You Don't Know What You Don't Know 2
Zhou Xiaohu
周啸虎
Production date
2013
Object Detail
Media
silicone, clothing, video animation (colour, silent), video screen
Measurements
installed approximately 180 x 100 x 55 cm
video 1 min 30 sec
video 1 min 30 sec
Notes
Zhou Xiaohu's works deliberately tease the audience, playing with expectations and assumptions. You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know 1 and 2 (2013), for example, consist of hyper-real silica gel sculptures of what Zhou describes as ‘Chinese men of status’ – would-be successful businessmen, or aspiring party officials. The artist calls them ‘braggers’, but ‘blowhards’ might be a more accurate translation from the Chinese. Each appears to be looking into a mirror, either negotiating a deal on the phone, or making a speech. The ‘mirror’ is a screen on which we see them speaking, but cannot hear their voices. Originally shown in an elevator in the Grandview Mall for the 4th Guangzhou Triennial, Zhou says the works were often ignored completely in the crowd of visitors, or else caused a confused ‘double take’ when it became apparent the men were not real.
Accession number
2013.109