“The Secret Collection of Yüan Meng Ch'ien" island6 Art Collective
“I see… a cage. There is life, but it is trapped, trapped in a dark enclosure… It tries, but cannot escape...” “I see a howling dog that becomes king. I see a doll that dances with broken limbs. I see countless staring eyes. I see clouds of ravenous butterflies of a thousand colors. I see pulsating lights. I see fear. I see pain, strife and yearning as deep as an abyss.”
40 years on, Yüan Meng Ch'ien, the sole heir to his family’s vast fortune, is still haunted by his ill-fated sojourn to the spirit world. Terrified of losing his life and wealth to unnamed, unseen forces of evil, he surrounds himself with the most bizarre talismans, trinkets and thingamajigs. Curios, knick-knacks, gadgets and gizmos, specimens of flora and fauna both alive and dead, crowd the rooms of his mansion and spill into the hallways and living room. In 2012, through a peculiar fluke of fate, the island6 art collective inherited Yüan Meng Ch'ien’s breath-taking, jaw-dropping collection of oddities. In a never-before-exhibited display, island6 made plans to present "island of Oddities: The Yüan Meng Ch'ien Collection" in July. However, just before the "island of Oddities" show was due to launch on Friday, 13th July 2012, the island6 art collective was faced with strange and never-before-encountered problems. Two crates of the collection were inexplicably held up at customs. Once-sturdy frames cracked. A trusty computer crashed. Two artworks fell off the wall. An important supplier fell ill. Is it pure coincidence or something foreboding? Modern, progressive-minded people - an electronic art collective, no less - should not believe in jinxes, hexes and the like. And yet..
Still, a series of events have led the collective to give the semi-aborted show a second go. The chief event being the unearthing of another chest of oddities in the attic of Yüan's brooding mansion by a member of the City Council. This latest collection, containing all manner of depravities, gives us yet another glimpse into the twisted mind of an extremely disturbed individual. And so, in the darker sequel to "island of Oddities", island6 presents "The Secret Collection of Yüan Meng Ch'ien", where Liu Dao continues to showcase its signature fusion of traditional Chinese paper cutting, state-of-the-art LEDs, photography and video, as well as brand-new sculptural pieces. Behind whispers, closed doors and shuttered windows, we are collectively invited to plumb the depths of our perversions, obsessions and hidden desires.
Dates: From September 5th to October 31st 2012 Vernissage: September 5th, 4-7pm Curation: Loo Ching Ling , Jack Mur, Katharina Droste Scenographer: Jean Le Guyader Research: Nicolas Grefenstette, Dave Ahern, Alexia Kalteis Art Direction: Thomas Charvériat Coordination: Yeung Sin Ching , Simon Zhan, Fabrice Amzel Venue: island6 Shanghai, 2F, Bldg 6, 50 Moganshan Rd, Shanghai Artists: The Liu Dao Art Collective
Icelandic nature is prominent in Eliasson's work, and his artistic relationship with it often involves collection or documentation that is scientific in tone. The country becomes a sensory laboratory where ideas can be developed and evolved into art, as evidenced in the multiple photographic series that would seem to witness a near compulsive need for collecting.
TAKA ISHII GALLERY, Tokyo presents NOBUYOSHI ARAKI - EroReal
7 June - 27 July 2013
Magazine pin-ups aren't interesting, are they? Especially now that they're shot digitally, they lack eroticism. They're doing it wrong. That's why I had to come in. It's not about an ambiance or concept; it's about being real. Not realism, but real?ero-real. I have to say it straight. It's not about nudity; clothed subjects can be erotic.
The approach, London presents JACK LAVENDER - Dreams Chunky
6 June - 28 July 2013
Jack Lavender draws from a world of mass-produced objects, transforming their singular banality through their composition within such structures as grids and metal armatures. Sitting between the disciplines of painting, sculpture and collage, Lavender brings different elements together to create a new entity.
