UCCA Beijing

Collective Identity in the Context of Contemporary Art

2014.11.21
15:00-16:30

Conversation
Location:  UCCA Auditorium
Language:  Chinese Only

“Polit-Sheer-Form: Fitness for All” is the largest survey by any Chinese art institution of the groundbreaking, five-member collective’s decade-long career. The show continues from November 21, 2014, until January 4, 2015 in UCCA.

Polit-Sheer-Form was founded in 2005 by artists Hong Hao, Xiao Yu, Song Dong, Liu Jianhua, and curator/critic Leng Lin. The group’s multi-disciplinary projects address the idea of “we” in a “me” world, and their activities of talking, traveling, eating, reading, and playing together form the basis of their commentary on political, cultural, and spiritual life in twenty-first century China.

The talk will revolve around the five members of Polit-Sheer-Form, the division of labor within the art industry, and notions of collectivism in the context of contemporary art.

“Polit-Sheer-Form’s five members were born in the 1960s—a lost generation with memories, albeit only childhood memories, of High Socialism. As a result they have sought to reconstitute the visuality and affect of the socialist moment, distilling its political imperatives into pure (sheer) forms, devoid of content,” says UCCA Director Philip Tinari who organized the exhibition.

Ticketing & Participation: Free, ticket required.

*Doors close 30 minutes after event begins.

*Tickets are limited. No late entry.

*Collect your ticket from the ticket desk 30 minutes before the event begins.

Speakers

Polit-Sheer-Form: Hong Hao, Xiao Yu, Song Dong, Leng Lin

Polit-Sheer-Form (PSF), is a China based art collective founded in 2005 by artists Hong Hao, Xiao Yu, Song Dong, Liu Jianhua, and curator/critic Leng Lin. For a society that has moved far away from communal ideals, PSF imagines a new Socialism based on the expansive possibilities of shared experiences. The group’s multi-disciplinary projects address the idea of "we" in a "me" world, and their activities of talking, traveling, eating, reading, and playing together form the basis of their attempt to transform political, cultural, and spiritual life for 21st century mankind. Through their work they articulate politics as pure forms.

Philip Tinari

Organizer

UCCA