Dust is Dust installation (2008) by Wang Yuyang

I just posted some pictures of the gallery to flickr. Unfortunately, it’s a very small space and the installation uses reduced lighting, and these two factors show up the shortcomings of my camera, but the pictures give a flavour of what we have here.

I was thinking about the show the other day, and why I like it so much. I usually profess to prefer more socially committed work, or work which has some sort interaction for the viewer or direct effect, and this would appear not to have such if you looked at it superficially. However, through talking to the artist (via interpreter, obviously) and thinking about his work’s methods, I’ve come to appreciate the meaning and significance of these works more and more, and how these actually have as much effect in their way as the kind of work I usually go for.

The pursuit of truth is a very strong and emotive subject, and one which is probably common to all of us in some shape or form. Closely allied with truth would be understanding, one step towards truth. The means we take in the pursuit of truth and understanding vary massively – this show and some of the artist’s other pieces investigate the place science and technology take in the formation of ‘truths’ through the facilitation of understanding. Their relationship is scrutinised by the artist and in the pieces is opened up to analysis in itself by the viewer, potentially clarifying the constructions in play.

A corollary of this activity would be that the artist’s very actions are just adding a further layer of complexity to the process. Analysis could go on forever, but at some point we stop, take stock and report on what it is that we have found. Written into that report is the awareness that this is very much a provisional state. This is an artificial, man-made point and one which is as much a construction as any in the subject matter.

Artificial Moon (2007) by Wang Yuyang