I am Yuanhao Zhang, a first-year undergraduate at SAIC. I constantly seek innovation in art but also hope to adhere to traditional styles. I observe every detail in life and firmly believe that inspiration comes from life. Just like the inspiration for this project (“Animals Are Not Clowns”)comes from my experience of watching circus performances when I was a child, I will integrate the things I have experienced or the details I have observed in life into my works and continuously develop them, I hope that through the accumulation of experience, I can find a suitable artistic style for myself.
Animals Are Not Clowns, 2022, Animals Are Not Clowns, muslin, design by Yuanhao Zhang
Animals Are Not Clowns, 2022, Animals Are Not Clowns, muslin, design by Yuanhao Zhang
Animals Are Not Clowns, 2022, Animals Are Not Clowns, muslin, design by Yuanhao Zhang
Animals Are Not Clowns, 2022, Animals Are Not Clowns, muslin, design by Yuanhao Zhang
Animals Are Not Clowns, 2022, Animals Are Not Clowns, muslin, design by Yuanhao Zhang
The inspiration for this work comes from the animals in the circus. Are the animals in the circus clowns? Do animals in a circus have their own world? A series of reflections led me to create concepts such as clothing sculpture. Animals belong to nature and are not clowns who are watched or abused by people. Circus people treat animals like marionettes in order to attract audiences, and may have undergone cruel training on animals that we do not understand or dare not imagine. What appears in our eyes is a trained performance. Little did they know that this may be numbness after receiving cruel training.
The garments section uses just muslin to weaken the audience’s attention to color, emphasizing the design of various parts of the custom. The appearance of animals is bound by iron chains, symbolizing that circus animals are locked in cruel cages by people. I hope that everyone to pay attention to animal abuse, oppose animal circuses, and treat every life equally and with respect. I created a somewhat complex and not everyday style of wearing and going out, hoping to create a sense of humor. Revealing the power of humor and joy through stacking and clown elements.