2019.02.02 – 2019.04.28
Bonner Kunstverein
Hochstadenring 22, 53119 Bonn, German
Guan Xiao:Products Farming
Working primarily in sculpture and video, Guan Xiao quotes from a broad range of cultural history that includes references to ancient Eastern and Western traditions as well as contemporary popular culture. Previous works have variously adopted The Statue of Liberty, Michelangelo’s ‘David’(c.1501) or the large stone statues or ‘moai’ on Easter Island as subjects.
‘agriculture or farming is the most sci-fi of things to me… The more that we think about the future, and manufacture the so-called civilized world, the farther we distance ourselves from nature, the land and ourselves.’
Guan Xiao, 2018
Products Farming will present new sculpture and video that collectively consider the state of contemporary production in relation to the natural world.
A series of 6 Root Sculptures refer to the ancient Chinese tradition of carving tree roots. Guan Xiao has described the twisted and gnarled roots as representing the ‘perfect object’, being both natural, shaped by their chemical composition and environmental conditions and a readymade. These anthropomorphous works employ such root forms to support other sculptural components including parasols, camera tripods, microphones, running shoes, electrical cable and coloured rope. In another group of works, entitled Things I Couldn’t Forget, objects that appear to be physical renderings of computer icons are threaded and bolted on top of one another to create totemic columns. A third body adopts the form of windows cluttered with photographs, executive toys and other objects. She has described her sculpture as ‘collage’ in which she tries ‘to connect two very different structures or materials’ in a way that ‘can break the fixed context of an object’.
The sculptural works will be exhibited together alongside a three-channel video work composed as a meditation on nostalgia and homesickness.
The exhibition is Guan Xiao’s first institutional solo exhibition in Germany. It is funded by Kunststiftung NRW with additional support from Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler, Berlin and Antenna Space, Shanghai. The exhibition opening is sponsored by Reverchon.
Installation Views
Artworks
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Guan Xiao, Just a Normal Day, 2019
three – channel video, color, sound
26’35”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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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, Chicken House, 2019
pigmented brass, dyeing fiberglass, elm, universal screwdriver
99 x 81 x 88 cm
2019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