GUANGLI LIU

Please pick up the console or controller, or press down the button in front of you.

Yes, exactly those.

They look like they are there for you, don’t they?

But in fact, they are meant for the system to check whether you’re still online.

Up next, you will see some images.

Most of the time, your operations determine your images.

But as a matter of fact, it is the system that produce those images.

The systematic rules were made based on standards people agreed on in the past.

Unfortunately, these measuring units are almost entirely full of errors.

The system rather enjoys these moments.

Because all standards are trapped in a similar mistake:

The belief that as long as they are clear enough, the world will cooperate.

But now, images are beyond human control.

And you are but awaiting for a result.

You will also encounter a number of situations.

The system does not care whether you recognize them, or whether you can provide the correct answers.

What the system cares about is how you feel.

When the system asks whether you agree, feel free to answer.

Agree, disagree, or hesitate—all of these are acceptable.

The system has already assumed that you will change your mind several times.

Hopefully, you won’t be similar with the previous participant—

Mistaken the act of watching itself as the answer.

If any of these sounds wrong to you, it means you have begun to understand the rules.

From this point on, how would you like to be addressed?

You, the operator, or John?

Guangli Liu (b. 1990, Lengshuijiang) currently lives and works in Paris. He graduated from Le Fresnoy – Studio national des arts contemporains in 2020.

Guangli’s works often emerge from the intersection of different approaches to depicting history and events, and ultimately find their own places in installations, videos, documentaries, and paintings that suggest our understanding of the present is often shaped by pre-existing languages, social norms, and media formats through which pieces of information are transmitted.

His work was included in exhibitions / screenings at Guangdong Museum of Art (Guangdong), ICAT Institute for Contemporary Art & Transfer at HFBK Hamburg (Hamburg), TANK Shanghai (Shanghai), Center for the Promotion of Science (Belgrade), Espace Temps (Paris), Foundation Liedts-Meesen (Gent), Goethe-Institut China (Beijing), Power station of Art (Shanghai), 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art (Sydney), Centre Pompidou (Paris), UCCA (Beijing), Times Museum (Guangdong), etc.

He won the Golden Nica and Honorary Mention in the Computer Animation category at Ars Electronica (2021, 2022), as well as the Golden Key for Best Short Film at Kassel Dokfest (2021), Special mention price at Jimei Arles Discovery Award (2023), Outstanding Art Exploration Award at Beijing International Short Film Festival (2023).