My name is Hao Zhenhan
I’m an artist
I came to Jingdezhen in 2016
It’s been 4 years
In fact I basically live here alone
I’ve never learned it. And I was not majored in ceramic art
My project is named ‘Imitation, imitation’
It took me nearly three years
Many people probably think that the people in Jingdezhen are lazy
Because they don’t innovate
They always imitate, making counterfeit Yuan-dynasty or Ming-dynasty porcelain
But actually when you really understand the production
With current techniques
It’s very difficult to reproduce an ancient porcelain item
It’s an innovative and experimental process
I bought a bottle-gourd-shaped vase
From the market in Jingdezhen
And I broke it
I chose 10 major pieces
And I asked different artisans
To make 10 new items based on the pieces
Totally different new shapes were created based on each piece
During the whole process
You could see both imitation and creation
The production of each item required 3 people
Who were responsible for molding, adjusting the shape and painting respectively
There were 30 core artisan involved
There was resistance at the beginning of communication
Some only painted ancient figures, not modern figures
Lots of artisans were unwilling to change
I might encourage them
To find new possibilities
On the basis of his or her existing works and painting methods
And the outcome was nice
Some of them felt happy
Some wanted to have more such experience
Now I’ve moved to Sanbao Road
Because I wished to have a more independent and peaceful space
The house has three storeys
The third floor is basically where I live
On the second floor is mainly my studio
And on the first floor are a small exhibition hall
And the handicraft space
I don’t make porcelain in the traditional way
I combine porcelain with fabrics
It looks like fabric
But it’s actually porcelain
So it’s hard
It came from my experiment
The fabrics have been burnt into ashes
Under the heat of 1,300℃
Only the porcelain is left
I like the texture of fabrics
They feel fragile
So I make them into porcelain
And they become a new substance
After some work was finished
People might take it to be a piece of cloth
And sat on it
It almost broke
As for the suit
I gave the factory the fabrics
And a pattern from a LV scarf
They replaced the logo with animals
And I got a whole piece of embroidered fabric
I handed it over to the suit tailors
Then I got the final suit
Dafen Village is known for the oil painting industry
I found Zhao Xiaoyong
Who had been reproducing and imitating Van Gogh’s works
I hoped that he could paint his own bedroom
In the way that Van Gogh painted his bedroom
He hesitated
But later he agreed
Chinese are really good at ‘imitation’
Chinese take imitation as a way of learning
In different times and social backgrounds
There are naturally new effects
The imitation culture keeps evolving