In this intervention, I arranged a collaborative creation between Chen Jinwen and Yang Qingrong, two master’s students majoring in watercolor painting. With the theme of shared memories, they embarked on a free creation. The final work was named “A Sunset to Share”, depicting the sunset that can be seen both in Nan Ting Village and Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts. However, in this intervention, due to the unfamiliar environment and the lack of acquaintance between the two, an awkward atmosphere emerged. At the same time, the villagers were restricted by the artists’ creative ideas and thoughts, resulting in a lack of subjectivity from the villagers’ perspective.
In this follow-up, Yang reflects positively on her collaborative painting experience with a GAFA artist. She was impressed by the artist’s professionalism, humility, and ability to guide her and incorporate her contributions, making her feel her input was valued even with her lack of formal training. She acknowledges the difference in their perspectives – she focused on technical imperfections (e.g., crooked windows), while the artist saw the overall artistic value. This highlights the gap between a trained artist’s viewpoint and a layperson’s. Despite enjoying the experience and admiring the students’ happiness and freedom to pursue art, she reiterates that her rental business is for survival (“eating”), while art is a spiritual pursuit she feels she had to sacrifice. She supports such initiatives for the students’ sake and her interest in new experiences.
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