Veils

Veils, 2015,Ye LIU, USST University, Shanghai

ABOUT COLOUR

Previously known as Hujiang University, our school was a registered Christian university, and during wartime occupied by the Japanese troops. Meanwhile, it provided shelters for numerous patriots and religious people. A bomb shelter was built right here inside of the woods, offering protection to both people and food. Considering about this, I choose red as the main tones of my work. and finally it involves four colours: Nude Pink, Pink, Rose Red, Orange, represents body, my personal identity — female, warmness and hope.

In combination with light, views creates a labyrinth of light and shadow which was a big push for the project. It engaged people in a way that when they went through, they could not only observe, but also become a part of it. Actually, it is also a real labyrinth, It was formed by translucent veils and silky threads, fixed by trees and paved by grass. To give strollers more comforts for their walk, I cleared all the fallen branches, garbage, and deliberately avoided tree bulks when I designed the routes. It consists of a few different routes, joined by several dead ends. There were two entrances with only one exit. People could certainly try different ways to get in and get out. In the midst of the display, the project was disturbed by wind blowing away the veils and people who snitched them. From the very start, the work has received wide attentions. Some said it looked like a movie shooting spot; some related it to politics, as the red cloth wrapped on trees reminded them of the “red soldiers”; some thought of it as a ritual of exorcist; some purely suspected that it was a memorial to the sacrificed people during the war before they got rid of the bomb shelter. What impressed me most was, a foreign friend mentioned that these colors made him think of the “Buddha”.