Wu Bin X Milan Design Week Travelogue on Mountain —Pan Yuan: Momentality Unfold

Milano, Italy –15^th April, 2024, Tuesday –At the 2024 Milan Design Week, W.DESIGN's founder, Mr. Wu Bin, presents his "Travelogue on Mountain" art installation series titled "Pan Yuan: Momentality Unfold." He was specially invited by Italy's design magazine, INTERNI, for both its Italian and Chinese editions, alongside its editor-in-chief, Gilda Bojardi, one of the initiators of Milan Design Week. The exhibition will be held from April 15th to 28th in the central courtyard of the Università degli Studi di Milano's main exhibition area, Cortile d'Onore.Using the concept of "momentality," W.DESIGN employs "paper" to blend Eastern and Western perspectives, interpreting the theme of "Cross Vision" and offering diverse interpretations of the contemporary world.

Modern Oriental, a Fantasia in Milan

Milan Design Week (Fuori Salone) is a yearly global gathering of top-notch designs and innovative ideas. It's a vital platform for designers, artists, and brands to showcase and interact, fostering innovation and setting trends. "Pan Yuan: Momentality Unfold," by Wu Bin, combines Eastern culture with Milan's rich history, creating a dreamlike narrative of the "Modern Oriental" at the heart of the event.

This year, marking the 20th anniversary of the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Italy, W.DESIGN has been invited by both the Italian and Chinese editions of INTERNI to participate in Milan Design Week's Fuori Salone. Curated by Gilda Bojardi, editor-in-chief of INTERNI and one of the initiators of Milan Design Week, the exhibition features W.DESIGN 's art installation at the Università degli Studi di Milano, the historical epicenter of Milan Design Week.
Wu Bin's pioneering involvement underscores China's strategic initiative to promote Chinese brands and design internationally.

Wu Bin, as the first Chinese interior designer invited by Milan Design Week, pushes the boundaries of design with his "Modern Oriental" aesthetic. His showcased artworks, part of the ongoing "Travelogue on Mountain" series, continue to blend Eastern beauty with modernity, spreading Chinese design worldwide and serving as a bridge for global exchange. He embodies limitless design, fostering cross-disciplinary integration and contributing to the global dialogue on design and art.

Momentality, Echoes of the Five Senses

The volume and solidity of stone set the tune of classical Western architecture and sculpture - a sublime, almost intimidating monumentality. In contrast, Chinese sculpture, painting, calligraphy, and even architecture represent the art of lines. Therefore, Oriental architecture focuses more on changes, seeking eternity in the midst of impermanence.

Impermanence is eternity. In the Oriental aesthetics, subtle changes in the environment embody the beauty of day-to-day life, and one's each little epiphany echoes the nature of the cosmos. By observing changes in nature and meditating on the monumentality of each moment, one realizes that each moment is synonymous with eternity.

It is a route to the Oriental garden and an individual's journey of self-awakening. When history and reality are infinitely close, and the architecture and aesthetics of the East and the West meet within a stone's throw, momentality is everlasting.

Pan Yuan, a Way to the East

"Pan Yuan" serves as a subtle metaphor for Eastern aesthetics. Constructed with DuPont™ Tyvek®, a lightweight, eco-friendly, and paper-like material, the artwork's extensive use of "white" provides the installation with a clear sense of volume, contrasting with the surrounding grand historical architecture. The hanging "paper," reminiscent of Chinese scroll paintings, divides the installation's space-time body as people experience the spatial intervals at varying speeds and observe them from different angles.

Light, wind, and temperature are recognized by physical bodies and captured by the "paper's " movement. This multisensory experience transforms the installation into an Eastern garden, a miniature universe, leaving an ephemeral, poetic, and memorable Oriental dream in Milan.

"Pan Yuan"(爿园) or "Pan Garden" signifies the installation as an Oriental garden. Chinese characters are pictographic. The character "Mu" (木) for wood has two mirrored halves, with the right half being the character "Pian"(片) for pieces, and the left half the character "Pan"(爿). Thus, "Pan" (爿) means a piece, a building, and fragments of an entity.

"Pan Yuan" is a synthesis of paper and bamboo pieces, a fragmented chronotope, and a nature-dwelling garden. Being in it, one experiences time and space as if in a real landscape. Timelessness is embodied by the ongoing sensory experience and the dancing paper as flowing lines. The installation employs the language and formal elements of Chinese painting to render the sense of volume of Western architecture and sculpture, along with the spatial experience of Oriental gardens, weaving a roving journey and an eternal memory that resonates with both East and West.

Paper: Materiality Redefined

Paper, as an inherently Eastern material, perfectly aligns with Wu Bin and W.DESIGN's design philosophy deeply rooted in tradition while refining contemporary aesthetics. The choice of DuPont™ Tyvek® for this installation not only embodies its lightweight and durable characteristics, suitable for outdoor environments, but also, from a distance, beautifully captures the texture and emotion of traditional Eastern Xuanzhi paper. Over the years, W.DESIGN has continuously explored the application of paper, drawing inspiration from tradition and refining contemporary Eastern aesthetics through craftsmanship. This approach creates spaces that are both innovative and rich in Eastern spirit

"Material innovation is crucial in design; technology and materials are intimately linked to design innovation." - Wu Bin