NABUQI

During this exhibition, Nabuqi considers the exhibition space a unified entirety to make site-specific installations or sculptures. From her past exhibition Cold Nights in UCCA in 2017, the artist continues the idea of viewing the space as the whole installation and to extend the exhibition space into the internal part of the artwork. The setup, which replaces the traditional language of sculptures, asks the audience to enter into and be surrounded by Nabuqi’s artworks, instead of simply viewing or gazing at the physical art pieces.

Nabuqi focuses on the connections between objects, the space and the surrounding environments. These connections stimulate her perception of the space and are presented in different forms in her works of sculpture and installation, which corresponds to Heidegger’s phenomenology of ‘presence.’ The title of the exhibition Do real things happen in moments of rationality? interprets the status of ‘presence.’ The existences of things are caused by connections between surrounding environments, and the interference of time makes certain of the incidental nature of these moments. Nabuqi combines artworks with different spatial forms to imitate the feeling of déjà-vu or scenes buried deep in her mind. She explores the difficult definition of reality by offering feelings of presence for the audience.

In this exhibition, Nabuqi uses simulation materials to build an outdoor scene that seems close to the nature and reminiscent of childhood. She deliberately keeps all the primordial qualities of all the materials without any interference or change to their appearances or properties, which means there will not be any well-polished artwork in this exhibition. These materials make beautiful scenes through connections with the space by combinations of displays. Could they trigger emotional resonances when the audience enter the space with their original emotional states and awareness of the virtual environments? Meanwhile, the artist continuously questions and explores the unknown limits between the rough materials and the definitions of artworks.