Blow-up by artist Li Qing is specially made for Consuming Moods, 2014’s annual project of 9m2 Museum. “Blow-up” refers to a method to access the reality by amplifying details of objects. Though the truth may not exist after all, the entire process of perception is what actually matters.
The project parodies a public space that is private in nature, of which the simple, clean exterior in a geometric cross-shaped structure is in contrast to the provisional, rough interior. Looking from a window of the space, visitors can see virtual views outside, which are amplified details of the advertising images in the art magazines collected by the artist.
These narrow spaces decorated with drawings and images make themselves and other everyday spaces referred to as art (i.e. hotels, restaurants, stores and entertainment venues) be imbued with a similar sense of abruptness and absurdity. The information contained in these drawings and images remind us of the past enthusiasm and severity of Chinese contemporary art, which are as incompatible with the present time and depressing as all obsolete consumer goods.
In Blow-up, through changes between time and space, art, like other consumer goods, becomes an object of desire amplified by media so excessively that their original significance has been eliminated, with nothing but a shadow of nihility left. From art to everydayness and then to nihility, the twists and turns along the way are revealed.
