04 MEDIA

Precious Feature Article

Zen sculptor Richard X. Zawitz has been obsessing with creating his twistable work Tangle since 1690s. He has recently created large-scale Tangle sculptures, which were featured in his solo exhibition “Infinity Art” at IFC Mall. The American artist has been a Hong Kong resident for over 40 years. He sets up Infinity Gallery in Wong Chuk Hang and San Francisco and spends his time between the two cities. Zawitz graduated from the University of Hawaii with a major in fine arts sculpture and sub majors in Asian art history and Asian philosophy. Perhaps this is why he’s so fascinated with Asia and Hong Kong naturally and spontaneously, just like the birth of Tangle.

Decades of Pertinence

“I discovered my interest in entangled and twisty particles when I was still in my high school in 1967, so I started designing my very first Tangle model. Then learned about art and Chinese Taoism during college and I planned to create a piece of work that cold express the philosophy of Taoism. But it wasn’t until my trip to Nepal in 1973 then I was inspired by the Tibetan infinite knot to create a work that can be twisted and manipulated into different shapes.” Zawitz, whom believes in Taoism, thinks Tao is the origin of everything on earth and that it is everywhere. It carries the same meaning of the Tibetan infinite knot, which represents infinite power. He therefore started to create this piece of work once he was back to the States and introduced to the world Tangle when he moved to Hong Kong in early 1980s. So wha t exactly is Tangle? Like Taoism; Tangle is everything and nothing – it could be toy, art, decoration, souvenir, accessory, education tool or could be none of the above. It all depends on our own interpretation. To Zawitz, it illustrates the concept of WU Wei in Taoism, which literally means non-action or non-doing.

Transmitting Positive Energy

Zawitz’s invention of Tangle products have sold over 100 million globally and were sold out at Wal-Mart after its launch in 2003. As the inventor of Tangle who enjoys the sweet taste of success, Zawitz has never forgotten about himself being an artist. He added, “Both inventor and artist work on creation.

If you wat to create good works, you have to throw away your linear thinking; you need to be creative and turn the impossibility into reality.” Zawitz applies theconcept of Tangle to his large-scale sculptures, which are collected by various public organizations including University of Southern California, Dragon Centre and JW Marriott Hotel Hong Kong.

As the first exhibition of the artist’s world tour, Zawitz specially created several new creations for the Infinity Art exhibition, such as Infinite Man, Infinite Woman, Infinite Group, and Infinite Touch, only to mention a few. “Curve means luck and fortune Chinese culture. I hope my works are inspirable while

The great leveler

The day when a Zhang Xiaogang or a Liu Wei competes with Gucci bags and Louboutin heels for audience attention from the same store window may not be that far away.

The sculptor Richard X. Zawitz, whose show Civilization and the Monkey concluded last month at the Rotunda in Exchange Square at Central, probably won’t mind such an eventuality.

In March, Zawitz’s shiny, idiosyncratic metallic loops which playfully imitate the human form were part of a display showcasing pouch bags by JW Anderson at Colette in Paris. The Zeninspired “tangles”, which is Zawitz’s vtrademark style, were replicated in the design of the bag handles.

Zawitz seems unfazed by the fact that many in the audience came to check out the fashion accessory and got to see his sculptures by default. “What like about exhibiting in malls is that there’re a lot of accidental discoveries by people perhaps less inclined to art,” says Zawitz. “Here you are reaching people who never go to museums, reaching a broader audience, bringing creativity to them.” He fondly recalls school children trooping down to his last show at the Exchange Square and how they made sketches of his sculptures, some of them scribbling “I love you, Richard” notes on the drawings. There was also a gentleman who walked up to the centerpiece, Zawitz’s abstract rendition of a tree. “He started praying