Unscrolled: MadeIn Company’s Physique of Consciousness
Unscrolled: Reframing Tradition in Chinese Contemporary Art at the Vancouver Art Gallery prompts visitors to question the role that tradition and history has on the culture of present-day China. Featuring artists from three generations, the exhibition blends Western art style with Chinese tradition, showcasing traditional calligraphy alongside more modern digital videos and animations in order to portray the intermingling of past and present, Western culture and Eastern culture, in the lives of the artists.
One exhibit in particular captured my attention and held it close. The room captures your attention with a video on the wall of a man practicing a cultural fitness routine created specifically for this exhibit, with yoga mats readily available for visitors to try it for themselves. Beyond the video are several display cases filled with clusters of images from all over the world, from pop culture icons to famous statues to famous photos in history. In the middle of each cluster stands a photo of the same man in the video, performing one of the poses. The cluster of photos around the man mimic his pose, but never exactly and always in their own cultural context.
Physique of Consciousness by MadeIn Company (a play on the phrase “made in China”) forms connections between different world cultures through highlighting the similarities in their ceremonies and traditions. For example, a picture of a woman blowing out a candle on a birthday cake is displayed alongside a man from an unspecified tribe blowing fire at a very different ceremony. It is interesting how despite being oceans apart, despite otherwise having little in common with each other, little things such as body movement and stances are enough to link these cultures together. The clustering of the photos in the display cases eliminates the space that exists between them in real life both geographically and temporally.
The short description of the exhibit (as seen in the photograph below) states that the work offers “a new perspective on humankind’s spiritual heritage” through the creation of the aforementioned connections or parallels. By eliminating the problem of distance, time and space become irrelevant. The focus remains solely on how these cultures can connect to each other in ways the public never would have considered. How standing silently at attention at a ceremonial or formal event is practiced in many cultures, something so ingrained in each of us that it rarely reaches our consciousness enough for us to question it. Physique of Consciousness makes us question why these similarities exist and what relevance they have to our lives. The cases physically brings the cultures closer together, allowing visitors to question their similarities, differences, and what it means to be a part of humankind.
