Output details

geographies2

A body of print works presented in the exhibition ‘geographies2’, Guang-Shi-Yu-Guang (Light that Matters) Gallery, 798 Arts District, Dahsanzi, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China, 18 May – 17 June 2013;

Individual artefact/s solely produced as part of a group exhibition, with curatorial oversight

Continuing investigations begun in the recent print folio ‘geographies1’, and longer-standing research focused on Italo Calvino’s ‘Invisible Cities’, where alternative configurations of urban experience correspond to psychological states, this work questioned the notional objectivity of conventional maps, investigating the relationship between the symbolic representations used in maps, and the construction of narrative.

The method included investigation of the representation of notionally objective ‘reality’ through graphic idioms deployed in maps, combined with notations of past events or memories, to produce a body of work mapping experience and time, in contrast to conventional topographical mapping. The theoretical context included Broton, Harley and Woodward, and the understanding of maps as metaphors for experience.

The invitation (from Professor Xu Zhong Ou, Head of CAFA City Design School, Beijing) to exhibit this work in Guang-Shi-Yu-Guang Gallery, was based on long-standing collaboration with the leading Chinese cultural historian Wang Qijun, and predicated on the development of deeper understanding in China of western creativity and fostering practice-based research. The exhibition ‘geographies2’, which I co-curated, was a 3-man show, also featuring the work of Professor Naren Barfield (Pro-Rector Academic, Royal College of Art) and Professor Allan Walker (Head of Arts & Media, University of Salford).

The exhibition was supported by: CAFA City Design School; Royal College of Art; University of Salford; 2bstudios; Eyecon Digital Print Publishing Unit; and was very well-received, being featured in online and print media, and was extended for 2 weeks beyond its original run. My work was also acquired for CAFA’s permanent collection. Subsequent outcomes included: invitation to lecture at CAFA City Design School on creative practice and practice-based research; invitation to exhibit at the Today Art Museum in Beijing; invitation to exhibit at Tsinghua University; an article on my practice and research in ‘Artists’ (Chinese Journal, due for publication in Nov/Dec 2013 edition).