Helen Deng

    AS a program of Shenzhen and Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture and an Exhibition of 6th OCAT International Art Residency, “Future Relevance” will be exhibited from Nov. 11, 2011 to Jan. 8, 2012.

    “Future Relevance” is an exhibition of four artists from Europe. OCAT International Residency Program has selected German artist Thomas Adebahr, Dutch artist Frank Havermans, Slovenian artists Nika Oblak and Primoz Novak and British curator Paula Orrell. This exhibition includes the residual ideas developed on the residency.

    Through observation, research and process, the artists all consider and propose alternative thinking about the here and now within a global context. Their collective works, developed from their experiences in China, explore questions of surveillance, construction, urban life, politics and the contradictions of this society.

    Adebahr has constructed installations that explore themes such as individualism. For “Future Relevance” he has made an interactive four-screen film installation from a series of constructed public gatherings.

    The unique forms of installations presented by Havermans consider the language of architecture, construction and urbanism. He builds new urban models made by recycled materials and combines them in a new spatial installation “TOFUD # Shenzhen B10.” This installation is based on the linear stretched urban city structure of Shenzhen in contrast with the highly dense urban villages that also exist in this city.

    The work of Oblak and Novak are highly anti-authoritarian. They humorously combinate films, sculptures and robots, and question mediated space. They pose a perverse idea that the most effective communication can take place through misunderstanding, and the potential of ambiguity holds the greatest currency for making sense of the present.

    The exhibition title has been devised by Orrell to explore her current research “What Will the Art World Look Like in 2061.” It is related to the contemporary art program at Plymouth Arts Center, where she is artistic director and part of creating a new institution in the city.

Dates: Nov. 11, 2011-Jan. 8, 2012

Add: B10, Northern OCT-Loft, Overseas Chinese Town, Shenzhen

Metro: Exit F, Qiaocheng East Station, Line 1 (Luobao Line)