Wood panel, poly-putty base, paint
164 (L) x 120 (W) x 7.5 (D) cm
Guan Xiao
BIOGRAPHY
Guan Xiao (b. 1983, Chongqing, China) currently lives and works in Beijing. Guan takes a playful approach to her sculpture, video, and installation artworks. She creates a visual language that breaks through historical and cultural boundaries by establishing diverse relationships between a variety of rich materials, using collage to fuse classical art language with industrial manufacturing civilization to build a unique form of contemporary art. She often juxtaposes physical objects – such as industrial products and cultural artifacts – alongside images amassed from scrolling through the infinite universe of desktop and laptop screens. Her works generate cohesive textures between binaries sourced from contrasting and even conflicting worlds, and fuse old and modern, digital and analogue, and natural and artificial modes. Attuned to both possibilities and looming hazards, Guan Xiao’s prescient and fascinating arrangements critique the technological thrust of the present moment while providing indelible visions of our dislocated, rapidly approaching future.
Guan Xiao has been the subject of solo and group exhibitions at important institutions worldwide including Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen, Denmark (2022); Leeum Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea (2022); The 34th Bienal de São Paulo: Though It’s Dark, Still I Sing, São Paulo, Brazil (2021); X Museum Triennial 1st Edition: How Do We Begin?, X Museum, Beijing, China (2020); Bonner Kunstverein, Bonn, Germany (Solo, 2019); Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, Missouri, US (Solo, 2019); Kunsthalle Winterthur, Winterthur, Switzerland (Solo, 2018); The 57th Venice Biennal: Viva Arte Viva, Venice, Italy (2017); Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume, Paris, France (Solo, 2016); Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), London, UK (Solo, 2016); The 13th Lyon Biennal: La vie moderne, Lyon, France (2015); New Museum Triennial: Surround Audience, New Museum, New York, US (2015) and among others. Her work is in the permanent collections of institutions, such as the Grand Duke Jean Museum of Modern Art (MUDAM), Luxembourg; the Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany; Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland; Julia Stoschek Collection, Düsseldorf, Germany; Boros Collection, Berlin, Germany; Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin, Italy; K11 Art Foundation, Hong Kong, China; Long Museum, Shanghai, China; New Century Art Foundation, Beijing, China and among others.
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Guan Xiao, Who Lit the Sun? The Darkness, 2022
作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Nails, Rocks, Long Coastline, 2022
Wood panel, poly-putty base, paint
164 (L) x 120 (W) x 7.5 (D) cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Daggers, 2022
Bronze, aluminium alloy, acrylic color, motorcycle pedals
98 x 46 x 30 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Attack001, 2022
Brass, burned acrylic color, synthetic feather
45 x 30 x 25 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Attack002, 2022
Brass, burned acrylic color, synthetic feather
45 x 30 x 25 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Kikachick Is Stepping towards the Snow-Covered Stage, while A Faint Tinge of Pink Reflected from the Lights under the Deep Blue Dusk Is Shimmering on Its Icy Surface., 2021
Brass, burnt acrylic color, tatami, lacquer, dry straws, gas tank cap
180 x 470 x 380 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Pavilion, 2021
Stainless steel, ceramic, hemp rope, solar light
172 x 120 x 40 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Dark Eyes as Dark as the Eyes, 2021
Stainless steel, ceramic
70 x 108 x 23 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Once, A Dragonfly, 2021
Brass, burnt acrylic color, hemp rope, steel
97 x 105 x 70 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Mushroom, 2021
Brass, stainless steel, burnt acrylic color
