Transmutation Of Language

In this paper, the main clue lies in the language shift presented in the works fromthe two important exhibitions of "Sculpture1994" and "Sculpture2012", in whichinvolves the five sculptors as Sui Jianguo, the evolutionary histories of theirrepresentative works with great impact throughout the19year, as well as thecomparative study of language and sculpture phenomenon shifts in this period.Transmutation of language, not only lies in the form of the works’ language, the morecome to the changes of underlying questioning consciousness, concepts and creativemethods.Three stages can be divided for the all:The first stage is from the late1980s to the mid-1990s, in which modern sculpturelanguages to be used to represent a symbol method of existentialism language, toconvey individual concept through expression, metaphor and symbolism.The second phase is from the mid to the late of1990s, in which people paid moreattention to semiotics, sociology and semantics, as well as to the possibility ofsculpture to intervene in the value of contemporary culture.The third stage is in the late2000, when the study on sculpture language graduallytransferred to "material","properties" and "re-study" on sculpture language itself,presented as the modern spirit regression, the pursuit of abstract, pureness, andontology, as well as the reunification of contemporary concept value, whichconstitutes a "novel" language concept and a new creative method unlimited to certainform of abstratum. Following the continuous development in "material" and“language”, it gradually replaced former "unti-form" morphemes in a "non-form" wayto respect a kind of “ego” form value both subjects (human) and objects. Thus, thecontinuous study on meta-language of sculpture will constitute to be a more originaland intrinsic language concept, that is "meta-language", the language of sculpturallanguage.It should be emphasized that it is not a universal value or cycle theory. However,the Chinese contemporary sculpture developing until today, it is the product comingout of one generation’s personal values, spirituality and the contemporary culture andconcept, grew up in the late1980s and early1990s. And it will form certainexpressions to convey "works" languages.Two specific exhibitions will be the discussed in the article as time node andfactual material evidence. I try to analyze the whole structure through some specialpoints to describe and complete the very important developing clue of Chinesecontemporary sculpture since1980s, as well as the trend of language evolution.