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Zhijian Qian

Jiawei Gong’s photography series West Land/East Country is not merely made with an intention for viewers to observe but rather for them to approach and experience in a way of reading. This is not only because the works adopt a panoramic photography technique and a method of immersive virtual reality presentation, but more importantly because the artist emphatically implies that this experiential nature is key to his work, which is clearly seen in the way the works are displayed in the exhibition and the way the images are layed out in the catalogue. His works, whether they are viewed in the exhibition space or in the catalogue, are not accompanied with labels or captions that directly relate to specific regions or places, and the images are not arranged by the sequence of shooting or location. Instead, they are elaborately selected and arranged to create a unique context and special atmosphere, inviting viewers to engage and reflect.

This context is cross-cultural, and the atmosphere is transcendental. The series consists of two groups of works: West Land, taken between 2020 and 2021 around Lubbock, Texas, shortly before the artist left Texas Tech University, where he had taught for many years; and East Country, shot between 2023 and 2024 in his hometown of Hangzhou and his current residence in Zhuhai after joining the School of Future Design at Beijing Normal University's Zhuhai campus. The overarching title Almost Home is a pun, which can be translated into Chinese with the meaning of "almost arriving home" and "as if it is home". However, Gong himself translates it into Chinese as “无住” (wú zhù), taken from the Buddhist text Diamond Sutra's phrase "应无所住而生其心" (One should produce that thought which is nowhere attached). This is very much a semantic extension of the title, implying the artist’ relinquishment and transcendence beyond attachment to any specific place or region. For an artist who has made countless journeys between China and the U.S. over the past 23 years, this says a lot about his mentality of detachment that only those with similar experiences can understand.

All works in this series are presented with black and white images, and the artist seems to deliberately avoid using texts or symbols that would link the scenes to specific places or environments. When similarly composed images are arranged together, it becomes difficult for viewers to immediately distinguish between American landscapes from West Land and Chinese scenes from East Country. For example, the works 2024-02-12_11.11.47 and 2021-01-03_16.14.51 (Catalogue, pp.128-129) and 2023-07-24_06.48.26 and 2020-12-27_16.54.45 (Catalogue, pp.100-101) are arranged one above the other in the exhibition. Such an arrangement may appear to be casual and random, yet it subtly reveals the artist's undifferentiated acknowledgment of different geographic and cultural environments. The overall impression of these scenes is one of familiarity more than strangeness, and as viewers browse these images, they are unlikely to notice which image is from Lubbock or which is from Hangzhou or Zhuhai. This sensation leads one to stop questioning which one belongs to the East Country and which one belongs to the West Land. Without text, such identification might be irrelevant. This feeling strongly captivates the viewer while also creating a somewhat strange sense of realization that what is unfamiliar can become deeply familiar, and what once seemed familiar can become surprisingly foreign.

Gong’s use of 360-degree panoramic photography visually amplifies this coexistence of familiarity and strangeness. In 2020-12-27_17.32.28 and 2023-08-11_18.43.16 (Catalogue, pp. 144-145), both sides of the image are shot by rotating the camera 360 degrees around a street corner. The low-rise buildings, narrow streets, extending cables, and even the expansive skies are all unified by curvilinear lines caused by the curved perspective, making it appear that these two worlds are not only formally but also environmentally and atmospherically connected. The ground in both scenes is so similar in its gray tones and orderly forms that it seems as though the two grounds connect seamlessly in the middle, making it difficult to distinguish between left and right, East and West. The horizon lines on both sides that appear to be nearly on the same level further strengthen this visual consistency.

The artist emphasizes experiential cross-cultural observation, not to highlight the vast differences between cultures and environments but to create a visual possibility of mutual connection and integration. Gong acknowledges that, in reality, the vastness and even desolation of Lubbock contrasts greatly with the lush greenery and vibrant landscapes of Hangzhou and Zhuhai, but his memories and nostalgic feelings to life in these different cultural contexts remain unchanged. This memory and nostalgia is difficult to quantify in terms of importance, but for an artist who has spent the golden years of his life traveling in time and space, the extraordinary experiences thus gained may hold greater significance than life itself. This cross-cultural journey—from initial sensitivity and discomfort with cultural differences to the gradual blurring of these differences and finally to discovering commonality and acceptance—reflects the artist’s personal transcendence of culture. It also signifies the ongoing process of cultural integration that is occurring in the age of globalization in which heterogeneous cultures have long positively interacted with each other.

