"Hainan Rendez-vous 2012"
The island6 art collective makes its solo debut on the sun-dappled island of Hainan with We Dream the Electric City. The state of repose and dreaming is a unique gift of the living. Once a sanctuary and haven from life’s weary toil, dreams today can make one positively restive. As electronic advances have since its early beginnings in the 19th century come to represent a new, furious pace of life, the newest gadgets today separate the technological haves from the pathetic, out-moded have-nots. And so our dreams run wild with the electric-cities that live in our minds. But lest we forget our humanity, Liu Dao seeks to unveil the human face of technology that is at once cheeky, graceful, and imposing.
In this spirit, the artists tell the story of our human experiences by infusing the cold circuitry of electronics with the warmth of sensory experiences. In “Longing for Fulfillment”, LED panels allow the model’s sinuous curves to meld beautifully with the steel angularity of its sculptural frame. Likewise, the pilot posing proudly in front of his plane in “Thanks for the Memories” is giving his inhuman, seemingly cold machine a personal touch. After all, this isn’t only a steel bird and an example for the triumph of modern aerotechnics, but also a happy boy’s favorite tech-geek gadget.
As spring sun throws China's southern tropical paradise into illumination, we can marvel at the little flashing diodes of LED that light up Liu Dao's electronic pieces, each one a tiny beacon of the softness, loveliness and humanity that pushes away the isolating heart of darkness in modern life. |
