Cao Zhen

caozhen0806@126.com

A GROUP of young Chinese artists are exhibiting paintings, videos and installations at Guan Shanyue Art Museum in the newly opened “On the Road • 2018” exhibition.

Themed “Unmanned,” this year’s exhibition questions how artists will react to a novel world of growing numbers of unmanned aerial vehicles, self-driving cars and unmanned supermarkets and what they predict about the future.

Most of the exhibited artworks were created with new media technologies, such as computer graphics, computer animation, virtual reality, 3-D printing and video games. Some of the works involve interaction between observers and the artworks.

Sichuan Fine Arts Institute graduate Xu Ziwei’s installation “It Is Her, But I Am Its Plot” uses a mirror to question the “real” and “virtual” worlds. “According to Jacques Lacan’s concept of the mirror stage, humans use mirrors to see themselves, then improve or beautify their appearances and finally control themselves or their images in others’ minds,” said Xu.

Zhou Changyong, who has studied sculpture at Shandong University of Arts and Central Academy of Fine Arts, created a 3-D model of the Lujiazui area and then bent and twisted the land full of landmark skyscrapers.

“Lujiazui is a financial district of Shanghai with landmarks such as the Shanghai Tower, Shanghai World Financial Center, Oriental Pearl Tower and Jin Mao Tower. Whenever I stand amid the skyscrapers in Lujiazui and look up at the ‘cement forest,’ they are truly magnificent but also make me feel oppressed, so I would like to add flexibility to them. Then I ‘twisted’ them by using coding technology,” said Zhou.

Launched in 2013 by Guan Shanyue Art Museum, the “On the Road” exhibition picks the best works each year by young Chinese artists, showcasing their concerns for the world.

Dates: Until Dec. 20

Hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m., closed Mondays

Venue: Guan Shanyue Art Museum, 6026 Hongli Road, Futian District (福田区红荔路6026号关山月美术馆)

Metro: Line 3 or 4 to Children’s Palace Station (少年宫站), Exit B