Picnic

中文

Picnic
Project Dots Project, Shanghai

Date: 06.18, 2021 - 09.18, 2021

Artists: SU Chang 苏畅 |

Duration: Forest: 2021/06/18 - Until it's gone as time goes by | Exhibition Hall: 2021/06/18 - 2021/09/19（Wed. – Sun. 10:00-18:00）
Location: FOG Wild Space, Bldg 22-23, 5919 Shendu Highway Rd., Minhang District, Shanghai

Early this spring, the artist conducted a two-month-long live practice in the renowned ShanghART Gallery M50 resulted in the placement of five giant sculptures in the space. They squeeze, curl and stretch against each other, guiding and dominating the viewers' track, creating a "hole" that links people and the city.

Subsequently, these variously shaped giant sculptures were moved across Shanghai, from a boiler house downtown to Pujiang Country Park, 20 kilometers away from the urban bustle for permanent placement. The project contains two parts, first is the gradual integration and symbiosis of the sculptures in nature. The sculptures, completed to the maximum extent within a limited space, lies deep in the forest, forming a long-lasting dialogue between nature and sculpture. Over time, they become interdependent and mutually influential, shaping each other like waves and sand. The slow process of degradation is a picnic in nature: eventually, the sculptures exposed in the woods will be chewed and eaten by time. The second part is the reconstitution of the remains after the disintegration. When the irreversible act of dismantling occurs on the sculpture, the internal structure presents an uncontrollable contingency effect. These handcrafted aesthetics between accident and artificiality are carefully selected and reassembled, stacked in the polished white space, striking the eye of the artist and the spectators. The act itself is also the artist's challenge towards viewing. Each fragment from the division of the complete sculpture will be displayed individually. These exposed sculptural scars will be perceived and appreciated by the visitors again in an aesthetic dimension by the spectator.

The artist's reflections always insist on awakening the subconscious body's "viewing", a psychological perception is often more real than the visual experience. The repetitive life routine creates a hybrid form between the physical space and the person. His sculptures discuss this uncertain yet veridical feeling. This mixed experience and memory of perception, projected onto the remnants of reality through our physical sensations, leads the artist to think more about the connection between objects and people, and this link is also mapped to the city and people.

This project is also the second fermentation of Su Chang’s solo exhibition "Hole". On June 18, the entrance leads to the "Hole" will reopen to the public, and the duration depends on the sculptures' gradual deterioration under natural states. The artist Su Chang invites visitors to a fading "picnic" by the Huangpu River.