Chen Jinwen has lived in Nanting Village, Nanjing for about five to six years. He is fully accustomed to life there, familiar with local dining options and other amenities, and regards the village as a “home” that provides a sense of security and a stable living environment. With friends nearby and close proximity to his school, he prefers to see Nanting Village as a place to relax rather than a source of inspiration for artistic creation, believing the inspiration he gets here is far less impactful than that from the outside world.
In terms of interpersonal interactions, Chen Jinwen often shops at a convenience store near his residence, so he has developed a familiar “customer-elder” relationship with the store owner. The owner regularly greets him with questions like “Have you eaten?”, but there is no in-depth interaction (such as dining together) between them. The main reasons are that the owner needs to attend to many customers, Chen himself has limited time, and he is worried that asking too many questions as a younger person might offend the elder owner. Local villagers mostly engage in activities in family units, forming small groups, making it difficult for outsiders to integrate unless they take the initiative to reach out. When renting a house, some landlords would chat about daily matters (such as house decoration and tenant demographics) and even invite him to eat, but Chen considers these invitations mostly polite gestures rather than sincere ones. Additionally, as a watercolor major, Chen rarely discusses artistic viewpoints with his artist friends—for fear of disputes arising from different perspectives—and instead prefers to talk about artistic techniques and daily life.
Regarding the development of Nanting Village, the buildings have become increasingly dense. One reason is that villagers want to attract more college students or artist tenants through their houses; the other is that second-hand landlords have renovated existing houses or built new ones on vacant lots after moving in. At the same time, external small capital has penetrated into areas such as local entertainment and catering (covering daily needs like clothing, food, housing, and transportation), changing the village’s status quo and complicating the originally simple relationship between villagers and students from the China Academy of Art.
In terms of artistic creation, Chen tends to separate life from creation. When creating, he spends more time thinking than actually painting and often goes out to seek inspiration. Although he is curious about the villagers’ life and thoughts, he is unwilling to attempt collaborative artistic creation with them. He is not only worried that the villagers may not understand his creative ideas and that explaining them would be troublesome, but also that due to his strong sense of autonomy and differences in creative concepts and techniques from others (including fellow painters), it would be difficult to achieve integration, ultimately resulting in the work failing to meet his expectations.
Luo Junjie has stayed in Nanjing for 4-5 years, with 2.5 years living in Nanting Village. His interactions with villagers are only superficial—mostly greeting convenience store owners (e.g., “Good morning, boss”) or having brief chats, and he has no deeper connections like dining or having tea together. His landlord (a second-hand landlord) and neighbors (mostly classmates, some having moved for further study or work) are also not close to him.
In terms of art creation, Luo separates life from art but emphasizes that his works are linked to life experiences and topics, though not necessarily derived from real-life environments. Unlike his parents’ generation, who relied on physical experiences, Luo’s generation gains much life experience from media, which shapes a “surreal” state and influences creation. He is the first in his family to study art professionally; few relatives pursued art, with some entering design (e.g., architectural or interior design) through non-art school paths.
Luo believes current academic art forms are marginalized. They are overshadowed by short videos, AI, and other media in stimulating audiences and spreading, and even lag behind printing, films, and TV shows. For the public, art is more about entertainment, while academic art’s need for wide attention is debatable.
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