94 x 47 x 29 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Bud, 2021
Brass, stainless steel, burnt acrylic color
116 x 45 x 45 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Lotus Leaf, 2021
Stainless steel and aluminum
100 x 180 x 70 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Lotus Leaf, 2021
Stainless steel and aluminum
100 x 180 x 70 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Mushroom, 2021
Brass, stainless steel, burned acrylic color
46 x 70 x 36 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Bud, 2021
Brass, stainless steel, burned acrylic color
22 x 67 x 31 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Once, A Dragonfly, 2021
Brass, burnt acrylic color, hemp
44 x 56 x 70 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Kikachick Is Stepping towards the Snow-Covered Stage, while A Faint Tinge of Pink Reflected from the Lights under the Deep Blue Dusk Is Shimmering on Its Icy Surface., 2021
Brass, burnt acrylic color, tatami, lacquer, dry straws, gas tank cap
180 x 470 x 380 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Winter Eyes Iced, 2021
Rim, ceramic
108 × 78 × 23 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Strawberry Eyes, 2021
Rim, ceramic
108 x 78 x 23 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Egg, aged bruise, 2021
Ceramic
Dimensions variable作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Lulubird Walked Out of Delicatessen Bumped into A Swarm of Buzzing., 2020
Brass, pigmented brass, acrylic paint, dried flower, rope
root:172 x 60 x 55 cm
cap:52 x 44 x 58 cm
8 Big birds:41 x 22 x 6 cm for each
8 Small birds:25 x 14 x 4cm for each
The moon is hanging in the sky, the weather is pleasant. When looking from under a shadow cast by the four-story building on the other side, the moon looks a bit clearer and the sky a bit bluer than from directly under the sun. A gentle breeze blows by, the air is infused with the smell of the saguaro’s pollen. This is their flowering season; if it rains, the smell will be much stronger, then the whole town will be as if immersed in a barrel of pollen liquor, surrounded by humid air, emitting warm steam and fermenting slowly…But it has not rained for a long, long time. The newly opened shop no longer sells umbrellas. Every day is dryer than the day before.作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Lulubird slowly dipped her tongue into the ice cream, waited until it started buzzing., 2020
Brass, pigmented brass, acrylic paint, dried flower, rope
Root: 172 x 60 x 55 cm/cap: 52 x 44 x 58 cm
Big birds: 41 x 22 x 6cm x 8/Small birds: 25 x 14 x 4 cm x 8作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Game Boy, 2020
Pigmented Bronze, Porcelain, Motorcycle Parts, Dried Flowers
57 x 33 x 163 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, You Have to Have EYES, 2020
Rim, Ceramic
108 × 78 × 23 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Pharmacist, 2020
Pigmented Brass, Motorcycle Parts, Artificial Flowers
50 x 50 x 186 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Messenger (Yellow) , 2020
Pigmented Bronze, Lacquer, Porcelain, Motorcycle Parts, Dried Flowers
90 x 40 x 220 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Catcher, 2020
Pigmented Bronze, Motorcycle Parts
50 x 33 x 180 cm
Dew drops slide down, silently, and leaves waver. Fluffy grasses also quiver, gently.
Dust starts to fly up from the ground. Pollens are everywhere. Plants try very hard to launch their seeds high up into the sky. Hairs and spores float around in the air…
Butterflies flap their wings. Crustaceans and arthropod insects waggle their tentacles. Rattlesnakes rattle their tails. Frogs swiftly wind up their legs. Antelopes stretch out their muscular legs to run and leap… Under the backdrop of a microworld, body movements seem rough and even a bit clumsy. Like a spoon churning in the sea of molecules, it constantly cuts the world apart. It is as dense as the bullets shot from a heavy machine gun into a serene lake. The irresistible sense of beauty is instantly shielded, like sound to be devoured by the water: a passivated single-channel tranquility, leaving a world teeming with clues.
