Zhou Fan calls himself an experimental artist. To tell the truth, until the moment I met him, I had no idea what this title could mean. Zhou Fan experiments, provokes. Playing around with the laws of physics, he goes all the way to the edge of the possible. He laughs at stereotypes and demolishes centuries-old conceptions. However, he does all of this gently, as if with an approval of the higher dispensation of nature. And thus he is able to construct a car with every wheel different – small, big, medium and a little smaller. What an amazing spectacle! This car rides, jumps merrily up and down, it floats and it falls, it breathes heavily, but it rides. And its artistic model then reigns at the famous Beijing Autosalon. The collection of curiosities from Zhou Fan’s workshop also include: moving predators, with their heads and tails connected by a sophisticated mechanical skeleton, seated on a silver swing; a hand the size of a person with a moving forefinger; as well as other quizzical inventions which let out steam and make noises. Suddenly you feel as if you were in the home of a magician, where lifeless things come alive.

But the display is not limited to only experiments and tests. It is, at the same time, a world of unchained fantasy; fresh invention which attacks your senses. ALL of your senses, (without any exaggeration), because Zhou Fan does not forget even our taste, as he offers his “edible art”. Into dough, sugar, chocolate or cheese, he imprints an image, a form, a likeness of people and objects. And he continues to search for paradoxes, trying to solve the unsolvable. He sets up crooked mirrors and shifts the truth. Chinese language, based on characters, is both his partner and simultaneous competitor. And so he proves that “the word which cannot be eaten” can in fact be eaten with much enjoyment while the promise remains unbroken, commitment upheld. The audience is enthusiastic. The magician leaves content, already in search of new ways to merge present reality with illusion.

卓凡始终温文尔雅地微笑着，与我大谈各自对事实这一概念的看法。但漫长的争论过后，我才发现，要想说服他，其实并不容易。对于何谓事实，何处探究事实，我们各执一词。但最后，某个共通之感，让我们的争论尽欢而终，从某种角度来说，我们都很接近那个最终的答案。对于大多数中国人来说，事实应该是予人愉悦，令人欣慰的，至少也不应该让人感到失望。所以，他们不像被西方文化熏陶的我们，在探求事实时感到的，往往是无处不在的压力，以及由此引发的焦虑不安。在事实与虚妄之间，我们总是站在理性的基石上，试图避免哪怕是一丝一毫的混淆之误，即使事实可能很残酷，令人痛苦。但中国式的真相却并非如此。当中国朋友想让你体验他们所理解的事实时，似乎像用一张柔软的丝巾，轻轻蒙在你的头上，然后将你领进他们创造的那个舒适而惬意的丝绸世界。当然，这并不意味着他们放弃了自己的原则和观点，而只是力求彰显出他们的优雅之风。这正是我与卓凡在文化藩篱的两侧，首次交锋时所体验到的。但这并未带来不适，反而，令我们倍感愉悦。

实验艺术家—卓凡这样介绍自己。坦率而言，在认识他之前，我并不了解这个称谓的含义。卓凡一直在实验，不断打破常规。随心所欲地运用物理法则，直抵想象空间的边界。陈规陋习和迂腐之念，谈笑间灰飞烟灭，而他自己却是举重若轻，如若天赐。他为同一辆汽车装上了四个大小不一的轮子，时跃时跳，忽飘忽落，喘息片刻，又扬长而去。这辆会呼吸的汽车，堪称北京国际汽车展上一件令人叹止的佳作。在卓凡的工作室里，这样的神奇之作还有很多：奔跑的捷豹 - 作品首尾由复杂的机械结构相连，以银色曲杆为基座；食指可以活动的悬挂手臂；以及其他制造烟雾和声响的奇巧发明。瞬间你仿佛置身于魔幻世界之中，一切没有生命的事物都变得鲜活起来。

然而，卓凡的作品所展现的并不仅仅是其本身的实验性，更是无边的幻想，以及那些新奇的创意，给你全部的感官所带来的震撼—一点不夸张的说，你所有的感官—就连味觉，卓凡也不曾忽略：人容事貌被烙印在面团、糖果、巧克力和芝士上，“可吃的艺术”应运而生。但他并未止步，在悖论之中，他知其不可为而为之，在他制造的魔镜里，事实变得扑朔迷离。就连中国语言的汉字，也变成他的伙伴和对手。他向人们证明，“不可食言”本身，实际上可以成为美食来享用，而与此同时，承诺亦被信守。这一切，令观者沉醉其中。而魔术师早已启程，继续探寻现实与虚幻交错的表现之道。