This week, NYU Shanghai’s Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) unveiled a new exhibition titled We the singular in multiple ghosts. I the multiple as parts of the whole. Presented by artists Yu Ji, Dong Longyue, and Wang Xiaofu, the exhibition explores the space between reality and fiction, storytelling, the body, light, and shadow.
The exhibition is the third of the ICA’s four-part artistic research series, Another Knowledge is Possible (2021-2024). While Another Knowledge is Possible intends to examine different types of knowledge that are often omitted by traditional narratives, this exhibition presents art as an exploration of ways of knowing. The artists question — and ask the audience to question — what knowledge we are attempting to create when making or viewing art.
A visitor looking at Untitled No. 1, a piece by Yu Ji.
“While we can't explore all alternative ways of knowing,” said curator Michelle Hyun, “one possibility that felt urgent, and easily overlooked in the broader project [of] recuperating ‘other’ knowledges, is the fundamental premise of seeking meaning, or the interpretation of sensory experiences and signs (images, sounds, etc.) itself. One can and does know things, through sensory perception, intuition, etc., without it necessarily being "about" something else.”
“The exhibition is not organized by a dominant concept, with no strong point of view to export, and the authorship of our creativity is vague,” explained artist Wang Xiaofu. “For this exhibition, there isn’t a strict way to engage.”
Like the spectral space that lingers between reality and fiction that the exhibition explores, the mediums used vary wildly, with sketches, texts, sculptures, videos, and performance pieces. The audience, too, is invited to participate in the art, with interactive pieces included in the exhibition.
Video still from 3, by Yu Ji, Dong Longyue, and Wang Xiaofu.
As they first enter the exhibition, viewers encounter a series of screenprints, layered with collages of charcoal sketches, photos, and texts. Audio from 3, a video and audio piece created by artists Yu Ji, Dong Longyue, and Wang Xiaofu, echoes throughout the exhibition space.
The video plays out scenes of the three artists in a construction space, with images occasionally superimposed on top of each other. Clanking sounds immerse the viewer in the scenes of this space — and echo as the viewers walk through the rest of the exhibition.
A detail of A Statement of a Table, by Yu Ji, Dong Longyue, and Wang Xiaofu.
Several of the pieces invite visitors to interact with the art. An illuminated acrylic box entitled Ɛ allows viewers to select panels of text and place them onto the box, allowing them to read excerpts from a novel written by the three artists. Another piece, a table covered with small pieces of art ‘in progress’ evokes a sense of a shared artist workspace and invites the viewers to flip through the pages of the story the artists wrote.
“I hope that some viewers can enjoy reading the novel and unlock the exhibition as if they had been given the key to the mysteries,” said Wang Xiaofu. “In this space, sometimes there are hidden things, and [we] project situations into each other’s stories,” added Dong Longyue. “The space connected by this inner relationship needs to be constructed by the audience themselves through reading.”
A detail of If on a Winter’s Night, by Yu Ji.
Descending into the lower level, viewers are plunged into darkness, with the only light coming from the pieces themselves. Three projectors cast images upon pieces made of mottled glass and mirror.
A lone statue, Flesh in Stone - Rema Rema 2202, portraying a half-formed human body, stands in the midst of the projections. A bright light illuminates the piece, drawing the viewer’s eye in the otherwise shadowed room. The sculpture, too, casts a dramatic shadow under the harsh light.
Video still from Seabed as Sandground, Sunken as Stranded, by Dong Longyue.
The exhibition continues beyond just the pieces in the space. On November 11, Dong Longyue and Wang Xiaofu will hold a public performance titled “Parallax,” and a conversation with the artists will be held on October 21 at 2:00 p.m. Yu Ji, Dong Longyue, and Wang Xiaofu will discuss the collaborative process that went into creating We the singular in multiple ghosts. I the multiple as parts of the whole.
Wang said that the process of creating art together has created a lifelong bond between the artists. “Friends working together on a specific thing is probably a life I particularly aspire to,” she said. “Especially when our main mediums of practice are very different, and in this project we all tried new things together..Through this experience, I found richer sides of my friends.”
We the singular in multiple ghosts. I the multiple as parts of the whole. will be open until January 6th, 2024. The exhibition is open to the public Tuesday to Saturday, from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. A complete list of events can be found on the ICA’s fall calendar.