DEVOLUTION turns two windows into a contemporary art exhibition in shanghai

from july to november 2018, DEVOLUTION shared their temporary office on shanghai’s jiashan road with ten different artists. the project, aptly called two windows, attracted neighbors and passersby to enjoy a variety of contemporary art exhibitions, which each lasted between 3 – 7 days. from sound art to multimedia installations, the small, creative occupation brought life to the day-to-day urban environment. 

the first exhibition was created by DEVOLUTION themselves and took place from july 15 – 30, 2018. for this piece, the two windows were blocked off with cement boards as an imitation of the coarse transformation in the area. ‘the office has undergone street renovation in 2017 and the form of business was also strictly and rapidly regulated. this kind of mandatory reconstruction adopts the following methods: blocking business windows, command closing on shops, and renovating exterior walls uniformly. it is an urbanization method without room for negotiation,’ explains DEVOLUTION.

all images courtesy of DEVOLUTION

the second exhibition between september 11 -30, 2018, was also curated by DEVOLUTION, but this time looked at issues of high living costs, rented apartments and the ubiquitousness of IKEA furniture. as a balance between design and economy, stability and temporary living, IKEA offers an ideal solution for people who need to furnish their rented homes but don’t know when they will move again. ‘in this way, IKEA that is ‘designed for everyone’ turns into a gateway for many people’s personalized living, thus generating an ‘IKEA aesthetic’ that can be easily identified,’ says DEVOLUTION.

from september 30 – october 07, 2018, the two windows were transformed into an interactive space by cross-media design studio, n.ape. passerbys could control the lighting by connecting to the speaker through mobile bluetooth. the build-in program generated different colors, patterns, and frequencies according to the music played by the participant. in the blink of an eye, they could enjoy his/her temporary club on the street side. 

the next artists occupied the two windows from october 19 – 25, 2018. the collaborative work brought together three artists; bysanz, an independent designer and stylist; fang yang, a video artist based in shanghai; and 33emybw, a producer in the electronic music scene in shanghai.

on october 26, 2018, artists lena kilina, marlo and eugenio altieri created a live sound experiment called slushat diru. it was performed for three hours using electronic instruments and different surface textures. the sounds from very different subjects and objects created an auditory experience beyond the limits of genre. it was an experience closely related to time, situation, and participants’ characters. 

from october 31 – november 11, 2018, artist yang zhiyi exhibited love and sincerity. this work revolved around greek mythology of cupid, and apollo and daphne. ‘after repeating similar tragedies over and over, ‘love’ seems to have become the responsibility of faithfulness; then, ‘sincerity’ will be a compounded, and dedicated manifestation of love. I believe fate will look forward to their arrival.’ artist yang zhiqian followed with the project lin sansi between november 14 – 20, 2018. the work invited participants to be ‘transported’ to a specific reality where you could ‘no longer see yourself in your visual world, and even your body is completely removed from the universe.’ 

the final installation was by artists chen yishen and gao kang from november 24 – 30, 2018. the pair looked at the typical tricolor barbershop light and tried to bring the british humor with a hint of irony and metaphor into the old alleys of shanghai through the form of conceptual art. the tricolor turning light was originally created for the surgical clinic’s advertisement. the three colors, red, blue and white represent arteries, veins, and gauze respectively.

project info:

project name: two windows

location: jiashan road, shanghai, china

artist: DEVOLUTION

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: lynne myers | designboom