The Zero State – First China Installation Art Biennale 2013 to be Presented in Beijing and Tianjin

TEXT:Sue Wang    DATE: 2013.10.31

00 The Zero State – First China Installation Art Biennale 2013

“Zero” implies a limit, in the world of “zero”, a variety of latent forces fight with each other, one aspect wanes, the other waxes, however they will not become “zero or game”. “The Zero state” means a boundary without limit. The current state of Chinese contemporary art is precisely the state of zero, there are various possibilities.

Since Duchamp’s urinal of the early 20th Century, readymade articles have become an avant-garde material to constantly break through the imprisonment and to subvert the traditional, it is increasingly appropriated by artists, becoming common artistic thinking. In fact, installation art dissolves the boundaries of art, offering unlimited possibilities to the artists, heavily promoting the development of the arts and even industrial design, technology, etc., which is the precise reflection of the contemporary practical innovative significance.

The biennale is an initial large-scale exhibition of the achievements of installation art in China, co-organized by Beijing and Tianjin, featuring works by representative artists, which were mostly made of readymade articles from people’s daily lives, or from using traditional art forms, however, when these materials were transformed into the new performance forms after the artists’ rethinking, the familiar things become unfamiliar ones, and even absurd, perhaps making people think about the old aesthetic topic of “boundary of art” again.

About the exhibition

Co- organizers: Museum of Contemporary Art Beijing, Beijing Xiangshan Art Museum, Tianjin Art Museum

Venues: Museum of Contemporary Art Beijing, Tianjin Art Museum

Curator: Li Daoliu

Academic Directors: Curtis Carter, Qin Feng

Art Directors: Li Duozhuang, Hong Jinqiao, Ma Chi

Opening: November 16, 2013

Closing: March 20, 2014

Duration: (Beijing Exhibition: Readymades and Sculptural Installations): November 16, 2013 – March 16, 2014 (Tianjin Exhibition: Images and Graphic Installations): November 16 – December 16, 2013

Joint Opening: 15:30 pm, November 16, 2013

Press Conference and Discussion: (Museum of Contemporary Art Beijing) 13:30 – 15:30 pm, November 16, 2013

Artists:

Readymades and Sculptural Installations (34 artists): Ai Weiwei/ Chen Xi, Chen Honghan, Qiu Deshu, Cang Xin, Cui Xianjing, Deng Guoyuan, Fu Zhongwang, Gaoshi Brothers, Huang Yan, Jiao Xingtao, Li Tiejun, Li Zhanyang, Li Wei, Luo Zidan, Liang Changsheng, Liu Yonggang, Ma Chi, Ma Jun, Qin Chong, Qi Yu, Shi Hui, Wang Guangyi, Wang Huaxiang, Wang Yiqiong, Wang Mingxian, Wang Lifeng, Xi Hua, Yang Qirui, Zheng Xuewu, Zhao Yi, Zhou Yu-mei, Zhan Wang

Images and Graphic Installations (24 artists): Cai Jin, Gu Qunye, Huang Shaoqiang + Huang Yuqun, Jiang Zhenggen, Li Di, Li Daoliu, Ma Baozhong, Qin Feng, Qu Jianxiong, Shu Yong, Wang Qiang, Wang Wei, Wang Hao, Xiao Lu, Xu Weiqiang, Xie Xiaoze, Yang Jinsong, Yang Songyan, Zhang yu, Zhang Minjie, Zhang Qiang + Lia Wei, Zou Cao

Organizing Committee of the First China Installation Art Biennale

Directors: Zhang Kun, Ma Chi

Media Consultant: Lynn bobo from CCTV

Exhibition Assistants: Zeng Xiaochui, Sun Tiantian

Address of the Museum of Contemporary Art Beijing: No.500, Daxing Zhuang Songzhuang Town, Tongzhou District, Beijing

Address of Tianjin Art Museum: Pingjiang Cultural Center, Hexi District, Tianjin Tel: (010) 89578367

Courtesy of the artists and Museum of Contemporary Art Beijing,  translated by Sophia and edited by Sue/CAFA ART INFO, for further information please visit www.bjmoca.com.