UNINTENDED
Viewing Experience Starts without Purpose and Ends without Destination (Co-exhibition)
“There is no wisdom tree; nor a stand of a mirror bright, Since all is void, where can the dust alight?” Epiphanized by Buddhism poems, “purposelessness” has always been the theme that Hong Qi ponders in his photography. I proposed an architecture-scale installation that signifies the same theme in this collaboration: An exhibition with no designated entry, no fixed exit, and no pre-planned route.
The viewers’ unconscious intuitions lead the aesthetic experience inside the pavilion. It might be a journey of unexpected repetition, unintended miss, or obfuscation.
Collaborative Artist And Exhibition Works
Hong Qi (1962-) was born in Tibet. Influenced by the Buddhism ideas of Sunyata, Qi is mindful of the state of “purposelessness” in his photography. From 2014-2016, Qi wandered around Chengdu in wetlands, mountains, and city parks, exploring and meditating on his aimless journey. The haphazard landscapes have been collected as a fortuitous series of images, offering an art-viewing experience of pure perception free from comprehension.
Selected works from Wilderness 原野 and Thatched Cottage 草堂 Series, 2009-2016, Qi Hong
Site
Wanzhu Plaza in Huanhuaxi Park is nearby Du Fu Thatched Cottage Museum, where Qi photographed his series. With the highest density of government institutions, the most reputable hospital, historical museums, and the most expensive luxury residentials in Chengdu, the neighborhood is known for its perplexing land use.
In this little patch of the city, government officers and luxury apartment owners crave worldly success; terminal patients aspire to a hope of life; travelers expect their adventures. All inhabitants are driven by expectations or desires, and I look forwards to their encounters with purposelessness.
The "Purposelessness"
In this exhibition, without a designated entry, exit, or viewing route, the viewers can fall into any emotional experiences: bewilderment, anxiety, relaxation, agitation, or mindfulness… not imbued by the exhibition but induced by their intuitive responses to the purposelessness.
The materialization, especially the scaffolding and sheer metal mesh, is to construct a sense of impermanence as if the architecture that could disappear at any moment. Also, the transparent superposed sheers create a muffled cast of fog obstructing the view.