However, the catcher hops within the field so skillfully that it perfectly avoids each and every crack. As a matter of fact, rather than hopping, it’s more like a ball hit back and forth, attached to a moving surface and trying its best to cooperate as if for the sake of soothing them… It fluctuates along with the wavy lines, vibrates the polylines, drops and rises the parabola… Beyond the moving part, it’s absolute stillness. In other words, it moves in a static manner. Its body becomes a bag to collect smells. It will work as long as it’s open.作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Petting-Er, 2020
Pigmented bronze, motorcycle parts, artificial flowers, ropes, spirals
65 x 30 x 165 cm
He always wakes up in the middle of the night. The pub downstairs, despite its flat business, is open as always. The blue neon lights adorn his room as fancy as the sea. At such moments, he’d install one of his mechanical arms, get out of bed, open the refrigerator and take a swig of KT52. He’s never used to its weird taste. “Ew”, he grimaces and goes to the bathroom.
The tub is full of water, which looks slightly sparkling in the darkness. Like usual, he sits down by the tub, stretching out his silvery metal arm to fumble in the water. After a while he picks up a shimmering blue ball. He dries the ball carefully with a towel, takes it to the bed, spin in, and embrace the dreamland again with the ball in his arm.作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Storm Rider, 2020
Pigmented bronze, motorcycle parts, artificial flowers
45 x 45 x 200 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Night Watcher, 2020
Pigmented bronze, motorcycle parts, oil-paper umbrella
70 x 33 x 138 cm
“The weather is dry and so are things,
Watch out and not to kindle them!”
Bang, bang, bang.
It is long street that is in front of the long street. And it is long street that is behind the long street.
When the white crane takes a stride, it swings back and forth. Tonight is a night without moonlight.作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Hazel, 2020
Pigmented bronze, porcelain, motorcycle parts, dried flowers
110 x 41 x 150 cm
It always spins like this, at a uniform and high speed and accompanied by a low humming. The sound keeps spreading and accumulating as quantity starts to push it to roll. Day after day.
Little by little, the trajectory cuts the sound off, leading to two pieces of round ground.
It rolls, to the end of the ground. There’s no peers or rivals. Day after day.
Eventually the round grounds start to spin, respectively. No longer are they a symbiont. Instead, they are three pals. One day, the ground pauses, so transiently that it’s almost undetectable. Instantly, it falls into the crack of uniform time, tumbling out of the edge which seems would roll forever. Falling, down and down.
Until one day it keeps moving on in a linear manner and the gravitation pulls (draws) out the soles.作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Messenger, 2020
Pigmented bronze, Lacquer, porcelain, motorcycle parts, dried flowers
110 x 41 x 185 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Old Eggs and the Catcher, 2020
Pigmented Bronze
#:117×38×132 cm
Egg1: 49×40×37 cm
Egg2: 28×27×37 cm
Egg3: 28×28×37 cm
Egg4: 24×28×20 cm
Egg5: 13×13×17 cm
Egg6: 18×20×17 cm
Egg7: 16×16×20 cm
Egg8: 26×19×21 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Bees, Burn, A Drop of Frozen Flames, 2020
Wood panel, poly – putty base, acrylic color
100 x 140 x 7 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Fur in the fireplace, Cracking, Crackled, 2020
Wood panel, poly-putty base, acrylic color
100 x 140 x 7 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Puddle, Moon, Shoelace, 2020
Wood panel, poly-putty base, acrylic color
140 x 118 x 7.5 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Mole, Wound, Whistle, 2020
Wood panel, poly-putty base, acrylic color
117 x 120 x 7.5 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Run, Bruise, Dust, 2020
Wood panel, poly – putty base, paint
86 x 120 x 7.5 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Dew, Firefly, Days, 2020
Wood panel, poly-putty base, paint
