Page 217 - Contemporary Art and Old Masters

From bodies to other bodies, climates, ecosystems
and technologies, all life forms are inextricably
interconnected and interdependent. Bodies of
Water asks us to examine this living collectivity
at a time when the earth is facing unprecedented
challenges, from the accelerating climate crisis
to the current global pandemic. The participating
artists and collectives present artworks that
explore caring-based approaches which negotiate
our entanglement in extended ecosystems
of interdependency. A significant number of
Astrida Neimanis and Clare Britton: The river ends as the ocean, 2020, the these works, 33 in total, have been specifically
still from the video, Courtesy of the artists and Power Station of Art
commissioned and conceived for the space and
times of the Biennale.
is unfolding over the course of nine months as an
in crescendo project. It began in November 2020
The Biennale is complemented by three publishing
with PHASE 01: *A* WET-RUN REHEARSAL, a five-
and outreach initiatives. A catalogue documents
day inaugural program, and was followed by PHASE
the exhibition. Flows is a book that extends the
02: AN ECOSYSTEM OF ALLIANCES, five months of
project’s interests with essays, short stories,
activity and programming. This allowed the artists,
letters, and conversations by authors Lung Yuan-
thinkers and curators involved in the Biennale to
Chih, Xiao Fan and Mi You, Alexis Pauline Gumbs,
develop their work in close collaboration with the
Song Han, Xiangjie Huo, Astrida Neimanis and
City of Shanghai, its people, networks of activism,
Claire Britton, Luciana Parisi, Elizabeth A. Povinelli,
organizations, and institutions.
Hongzhe Wang, Wei Wang, and Mark Wigley.
Tong Wenmin, A Long Time Ago-PSA, 2020, Photo by Xu Lishuang

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