VAII Global Connect｜CAFA Visual Art Innovation Institute Expert interview  Series

                                                  CAFA Visual Art Innovation Institute  Expert  Min  WANG

Min WANG
Min WANG is Distinguished Visiting Professor of Beijing Normal University,  professor at China Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) in Beijing, and Vice Chair of Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) Academic Committee. Min WANG served as the Dean of School of Design at CAFA from 2003 to 2016. He was appointed by the Ministry of Education as Chang Jiang Scholars Professor in 2007 and was Chair Professor at School of Design of Hongkong PolyU in 2013. Min WANG used to be council member of Creative Economy, World Economic Forum, and President of AGI China Chapter from 2013 to 2016. And he is member of AGI (Alliance Graphique Internationale) . Min served as the Design Director for Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Committee from 2006 to 2008 and he is the founding Director of Art Research Center for Olympic Games at CAFA. Under his leadership, the Center created the medal, the pictogram, the color system, the image and identity guidelines, etc. for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Min acted as Vice President of ICOGRADA (the International Council of Graphic Design Associations) from 2007 to 2009. He has been the key person for organizing the ICOGRADA World Design Congress 2009 and the founding of Beijing Design Week. Now he is the Chair of Academic Committee of Beijing Design Week and advisory committee member of International Center for Creativity and Sustainable Development under the auspices of UNESCO (ICCSD).Min Wang is DeTao Master and partner at De Boer & Wang Studio in Shanghai. Min held the post of the Design Director at Square Two Design in San Francisco from 1998 to 2003, as he joined Square Two in 1998 after serving 8 years at Adobe as Design Manager, Senior Art Director, and Graphic Designer. Min received MFA from Yale University in 1988 and he had been a visiting fellow in Germany. In 1989, he began lecturing in graphic design at Yale University, teaching graduate students till 1997. Min’s work has been exhibited internationally and in the collection of Museums. Square Two Design clients include Adobe, IBM, Intel, Netscape, and Stanford University.

                                                                                      
CAFA VAII：Please talk about your work updates and achievements since the covid-19pandemic. Is there any change in your life and work, and what is it?

Min WANG：I got stuck in the countryside in US during the epidemic. Half a year went by as I was mostly walking among fields and rivers, staring either upwards at the starry night or downwards at small creatures and grass. While enjoying the intimacy with nature, I was kept far away from the professional world. Today, when recalling that period of time, I cannot help but feeling some gratitude. I’m grateful for the help of my friends coming in my way in the midst of difficulties and the availability during that time to, stepping out of the daily work pattern, think in a vast and hazy field about issues of the nature of design, of design and nature, and of design and human destiny. That is why after I returned to Shanghai and Beijing in the Summer of 2020, I spoke at many meetings about the idea of design for the common wealth of humanity, especially at the expert consultation by the UNESCO Centre for Sustainable Development where I talked about the concept of Design for the Oneness of Humanity. The concept should be a big goal of all designers, as today empathy with a global perspective is more important than ever! During the epidemic, I also managed to participate some international academic activities through the internet, such as design review for the Top Award in Italy, design conferences in Europe, and CAFA’s doctoral admissions and PhD thesis defenses.

On my return from US back home in the summer of 2020, where the circumstance is comparatively safe and normal, I engage myself almost with a vengeance in professional activities, giving many speeches and arranging many events. Among them, there are the Asia Design Management Forum(ADM), which I serve annually as the president of the conference, the 3rd Zhuhai Design Week, where I am one of the initiators and the Chair of the Academic Committee, and the coming Chongqing World Design Conference, which is still in the planning stage. The latter one is going to be a design celebration that is co-established by a dozen international design organizations and will issue the “Chongqing Declaration”. The conference will be held next April if the epidemic is under control.

The experience in these activities has left me an impression that design in China is gaining higher and higher popularity. As it is a good sign on one hand, there still remain some concerns. We need not only improve the quality of design activities but bring them into practical effect that they may bring the dynamic to the development of the industry.

CAFA VAII ：What are the changes in the area of visual art and design that have come into your awareness?

MinWANG：Online meetings and courses have become normal. Though many people were not used to the method at first, they eventually accept it as it’s getting habitual. It does save a lot of time and money though. The superior courses set up by my studio at Tongji University used to be dominated by European students in previous years. This year, given the situation of Covid-19, only 10 European postgraduate students enroll online and it has been difficult for them to conduct discussions with Chinese students. And it, unfortunately, is a shortcoming of the online courses.

Please talk about your artistic creation and relevant work during the pandemic?

Min WANG：Lately my studio has been working on the image design for the World Design Capital Conference and the Design University Shanghai. The brand image design is seeing significant transforming in both aesthetics and presented forms following the changing of technology and media, especially that a large amount of motion graphics are getting involved.




CAFA VAII ：What do you think of the future trend of visual art and design?

Min WANG：Technology, in particular artificial intelligence, is rapidly getting into the design industry, causing many new possibilities opened up at the same time as many jobs replaced. It leads designers into new and even uncharted areas, extending the boundaries of design and bringing in new visual languages.

As design is no longer a term unfamiliar, when everybody has become a designer and designers’ old-time expertise is getting replaced by machines, a real designer has to get on the express train headed for future. He has to board the carriage either of technology-combined innovation, of social innovation, of creating new species, of creating new visions, or the carriage without any label.

Art, the future of art, will be the solace to human spirit, the basis of humanity as a sustainable species, and the value of human existence. Art, being the dynamics of innovation, is valued more and more by the world of designing and by society.

CAFA VAII ：Can you talk about your following artwork plans?

Min WANG：The studio is planning on my exhibition and book. Its normal work is to design for clients and now for once I should enjoy the service myself and be a first party.

Interview Curator/CHANG Zhigang
Chief Editor/DONG Huiping
Interview Assistant/WANG Yongmeng, FAN Gongqing
Editor/SHI Miaomiao
English translation/DONG Jing
Visual Design/ WEI Xiangmin
Image/CAFA VAII Min WANG