The concept of movement in Ju Ming's Taichi Series is originated from the Chinese aesthetics in depicting the objective world through writing and imagery, which are quite different from the Western artistic expression in capturing movement in space. Since the beginning of the 20th Century, there began the artistic investigation on the representation of movement. Eadweard Muybridge and Etienne-Jules Marey employed photography to obtain the visual documentation on the movement of objects. (Fig. 1 & 2) It was astonishing for people to see three-dimensional movements connected by afterimages on a two-dimensional surface for the first time, and inspired futurist artists to develop potential representations of temporality and the spatio-temporal coherence. In 1913, Umberto Boccioni presented Unique Forms of Continuity in Space (Fig. 3) to express an object's fleeting movement with the afterimage effect, embodied in the streamline surface of the metal sculpture in great details. Futurism adapted a more scientific and objective interpretation of movement. In comparison to Ju Ming's symbolic depiction on Tai Chi movement, Boccioni demonstrated a great ambition to express the "continuation of movement" and to address dynamism through "documenting" motions. In a still pose, Taichi Series seeks for conversations between forms and space, time, light and shadow through "sensing" the existence of movement. Ju Ming's works exemplify the universal interactions between Ying and Yang forces from the ancient Chinese canon I Ching: The Book of Changes. Single Whip is a Tai Chi move by lowering one's body to create the dynamic potential for offense and defense. The perfect moment of stroke is manifested by Ju Ming's sophisticated and brave carving techniques. (Fig. 4) The emphasis on the lowered body in the move of Single Whip is to create a moment for a defense move, and then stand up to strike the opponent. It is to first distract and scatter the confronting force, and then to take the opponent by surprise. The switch from defense to offense corresponds to the paradoxical Taoist philosophy of conquering the unyielding with the yielding. This wood sculpture precisely captures this ready-to-go movement in retreat, and grows an unstoppable energy in its serenity.
With the background of traditional woodcarving in the style of folk art, Ju Ming shows his profound understanding and manipulation of materials. In Taichi Series: Single Whip (Lot 2026), carving marks precisely go along with the wood texture, and the craftsmanship radiates the unique wood grain to present the artistic interpretation on the natural materiality. Ju Ming's excellent craftsmanship cannot be hided on wood material itself-his imagery and lines are lucid and bold enough to omit detailing the face, the body and the dress. The symbolic movement implies the flow of time and the dynamics of space.
One of the habits of the Chinese intelligentsia is stone collection, which requires the same aesthetic appreciation for Chinese gardens, pursuing four aesthetic criteria of "concision, translucence, transparency and texturality". The popular Taihu stones in Chinese gardens are usually carved into mountain shapes to mimic the natural landscape. Their uneven surfaces reflect the changing light of a day to compose veritable rhythms dancing around the artificial miniature of landscape. The vitality of the Taichi Series is inspired by this aesthetics tradition. The application of this concept can be as well seen on the contemporary steel made Taihu stone. "To see a world in a grain of sand, and a heaven in a wild flower" will be the worldview expressed in the master's works. Infused with boundless spirit, Taichi Series: Single Whip and Artificial Rock No. 86 interpret the eternity of the abstract movement of spacetime as flickering light and shadow on themselves.
As Ju Ming's mature and established work, Taichi Series departs from limits of subject matters, and pursues nothing but the spirituality and the plastic formality. Introduced by his sculpture teacher Yang Yu-Yu, Ju Ming began his Taichi practice as his body training, and later started to employ the concept of balance between body, mind and energy in his artistic practice in the 70s to evoke people's imagination to transcend the boundaries of forms and spirituality as well. Ju's traditional craftsmanship is enriched by the Chinese philosophy to re-interpret the traditional cultural elements, such as Taichi, Ying Yang and cosmology with his modern sculpture materials and techniques. His artistic significance and merit is therefore marked in the Chinese modern/contemporary art.