When I entered Johan Ku (古又文)'s room at the joint exhibition of 5 young artists under the rubric "Dream", at the Huashan 1914 Creative Park in Taipei, I was struck. The room was dark but not completely so. There were some tiny spot lights. They shone upon various plastic models in beige. Upon them, I found some woolen knitwears. But they did not appear to be the kind of knitwear that you find in the streets or even in the display windows of department stores or even of fashion boutiques. They were artistic creations. They were the creations of Johan Ku, who beat more than a thousand designers from 35 countries to become the winner of the avant-garde prize of the “Gen Art's Styles 2009 International Design Competition” in New York in December 2009 and has now been widely reported by such magazines as Vogue, Elle, GQ and WWD and abeled by the media as "The Glory of Taiwan."
According to his own website, he was born in Taipei in 1979, began his career as a graphic designer when he was 17 years old, working as freelance graphic artist in web and advertising design. His father died in a fishing trip whilst he was three and he and his two other brother and sister were brought up single-handedly by his tough Hakka mother. He was deeply touched by what his mother did for him. He said in an interview that the Hakka spirit has" seeped deeply" into him. From his mother he learned that if one wanted to succeed, one must persist in what one set out to do, despite all difficulties. To do so, he says that one must have a real passion for what one is doing, know why one is doing so and must do so for itself simply because one finds that interesting, absorbing and worthwhile. If we do that, then we are sure to touch other people so that somehow they would do what they can to help us. This is what he found.
Success did not come easy to 31-year-old Ku. He started out as a student in design in a trade school, attracted there because he initially wanted to become a cartoon artist. But then he moved on to study advertising design at the Fu-Jen Catholic University in Taipei, majoring in both fashion and textile designand later at Shu-te University (樹德科技大學) in Kaohsiung County, after having seen the work of Coco Chanel. Not happy with what he got, he then went on to the Central Saint Martin's College of Art and Design in England , according to him, not so much to gain another MA as to learn about international design. It was there that he learned about the competition and put in a series of work which led to his New York award. In fact, the "knitwears" which he entitled "Emotional Sculptures" were done by him in 2004, whilst he was still a student at Shu-Te, where he completed his MA course in 2005, following which he set up his own design studio. He told a reporter of the China Post that that after winning the award, he could finally not merely have to do things that people pay him to do or cater to his client's needs and follow his passion. His ultimate aim to have complete freedom to design and to create. Earlier this year, he became the first Taiwanese to exhibit his designs at the Fashion Week in Japan. He hopes to launch his own label later. He told the China Post that “I will have more freedom from having my own label, but it also means there will be more risks involved...I will use my style as the heart of the designs and move forward from there.”
His signature design is sculpture-like silhouettes with unique textiles and extreme chunky knitwear. Before deciding on wool as the primary material he would use to create his "sculptures", Ku had experimented with other materials like rubber and plastic strings and ropes. He is not new to Hong Kong, although I did not know about it. He premiered his knitwear in Hong Kong Fashion Week 2007. I like the way he created some very innovative forms and textures in his "sculptures in wool" . Here are some his views on various subjects:
Look at the thick snake like knitted band flowing down from the left side of the body in
an S-curve matching the hemline and the rich and varied textures at bottom
right.
More of the interwoven and intertwining lines folding so gracefully and naturally into each other
and then emerging again at another location, piling up, flowing down and hugging each other
in a complicated network of knots and lines of various thickness. length and textures.
Another sample of his "sculptures" in dark brown but this time making use
of some empty space.
A further example of his use of holes and empty space to create constrast..
A very rich texture of different lines, knots, folds, curves, patterns,
holes and empty space..
Something much lighter, both in colors and textures.
Something even lighter and simpler.
A combination of complexity and simplicity.
According to his own website, he was born in Taipei in 1979, began his career as a graphic designer when he was 17 years old, working as freelance graphic artist in web and advertising design. His father died in a fishing trip whilst he was three and he and his two other brother and sister were brought up single-handedly by his tough Hakka mother. He was deeply touched by what his mother did for him. He said in an interview that the Hakka spirit has" seeped deeply" into him. From his mother he learned that if one wanted to succeed, one must persist in what one set out to do, despite all difficulties. To do so, he says that one must have a real passion for what one is doing, know why one is doing so and must do so for itself simply because one finds that interesting, absorbing and worthwhile. If we do that, then we are sure to touch other people so that somehow they would do what they can to help us. This is what he found.
Success did not come easy to 31-year-old Ku. He started out as a student in design in a trade school, attracted there because he initially wanted to become a cartoon artist. But then he moved on to study advertising design at the Fu-Jen Catholic University in Taipei, majoring in both fashion and textile designand later at Shu-te University (樹德科技大學) in Kaohsiung County, after having seen the work of Coco Chanel. Not happy with what he got, he then went on to the Central Saint Martin's College of Art and Design in England , according to him, not so much to gain another MA as to learn about international design. It was there that he learned about the competition and put in a series of work which led to his New York award. In fact, the "knitwears" which he entitled "Emotional Sculptures" were done by him in 2004, whilst he was still a student at Shu-Te, where he completed his MA course in 2005, following which he set up his own design studio. He told a reporter of the China Post that that after winning the award, he could finally not merely have to do things that people pay him to do or cater to his client's needs and follow his passion. His ultimate aim to have complete freedom to design and to create. Earlier this year, he became the first Taiwanese to exhibit his designs at the Fashion Week in Japan. He hopes to launch his own label later. He told the China Post that “I will have more freedom from having my own label, but it also means there will be more risks involved...I will use my style as the heart of the designs and move forward from there.”
His signature design is sculpture-like silhouettes with unique textiles and extreme chunky knitwear. Before deciding on wool as the primary material he would use to create his "sculptures", Ku had experimented with other materials like rubber and plastic strings and ropes. He is not new to Hong Kong, although I did not know about it. He premiered his knitwear in Hong Kong Fashion Week 2007. I like the way he created some very innovative forms and textures in his "sculptures in wool" . Here are some his views on various subjects:
Look at the thick snake like knitted band flowing down from the left side of the body in
an S-curve matching the hemline and the rich and varied textures at bottom
right.
More of the interwoven and intertwining lines folding so gracefully and naturally into each other
and then emerging again at another location, piling up, flowing down and hugging each other
in a complicated network of knots and lines of various thickness. length and textures.
Another sample of his "sculptures" in dark brown but this time making use
of some empty space.
A further example of his use of holes and empty space to create constrast..
A very rich texture of different lines, knots, folds, curves, patterns,
holes and empty space..
Something much lighter, both in colors and textures.
Something even lighter and simpler.
A combination of complexity and simplicity.
This is the simplest and most minimalist, almost like an abstract design.
Do all artist follow the path from complexity to simplicity, I wonder?
成功非僥倖，尊敬年青有為的人才．
回覆刪除[版主回覆09/24/2011 10:51:03]Thomas Edison said :"Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration". Johan Ku may be another example of the truth of this principle!
以紡織材料作藝術媒介，那些質感的表達力很好，也很有現代感。
回覆刪除[版主回覆09/26/2011 10:36:50]Yes, whoever would think of creating art with wool except someone with imagination!
Thanks for your sharing of Ku's works and his background. It's challenging and not easy to merge arts with daily life; but Ku has done it.
回覆刪除[版主回覆09/26/2011 10:38:18]There are always people who think outside of the box! We ought to thank them. That's why we may have something new and more interesting everyday!