EDUCATION KIT | ARTIST FOLIOS
JIAO XINGTAO
CHINA
The Unity of N Monuments,
2016
JIAO XINGTAO
The Unity of N Monuments, 2016
EDUCATION KIT
ARTIST FOLIOS
THE ARTIST
THE IDEA
Jiao Xingtao (b. 1970, Chengdu, China) is a sculptor and
As a sculptor, Jiao Xingtao specialises in exposing a
professor at the Department of Sculpture at the Sichuan
different side of things. His works are monuments to
Fine Arts Institute in Chongqing, China. He has also been
waste, obsolescence1 and triviality 2 – and the aesthetic3
an initiator and organiser of the Contemporary Sculpture
charms of the most mundane consumables. He questions
Award since 2013. He defines art as “rational but
the distinction between art objects and everyday
exceptional”, meaning that the medium is responsible for
objects. This artwork considers transformations among
the transmission of information and the translation of the
the everyday object, the readymade, and sculpture.
artwork’s significance. He lives and works in Chongqing.
In taking this approach the artist questions perceived
reality, and examines the differences between what is
true and what we see and understand. He hopes to open
up new channels between the reality of the everyday
and the fiction of art to create a new perspective on
what is perceived to be true.
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1
Obsolescence: something outdated and no longer used
2
Triviality: lack of seriousness or importance
3
Aesthetic: concerned with beauty or the appreciation of beauty
JIAO XINGTAO
The Unity of N Monuments, 2016
THE ARTWORK
Cypress wood and copper (100 pieces)
45 × 34 × 34 cm (each)
Collection of the Artist
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ARTIST FOLIOS
Image courtesy of the artist
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OBSERVE AND DISCOVER
GUIDING QUESTIONS
SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES
1. Look at the artwork. How would you describe the
A. As mass-produced small plastic chairs become more
work to someone on the phone? What words would
common and fashionable in both urban and rural
you use?
areas in China, they displace the traditional wooden
stool and the heritage of craftsmanship embedded
JIAO XINGTAO
The Unity of
N Monuments, 2016
2. Observe the small colourful chairs before you touch
in it. Do some research into mass production and
them. How do you think they might feel? Do you think
local hand-made products in Singapore. What are
they are smooth, hard or soft? What do you see that
the pros and cons of each? How has mass production
makes you say that?
influenced Singaporean cultural forms? Share your
findings with your classmates.
3. The artist is inviting you to sit down, rest and interact
with the work. Do you notice a difference between
the blue and red chairs?
B. The artist questions the distinction between art
objects and everyday objects. At school look for
everyday objects that you could use to create an
4. Every morning the chairs are placed in a grid as if
installation. Use your classroom or an outdoor area
for an assembly. What effect does this arrangement
as an exhibition space to display your work. Invite
of chairs convey? How differently might you feel
students and teachers to visit the installation. How
about this work if the chairs were placed randomly,
did they react and respond? Did they interact with
or scattered about different places?
the work? Was the work perceived as art?
5. How would the work be received if it was exhibited
inside a gallery space? Why would it be different?
How would the audience respond to it? What makes
you think so?
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FIND OUT MORE
ARTWORK
e-flux. Jiao Xingtao. Retrieved September 30, 2016, from
http://www.e-flux.com/announcements/39759/jiao-xingtao
White Rabbit. Artists Jiao Xingtao.
Retrieved September 30, 2016, from
http://www.whiterabbitcollection.org/artists/jiao-xingtao
JIAO XINGTAO
The Unity of
N Monuments, 2016
Arte Communications. “Requiem For Matter”.
The Transformation of Material by Jiao Xingtao.
Retrieved September 30, 2016, from
http://www.artecommunications.com/en/open/53-openenglish-version/open-xi/2705-cina-jiao-xingtao.html
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ABOUT SINGAPORE BIENNALE 2016
AN ATLAS OF MIRRORS
AT ONCE, MANY WORLDS
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FROM WHERE WE ARE,
HOW DO WE PICTURE THE WORLD ­—
AND OURSELVES?
Humankind has always devised ways of seeing
beyond sight. Two such instruments are the map
and the mirror, which make visible more than
just physical terrains. While the atlas – a book of
maps – locates where we are and charts where
we want to go, the mirror shows us to ourselves,
sometimes unreliably, and in curious ways.
Through an exploration of the literal and
metaphorical characteristics of atlas and mirror,
An Atlas of Mirrors reveals artistic perspectives
that arise from our migratory, intertwining
histories and cultures, particularly in Southeast,
East and South Asia.
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ABOUT THE ZONES
NINE
CONCEPTUAL
ZONES
The main title of the Biennale is woven through nine
• NATURE, CULTURED
‘conceptual zones’, or subthemes, which locate each
• SIMULACRA & THE REAL
artwork in particular curatorial contexts. These zones
• STEWARDSHIP OF THE EARTH
shape the flow of the Biennale experience, like chapters
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in a book or sections in a poem. Like the title – ‘An Atlas
What is the measure of human civilisation? Against the
of Mirrors’ – which is built on the relationship between
forces of Nature, we build the citadel of Culture, yet,
a collective noun (“an atlas” as the collective noun) and
thwarted by our ever-contrary human nature, we yearn
what is being thought of ‘collectively’ (“mirrors”), these
again for the natural world, and task Art to bridge the
zones are conceptually themed along specific collective
divide. A pair of symmetrically ornate paintings of the
nouns and what they hold together for contemplation
orchid contrasts with a pair of petroleum-filled black
and experience. Artworks located within each zone
‘mirror oil paintings’ weighing hundreds of kilogrammes,
resonate on many levels, and at the same time, all nine
and on the top floor of the old museum, a sternly
zones coincide, intertwine and reflect each other along
evocative scorched forest installation of once-alive trees
the conceptual continuum of ‘An Atlas of Mirrors’ as
arises silently.
a whole.
Mirroring the opposing relationship between Nature
Each zone represents concepts, ideas and ways of seeing
and Culture, Art evolves from beautification and the
as explored in the 58 artworks and projects.
‘perfecting’ of Nature into a multitude of dimensions,
and reconsiders the implications of human presence in
the natural world.
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All works are © the artists unless otherwise stated. Information correct at the time of publication. All rights reserved.
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