In answering this question, the ‘Forgotten superheroes of design’ I chose was a Chinese photographer. His name is Hang Ren. Before answering the specific content of the question, I will first explain why the photographer is forgotten. First of all, Hang Ren’s “forgotten” can be understood as a manifestation of marginality, which is derived from reading materials in reading. For the understanding of marginality, the general explanation is at the edge of the political or economic power center (Fry, 1989). If this concept is used to describe Hang Ren, I think there are two main reasons. On the one hand, as an artist and photographer, Hang Ren’s work can’t always be accepted and appreciated by the mainstream and the public. On the other hand, Hang Ren’s character is also solitary, which makes him always on the verge of interpersonal communication. It is precisely because of the mutual influence of these two reasons that he has the label of “forgotten”.

During process of photography, Hang Ren gradually formed a photography style that only belongs to him. After observing and admiring these works, it is not difficult to find that although these pictures are mostly glamorous in color, it is still difficult to cover up the gloomy atmosphere revealed. Many professionals believe that the intention of Ren Hang’s work is to make everyone who watches his work aware of the existence of such a group of people in China. To achieve this theme, his works often depict strange, abstract images such as bare, stacked, entangled, distorted bodies, bizarre costumes, exaggerated poses, and indifferent expressions (Holt, 2015). Hang Ren uses these body language to form what he wants to say to everyone in the community.

If we analyze these works from a detailed perspective, we can find that most of Hang Ren’s photographs are marginalized in the society, and most of the expressions he presents in the photos are posing. However, this style of photography always flows in the concepts of rigorous, funny, and documentary (Engholm and Salamon, 2017). It is difficult for us to summarize a specific category for his photographs. In Hang Ren’s work, the use of light is always very obvious. Anyone who likes his work will feel that the theme of Hang Ren’s work may be darker, but the attitude must be positive. We use his work to make specific explanations. In his photographs, the characters he photographed are often naked. However, it is more noticeable that the eyes of the characters are indeed. It is difficult for us to use a certain word or sentence to describe the meaning revealed in the eyes. However, this is in stark contrast to the bright light in the background (Christoforidou et. al, 2012). In the face of such a photographic work, the audience seems to be able to find a glimmer of hope in the feeling of uneasiness. This is what many people think is the value of Hang Ren’s work.

Many people think that Hang Ren’s work is not good at the technical level, because Hang Ren is more willing to use cheap equipment to complete his work. However, he did complete his own collection and exhibition under such conditions. In his exhibition, Hang Ren pays more attention to linking the theme and meaning of the exhibition with the content of the exhibition. Therefore, I believe that such an inspirational and meaning-oriented photographer is the artist who combines life and art.

Bibliography

Christoforidou, D. et al. (2012) Good Taste vs. Good Design: A Tug of War in the Light of Bling, The Design Journal, 15, pp. 185-202.

Engholm, I and Salamon, K, L. (2017) Design thinking between rationalism and romanticism-a historical overview of competing visions, Artifact, 4, pp. 1-18.

Fry, T. (1989) A Geography of Power: Design History and Marginality, Design Issues, 6, pp. 15-30.

Holt, M. (2015) Transformation of the Aesthetic: Art as Participatory Design, Design and Culture, 7, pp. 143-165.

The theme of the exhibition is about indigenous art in Australia. By exhibiting cultural relics such as pictures, the exhibition presents us with a timeline for the development of indigenous art, which is of great significance for the study of modern history. Specifically, the content of the exhibition is not straightforward. The planners focused the exhibition on the artists’ works on indigenous art. These artists who live at different times and in different places are making extraordinary achievements in the field of protecting and promoting traditional art. Therefore, the essence of the evaluation of the exhibition is to evaluate and appreciate the works of these artists.

Among the contents of numerous exhibitions, I have shown particular interest in several of them. The first is the art exhibition of Lin Onus. There are two main works of this artist. The first is a painting whose theme is Fish. From this point of view, this painting has a very typical style of indigenous art. The intersection of yellow and black in the picture gives the viewer a similar affinity to the land, which agreed well with the main character of indigenous paintings(IADV. et al). Besides, the fish could be recognized as the presentation of indigenous culture (IADV. et al). In this picture, the artist depicts many fish swimming in salt water. What impressed me the most was the depiction of the shadows in the picture. Through careful observation, we can find that everything in this painting is not fixed in a plane. While depicting the swimming of the fish, the author also draws their shadows under each fish. This little innovation made the content of the whole painting more vivid (Christoforidou et. al, 2012)1. In addition, the shadow makes each fish look more like floating on the screen. Therefore, I think this amazing transformation can be described as one of the two points of this exhibition. On this basis, we will combine this work with the author, which is one of the main contents of this exhibition. According to the introduction in the exhibition, Lin Onus is a self-taught artist. His understanding and inspiration for art comes from his parents and family. By getting along with the family, Lin Onus is able to subtly combine European painting styles with trees, mountains and rivers in the natural environment and create works of art with multiple meanings. This is a good explanation of the source of the painting of Fish. Different from simply depicting the natural landscape, we can clearly see that the painting incorporates European-style sculpture techniques, which makes it more three-dimensional in depicting indigenous art (Onafuwa, 2018). Fish is just a masterpiece in the works of this exhibition and one of my favorite works. However, the form of this work is not limited to painting. Numerous works include photographs, sculptures, light and shadows and other art forms. Through careful observation, we can find that artists use their most familiar and appropriate ways to express their understanding of the theme. On this basis, the understanding of the theme will reproduce your own ideas and insights. These valuable opinions will provide inspiration and guidance for the creation of artists afterwards. In general, this exhibition about indigenous art brings us a sense of freshness and brings us many illusions beyond this theme.

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Bibliography

Christoforidou, D. et al. (2012) Good Taste vs. Good Design: A Tug of War in the Light of Bling, The Design Journal, 15, pp. 185-202.

IADV. et al. AUSTRALIAN INDIGENOUS DESIGN CHARTER – Communication Design.

Onafuwa, D. (2018) Allies and Decoloniality: A Review of the Intersectional Perspectives on Design, Politics, and Power Symposium, Design and Culture, 10, pp. 7-15.