Sound bites
Your work My Heart Was Touched Last Year (2007), now on show at the Mobile Art exhibition, is a black and white video, the medium you employed for The Seven Intellectuals in Bamboo Forest epic. Do you prefer film over photography, for which you are also known?
Mainland artist Yang Fudong:
'I prefer filming because I find it easier to express myself using this medium. But it also depends on the subject. I'm not a big fan of politics, so my work is more socially and culturally aware. I'm more interested in cultural development or expression.
'I'm working on a documentary on stone carving now. I haven't decided whether it should be black and white or in colour. The film is for the government. We went to factories [in Shandong] and trailed the workers [to see] how they gather the stones, documenting the whole carving procedure.
'This is a more down-to-earth and realistic approach than the conceptual Seven Intellectuals.
'I like black and white because it reflects depth and distance. It also leaves room for imagination.'
You also seem to have an interest in showing a woman's earlobes, neck and earrings. Why?
'Oh, that's just an easy angle to take and not intentional. What I focus on more is the small movements of women and I think that is very artistic and beautiful.'
