History of Enchantment (Cold Sculpture), Shanghai
Chen Wei
陈维
Production date
2015
Object Detail
Media
stainless steel
Measurements
7 sculptures, dimensions variable
Notes
History of Enchantment (Cold Sculpture), Shanghai (2015) is part of a larger body of work that auses Rimbaud’s poetry as a visual metaphor, creating melancholy spaces of reflective surfaces and mirrored walls. Here, stainless steel forms, edges seemingly as sharp as blades, stand sentinel in the gallery like a monument to a lost civilisation. To enter Chen Wei’s world is to sleepwalk through a landscape in which everyday objects — clocks and calendars, letters and teacups, bar stools and coat stands — become mute symbols of the human condition. His work is both dream-like and dramatic, suggestive of theatrical performances from which the performers themselves are absent. Chen leaves all interpretations open –– his photographs of elaborately staged, cinematic tableaux and his theatrical sculptures alike invite viewers to inhabit his empty spaces, discovering a multitude of references that invite the construction of individual narratives. These are mysterious allegories for a society that has lost its way.
Accession number
2015.214