Screening

Zhang Peili: Weaving the Web

Date
Fri
31
.
5
Time
6:00 pm
Location
M+ Cinema

Mukeh in the End All Will Fade Away…

2015
Peng Yun
12 min

Lu Yang Delusional Crime and Punishment

2016
Lu Yang
15 min

Inspired by Transliteration—Chapter Three: Wavelength

2018
Li Ming
18 min

Up and Down

2022
Yi Lian
9 min

Some Other Scenery

2022
Wu Junyong
12 min

Meet the Chinese video art pioneer Zhang Peili, who created 30 x 30 (1988), widely considered the first video art piece in China. As a founding member of Pond Society in the 1980s, he was a prominent figure in the avant-garde art movement in China. He also led the establishment and development of the new media art department in China Academy of Art in Hangzhou, the first of its kind in the country. With a career spanning four decades, Zhang has built extensive networks with artists from different generations and has been instrumental in shaping the landscape of new media art in China.

In conjunction with the Asian Avant-Garde Film Festival, his video art installation Broadcast at the Same Time (1999.12.31 night) (2000) will be on display in the Main Hall, accompanied by tours led by the curators during the festival.

Moreover, Zhang curated a selection of moving image artworks by his students, including Li Ming, Lu Yang, Peng Yun, Wu Junyong, and Yi Lian. These works represent a diverse range of experimental practices in moving image and new media art since the inception of avant-garde movements in China. The single-channel films encompass performative videos, avant-garde image experimentation, ink animation, and computer-generated graphics.

The screening will be followed by a conversation between Zhang Peili and his former student and celebrated new media artist Lu Yang, moderated by Kate Gu, Associate Curator, Digital Special Projects. The conversation will focus on the connections between their artistic practices, and how Zhang’s teaching philosophy has influenced the creative approaches of future generations.

Mukeh in the End All Will Fade Away… | Peng Yun. Mukeh in the End All Will Fade Away…, 2015. Photo: Courtesy of the artist.

Lu Yang Delusional Crime and Punishment | Lu Yang. Lu Yang Delusional Crime and Punishment, 2016. Single-channel digital video (colour, sound), duration: 14 min. 37 sec.. M+, Hong Kong. © Lu Yang

Inspired by Transliteration—Chapter Three: Wavelength | Li Ming. Inspired by Transliteration—Chapter Three: Wavelength, 2018. Single-channel digital video (colour, sound), duration: 18 min. 58 sec.. M+, Hong Kong. © Li Ming

Up and Down | Yi Lian. Up and Down, 2022. Photo: Courtesy of the artist.

Some Other Scenery | Wu Junyong. Some Other Scenery, 2022. Photo: Courtesy of the artist.