iPreciation is proud to present the international debut of Gu Wenda’s monumental installation of 24 stones titled “Tian Xiang” at the current outdoor exhibition ENVISION: Sculptures @ the Garden City.

“Tian Xiang” is an installation of 24 ‘ru’ rocks in different shapes and sizes. These huge pieces of natural rocks come from the bottom of the sea; billions of year old lime-stones corroded by the sea water and mounted by fossilized aquatic specimens. The rocks are named ‘ru’ as a reference to the Shandong province which is known as the birthplace of Confucianism.

There are 24 rocks, because there are 24 terms that make up the solar calendar. In typical Gu Wenda fashion, he merged the 2 characters of each solar term to create his own unique phrase or a fictional Chinese character.

Inspired by philosophical theories and stories of our celestial universe, Gu Wenda sets out to bring man and nature closer together. Creating a ‘rock forest’ with this dynamic installation of 24 large rocks, one has the opportunity to experience, immerse and get up close to these significant relics and artefacts, a product of nature’s powerful forces. Gu started thinking and planning this project sometime in 1993, with the idea to create 50 stone steles. It has taken him more than 20 years for the project to come to fruition.

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Date: 29 January 2016