An exhibit, to the casual viewer, is often seen as the end result of an artist's concentrated effort to express a certain idea, theme or feeling. But in two new solo shows, now on at Pékin Fine Arts, the exhibition is just another stage of a larger artistic process.

Comprised of a number of electric contraptions that slowly drag a one yuan note, a lock of hair, a gold chain, and an empty, crushed pack of cigarettes across the floor, a box of stones in which two are electronically lifted at set intervals, a ball of wigs sewn together and a photo of air ducts on the roof of a building, taken as a whole "Perpendiculous" might strike some as abstract. Though at first glance the objects appear disjointed, they are part of a larger search for what the 2010 Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair director calls the "little magic moments"—when the cigarette pack pirouettes as it is pulled back on a return trip across the same piece of wire, or the initial wonder of which stone will rise from the pile.

The show has morphed while moving from exhibition to exhibition, he says, losing pieces here, gaining pieces there, according to Chinnery's ideas and how the objects occupy the new space they are in. This sense of constant change and development is also present in Weng Wei's "Chasing Sites," which hangs in the adjoining hall.

For her first solo show, Weng Wei hung black and white paintings in the gallery—works from previous group shows created in Beijing—then took two days to work inside the gallery to create the large-scale, colorful vinyl cutouts that accompany them. The result is a playful mix of motifs and colors that don't visibly connect to each other, but instead link through the artist's intention to use architecture as an influence and integral part of creating her works. Much like an artistic snowball, Weng Wei's works will move into future shows where they will then become influences for new creations in gallery spaces.

While both shows are curious and interesting views, the explanation behind the pieces makes them all the much more intriguing.

DETAILS

What: Perpendiculous and Chasing Sites

Where: Pékin Fine Arts

When: through Oct. 17

Web: www.pekinfinearts.com