Wenli Li 李文莉
A Plan of Planting, A Plan of Planting
Size: 120 x 80 x 30 cm, Mixed-media painting installation, 2023
種植計劃, 廢棄鋼廠綜合材料與繪畫裝置
Courtesy of Artist

About Artworks

The surface materials of this work are entirely constructed from discarded remnants collected from the abandoned industrial ruins of the stainless steel plant operated by Baosteel Stainless Steel Co., Ltd. in Shanghai’s Baoshan District.

In 2023, my collaborator X and I gathered a variety of materials from the site, including orange plastic fragments, soil stained with dark red rust, dust, an igniter, stones, partially degraded textiles, crushed brick powder, blue ceramic tile shards, yellowed ivy leaves, and blue archival folders from the former factory.

During this work, I cut the old factory folders into thin strips to form the “roads” of the satellite-map-like landscape. Square rooftops representing factory buildings were constructed from cardboard, and topped with fresh soil and moss. Throughout the exhibition period, an observation of the process of seeds germinating and growing is necessary. By doing so, I hope that the “new life” emerging from these materials of industrial ruin can remain visible and continually unfold within the exhibition space.

這件作品的表面材料完全由從上海寶山區寶鋼不銹鋼有限公司廢棄的工業遺址中收集的廢棄殘骸構成。

2023年，我的夥伴X與我從該場地收集了多種材料，包括橙色塑膠碎片、沾染深紅色鏽跡的土壤、塵土、一個點火器、石塊、部分腐爛的紡織品、碎磚粉、藍色瓷磚碎片、泛黃的常春藤葉，以及原工廠留下的藍色檔案夾。

在創作過程中，我將舊工廠文件夾裁剪成細條，構成了這片類似衛星地圖的景觀中的「道路」。代表工廠建築的方形屋頂由瓦楞紙板製成，頂部覆蓋著新鮮土壤和苔蘚。在整個展覽期間，觀察種子發芽和生長的過程是必不可少的。透過這種方式，我希望從這些工業廢墟材料中萌發的「新生命」能夠始終可見，並在展覽空間內持續展開。

Wenli studied plastic arts and social sciences in France and Belgium from 2015 to 2022. Wenli likes to collect traces and memories of multiple cities to create. She is passionate about performance art and painting materials, but she likes to study any materials and media. She likes to study the social relationship between people, the impact of environmental changes on people, the new concept of sustainability, solastalgia. She is currently working and creating in Shanghai.

“I think being an artist is to connect people in society and care about sociology and anthropology. ” Multidisciplinary artist whose work bridges plastic arts, social sciences, and urban anthropology. Her latest project, The Eternal Flower Story Collection, explores urban memories and interplay between human experiences and their environments.

文莉於 2015 年至 2022 年間在法國與比利時學習造型藝術與社會科學，以藝術家策展人的身份在當代藝術研究和社會實踐創作中來回遊走。她喜歡收集不同城市留下的痕跡與記憶，並轉化為創作素材。她熱衷於行為藝術與繪畫媒介的探索，同時也持續研究各種材料與媒材的可能性。她關注人與人之間的社會流動關係，環境變遷對人的影響，以及「生態鄉愁」 等新興概念。

目前，她生活與工作於上海。她認為，藝術家的職責在於連結社會中的人與人，並持續關懷社會學與人類學所關注的議題。身為跨領域藝術家，她的實踐橫跨造型藝術、社會科學與城市人類學。近期的藝術計畫《永恆之花故事集》聚焦於城市記憶的採集與書寫，探討人類經驗與其所處環境之間複雜而微妙的互動關係。