Critical Moment
- When
- This event has already passed
- Where
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Oriental Vista Gallery
- Contact
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Rainbow
5465-7768
- Contributor
Description -
“Critical Moment - New Media and Installation Exhibition” will open on 21 June in Oriental Vista Gallery, Shanghai; featuring the latest works of Li Songhua, Jin jiangbo, Shen Shaomin and Xu Tan. Duration:21.6~30.7
The tremendous attention showered on Chinese contemporary art in the international scene also brought along increasing pressure on the artists, who are confounded and struggling with this phenomenon at the same time. At this critical moment, the artists participating in this exhibition are, pursuing art in its purest from with an attitude of utmost determination, continuing to explore the frontiers of art and human consciousness. Artwork selected in this exhibition not only uses new media to give detail intepretion of humanity in microspoic view, the audience can experience the synthesis of 20th century technolgy and art, from which one can predict the future direction of art.
Contributed by ovgallery
3 months, 3 weeks ago
- City Weekend
says -
This gloomy exhibition of new media and installations feature works from Chinese artists including Jin Jiangbo, Li Songhua, Shan Shaomin and Xu Tan and expresses current social issues through the eyes of a younger generation. Interactive displays welcome the audiences' hands-on involvement to secure a view on the current state of the world.
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Moments Lost in Obscurity
Presented in a darkened room, the mood of this group exhibition featuring new media by Chinese artists is somewhat dispiriting. Starting with Jin Jiangbo's Commemoration Series–-Cloud of Angels, stuffed birds hang in the semi-gloom like extras in a Hitchcock film, making the viewer feel a certain uneasiness when walking under them. The effect is funereal and maudlin and emphasizes the artist's comment on the lives lost in this year’s snowstorms.
In contrast, Liu Songhua's work, Unititled appears crisp and simple. Two screens show a hand using chopsticks to move knives, forks and spoons from one plate to another. It is a clever comment on East meeting West, but the spectator is left somewhat bemused by the experience.
Art turns interactive with Xu Tan's Searching for Keywords-–Live, Consume where the visitor can sit at a table and chairs covered in the familiar red, white and blue of the ubiquitous rice bag and using a webcam, keyboard and microphone become part of the process by recording their own story. This is accompanied by three screens–two stills--one showing a webpage dictionary and the other a shot of a temporary shelter which echoes recent news events and a film of the construction of the hut. Unfortunately at our visit, this seemed to be dismantled due to water was leaking from the ceiling of the gallery. A feature of this work is that not only the more mundane media of video are used, but the artist also cites "Internet" as part of his chosen media. The work also changes form according to its location.
Finally, Shen Shaomin's documentary I'm Chinese presents the most interesting and accessible part of the show. Featuring the lives of people living in the northern China, this work illustrates the hardship, poverty and disillusion of their existence. However, the violence and cruelty shown during the killing of animals was enough to make spectators leave the room. This aside, moments such as the ethnic diversity of faces gathered in one scene reflect a microcosm of Chinese society today.
While not a "feel-good" exhibition, this show is a fervent sample of what Chinese artists are currently exploring in new media. --Elyse Singleton, Issue 13, Explain Your Art