Un-Earth (2018)

Un-Earth (2018) (Installation) OCAT Xi'an, China
60 pencil drawings (each 176mm X 99mm)
60 scaled up prints of the drawings (each 2100mm X 118.25mm)
First screen, projected 5-minute video extracts with sound, taken from over 80 hours of conversation, from the making of each drawing
Second screen, a time lapse animation of the complete drawing process

The starting point to make 'Un-Earth' in Xi'an, China's ancient capital, was my discovery of the many ways the human face and head have been depicted across the last 6,000 years of Xi'an history, as clay figures, stone carvings, metal artefacts and as painted murals. As I made the project, what also became important was finding out about the process of how archaeologists and historians, looking at sites of excavation, build a picture of ancient peoples through observing fragments and details of how they lived, their remains and the art they made. This may be statues unearthed from the Western Han dynasty tombs, the treasured Tang Dynasty murals in the Shaanxi History Museum, the utensils of the Banpo people, or the site of the Terracotta Warriors. This connected to my own activity of making 60 drawings and accompanying films, piecing together a likeness of each person through the close observations of details of their face; mirroring this process of constructing a sense of others through the act of drawing and conversation. I see parallels in the archaeologist's use of tools to unearth figures or artefacts from the earth and my process of drawing to reveal faces and heads from a piece of paper.

The people I drew and spoke with, included object handlers, historians, archaeologists, dig assistants, curators, restorers, cleaners and security guards, those who work to preserve and protect objects for future generations. I wanted to discover the relationship between each individual and the history that they are preserving, as well as their life journeys and personal stories; to reveal these different layers of preservation, that of the ancient artefacts and relics of human likeness through Xi'an's history, as well as the contemporary people of Xi'an I was encountering. The drawings and videos of 'Un-Earth', reflecting on history, themselves become contemporary artefacts, a series of 60 'time capsules', animating the historic collections in diverse and personal ways. In the exhibition, hung alongside the original small-scale pencil studies are scaled-up prints of each drawing, becoming over 2 metres high. Also really important are the projected 5-minute video extracts that document fragments of conversations from the making of each drawing, taken from the 80 hours of conversation. The videos reactivate the drawings, allowing a viewer to return to the moment of their original making. I like how the conversations hint at the utterances of bygone times by those engaged in creating works of art at tombs and sacred sites.

I want to emphasise the process of transformation, from taking a base element from the earth, such as graphite to make drawings, or clay and stone used to make the Han dynasty tombs figures, or pigment to paint Tang dynasty wall murals, each in the creation of elaborate human likenesses. My interest here is human endeavour, and perhaps something eternal about that, in the way that an artist captures the representation of someone's likeness and somehow 'immortalises' them, allowing them to exist beyond their earthly time. By making just 60 drawings I wanted to imply the multitude of people whose work connects them to the historic artefacts and relics. 'Un-Earth' makes visible some of those people who work behind-the-scenes, but who are rarely celebrated.

Most people I drew had grown up in Xi'an. The subtleties of expression and bone structures of their contemporary faces connected them directly to their ancestors, and to many of the human likenesses represented in the ancient works of art. Lots of the people talked about recognizing likenesses of their family members or themselves in the ancient artefacts. There was something really powerful about that. In a way, I was drawing their face, but also, simultaneously faces from the past. I'm looking for ways for a work to reflect on itself at the moment of its making, on the act of drawing someone but also on history. I hope to create a layering in the viewer's imagination, it's as much about what you don't see as what you do.

In 'Un-Earth' we're constantly passing back and forth between the contemporary moment and different periods of history across the different dynasties. The evolution of human physiognomy happens slowly, but culture changes relatively fast, when we look at people from 6,000 years ago, people look very much the same, but the experience of their lives would have been very different. It feels very resonant here in Xi'an, because of the vast amount of history that's still being excavated and preserved.

It's a significant experience to meet people again that you've drawn. At the opening of the exhibition, many of the 60 people I drew came along. By sharing the encounter and making the drawings, as well as a heightened sense of the shapes and forms of their face and head, somehow I deeply internalised a sense of each person, as if you become partly related to someone. They become familiar, physically and even emotionally. There's a unique intimacy you develop with each person within the conversations. It's only fragments and details, but always very intense. My relation with Xi'an is no longer abstract. These encounters put down markers of familiarity across the city and also connect me in very personal ways to the layers of history of China's ancient capital.

With thanks to Karen Smith, Director of OCAT Xi'an and the team at OCAT Xi'an. Thanks to the interpreters Bella (Yang Wenxin) and Daisy (Zhang Jiangwei), who are an integral part of 'Un-Earth', and of course the 60 individuals, who I drew while in conversation. Jo Cole for her work in London to help to enable the project to be made and installed in 4 weeks in August/September 2018. Also thank you for the support of ICOMOS International Conservation Centre, Xi'an (IICC-X), The British Council in China and the Slade School of Fine Art, London.

Installation documentation Un-Earth