Ulysses’ Sea
Exhibition of Ceramic Musical Instruments by Zhu Fangqiong & Zhou Song

Fan Lin

After years of visioning, experimenting and adjusting, Zhu Fangqiong and Zhou Song are now able to express their philosophy through the ceramic works. We have been anticipating this for a couple of years.

I may say the numerous experiments they have taken, applying various kinds of materials and combinations, can be compared to Ulysses’ long voyage home after the ten-year Trojan War. But I know they would not admit it as they don’t think they have suffered that much during the journey.

If I say “the light that originates from their hearts has lit up their works”, it sounds like flattering. But just a few years ago, I once firmly put “Zhu Fangqiong” on my “reject list” basing on my only impression of him then - his debut album and a big hit, <Killing Your Dream>, really got on my nerves. I hated the expression of the title as well as the CD that conveyed the message. Born a human while deprived of dreams, what else could one hope for? Although I could keenly feel the kind of courage behind such outcry when it’s made at his age, I took it as merely rhetoric instead of poetic expression.

Adherence to his music philosophy with a calm and pure mind is a spiritual quality that Zhu Fangqiong has acquired during his learning in recent years. His pursuit of the “soul” has gradually enabled him to break away from artificially mystic posture that ordinary musicians are usually obsessed with. He began to seek inspirations in classics and finally reached the consummate state where instrument runs parallel with music.

Zhu Fangqiong and Zhou Song had been like whales in their respective territorial waters. Thanks to their identical responsive and receptive capacities, they met in a new territory. Passing through some quietness and storms together, they linked the languages of ceramics, drums and lutes to form a new musical lexicon. They have conducted a detailed study of ancient musical instruments. According to my understanding, the two musicians tend to interpret the features of past and foreign music from a creative perspective instead of simply collect and collate the data. They visited ceramic kilns in various cities to find suitable materials. Respecting the nature of materials, they achieved innovations in real sense by exploring the relationships between the shapes of instruments and acoustic qualities. Therefore when their hard work bears fruit they don’t have anything to regret. 

The chants that this ceramic music show presented us are not straightforward emotional expression and simple narrations; they are like fresh water and vegetations from deep forest, formed by instruments of unique shapes and natural playing by original and devoted artists. Their works liberated us from the anxieties and uproars of modern life and ushered us to approach the rich inner world of the ancients, feeling their heart beats, breath, rhythms and dances.

This is a journey during which sheer purity of music is produced through the combination of clay, fire and sound with emotions from the artists’ bottom of hearts. Zhu Fangqiong and Zhou Song are both artists and performers. They steer us clear of the reefs and undercurrents of limitations to the natural state with coolness of water and freedom of wind, which has been obscured by the quantified and routinized urban life.

In such music, every soul feels anchored.