Chinese Artist Sun Shiqian Sculpture Workshop 360º VR

So right now I’m here with my friend. Do you have an English name? I don’t know if you have one. You don’t have an English name, do you? No, I don’t. I am not the leading character today anyway. Just tell them about Shiqian Sun.(The artist name) So this is my friend and he introduced me to one of the most famous artists in Beijing. Maybe we should introduce him as a creator, a maker. What do you think? It’s fine with me. So he has this huge place where he usually makes models for giant robots like if you have seen battlebots and stuff like that… It’s much much bigger here. He made all those robots. Did you paint this painting? No, it isn’t one of my works. This is just a prop from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. We can speak Chinese in front of the camera if that’s easier.

00:44 - I mostly work on my projects on the other side of this place. You guys can take a look first. I can show you around after I am done with the interview with the journalist. Don’t worry about us, take care of your business first. We can get around by ourselves. Yes. I haven’t been here for a while. Who made those? My friend and his crew, they made it. I didn’t know he makes Chinese sculptures. That’s Xu Chu. He had made some sculptures based on ancient Chinese characters. That’s the Bumblebee from Transformers movie. He even made the Egyptian sculptures. How did he make this? Wow I think you can call it a sculpture too. A big giant robot that’s made out of metal. He made so much stuff, what is that material called? That’s FRP sculpture, fiber-reinforced plastic. That’s the Buddha. He even made stone lions. Over there, those two giant robots were what got him so famous in China. Wow, there are so many puppies. Don’t worry, the puppies won’t bite you. Those are two well-known works from him. They are both from Transformers.

01:33 - What about the non-robot ones? Does he buy it from someone else and then improve it himself later？ No, he made all those from scratch here. That’s why he has all the materials laying around on the ground. Who’s taking care of the puppies here? The workers here. Wow, he has workers here? Of course, he has help, he took a lot of work and he couldn’t finish them all by himself. There are more inside? Yes. Did he make this Buddha? Yes. What about the one behind it? They were all made by my friend.

01:53 - Why are there so much coal on the ground? For heat, it can get pretty cold in the winter. There are more sculptures, what’s that? Those are landscape sculptures. He even made a sculpture of the Chinese ancient scholar. That’s Zheng He, the famous Chinese navigator who sailed overseas. Why did he make all that? Does he sell them to the National Museum or what? Yes, and he sold some of the sculptures to theme parks. Look, he made the ancient Chinese vessel. Wow. Yes.

02:16 - He must know a lot of people and have a lot of resources. Otherwise, I don’t think it would be that easy to sell all these sculptures. It looks very dirty inside, maybe don’t go. Why not? I want to see what’s in there. Oh, I think he put some of his work here also. I see a cart over there. Is that for moving the wood? Why so much wood? Are they going to burn those wood to heat up the place? Yes, because there is no heating system in this area, so they have to use the wood for heat in the winter.

02:32 - They stock up some buckets of paint inside. Yes, for painting the sculpture. Inside there are some head sculptures, transformer, iron man and Guan Yu. Are those failed model? Because they didn’t finish the whole thing. Some are probably just a mold and some they did wrong the first time. Or maybe some customers bought it but only used it once and then shipped it back. Are you sure you want to film this side of the house? It is so messy and dirty. Why not? This is more interesting. Makers are supposed to get their hands dirty. Do you agree? I agree to disagree. I think my friend is just messy, there are some makers that I know are not like that. But if you make things, your hands will definitely get dirty. I think my friend is just a messy person.

You can stock up tons of stuff but at least tidy it up. If you are messy and dirty, that reflects on what kind of person you are. That has nothing to do with how you define a maker. That robot got him famous. This robot is huge, I bet it took him a long time to do it. What are those? I am going in to see what’s in there. Okay. Is that cement? Gypsum powder. For casting. Gypsum powder? Okay, I see. Yes, he makes molds out of that.

03:44 - He even has the forklift cart to move stuff. There are more hidden statuettes behind, what? Yes, Guan Yu and Buddha. Why did he discard those? Maybe he was planning on adding a base for the statuettes but decided not to. I guess so. What are those? You know, at the very beginning, he didn’t make any giant robots, He made a living by making statuettes. He graduated from the Central Academy Of Fine Arts in Beijing. What does he use that for? It is a pump. Maybe for mold injection. Wow, so many shattered pieces on the ground, Sorry, I am busy dealing with the journalists. No, problem. Don’t worry about us. we can talk more when we have lunch. Yeah. Thank you. Don’t mind us, your career is more important. We are here to admire your work not interfering with your work. Can he open the gate and let us see what’s inside? But inside is messy. I told you I don’t mind a messy place.

