Reviving the Golden Era
China Pictorial (CP): What was the reasoning behind your shift from art collection to furniture design? And what was the inspiration for your book Chinese Contemporaryfurniture Design – From Cultural Appreciation to Chunzaicreativity ? Chen: This book was the first in a series on culture and creativity published by the Forbidden City Publishing House. When the idea of the cultural and creative industry first emerged in the West, I was already working in artwork appraisal and collection, so I knew the West highly valued the art in Chinese museums. However, these pieces belonged to the “good old days.” Today’s Chinese art has failed to maintain the glory of the “good old days,” and we can hardly compete with the West by learning and imitating their techniques.
Artifacts evidencing Chinese lifestyles during past dynasties, such as the lacquerware of the Song Dynasty (960-1279), pottery of the Ming Dynasty, and furniture of the Ming and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, are all of great practicality in daily life. Furniture connects people and residences. Nowadays, the relationship between furniture design and everyday life is even closer, which demonstrates the progress of the era. It was natural for me to shift from artwork appraisal and collection to contemporary furniture design.
I believe furniture designers should start by learning and imitating the past and tradition before producing new creations based on Chinese people’s spiritual needs. We should create beauty of our own times using our own hands. I hope that this book will be useful for practitioners in the furniture industry as well as people engaged in the cultural and creative industry as it helps establish China’s cultural features of the new era and revive the golden era of cultural prosperity.
CP: What innovations has new Chinese-style furniture represented by Chunzai made?
Chen: I believe the cultural essence of every nation is important. Before defining what new Chinese-style furniture is, we must first pinpoint our spiritual and cultural roots to determine our most accurate cultural tastes.
Chunzai has been grasping for Chinese-style elegance and comfort. To achieve this goal, Chunzai has employed different materials, proportions, designs and joints such as mortises and tenons. For example, ancient Chinese people loved natural materials such as wood, bamboo, rattan and lacquer. We attempt to bring this natural elegance into full play. For example, our designs maintain the texture of materials that grew from nature, and we repurpose other materials.
CP: During your 30 years in contemporary furniture design, what changes do you think have taken place in China’s furniture industry and even the country’s contemporary design? How do you see the future of China’s contemporary design?
Chen: From the late 1990s until now, China has been playing an extremely important role in global economic development. Now, after meeting the basic needs of the Chinese people, China’s furniture industry is attaching greater importance to creative design and brand value.
In this fast- developing era, we should concentrate on building a brand with its own personality that offers our own unique perspective on contemporary life. More people should devote themselves to creating the beauty of today. I hope that when future generations look back at our work, they will consider our era both refined and beautiful.