130 x 117 x 7.5 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Sesame, Keyhole, Sunset, 2020
Wood panel, poly-putty base, paint
120 x 120 x 7.5 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Gasp, Flushing, Dirt, 2020
Wood panel, poly-putty base, paint
164 x 120 x 7.5 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Tongue, Cork, Fog, 2020
Wood panel, poly-putty base, paint
90 x 90 x 7.5 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Blade, Eclipses, Lake, 2020
Wood panel, poly-putty base, paint
160 x 130 x 7.5 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Red, Candle, Red Candle, 2020
Wood panel, poly – putty base, paint
120 x 120 x 7.5 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Lemon Pollen, 2019
Wood panel, poly-putty base, paint
153 x 120 x 8 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Morning Breeze, 2019
Wood panel, poly-putty base, paint
153 x 124 x 8 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, A Sinking Blue Field, 2019
pigmented brass, dyeing fiberglass, colored rope, motorcycle kneecap, LED lamp
151 x 60 x 90 cm
2019作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Chicken House, 2019
pigmented brass, dyeing fiberglass, elm, universal screwdriver
99 x 81 x 88 cm
2019作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, The Daughter of Tree, 2019
pigmented brass, paper umbrella, colored rope, fiberglass,silver foil, camera tripod
161 x 140 x 57 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Pond, 2019
pigmented brass, elm, 3D print, mobile phone straps
183 x 140 x 60 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Slow Wave, 2019
pigmented brass, dyeing fiberglass, carbon powder, colored rope, motorcycle kneecap, LED
lamp
159 x 88 x 57 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Tulip Model, 2019
pigmented brass, dyeing fiberglass, colored rope, colored fiberglass
99 x 81 x 50 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Things I Couldn’t Forget – Carved Stone Balls, Towie, Aberdeenshire, 2019
Dyeing Fiberglass,Spiral Wire, Stainless Steel Tube, KUPO 4-Way Ring Lock, Strap, Lead Block
Pipe: 270 cm | 106 1/3 in (overall height adjustable with cable)
Fiberglass Element: 60 cm diameter | 23 2/3 in diameter (each)作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Things I Couldn’t Forget – Basalt Bead, Metz, 2019
dyeing fiberglass,spiral wire, stainless steel tube, KUPO 4-way ring lock, strap, lead block
pipe: 270 cm | 106 1/3 in (overall height adjustable with cable)
fiberglass elements: 48 x 41 x 41 cm | 18 7/8 x 16 1/8 x 16 1/8 in (each)作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Things I Couldn’t Forget – Double Rings Belt Buckle, Milano, 2019
Dyeing Fiberglass,Spiral Wire, Stainless Steel Tube, KUPO 4-Way Ring Lock, Strap, Lead Block
Pipe: 270 cm | 106 1/3 in (overall height adjustable with cable)
Fiberglass Element: 145 x 75 x 25 cm | 57 x 29 1/2 x 9 7/8 in作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Things I Couldn’t Forget – Slate Axe Head, Illinois, United States, 2019
Dyeing Fiberglass,Spiral Wire, Stainless Steel Tube, KUPO 4-Way Ring Lock, Strap, Lead Block
Pipe: 270 cm | 106 1/3 in (overall height adjustable with cable)
Fiberglass Element: 21 x 32 x 8 cm | 8 1/4 x 12 1/2 x 3 1/8 in (each)作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Things I Couldn’t Forget – Nose Ornament, Quimbaya, Colombia, 2019
Dyeing Fiberglass,Spiral Wire, Stainless Steel Tube, KUPO 4-Way Ring Lock, Strap, Lead Block
Pipe: 270 cm | 106 1/3 in (overall height adjustable with cable)
Fiberglass Element: 44 x 116 x 5 cm | 17 1/3 x 45 2/3 x 2 in (each)作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Things I Couldn’t Forget – Slate Axe Double Head, Illinois, United States, 2019
Dyeing Fiberglass,Spiral Wire, Stainless Steel Tube, KUPO 4-Way Ring Lock, Strap, Lead Block
Pipe: 270 cm | 106 1/3 in (overall height adjustable with cable)
Fiberglass Element: 100 x 127 x 25 cm | 39 1/3 x 50 x 9 3/4 in作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Documentary of Agriculture: Gathering, 2019
printed Vinyl, C-stands, dyeing fiberglass, crystal resin, universal screwdriver, stainless steel stands, headlights, snow board, speakers