This is a dynamic process. The interaction between different cultures is not a zero-sum game but rather one of spontaneous penetration, organic merging, selective adoption, and natural variation. In this process of cultural blending, many unexpected outcomes emerge, which, though they may seem disparate, are logically and reasonably hybrid. In 2020-12-27_17.23.25 and 2023-08-12_06.31.18 (Catalogue, pp. 132-133), the buildings and alleys in the left and right scenes are so similar in appearance and environment that they seem like two sides of the same coin, even as though they stem from the same context. Although the visible Chinese characters in one image suggest it is East Country, while the other implies West Land, the roundness created by the panoramic perspective and the cubic shape of the small buildings on the right remind us that rather than being two entirely different entities, these are hybrids inextricably linked. This hybridization is even more evident in his landscape-focused works. Whether you walk through the virtual 3D scenes with VR glasses or view the 360-degree two-dimensional images with the naked eye, you can only marvel at the artist’s ability to lead you into the mysterious and magical world of nature. While you may unconsciously perceive barren trees on one side and lush vegetation on the other, ultimately, what moves you is the powerful force of creation that magically merges these two fundamentally diverse environments. Jiawei Gong has skillfully and seamlessly created such an atmosphere, allowing viewers to move freely back and forth, just as he does.

This seamless transition through time and space gives Jiawei Gong’s work a sharp contemporary relevance. Since the late 20th century, the bridging of cultures and nations has become an unstoppable trend. Although some reverse trends may cause unease, with buzzwords like "de-globalization" and “counter-globalization” grabbing attention, these are merely counterbalances in the broader development of human cultural exchanges and will not derail the ongoing trend of multicultural coexistence and integration. In fact, pure and singular cultural traditions no longer exist. In contemporary art, more and more artists—whether from Europe, the Americas, Asia, or Africa—are using a cross-cultural lens to examine their perceptions of a rapidly changing world. As a result, their works increasingly reflect interculturality, incorporating elements from previously disparate cultures into new visual languages. These elements, while connected to their original cultural roots, are imbued with new meanings in contemporary contexts. This is clearly reflected in the works of artists like Ghanaian El Anatsui and Pakistani-American Shahzia Sikander. This new trend in 21st-century global contemporary art points toward an emerging universality that is gradually being recognized and accepted. While Gong’s work may not exhibit the explicit intercultural elements of these artists, it subtly incorporates them within its visual context, making his work consistently imbued with a special cultural connectivity.

Jiawei Gong’s unique photographic techniques and viewing methods create a sense of visual wonder. His works’ effects are reminiscent of late 18th-century stereoscopic photography, but with a key difference: while stereoscopic photography emphasized creating a visual illusion of depth, Gong focuses on presenting a visual context that is both real and surreal. The former is more curious than experiential, whereas Gong’s work is far more experiential than curious. In creating a fantastical visual context, his work conceptually aligns more closely with Surrealist photography. However, he does not aim to create startling, unexpected, or nightmarish visual effects. Instead, he focuses more on emphasizing the familiarity within the unfamiliar and the strangeness within the familiar, seeking an "unreal reality" with a surrealist touch. His works rarely feature human figures but subtly hint at their presence. For example, in 2021-02-02_17.05.19 (Catalogue, pp.58-59), the shadow of a traffic sign on the left side is cast downward, stretches along the bottom edge, and extends upward to the middle of the right side. The overall image appears realistically level, yet the traffic sign and its shadow create a strong sense of unreality.

Jiawei Gong’s cross-cultural experiences and meticulous observational approach give him a perspective on recognizing the interconnectedness within differences that is distinct from the ordinary. These works reflect an understanding: behind his lens is a pair of cross-cultural eyes. These eyes are not only observing the world outside the lens but are also carefully reading the countless stories within it.

Completed on September 2, 2024, in Kew Gardens, New York

Zhijian Qian is a tenured professor of art history at New York City College of Technology, The City University of New York.