Curator Xu Ziyi
The Chinese title of the exhibition “ 一电元 ” sounds like "the Garden of Eden" in Chinese (Yi Dian Yuan), aiming to highlight a sense of wordplay, pointing to the recent explorations by the artist Zhao Yiqian into "technology" and "digital preservation". Through the "language game" of Chinese and English, it echoes the “glitch” and “mass” between reference and mapping brought out in the creative process of "text – AI models – generated image – painting", thereby constructing a seemingly paradoxical but constantly effective new Eden along with the artwork.
" 一 "(Yi) means "the chosen ONE" in The Matrix, namely the protagonist Neo. In the Matrix, Neo is the remainder of iterative computation and also the collection of errors generated by the system's calculations. Each version of Neo seems to awaken or float outside the control of the Matrix but is actually part of the system's computation errors. Neo is both a collection of errors and the system's assimilation of computational errors. " 电 "(Dian) is affixed with the suffix "electro", which combines with existing things to indicate new "objects", while also reminding us that even under the hand-based artwork of painting, it is already a world of electronic and electric material existence distinct from the digital. " 元 "(Yuan) today easily evokes the "metaverse", a newly constructed world pointing to the future, but it uses " 元 ", a word with a sense of "origin", just like the place of origin in a narrative - Eden.
Faced with a large amount of machine-generated visuals today, what attracts 9Zhao Yiqian is the bugs in them. In the artist's treatment, through the actions of " text – AI models – generated image – painting ", a new object of work is finally established. From "generated image" to painting, what more does painting give us from a given visual experience? Or if the exploration of schemas can be suspended, what else can painting explore? If we attempt to continue this series of questions, we cannot just stop at the "generated image" step. This is also why I believe that Yiqian regards this entire feedback loop as the object of work. This object is not only the "generated image" step, but also its associated feedback loop of control theory pointing to "input" and "output". In this feedback loop, Yiqian magnifies the "error" part. For example, in the side face image of "ADAM", the structure from the chin to the neck is fuzzy, which is significantly different from Yiqian's previous works of detailed architectural space and human figure depiction. The romanticized treatment of these "errors" seems more like constructing an escape route for a control theory algorithmic world. However, can art discuss technology? Martin Heidegger suggests that we should rethink "technē" through art. In ancient Greek, "technē" simultaneously refers to what we today call technology and art. The use of "machine-generated visuals" technology seems to exacerbate signs of "technology becoming the primary medium of art". Similarly facing this question, Yiqian brings back the image of Eden, a paradise before humanity's departure, or at the summoning of a moment of "undifferentiated", which is an era when technology and art are undifferentiated, when subjects and backgrounds are undifferentiated, and when people can still “Ge Wu”(investigating the phenomena of nature)... Although this "undifferentiated" has mostly turned into a projection of ideals, just like what Eden carries, this imagination of the primitive may have to some extent proved the need for another possibility when facing the current situation. Technology company technocrats have become opinion leaders on social media, a familiar scene for us today. In reflecting on the cyberpunk science fiction works that critique technological optimism, our future is the one imagined by technocratic technocrats, monopolizing our future imagination. The "world" imagined by technology is actually transforming the "earth" truthfully. Perhaps it is not just a science fiction plot, but how to break away from the monopolized technological future imagination, by redirecting our gaze to the hidden potential of art, perhaps this is also why we can discuss technology from the perspective of art.
This exhibition in Shixiang Space presents a total of 18 new works painted between 2023 and 2024. In the "ADAM" series, we can observe two narrative lines: one is the deformation of characters, and the other is the replacement of background. The logical treatment of subject and background layers, the segmentation of events and contexts, and the segmentation of the present and history create a sense of absurd loneliness throughout the entire "ADAM" series. From the details of the paintings, the color effects of the sky, mountains, and sea appear as different layers of transparency in image processing, while also being influenced by the technique of Picasso’s chalk painting. The juxtaposition of layer logic and pastel drawing techniques hidden in the "ADAM" series also vaguely brings out clues from the "EVE" series, just as the metaphor of Eve coming from Adam's rib. We also continue this dual narrative in the exhibition structure. If the creative context revealed by the feedback loop of technology-induced "errors" reveals an escape route for cybernetics, then the clear Picasso style shown in the "EVE" series is a return line to a certain moment in art history. In the reflection on modernity and centrism, there seem to be two paths: one is to explore non-central experiences, which in the art world may already show signs of exhaustion; the other is to trace back to their origins, to find a way to reopen the discussion. The return line brought out by the "EVE" series may be the work on the latter.
Welcome to Zhao Yiqian's Garden of Eden.
April 9th, 2024