in tents and riding
camels.
He drew a quick sketch of a little boy sleeping on a
camel with the moon behind him and said softly:
"from the time he is a little boy he spends his life on
the back of a camel. When I think of the past I fade back
into a dream. I can still feel the horse beneath me, feel
the camel beneath me in my sleep."
He still places two seals on his paintings, one is his
name and the other is what he calls a "little remembcr
ance." a symbol for the mountains and rivers of Xinjiang.
The other great inspiration for his work, besides the
beauty of his homeland, is the music and literature of
his country. Shan began as a student ol classical literature
and also is an accomplished musician. Between moods of
tranquility he is likely to recite Li Po or hum a range of
music from Chinese folksongs to Schubert.
"In the art of poetry and the art of painting there
is no differentiation for me. They are both in mv work.
I express the poem in a painting, the painting in a poem. I
am a painter but the poet helps me to imagine. When a
poem is on my mind I forge; the realities of I arth."
"I ask the sky. I will ride the wind." he went on to
recite. "I do not know warm or cold. I dance on the good
eai th into the wind."
Li Shan said that in music he could experss what he
felt about his painting simply in two songs; one a Chinese
tune he likes verv much and. astoundingly enough, a
western song.
"There is a song about a bee." lie said, beginning to
hum. "The bee collects all the pollen, ii makes the best
sort of honey and gives it to the world. 1 his is why ou.
me, we all work so hard and we hope our work will be
appreciated. Life is verv short and only our art survives."
"The other song I like." he said, laughing, "is "The
Spanish Cavalier.' Do you know if.' 'The Messings of my
country and you dear, the blessings of my country and
you dear. I care very much for my country and my
people.' "
Six women 's films
featured at Sheldon
This weekend, the Sheldon f ilm Theater is offering
a sci ies ot iihns In women winking outside and inside
the I Ii i wood indust i .
Six short sublets with a total runtime time of 9o min
utes will be shown Ojjistjiu In M.,ineeii Selwood.
H7wA Ve In Maiv Beams lnt.nuw In Caroline I cat
and Veiomka Soul Ihrilhr b Saliv Potter. Woman:
W is Me' h Judith Kellei and The Inuruimv of
lunn r I nu I v llublov Screenings are at 7 p.m. and ) p.m.
with a Sjtunl.iv matinee at p.m. Admission is
(senior atiens and childien s J )
Vmlhr. ihe hmi ot tlK- Miiis. is ,-onsideicd the fust
temmist mmdei mvstc.v . as potiei Ji.nts a course
through operatic form, women's historv and contemporary
Iheorv. In Inttnun. two women anim.itois are seen mak
ing a him about ihentsehcs Ihe film opens with the
filmmakers at home, each composing a visual portrait
of the other r 1
Woman. h r. 1Y ' , on, ems persistent myths about
women and evaluates s!ereotvPKal images and toles ot
women The t.lm explo.es b.bhcal and mythological
themes as well as u.ntempnr ji portrayals