Here "space" is not merely suggesting physical space, nor is methaphorically standing for the domain of consciousness, but rather has the broadest sense of the word. While the notation "00" is often understood as absolute nothingness, here it hints at neutrality, objectiveness, inertness and independence. So "0° Space" refers to the return to the origins of space itself: what receives the focus is the spatial form itself, which does not exist as an isolated form; what is emphasized is an ideological intervention.The title of the exhibition derives from Roland Barthes' Writing Degree Zero and Daniel Buren's Degree Zero Painting. The participating artists in this exhibition have created new works in their respective domains that look at "space" as an independent object and as an object of observation and reason.
Chow Chun Fai's investigation of space starts from his usual arthistorical perspective. The irrational order and philosophical significance of the space within Giorgio de Chirico's painting "Mystery and Melancholy of a Street," which deeply influenced Chow Chun Fai, urged him to break down and reconstruct De Chirico's masterpiece, producing a photographic mosaic composed of many small photographic elements. The content of each small photograph is itself an exhaustive space; each photograph is then placed next to the printed copies of the original. The shadow of the artist painted on site, resolve the boundaries between reality and history.
Luo Xiaodong's spatial practice deals with the various transformations and possibilities within the art system, as in this case, the recognition of identities obtained through work experiences and professional backgrounds. This piece involves art institutions, artists, gallerists, curators, as well as the contrast of East and West, and sexual differences, Luo Xiaodong painted the silhouettes of gallery owner Roberto Ceresia and curator Weng Zhijuan on two walls in the exhibition space, in front of which are placed two empty chairs that present a model of dialog. The spatial relationships thus formed construct an arena where communication has been reached.
Jiang Pengyi's new work investigates the spaces of social and political practice. His "Unregistered City" places the skyscrapers of immense urban spaces in cramped spaces packed with skeletons of architectural ruins; through the contradictory feelings aroused by displacing time and space, the work presents the dangers arising from overbuilding in China's modernization. This series has recently won Jiang Pengyi the Jury Grand Prize of the Societe Generale's Chinese Art Awards in 2010.
The works of the other two artists deal with the topic of public and private space. Wu Xiaohang uses a personal language to depict architectural elements in public space, such as the corners in walls, pillars, windows, streets corners, and so on. These anonymous scenes—absolute, still, metaphysical—are connected to her impressions while living in Germany.
Gus Hongwei's watercolors use minimal signs and an almost monochromatic palette to render a series of empty rooms, reproducing images found in a real estate agency website. These desolate and bleak spaces for rent, roughly photographed for practical purpouses, once filtered through the artist's Own subjectivity, become the materialization of his personal aesthetic, wherein properties and characteristics of physical space dissolve into an ethereal and undefined light.
