28.04.2023
Poesie of Illusions Exhibition Space Design
"Poesie of Illusions" Art Exhibition in the 13th Beijing International Film Festival's New Movement Unit, will be held from April 20th to May 15th at the UCCA Lab in Beijing's 798 Art District. The exhibition and related art activities were initiated by Ms. Tan Zhuo, and curated by Dr. Shen Qilan. The exhibition space design was done by Mr. Yoshihiko Seki from KiKi ARCHi. "Poesie of Illusions" will showcase the works of artists Antoni Muntadas, Liang Shaoji, Raoul Marks, Shirazeh Houshiary, Song Dong, Ulay, and Yang Fudong.
"Opening the boundaries of thought through images is the poetry of both visual and spiritual minds." The exhibition space design is based on the theme proposed by the curator, starting with the viewing route and using the original environment of the site's 4 m - 8 m ceiling height. Unlike typically enclosed display spaces, KiKi ARCHi gives each of the 12 viewing spaces "independence", "fluxion", and "communicability" through restrained and lightweight methods while satisfying the presentation conditions of different artworks.
On the east and west sides of the exhibition space, KiKi ARCHi utilizes the original wall structure to set up four relatively regular viewing spaces with larger volumes. While the central area presents eight parallel and staggered viewing boxes along a "bridge". These spaces, ranging from 3 m - 4 m in height and 3.6 m² - 100 m² in size, are independent but interconnected. Walking among them, the door, window, low wall, corridor, and other elements under the single-side lighting, allow people's thoughts to grow and climb naturally, and also provide a diversified and popular path for art transmission.
Film production often uses "parallel montage" to interweave plots to reveal a unified theme. The appearance of the "bridge" in the exhibition space cleverly responds to this theory. It enables different boxes and the viewing experiences offered by the works to be reviewed and observed along the central route, allowing the audience to see another dimension. Starting from the space of artist Shirazeh Houshiary, the bridge is nearly 40 m long, with a main road 1.5 m high and gradual slopes at both ends, while passing through some boxes.
During the walk, the audience can capture the halos of different artworks flowing out through the skylights on the top of the boxes. To some extent, these halos continue the artworks in a more abstract form into different spatial gradients. They flow, permeate, and intersect overhead, while the light band below the bridge blurs the external contours of the boxes, creating floating poetics that allows people to encounter moments of visual and spiritual contemplation and reverie. At this point, the "Poesie of Illusions" on and under the bridge is free to flow throughout the exhibition space. "The relationship between what we see and what we know has never been settled." As a carrier and supporter, the "exhibition space design" always spreads a silent emotional atmosphere. It should be open, divergent, and unobstructed, and rebuild the way of viewing at the intersection of time and space.
