randian - Leviathan–Huang Yongping

2015.10.25 Sun, by

Leviathan–Huang Yongping

Following “Circus” in 2014, more of Huang Yongping’s large-scale works are taking over Red Brick Art Museum in the second stop of the artist’s international touring exhibition “Bâton-Serpent II”. Two “serpents” have been installed in the art museum; the first spirals around a massive metal prayer wheel forming a “serpentine tower”. The second serpent occupies the museum’s largest exhibition hall, suspended above the topical “Peril de Mouton”–a piece inspired by current events.

Currently, each discipline possesses or is occupied by its own logic, while the taxonomy of disciplines has become so meticulously defined that it is an extremely risky endeavor for an artist to undertake the use of symbols in archaeology. However, this has never been an issue for Huang Yongping. His works postulate 1 + 1, but when people start to debate whether the sum of 1 + 1 is greater than or less than 2, their algorithms may not necessarily be as permeable as the artist.

Though the exhibition is entitled “Bâton-Serpent”, its theme is really conflict; but in terms of the volume of the piece, the Leviathan–another Biblical creature–is more appropriate. Coincidentally, this piece has been installed above “Peril de Mouton”–a work alluding to the outbreak of contradictory viewpoints in European politics. It’s interesting to speculate how many people viewing the massive serpent skeleton during its exhibition in Europe recalled an empire lying not too far off in the east–an absolute, sovereign power as described by Hobbes where materialism is paramount.