Thing World–International Triennial of New Media Art 2014

by+Yi+Mei

About 2，500 years ago， Chi- nese philosopher Chuang Tzu（369 – 286B.C.） proposed in his On the Equality of Things that despite great diversity， all things in the world including human character and feelings were the same and equal. Today， Western academia has begun discussing“decentering the human” and considering the equality of the world from the aspect of philosophy. The amazingly similar philosophical thoughts after historical transmigration are what “Thing World – International Triennial of New Media Art 2014”chooses to address.

On June 10， 2014， “Thing World –International Triennial of New Media Art 2014” opened at the National Art Museum of China， displaying 58 works of new media from 22 countries and introducing new developments in international media art to spectators.

Since ancient times， people have invariably sought to better know the world through the perception of things， hoping for a better understanding of themselves. To “look at things” requires both thought and vision. The way a “thing” is perceived crystallizes its essence while clarifying the minds of viewers. The theme of the exhibition intends to probe the essence of things from their appearances and arouse thinking about attributes of things as well as the meaning of life. The exhibition is comprised of three components： Monologue： Ding An Sich， Dialogue： Ding to Thing and Ensemble： Parliament of Things. These three sections multi-dimensionally demonstrate the relationship between diverse ecological conditions and multiple life forms， human and natural substances， and the relationship between all things.

New media art literally indicates that the media of the artistic work differ from traditional art forms like painting and sculpture， instead opting for physical， chemical， electric and mechanical materials such as generators， metallic halogen lamps， CPU boards and motors as well as photonic crystals and computer software.

To curator Zhang Ga， new media art is not only about new materials. “New media art is first and foremost meant to re-imagine subjectivity beyond the human subject，”opines Zhang， who also serves as associate professor at Parsons The New School for Design in New York. “The art intends to envisage a new order of things in the premise of ‘resemblance and ‘similitudeof the ‘original one that is constitutive of physical being， technical being and human being in equal bearing – to give voices to new subjects of a multitude including， as Graham Harman would suggest， oranges， kettles， cows， rocks and circuit boards， as places of signification and production of meaning， to remap political landscapes beyond the limits of the geo-politics in order to incorporate ecology and cosmology as indispensable concerns of artistic activity.”

For example， Breath-Finance Office by Chinese artist Wang Yuyang seems like a normal office at first glance， but a closer inspection reveals that the items in the office regularly open and close as if alive and breathing. According to Wang， the work intends to grant objects the right to demonstrate and prove their existence.

“Not only does the ‘new in ‘New Media Art indicate the regeneration of media and technologies from their instrumental utility， more importantly， with the expansion of language of new media， artists are able to rethink cultural issues with new perspectives，” remarks Fan Dian， director of the National Art Museum of China. He believes it is greatly important that these inquiries and discussions be presented as they develop so that the public can gain insight into the innovative potential inspired by the synergy of art and technology. The Triennial series at the same time intends to advance the development of Chinese art in the discipline of new media.