ZHANG Ding, Enter the Dragon, Performances, 2015. © ZHANG Ding
The installation directly references the final scene from the seminal Bruce Lee film Enter the Dragon (1973). Considered to be one of the greatest Chinese martial arts films of all time, it was the first to have been produced by a major Hollywood studio under the guidance of Lee, whose contribution to the production of the film and script was extensive. Lee identified the film as a vehicle to illustrate his understanding of Eastern philosophies to Western audiences. It proved to be his final film appearance before his premature death. The performances, as part of the project, aim to be co-operative, improvisational, experimental and self-reflective rather than competitive, seeking to reflect the philosophies that Bruce Lee sought to express in the film.
Zhang Ding transforms the ICA Theatre into a ‘mutating sound sculpture’, covering the room with reflective surfaces, suspended sound panels and a series of rotating mirrored sculptures situated next to two music stages. For the duration of the exhibition, there are a series of daily performances, consisting of invited artists and open submissions from a variety of musical genres selected by Zhang Ding in association with NTS Radio. The performances seeks to activate the installation to create a platform for co-operative improvisation, experimentation and self-reflection.
Zhang Ding was born in 1980 in Gansu, China. He resides and works in Shanghai. Zhang Ding's practice is mainly presented through his solo projects, which includes video, installations, paintings and live performance,etc. His works play on ideas of sensory perception and will, constructing absurd scenes full of contrast, often creating metaphors layered with societal references. That may be seen as a series of deconstructed mise en scenes, or as an environmental sculpture of twisting and merging emotional atomsphere. Recent exhibitions include: Zhang Ding: Orbit of Rock, ShanghART, Beijing, China (2014); Orbit: Zhang Ding Solo Project, The Armory Show, Focus Section, New York, U.S.A. (2014); Gold & Silver, Zhang Ding Solo Exhibition, Galerie Krinzinger, Wien, Austria (2013); Meanwhile… Suddenly, and Then, the Biennale of Lyon, Lyon, France (2013); Perspectives 180 - Unfinished Country: New Video from China, The Contemporary Art Museum in Houston, USA (2012).
This is the first time K11 Art Foundation has collaborated with an institution in the UK and Founder and Honorary Chairman, Adrian Cheng and ICA Executive Director Gregor Muir are keen to foster cultural exchange between the international arts centres of London and Hong Kong/China.
K11 Art Foundation has embarked upon other international collaborations in Europe in its mission to support the development of Chinese contemporary art on the international art stage. Amongst them are the Palais de Tokyo, Centre Georges Pompidou and Musee Marmottan in Paris, and also the Armory Show in New York. As well as supporting Chinese artists internationally, K11 Art Foundation also aims to foster an appreciation of international arts and culture within China, bringing a diverse range of exhibitions and programmes to their numerous spaces. For example, the collaboration with Musee Marmottan led to Shanghai K11 Art Mall staging an exhibition of Claude Monet and the forthcoming ‘Media – Dalí’ exhibition with Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation which is to open in early November 2015.
About the exhibition
Duration: 12 Oct 2015 – 25 Oct 2015
Exhibition Preview: Monday 12 October from 7pm, with DJ sets from Bell Towers, Pandora’s Jukebox and Trevor Jackson
Venue: ICA Theatre
Music programmed by Zhang Ding in association with NTS Radio.
Courtesy of the artist and ICA.
