In one of many foundational texts of Taoism, Chinese language thinker Zhuang Zhou recollects a dream by which he was a butterfly, hovering via the sky with no recollection of his human type. Upon waking, although, he finds himself firmly in a bipedal physique, prompting an essential query: is he a butterfly dreaming he’s Zhuang Zhou or a person dreaming he’s a butterfly?
This historic story of transformation and the skinny line between states of thoughts informs a stunning new set up by Chiharu Shiota (previously). “Metamorphosis of Consciousness” suspends glimmering lights and faint butterfly wings above an iron-framed twin mattress topped with a white blanket and pillow. Rejecting the strict separation between physique and thoughts, Shiota references her perception within the spirit’s capability to endure lengthy after one’s ultimate breath. “Whereas every time we slip into sleep, it’s a rehearsal for loss of life—a journey past the physique,” she says.
Exemplary of the artist’s curiosity in reminiscence and data, “Metamorphosis of Consciousness” is simply one of many immersive works within the monumental exhibition Silent Vacancy at Red Brick Art Museum in Beijing.
On view via August 31, the present revolves round Shiota’s ongoing explorations into the “presence in absence,” this time extending such inquiries into concepts of vacancy because it pertains to Japanese philosophy and enlightenment.
Included within the exhibtion is an vintage Tibetan Buddhist doorway that anchors “Gateway to Silence,” an explosive set up that entwines the elaborately carved wooden construction in a dense, criss-crossing labyrinth of string. Crimson thread, one of many artist’s favored supplies, symbolizes relationships. And on this case, it’s an invite to introspection and discovering an consciousness of the current second.
Metaphorically interlacing artwork, reminiscence, and religion, Shiota very actually visualizes the intextricable internet by which we’re all sure, no matter geography or period. Items like “Echoes of Time” and “Rooted Reminiscences” incorporate supplies like soil and enormous stones, presenting the passage of time as cyclical and the previous as at all times shaping the current.
Born in Osaka, the artist has lived in Berlin for a lot of her life, and Silent Vacancy additionally tethers her roots to extra international experiences. Shiota likened her understanding of herself to the best way salt molecules seem as crystals solely after water evaporates. “I used to be not seen as a person in Japan,” she says. “Whereas I didn’t know who I used to be, what I wished to do, and what was needed within the water, I really feel that I grew to become a person and crystal, and understood these issues for the primary time by coming to Germany.”
One other instance of discovering presence in absence, Shiota’s migration and expertise of discovery offers an essential touchstone for her considering and observe. She provides, “Absence doesn’t signify disappearance however relatively an integration right into a vaster universe, re-entering the move of time and forming new connections with all issues.” (by way of designboom)
