"Existing in Shadowland" invites its audience to explore connections and self-discovery through others and the tangible otherness, contemplating eternity and the quest for freedom of spirit.
Presenting a collection of lost and found personal mythologies and riddles, objects displayed seemingly to a domestic arrangement of dreams and personal rituals. The interplay of these shapes and forms with photography, film & digital art serves as a spiritual vehicle for discovering the myriad elements that constitute our being.
By interacting with both our inner and external environments, it reflects the timeless question of our role in the present landscape, demystifying and romanticising the façade of the external world. The artwork addresses themes of femininity in a patriarchal society, identity as seen by others, and the journey of self-discovery through the eyes of artists.
Exhibition Opening 10 May, 2024. Artsect Gallery.
Artists:
Jundan Chen
Keyi Liu
Saki
Keke Zhang
Anji
Moyu Yang
ShunShun Qi
Miao Tan
Yiru Wang
Curators: Moyu Yang & Jundan Chen
This artwork explores the profound experience of emotional expression constraints and submission to oppression. Its creative genesis originates from self-acceptance and introspective insights, reflecting internal conflicts and growth amidst external pressures. Aligned with the notion of "body-self," it underscores the crucial integration of soul and body. By engaging in body mapping to tap into implicit memories, it empowers the body with a "voice" and recognises itself as a fundamental wellspring of self-identity and values. Ultimately, the artwork aspires to transcend societal pressures and foster a realisation of self, identity, and belonging.
Heavenly / KEYI LIU
1:50min
Heavenly is inspired by the "consciousness uploading" that has become very popular in recent years, in which people upload their consciousness into a virtual world and continue to live as an out-of-body cyborg. People are free from the constraints of the physical body and enter a state of seemingly immortality. ’Heavenly’ speculates on a future world within the context of out-of-body cyborgs and virtual worship rituals. Set in 2084, the story revolves around a virtual community named Heavenly. The community falsely claims to be a utopia for healing mental trauma and convinces people to abandon their physical bodies in favour of a life as out-of-body cyborgs. However, Heavenly is the deceptive creation of the company known as Digital Immortality. Those who join, lose their physical bodies and their autonomy and become enslaved by the company in a never-ending digital existence.
"Heavenly" discusses the potential risks of out-of-body cyborgs, an unknown form of life, and seeks to remind people of the importance of maintaining a balance between the spiritual and physical in the digital age.
The dilemma of the real world makes people doubt the value of their existence and try to pursue a new form of existence that breaks the physical boundaries of science and technology, but they forget its potential dangers. Different forms of existence cannot solve problems; they can only transform them into new forms to continue to exist.
Self-Portrait / Artist SAKIThis project is a body of work including performance, installation and photography. It is inspired by my own relationship with my father and it intends to reflect the clash of tradition and freedom in family and society under the patriarchal system in China. The emotional association between me and my father are expressed through writing calligraphy on the skin. I use the ink as a way to visualize the continual flow of time, history and experience became the traces of what construct oneself. Time becomes embodied in memory and ritual, connecting the past and the future. The first part of the performance (Chapter One) intended to present the excessive desire for control passed from parents to children. The second part of the performance (Chapter two) records the performance done by the female
Single-channel black and white video with sound, wood, plastic, metal, varnish, silicon, and shampoo; 12 min. 44 sec. Exhibition video documentary: https://youtu.be/BVHu4vkhgkg
I often sense a presence watching me from a shadowy corner, its invisibility leaving me disoriented like a rolling balloon. This feeling peaks in the shower, where I frequently open my eyes, half-expecting to see someone outside the curtain. One day, as I reached for the shampoo, I saw eyes focusing on me. I screamed, threw the shampoo, and fled, leaving a messy mix of cream and water behind.
Chrysanthemum Charm I II III /Artist ANYI JI
40*25cm /55*25cm/55*25cm
50cm x 200cm
Her practice reflects her longstanding interest in the position of women within patriarchal structures, explored through an investigation of female bodies and feminist philosophy. Utilising symbolic language to separate female identity from the human "coexistence," she endeavours to reconstruct "social gender" by emphasising the similarity of objects, seeking to comprehend the objective societal positioning of female survivors, and exploring the inherent power of female bodily unity. Diverging from Freudian concepts where male possession of the phallus is both external and intrinsic, her work presents a distinct existential transcendence, existing in a "perceivable manner within itself." In the female physiological structure, there is no such "alter ego" as in males. Therefore, Moyu endeavours to place women as subjects in her works. Through the fusion of wearable sculptures conforming to the female bodily structure and the pliable and malleable medium of latex, she seeks to redefine "self-social roles" for women, empowering them through the alienation of artistic language.
Oil on Board
13*16cm each
35x 35x 60 mm
’The Sounds Of Being’ evolves from its 2022 predecessor, reflecting the interplay between the self and the external environment. The drum surface, crafted from latex and artist's skin fibers, features a mirror at its base. The original 2022 installation offered an interactive experience where the drum would emit sound when struck by the viewers, only to inevitably return to a state of stillness, its most primal state. In this version, the drum surface, worn and torn from past interactions, reveals the mirror underneath its broken surface. This transformation invites viewers to see their own reflection at the base of the drum, merging observer and observed into one. This work aims to provoke reflection on the inner struggles and mutual influences between self and others. It questions whether we can truly possess freedom, or if we are merely chasing an illusion of freedom, constantly bound and influenced by the gaze of others.
