In late May, after Meng Tang celebrated his last birthday at the university, the Sculpture Department began his defense.
The defense can be completed in one day, and Meng Tang is at the front of the queue, so the time is quite good.
Her defense was very concise and concise, eliminating a series of lengthy and meaningless questions that gave the defense committee teachers a headache.
Because the template for the defense is like this, but if everyone talks about the content and process of the topic according to the template, the teachers will not be able to listen, it is too verbose.
After Meng Tang introduced himself and his instructor at the beginning, he defended the topic directly from the reasons, significance, innovations and difficulties.
Who in the Department of Sculpture doesn’t know Meng Tang? After asking two questions, Meng Tang answered fluently and ended the defense.
The defense in the Oil Painting Department hadn’t started yet, and it wasn’t on this day either, so Meng Tang went straight back to his dormitory.
Xie Lingyin saw her and asked: "How is it?"
Meng Tang nodded: "It's okay, it's not difficult."
Xie Lingyin gave a thumbs up: "Be tough."
Meng Tang chuckled lightly and noticed that the phone in his bag vibrated.
At this time, the call should be from Wei Chuan.
Wei Chuan said "hmm": "When are you going to take your graduation photos?"
"It will be in conjunction with the graduation ceremony." Meng Tang said, "It seems to be after the graduation exhibition."
· Students all have their own booths, and everything is not fine once the works arrive. Meng Tang still has to decorate the explanatory boards and adjust the lighting to set up the exhibition.
That day, the old man will also come.
Wei Chuan was silent for a moment.
After talking for so long, Meng Tang didn’t know what Wei Chuan was thinking, and said: "The graduation exhibition is very important to me, and Cubal is also very important to you. This is our last competition and work in school. I think it is best for each of us to work hard."
Wei Chuan responded, but his tone was still a little disappointed: "I know, my parents will also go that day."
Meng Tang was surprised for a moment: "Aren't they going to watch your game?"
"It's not the finals." Wei Chuan said, "It's just the quarterfinals, I'll let them go to your exhibition."
"Okay." Meng Tang didn't refuse anymore.
Graduation exhibition is a very important opportunity for students to show their faces.
Because the museum is open to the public and the media that day, many collectors, artists and gallery owners will come to watch.
The exhibition opened on the 12th. Meng Tang and his classmates worked together to complete the packaging of the works and the details of the booth in early June.
Transportation is also a grueling job. For fear of something going wrong, a piece is broken here or a piece is missing there, I have to keep an eye on the whole process.
The day before the opening of the exhibition, Meng Tang and Tan Xi finally completed all the arrangements.
The two returned to school and had a casual bite.
Tan Xi asked with emotion: "Will we still have contact in the future?"
"You deleted me after graduation?" Meng Tang was a little confused.
Tan Xi smiled suddenly: "Okay, when you and Wei Chuan get married, remember to treat me to a wedding banquet."
Meng Tang: "...I haven't even written the Chinese character yet."
"How could it be?" Tan Xi didn't believe it at all. "Except for him, his family members will all be here for your exhibition tomorrow. What else do you two need besides a marriage certificate?"
When Meng Tang was full, he put down his chopsticks and said, "He can't come because he's competing."
That's very important." Tan Xi picked up the dinner plate and stood up, and walked out of the cafeteria door to the dormitory with Meng Tang.
At ten o'clock in the morning on the 12th, the Graduation Exhibition of the Z Academy of Fine Arts officially opened in the art museum.
As soon as the opening reminder sounded, the entrance to the exhibition hall was filled with people.
Meng Tang saw the old man and hurriedly greeted him: "Grandpa."
Meng Yuchun was dressed in a Tang suit, decent and dignified. He smiled at Meng Tang: "Low-key."
Meng Tang laughed and said, "The dean will be here soon."
"Come just come." Meng Yuchun sneered lightly, "I would be surprised if he didn't come."
Meng Tang touched the old man's arm and said, "The Wei Chuan family is here."
The old man straightened his back instantly: "Come here, I'm so old, they are the ones who come to say hello."
As soon as he finished speaking, Wei Lifeng and others had arrived, and Meng Tang hurriedly said hello.
Wei Lifeng nodded slightly and turned to say hello to Meng Yuchun. This was the first meeting between the two parties. Unexpectedly, it was not in a hotel restaurant, but at Meng Tang's graduation exhibition.
Meng Tang’s works are in the center of the exhibition hall. If you take two steps inside, you can see them at a glance.
As a group of people walked in, several teachers from Chen Xunli and Meng Tang also came over.
Several people were extremely excited when they saw Meng Yuchun, especially Chen Xunli, who thought he was Meng Yuchun's long-lost son.
Chu Yin and Wei Lifeng came to Meng Tang’s works and were shocked and speechless after just one glance.
This is a work based on old materials, 1.5 meters long and 0.8 meters high, which is full of image and visual stimulation.
The card next to it contains the core concept of creation, using ancient handicrafts to reproduce the inheritance of craftsmanship.
The work adopts a panoramic composition with multiple figures, a combination of high relief and round sculptures, and uses an imaginary ancient workshop as the core scene to carve a stunning large-scale panoramic group sculpture.