backdrop: 250 x 450 x 180 cm | 98 7/16 in x 177 5/32 x 70 7/8 in;
steel stands: 264 x 194 cm | 103 15/16 x 76 3/8 in;
head: 70 x 110 x 65 cm; 27 1/2 x 43 1/3 x 25 5/8 in;
5 resin pieces: 39.5 x 37 x 38 cm | 15 1/2 x 14 9/16 x 15 (each);
8 speakers variable dimensions作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Documentary of Agriculture: Breeding, 2019
printed Vinyl, C-stands, dyeing fiberglass, crystal resin, TV stands, speakers
backdrop: 250 x 450 x 180 cm; 98 1/2 x 177 1/4 x 70 3/4 in;
tv stand: 216 x 117 cm | 85 x 46 cm;
3 big lizards: 35 x 100 x 45 cm | 13 3/4 x 39 1/3 x 17 3/4 (each);
small lizard: 18 x 52 x 23 cm | 7 x 20 1/2 x 9;
5 resin pieces: 41 x 35 x 35 cm | 16 1/4 x 13 3/4 x 13 3/4 in (each)
2019作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Window – Soft Cheek, 2019
Elm, acrylic coloring, colored rope, dyeing fiberglass, 3D print, perpetual motion toy, LED lamp
230 x 180 x 38.5 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Windows – Wheat Field, 2019
Elm, acrylic coloring, colored rope, dyeing fiberglass, 3D print, perpetual motion toy, LED lamp
230 x 180 x 38.5 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Windows – Smoke in the Sunset, 2019
Elm, acrylic coloring, colored rope, dyeing fiberglass, 3D print, perpetual motion toy, LED lamp
230 x 180 x 38.5 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Just a Normal Day, 2019
three – channel video, color, sound
26’35”作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Callimico, 2017
Rim, resin, acrylic paint, artificial flowers, camera tripod
100 x 70 x 64 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, REST IN, 2017
Brass, Burned Acrylic Color
140 x 63 x 277 cm; 143 x 102 x 205 cm; 112 x 98 x 151 cm
Part of Mutations, a High Line Commission.
Photo by Timothy Schenck. Courtesy of Friends of the High Line.作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Documentary: From National Geographic to BBC, 2015
Fiberglass, camera tripod, spot light, camera lens models, brass, digital print on vinyl, background stands
700 × 176 × 300 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Hidden Track, 2015
Three channel video, color, sound
4’52”作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, 4S Prequel, 2015
fiberglass, exhaust tail, exhaust pipe, digital print on vinyl, C-stands
900 × 286 × 300 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Blue Frog, 2015
Brass, rim
105 × 200 × 70 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Din Din Jaarhh, 2015
Brass, rim, colored rope, resin
115 × 40 × 78 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Five Walks through the Dusk, 2015
Brass, rim, selfie stick, tassels
47 × 75 × 245 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Action, 2014
Three channel video, color, sound
10’00”作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, The Documentary: Geocentric Puncture, 2012
Fiberglass, camera tripods, camera lens models, brass, digital print on vinyl, background stands, monitor
280 x 210 x 230 cm (3 pieces)作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Coconut Ice, 2019
Wooden panel, poly clay, lacquer
92 x 132 cm作品信息Information -
Guan Xiao, Imaginary evil, 2019
Wood panel, poly clay, lacquer
95 x 132 cm作品信息Information
Artworks
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Guan Xiao:8 stories
2020.05.16 – 2020.07.12
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Guan Xiao:Products Farming
2019.02.02 – 2019.04.28
Bonner Kunstverein
Hochstadenring 22, 53119 Bonn, German -
Transcendental Empathy: Cheng Xinyi, Dora Budor, Guan Xiao, Han Bing, Li Ming, Yu Honglei, Zhou Siwei, Huang Yuxing, Louisa Gagliardi, Liu Ding, Tang Dayao, Xu Qu
2018.09.29 – 2018.10.30
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Guan Xiao:Basic Logic
2015.10.09 – 2015.11.27
EXHIBITIONS
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Guan Xiao | “Cloud Walkers” @ Leeum Museum of Art
2022.09.02-2023.01.08
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Guan Xiao | “ON | OFF 2021: Carousel of Progress” @ He Art Museum
2022.02.04-2022.05.15
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Guan Xiao | “Wake Up in A House Called Season” @ Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler
2021.11.13-2022.01.15
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Guan Xiao | “Post-Capital: Art and the Economics of the Digital Age” @ Mudam Luxembourg
2021.10.02-2022.01.16
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Guan Xiao | “The 34th Bienal de São Paulo: Though it’s dark, still I sing” @ Bienal de São Paulo
2021.09.14-2021.12.05
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Guan Xiao | “The 58th October Salon-Belgrade Biennale 2021: The Dreamers” @ Park, Museum of Yugoslavia
2021.06.25-2021.08.22
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Guan Xiao | “X Museum Triennial 1st Edition: How Do We Begin?” @ X Museum
2020.05.30-2020.11.22
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Guan Xiao | “Metamorphosis Overdrive” @ Kunstmuseum St. Gallen
2020.03.07-2020.09.06
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Guan Xiao | “Fiction Archive Project” @ Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis
2019.01.18-2019.04.21
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Guan Xiao | “Mutations” @ High Line
2017.04.20-2018.03.30
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Guan Xiao | “Triennial: Surround Audience” @ New Museum
2015.02.25-2015.05.24
NEWS
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Rhythm Of Singularity | Lai Fei
To be honest, I don’t know how Guan Xiao does it. Looking at the ways she grabs and synthesizes materials in her work, it’s a bit like watching a contestant on The Brain1 microscopically examining a thousand goldfish. This isn’t a totally apt analogy, for today it’s nearly impossible to quantify—and to describe, even—just how much visual information we receive on a daily basis, via networks both visible and intangible. In this imploding society, everyone is caught in the constant flow of data, always susceptible to some form of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. What makes Guan’s work unique is her ability to maintain an extremely high level of concentration while pulling content and motifs from the massive material bank of the internet. In her process, she stays true to an internal worldview that is neither culturally specific nor general. In this dazzling world of data, she finds her own “basic logic” to connect forms. -
Everyday Transformations: Guan Xiao | Ying Tan
“In nova fert animus mutatas dicere formas corpora (I intend to speak of forms changed into new entities)”—Ovid, MetamorphosesOvid opens the Metamorphoses (AD 8) with an explicit statement of intent. In the 250 myths that follow, the Roman poet chronicles the subject of transformation—sometimes in an arbitrary fashion, sometimes retelling well-known Greek fables, and sometimes straying in other, unexpected directions. One of these stories, which entered our collective consciousness, can be seen at Rome’s Galleria Borghese, where Giovanni Bernini’s famous sculpture tells the tale of the nymph Daphne in mid-metamorphosis—her limbs turning into the twines of a laurel tree as she escapes from the love-stricken Apollo. Transformations occur in our everyday lives, too; we experience this in cinema, as film scores transport audiences sonically through visual imagery…
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Be Here, Now: An Introduction to an Introduction | Stephanie Bailey
“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there.”
—Rumi
In autumn, 2000, New Literary History published an issue asking if there was life after identity politics, to which Marlon B. Ross responded: “Which ‘identity?’ What ‘politics?’ ‘After’ when and where?” Ross’s point was this: Before “identity politics” there was already a politics of identity—and “wherever there is identity, there is a struggle for power.” In the same issue, Eric Lott located this struggle within a “politics of participatory discrepancy,” created when emergent social movements collide and collude to form a dissonant social fabric composed of rampant intersections and interactions between groups. It is in this fabric that Lott located a potential for a unified, anti-normative politics, in which no one is represented by one movement, and no movement is expected to represent the entirety of a human being.