04:42 - Right now this is one of my old teachers’ workshops. Oh, does he work for you now? Or is he just using your place for making stuff? Wow, here we go, more statues. If you want to film in here, now it’s a good time, because my teacher might come back to work soon. I see. He will come back to finish his work later, right? Yes, he will come back but he is kind of a private person, he probably doesn’t want to attract too much attention to his work. Oh my god, look at that. I’ve never seen those statuettes. I bet you have never been this close to this kind of statuettes either. Yes. I feel like these statues are for temples.

05:13 - But I don’t know what kind of god they are. Alright, guys, enjoy, I will see you later. I am almost done. This is very convenient because I am using a panoramic camera。 Oh, he made the twelve Zodiac signs statuettes. They are all clay statuettes. But these statuettes are so big, how does he ship it? Some shipping companies can deliver that and it is hollow inside, not solid. How do they lift this up? They use a trailer or crane One of the best things about working in the suburbs is more space and no one complains about the noise.

05:44 - What do you think of these statuettes? I think they are not bad. I agree. But who’s going to buy this? Usually for temples and the customers who are in need of this. Some people need these for the theme parks and the people from the temples need this. What happened to this guy’s hand? I think later they will add a sword or something for him to hold on. Now that makes sense. Do the customers come to visit them first and make sure everything is fine before they confirm the orders? I think the customer will do that but not for this one, these statuettes has been here for a while.

06:18 - So these statuettes are the Heavenly Kings, right? I believe so. There is a milling machine in here. Yes. Do they put the statuettes in the wooden box to ship it? They are all clay statuettes, this one is the prototype of the first molding process. There are still some residue on it No wonder, when I touch it, I can feel pieces on my hands. What kind of Budda is he? He is the Gilded Budda. Who’s this dude? Not someone I know of, I don’t know about this one. He looks fierce. Check out this one.

07:01 - This is made out of glass fiber and it is hollow inside but it has a steel bone structure. Ok, let me put my camera in and show them. Wow, it is hollow inside. I think you’ve never seen these statuettes from behind. That’s why you don’t know. That’s the heavenly king with a pagoda in hand. Are those all packed up and ready to ship out? Yes, those are his teacher’s artwork.

07:20 - His teacher is using his studio for his own work too? Yes, no matter his teacher or some other artists sometimes come here and use my friend’s studio. You know, it is not just hard for an artist to find a place like this But also with the strict regulation in Beijing, they have to rent places in a suburb like this. For instance, if one day I am going to make something huge, I have to ask him for a favor to let me work here. Who’s that? Zheng He, the Treasure Voyages. I feel embarrassed, I can’t tell it was him. For me, it is so easy, I can distinguish them from the sculptures. Those puppies are so cute, I can’t believe he took some many of them. Well, who is that? Just a figurine of a waiter. Funny, I thought he is an actual person from ancient Chinese history. Are all those puppies from the street? I am not sure, He is such a caring person.

08:07 - That’s the Maitreya Buddha - the Chinese God of Laughter. But I can’t know all these people, they are foreigners. Let me guess these foreigners, that’s the musician Beethoven, and that guy looks like from our textbook I think he is Italian, but I don’t remember his name. I think that’s the other musician Mozart. But I might be wrong, as you said, they are foreigner. I know that one, that’s the Marquis Guan Yu.

08:37 - He even made elephant sculpture, are those for Thai people? Over here, there are more Buddha sculptures. And who is that？ That’s the Ronald McDonald, the guy with the clown face. What? He even made sculptures for food companies? Why does this dude look familiar? Marx! What have you learned from school all these years? You don’t even know him. Apparently, I gave all that knowledge back to the teacher. Unlike you, even though I am getting old, I still remember most of the lessons I learned from school.

09:05 - Well, we have face recognition technology now, so it is ok if I don’t remember them, the machine will tell me who they are. Fine. I was just testing you, I know them ok? Oh my gosh, that’s scary, I thought there is a real wolf inside the room. That’s terrifying, fortunately, it is just a fake sculpture. I am still shivering from it, it looks so real. Are you done with your interview? Soon, I will talk to the journalist for a few more minutes. We should go to lunch first and then we can talk more. You can also film more after lunch. Is that ok? Actually, I am done here. Wow, so fast? Yes, he told me all about your sculptures and stories behind them. Yes, she only knows how to film but not the background of those characters, embarrassing. Well, I told you I was testing you. I find that painting boring. I have plenty of time this afternoon, we should catch up a bit, haven’t seen you in a while anyway. Sure. Yes, mostly him, very talkative.

09:51 - We are not in a hurry, you should take care of your stuff first, we can wait. .