The space is three-dimensional and has clear levels. The craftsmen are in the core area in the middle and are lowered layer by layer outward.
The busy apprentices and craftsmen in the workshop are obviously motionless, but they form a rhythmic flow in the clever S-shaped composition, making the whole scene look smooth and dynamic.
Chu Yin couldn't say a word, she raised her head and stared blankly.
Wei Lifeng chuckled and asked her, "How is it?"
Chu Yin nodded: "It doesn't look like something carved by young people. Our old man also liked to tinker with these things when he was alive. There are still wood carvings he collected in the warehouse. I feel that Meng Tang's carvings are not bad at all."
"This is a really high evaluation." Wei Lifeng laughed.
After a while, Meng Tang’s works were crowded with people, including many media.
Zhao Xingyan also came today, but he came later than Wei Lifeng.
When he saw "Ingenuity" for the first time, he praised it and said a few nice words from the bottom of his heart.
Zhao Xingyan is a bit of an expert and saw the three master craftsmen in Meng Tang’s works, which are distributed in the visual center area of the work.
Zhao Xingyan turned around and asked Meng Tang: "This is too difficult for you. The characteristics of the material are in fundamental conflict with the grand vision of your creation."
"It is an industry consensus that boxwood grows slowly, so there is a saying that "it takes a thousand years to grow boxwood", but it is not unheard of. It is just that it is too rare and the price is not something a student can afford."
More and more people are joining the discussion.
"Yes, monolithic materials with a length of more than one meter are rare. It is almost impossible to realize such a huge group of sculptures physically. But I think the material is indeed boxwood. How is it done?"
"Splicing, this is also the case. A display of advanced craftsmanship, I just didn’t expect a little girl with an undergraduate degree to be able to do this. "
"It's really amazing. The scene and space are quite complex, and it goes against the "small but refined" paradigm of traditional boxwood carving. Little girl, who is your mentor? "
Meng Tang smiled: "There are two of them, one is a teacher in the college and the other is my grandfather."
Someone noticed the old man with his head held high next to Meng Tang. Meng Yuchun nodded slightly indifferently.
Chen Xunli stood up and introduced Meng Yuchun to everyone.
It suddenly dawned on everyone, no wonder they could do this, there was a true god standing behind them.
Zhao Xingyan asked again: "But the inherent stress in the wood has the risk of cracking. Even if it is spliced, the inherent stress of different pieces of wood is different."
In this way, the worst case scenario is that the wood will be twisted or the splicing joint will crack.
It is also a challenge to structural engineering. After all, large-scale wood sculptures have many suspended and hollow parts, and there will be some weak nodes.
Meng Tang smiled and said, "These things have all been considered before design. Even if they are 'made out of nothing', the splicing is not a simple gluing."
“I used a variety of mortise and tenon structures, such as dovetail tenon, dowel tenon, silver wire tenon, etc. In addition, splicing from the inside can increase the resultant force and shrink as the wood breathes, reducing the risk of cracking.”
And where there are seams, she uses the folds of the characters’ clothes, tools and utensils, or the texture of rocks to form part of the shape, making it difficult to distinguish with the naked eye. This is called "seamless".
Humours of the media were taking pictures of the scene. Wei Lifeng and others couldn't see much anymore and walked out of the exhibition hall together.
As noon approaches, the number of people in the exhibition hall gradually decreases.
Wei Lifeng said to Meng Yuchun: "It's getting late. I've already made a reservation for the restaurant. Let's have a meal together, master."
"Hmm." Meng Yuchun nodded slightly and walked forward.
Wei Lifeng was half a step behind and kept company.
The car was waiting outside the art museum. Wei Lifeng knew that Meng Yuchun was coming today and asked the driver to drive a multi-seater business car when he arrived.
When all the elders got on the car, Meng Tang stepped in.
The restaurant is near the school, about ten minutes' drive.
Wei Lifeng had greeted them in advance, and when they entered the private room, the waiter had already started serving the dishes.
Meng Yuchun glanced at the cuisine and felt more and more satisfied.
Many of them are Yanqing's dishes, which are light and should suit his taste. The rest are Meng Tang's favorites.
The dinner table cannot be without wine. When Wei Lifeng was about to propose a toast, Meng Yuchun declined directly: "I am too old to drink."
Wei Lifeng did not force anything, and chatted with the old man after sitting down.
Chu Yin and Meng Tang sat together and asked her about her plans after graduation.
Meng Tang did not hide anything, saying: "It has been implemented that those who have returned to Yanqing will go to non-genetic work."
Although Chu Yin had known about it for a long time, Chu Yin still felt a little reluctant.
According to Wei Chuan's temperament, besides competing, he must follow Meng Tang.
Chu Yin leaned towards Meng Tang: "Then when are you leaving?"
"I'll leave right after the graduation ceremony, and Wei Chuan just finished the game." Meng Tang said.
"Then..." Chu Yin opened her mouth tentatively, "Have you two considered it in the future?"
Mengtang has figured out Chu Yin's character in the past two years. She smiled and asked, "Are you asking about marriage?"