Relativity Hypothesis
J: GALLERY, Shanghai
J: GALLERY has the honor to announce that the exhibition “Relativity Hypothesis” will be opened on April 7th 2018, and continue until May 19th 2018. This exhibition will present the latest works of artist duo Lau Wai and Xu Hao.
The theory of linguistic relativity (Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis) puts forward the hypothesis of language and thinking, which holds that the cultural concepts and classifications contained in language will affect the cognition of language users to the real world, that is, language differences will lead to distinct ways of thinking and behaving. This hypothesis involves a variety of fields and disciplines, and the fundamental question of whether language shapes the culture of thinking or thinking reinvents the language has long been in a circle of controversy. Although there is no clear result of relevant theories, it does extend people’s cognition of language and thinking during the debate. In terms of the practice of the artist duo in this exhibition, it constructs the narrative with cultural symbols and ideologies intertwined.
The works of the artists Lau Wai and Xu Hao are mainly based on moving images as the major media and the direction of research. Born in Hong Kong, Lau Wai grew up in a colonial culture and language background, which made her feel familiar and alienated to the city she has been living in – even cultivated into a feeling of homesickness. And Hong Kong, as a mysterious region frequently featured in Hollywood movies thanks to its Oriental charm and futuristic technology, drifts under an absurd circumstance between reality and fiction in Lau Wai’s works. In the works of Xu Hao, the intention and objects are originated from different cultural backgrounds, and their image presentation is weakened, with objects and installations to reflect the thinking of the images; and the photographic techniques, as the necessary logic of the production process, overlap in traces of the daily life, with a romantic “hypothesis” to explore the relationship between the carrier, rules and the content.
