News Conference Scene

Director of Gallery, Luo Yiping

Jonathan Watkins (UK)

Jiang Jiehong (China)

Susan Philipsz

The theme exhibition of the 4th Guangzhou Triennial will run from September 28th to December 16th, 2012. Named The Unseen, the theme of this exhibition is straightforward despite its suggestion of obscurity. Its title, a simple term with easy access, is a point of departure for a vast range of possible meanings that touch on the complexity of ways of seeing, blindness and envisaging, especially with respect to visual art. The Unseen, focusing our attention on the invisible, or even the uncertainties of their existence, by no means precludes the visible. In Chinese, it can be translated as jian suo wei jian, literally, ‘to see the unseen’. The Unseen refers to the limitations of our sensory organs, the narrow confines of human perception on the one hand; on the other, paradoxically, it gives rise to observations that transcend familiar experience.
 
The Unseen is apprehended as a visual journey through both space and time. Concerning the former, it might refer to distance – something perhaps light years away or, simply, hidden behind a wall – or that which is veiled, wrapped, or confined. It can signify slippage between different political and cultural realms, so that what is easily seen in our milieu is unseen in others, and vice versa. In order to pursue the Unseen, we are obliged to communicate through cultural diversity, whereby politics, class, race, and identity can be reinterpreted or misinterpreted, with accuracy lost in translation. Furthermore, it asserts a present tense and provides instant space for imagination. Neither the past nor the future presents itself in reality, and so each generation is bounded by its own Unseen.

The Unseen has been appropriated to create a variety of versions of history, which lead to different ideological, moral and cultural propositions, simultaneously to shape anticipation and anxiety with respect to the future. Beyond our grasp of the material world, the Unseen resides in impulses that resist representation, in realms of desire. For those with a spiritual tendency, towards ‘the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen’, it constitutes faith in an infinity beyond the finite, in an eternity beyond the ephemeral.

The Unseen has wide appeal, embracing and belonging to each of us. The exhibition provides a space for reflection, visually-led thinking, practice and reading, a platform to be shared by artists and others for creative dialogue around sustainable, extendable and transformable philosophical positions. It is about what we know and about the unknown; it is about our belief, the rationale of incredulity, and the assurance of hope.

Five Thinking Dimensions of “the Unseen”
 
The curators have set up the following five dimensions of thinking for the triennial: Unseen Object, Unseen Event, Unseen Faith, Unseen Realm and Unseen Change.
 
Unseen Object

It refers to the object that is veiled, wrapped, confined, or restricted. This Unseen, which implies both concrete unseen objects and uncertainties of their existence, could be either temporary or permanent.

Unseen Event
It is consisted of the event that could not be observed directly through human visual organs. Concerning the time dimension, Unseen Event asserts a present tense, or say, an imagination of the present time. And each era is bounded by its own Unseen. The Unseen creates different versions of history, which lead to various ideological, moral and cultural orientations. But at the same time the Unseen triggers anticipation and anxiety for the “unseen” future.

Unseen Faith

This Unseen ranges from potential motivation, to will, desire, spirit and power that have not been presented by visible media, or could be, something beyond our grasp of the three-dimensional space that “exists” in imagination and cognition. This possibility empowers the Unseen to become “faith” theologically, making it the truth for the seeable and evidence for the unseeable.

Unseen Realm

Concerning the space dimension, The Unseen can signify slippage between different political and cultural realms. All kinds of Unseen exist under different social backgrounds. What is easily seen in our milieu is unseen in others, and vice versa. Concerning the time dimension, a question is raised: where will our lives be led to by urbanization? In order to pursue the Unseen, we are obliged to communicate through cultural diversity, whereby politics, class, race, and identity can be reinterpreted or misinterpreted, with accuracy lost in translation.
 
Unseen Change

The Unseen Change strides time and space to discuss the core anxiety of Unusual City, simultaneously supplementing and abstracting the above four point of views, and to emphasize a theme, which assets more freedom and tension. These five dimensions of thinking are not isolated. The former three parts explore The Unseen with a universal meaning, while the latter two parts echo the Unusual Experience in the Unusual City. The five dimensions of thinking aim to provide a possibility of extension and expansion in thinking rather than delimitate it.

Source: 99 Art