“Construction of reality” Leandro Erlich, How Art Museum
Construction of reality by Leandro Erlich exhibition held in Shanghai 01 June- 15 October. The headline of the Chief Curator Chen Che's words is “End of an era of fiction”. Referring to Mr Chen “Titled Construction of Reality, this major solo exhibition by the Argentine artist Leandro Erlich brings together thirteen interactive installations, considered to be the most representative works by the artist from across his career.”
So in order to create a feeling of this “event” I just will put down some words and phrases from the introduction text:
“虚, 构 xū, gòu (which is imaginary, fabricate or make up)
Baudrillard … “At, Exacerbated Illusion”… Aesthetic Illusion and Disillusion
“Art is never the mechanical refection…”
there lies an ever-evolving logic with a unique sense of humor and playfulness
a popular bell tower found in Shanghai
a grand narrative
not only
pleasure, interactivity
tension and self-awareness
“Era of Fiction”
Masachi Osawa’s book 1996
fracturing of a fictitiously constructed society.
an extremely abstracted social structure.
the entertainment, sharing, illusions
more than just about technique
the spectator
a marionette following the artist’s directions”
I think this could help to get a feeling about an idea of the exhibition. If you are in the subject it's easy to check main works of Leandro Erlich.
So what happened when I entered the exhibition hall, I saw dark shadows of the Chinese pupils queuing in front of the art objects. Of course, I get used to having a lot of people in China absolutely everywhere but when it is “the most Instagrammable art exhibition”(TimeOutShanghai Kenny Ong 07/01) it’s becoming difficult to access any art and have any thoughts in your head. With other words the way we are perceiving art is very different to some years ago and not because you wait your turn to see the idea in whole, but you gazing and waiting of “a good shot” of all 100 people in front of you... But this becomes a bit of annoying as for some people this is a waste of time till everyone get a pretty photo.
This made me think about not a great idea of “Construction of reality” or “Era of Fiction” but about the intention of artists to stimulate and provoke this type of behaviour, because it was the artist’s idea. Comparing to the nice works like a “Changing Rooms” or “The Classroom” meanwhile real construction of reality happening next to the art pieces.
I could say that in this kind of events the two narratives are overlapping. On one side an artist break the understanding of common things which presents a deep idea, like elevator or washing-machine, but on the other side the selfie fever is flourishing and becoming a central subject which is completely superficial and shallow. We can be sure that Erlich conceived the element of photography in some pieces. Just if we could imagine the world without a smartphone I think his works would not be completed. If society sees the mirror and "ok" background, the completion of this conversation is a seek for the perfect pose and a selfie.
So, the artist took two subjects of reality and mixed them. Artist created an impulse with 100% reaction of the public but what was the representational part of this exhibition – objects themselves or people’s behaviour? This was not mentioned in any covering letter or artist’s statement; here is something unplanned came out in the world.
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