Organized by independent curator Leng Lin, this exhibition showcases both emerging and established artists, the exhibition explores process-oriented video art. Each of the seven artists represented (Zhao Bandi, Song Dong, QiQin Ga, Huang Kui, Zhang Qin, He Yunchang, and Qiu Zhijie) explore the dynamics of repetition. One of the highlights of the exhibition is Zhao Bandi’s Bandi 2008, a single-channel video in which Bandi rehearses the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics in 2008. The video begins with the city’s celebration of the announcement that the games will take place in Beijing. One man is so overcome with excitement that he sets out with a makeshift torch in hand and stuffed panda bear on his back, running through the streets and countryside, “cutting across the tunnel of time and space” until he reaches 2008. During his trek, screaming children join Bandi, and as he enters his final destination, a stadium in Bern, Switzerland he has a crowd of enthusiastic supporters in tow. As such, Bandi’s individual practice becomes an experiment in social performance. The effect that Bandi’s actions has on these individuals parallels the video’s effect on viewers. The work initially draws viewers in with its humor, but compels them consider the artifices of social performance and national identity. (Kristin Brockman)
Through January 19 at Walsh Gallery, 118 North Peoria, 2nd floor.
