Masterpiece in the Water

2016 - Installation (Installation)

Dimensions variable

Lu Pingyuan

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Masterpiece in the Water by Lu Pingyuan tells the story of an impatient collector who is killed by an artist. This murder becomes an artwork in of itself as the story within the story sheds light on the psychological anxieties faced by soldiers during war time, the family bond, and the paranormal. This playful, yet violent, story explores the amusing similarity between supernatural events and the creation of artistic ideas, while reflecting on the complex relationships that exist within the art world. It also exposes the power of superstitions, the existence of ghosts, and imagination as methods of survival. Through both its form and presentation Lu’s work engages with key concerns in contemporary art, particularly materiality versus immateriality, and narrative versus visual form.

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Lu Pingyuan works with a variety of media such as texts, videos, installations, paintings, performances and other. More recently, Lu has focused his practice on writing short fantasy stories, often related to the art world. Partly collected, partly dreamed, these narratives present enigmatic narrations, sometimes accompanied by fear. The stories are usually displayed in the simplest way (such as printed on paper and pinned to the wall), sometimes in ways according to the specific locations of the contexts (engraved in stones, or painted on the wall), all in conversation with the exhibitor. Lu mobolizes these stories as a means of broadening the art world’s resonance in reality.

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Colors:

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• narrative.n.01
• materiality.n.02
• family.n.02
• war.n.01
• psychology.n.01
• supernatural.n.01