Opening Recap | 3rd Edition of A&T@: UNKNOWN by YIN Xiuzhen

UNKNOWN | YIN Xiuzhen

3rd Edition of A&T@ Program

19.09.2020 - unknown

UNKNOWN is the third iteration of the A&T@ Program initiated at Chronus Art Center, and another notable outcome of continued collaborations between ZHI and CAC. A&T@ supports leading Chinese artists working in traditional media to venture into otherwise inaccessible channels of advanced programming and production facilities by pairing them with technologists to develop works that are unique and different from their established artistic vocabulary and formal strategies, thus opening up new horizons, furthering the experimental potential for these artists and, in turn, contributing to the development of art making in the twenty-first century. Previous collaborating artists: LIU Xiaodong (Weight of Insomnia) and YAN Lei (Rêverie Reset).

With the monumental installation UNKNOWN, which spans across three floors of the ZHI ART MUSEUM, artist YIN Xiuzhen has created an awestriking work that transforms the exigencies of world affairs and flux of emotions into constellations of heavenly bodies, in which fleeting human presences catalyze and transpire a universe of ephemerality and uncertainty.

Six display screens constantly feed news headlines from global hot spots, out of which an AI system generates endless nebula formations which are shown on the adjacent mammoth Starmap, a four-meter in diameter custom-made circular LED screen, which soars into the clearing that crosses three floors of the museum. Visitors' facial expressions captured while reading news, again trigger a cluster of celestial objects to appear. The object, an aggregate of some of YIN's previous work interpreted by an AI algorithm, displays distinctive motion behaviours fed by visitors’ emotional data. Meditative 'om' chants as well as excerpts of news of recent world events: COVID-19, Black Lives Matter, global food shortages, etc., fusing with sounds from deep space and sounds of emotions, compound into a murmuring soundscape, often beyond recognition.

Ascending to the upper level, visitors encounter an expansive space embraced by undulating hills and rivers seen through surround glass walls. Over the course of the exhibition, numerous 3D printed celestial objects will "float" atop of transparent plinths one by one. Generated from the collective data aggregated every day, the objects are the assemblages of human emotions solidified into cosmic existence, tangibles transformed from the virtual.

Thus, YIN’s artistic sensibilities, typically characterized by the intimate human touch in her work, her solicitude for tradition and community, extend into a new horizon of stellar grandeur, cohabited by machine intelligence and human emotions, beckoning for a new humanism of cosmic dimension that is at once immense and minute, celestially untouchable and emotively present. Earth and heaven comingle in equally unstable media, forever changing and forever.

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Exhibition Opening

19.09.2020

Saturday

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Exhibition Opening Talks

A Conversation on A&T@

< ZHANG Ga, WANG Conghui >

A&T@ Technology Introduction

< Vytas Jankauskas >

Artist Talk

< YIN Xiuzhen, BI Xin, WANG Conghui, Vytas Jankauskas >

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Organizers

Established in 2013, Chronus Art Center (CAC) is China’s first nonprofit art organization dedicated to the presentation, research / creation and scholarship of media art. CAC with its exhibitions, residency oriented fellowships, lectures and workshop programs and through its archiving and publishing initiatives, creates a multifaceted and vibrant platform for the discourse, production and dissemination of media art in a global context. CAC is positioned to advance artistic innovation and cultural awareness by critically engaging with media technologies that are transforming and reshaping contemporary experiences.

www.chronusartcenter.org

Located at the foot of Chengdu’s Taoism Laojun Mountain in Southwest China, ZHI ART MUSEUM’s serene architecture brings to life the beauty and tranquillity of Zen. An iconic work by renowned Japanese master architect, Kengo Kuma, the museum embodies the Eastern philosophy of “Learning from Nature.” With the use of water as key feature and the exploration of natural materials throughout, the architecture organically integrates its surrounding elements harmoniously. The tranquil flow and soft movements surrounding the entirety of the museum allow for contemplation and evoke notions of eternity through its unity with nature.

ZHI ART MUSEUM focuses to explore global contemporary art and its qualities as a force of universality, in the context of the future, present and past of Eastern aesthetics. The meaning of ZHI is to be an open concept, always striving to move from the world of the known to the unknown, and from the finite to the infinite. Within these parameters ZHI ART MUSEUM’s aim is to explore the integration of human inspiration and technology within the multiple facets of art, while also building a groundbreaking in-depth contemporary art collection and an unparalleled exhibition program, that together will foster a vital contribution to the integrity and creativity of art and art history of the 21st century.

The museum’s core concept is based on the three principles of: Universality, Insight, and Innovation.

FANTASIA·ZHI ART MUSEUM is a private non-enterprise entity, officially registered by the Chengdu Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau. It is wholly supported by Fantasia Holdings Group (1777.HK), which went public on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong.

www.zhiartmuseum.com

UNKNOWN | YIN Xiuzhen

3rd Edition of A&T@ Program

19.09.2020 - unknown

Time: 10:00-17:00 from Wednesday to Sunday (closed on Monday and Tuesday)

Venue: ZHI ART MUSEUM (No.1 Junshan Road, Xinjin, Chengdu, China)

Admission: 30RMB/person

Organizers：Chronus Art Center (CAC), ZHI ART MUSEUM

3rd EDITION OF A&T@ Program

Concept: YIN Xiuzhen

Produced by: Chronus Art Center

A&T@ Program Concept: ZHANG Ga

Chronus Art Center (Staff)

Project Leadership: BI Xin, CAO Daxu, Vytas Jankauskas | Technology Lead: Vytas Jankauskas | Emotion recognition, star map to 3D sculpture processing, sound: Vytas Jankauskas | News screen displays and general interfaces: Fito Segrera | Star map graphics: Miller Kilstner | Production Manager: CAO Daxu | Production Assistant: YAO Jiawen | Documentary Direction and Production: CAO Daxu | Editorial and Translation: CAO Jiamin

ZHI ART MUSEUM (Staff)