63.3 x 120 cm
Zhou Tao spent almost two years in 2017 and 2018 in an eco-industrial park at the foot of the Kunlun Mountains in China exploring the activities of humans and other species in that particular topography between the mountain, the land and the desert. From the discovery of ancient desert villages to the billions of black chickens that will be raised under the snow-covered Kunlun Mountains, the resulting film and the photographs capture the climate and landscape, listening to the desert’s chanting and whispering, while attempting to construct a unique topology. Shot during the film production, the accompanying stunning photograph Winter North Summer South No. 5 shows a crowd gathered in the desolate frosty desert, the small mass of bodies superposed upon the starkness of the landscape. These bodies might appear uneasy in the midst of such a scene, or utterly vulnerable to it, and ultimately dependent on the land that surrounds them.
Artist Zhou Tao has a diverse and varied practice, and notably, he denies the existence of any singular or real narrative or space. Depicting subtle and often humorous interactions with people, things, actions, and situations, Zhou is known for his films that invite us to experience the multiple trajectories of reality; what he calls the “folding scenario” or the “zone with folds.” For him, the use of video is not a deliberate choice of artistic language or medium, instead the operation of the camera is a way of being that blends itself with everyday life. In his work, Zhou connects seemingly disparate milieus, turning his attention to often ignored sites that exist on the threshold between the natural and the artificial. The visual narratives merge different spatial constructs such as landscapes, the metropolis, construction sites, parks, public squares, and wastelands.
New on ArtsEquator in 2021: Hot List, Teaser Tuesday and Cakap-Cakap | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia ArtsEquator Viewpoints December 4, 2020 ArtsEquator is introducing three new series in 2021 – Hot List, Teaser Tuesday and Cakap-Cakap – to help promote shows, events and other arts and culture programmes in Singapore and the rest of Southeast Asia...
Taking archaeology as her departure point to examine the trajectories of replicated and displaced objects, “Who will measure the space, who will tell me the time?” was produced in Oaxaca for her exhibition of the same title at the Contemporary Museum of Oaxaca (MACO) in 2015...
In the video No Not Nothing Never , a group of 23 domestic fans arranged in a mountainous desert landscape, move in perfect synchrony...
Art of the Joshua Tree – Art and Cake October 30, 2023 October 30, 2023 Author Art of the Joshua Tree Sossi Madzounian Deserts Ikebana , Photography Charity: Center for Biological Diversity Karin Lindeberg Frida, I see you under the shady tree , 35mm Photography 8×10 inches Charity: Center for Biological Diversity Chloe Allred, Dreaming in Cerulean and Quinacridone , Oil Paint on Canvas...