As a prologue to UCCA’s upcoming 2013 exhibition “ON | OFF: China’s Young Artists in Concept and Practice,” SEE / SAW presents many of the individual artists to be included in ON | OFF within the context of Chinese contemporary art’s most recent collaborative efforts. For this iterative project, which examines the production processes and decisions involved in creative collaborations, fourteen invited artist groups will rotate in and out of a shared space. Selectively juxtaposed, the collectives each independently conceive week-long exhibitions, many of which occur outside of their allotted space. In focusing on the concept of the “group,” SEE / SAW explores notions of co-dependence and reaction, and viewers are encouraged to observe how the exhibition’s weekly reincarnations may or may not play off one another.

Participating collectives include Double Fly Art Center, A Diaodui, Museum of the Unknown, Zuzhi, North Village Independent Workshop, Irrelevant Commission, 8mg, TOF, Art Praxis Space, LVXIAO, Nanshan Painting Group, GUEST, Hexie Baroque, and Cell Art Group.

Throughout the ON | OFF exhibition period, UCCA will hold a series of public programs in which different artists and collectives are invited to join dialogues themed around ideas of self-organization and self-expression.

On December 4th, we will invite young artists from Irrelevant Commission and 8mg to join our dialogue, hosted by curator Bao Dong.

This series is sponsored by Mercedes smart

Irrelevant Commission

Irrelevant Commission was formed in Beijing in 2011 and consists of Guo Lijun, Ye Nan, Chen Zhiyuan, Gao Fei, Niu Ke, and Wang Guilin. In an effort to be ever-unrelated to whatever is being referred to, this collective has presented an exhibition of small, difficult to classify objects to unsuspecting customers in a supermarket. Photographs and videos of the project are displayed in the exhibition space.

8mg

Formed in Chongqing in 2011, 8mg's research focuses on the political issues concealed within daily rituals and actions, and the collective’s creative practice explores the overlap between art and physical surroundings. In this performance project, the members of 8mg each carry a brick during official work hours every day for the course of the exhibition. As the members go about their usual business in Beijing—working, playing, commuting—they will make video documents of their movements and install them daily in the exhibition space.

Chen Zhiyuan (Irrelevant Commission)

Li Yifan

Liang Jiancheng (8mg)

Liu Weiwei (8mg)