PANG Hong 庞鸿
Abstract
Wang Bing’s 王兵 documentary works are often known for their coarse visual style; however, a close reading of his visual texts reveals a distinctive painterly aesthetic and formal sensibility. Three Sisters 三姊妹 (2012) exemplifies this: the film’s use of static shots, enclosed compositions, and contrasts of light and shadow transforms the screen into a visual space with a painterly frame, producing intertextual resonances with Western naturalist painting. At the same time, through techniques such as wide shots and wide-angle lenses, the film evokes a sense of spatial flow and the aesthetic of ‘distance’, embodying the traditional Chinese aesthetic notion of you 游 (wandering). Using Three Sisters as a point of entry, this article examines Wang Bing’s works across different periods and finds that these aesthetic characteristics recur throughout his oeuvre, forming a vital part of his authorial style. The painterly elements in his moving images attenuate realism and dissolve narrative, guiding viewers to detach from existing cognitive frameworks and, beyond narrative, to apprehend the lived states of the filmed subjects.