Cinema Paradiso-Solo Exhibition of Li Binyuan
Location: PAM, Shenzhen, China
Function: Exhibition
Surface: 240 sq.m
Date: 2020
Mission: Interior
Client: PAM
Designer: Ziyu TANG, Sheng FANG (internship)
Under the roof is a space decorated with shoji paper. The space is endowed with diversified meanings through “dematerialization”. Visitors will experience emotional changes with videos such as “The Bell”, “Free Farming”, “Seabirds”, etc. The striking use of metaphor and metonymy in such abstract space as settlements, church, yard and central room carries the symbolization of mixed personal emotions.
Beyond the roof is a desirable space of chaos, where visitors will have little sense of dimensions and lose track of time. “The last Letter” is projected over the roof diminishing in the visual horizon, which may be a conversation between Li Binyuan and his late father who has gone to paradise; The alienated space implies the real intention that might go beyond words for visitors,by virtue of the space, will glimpse into the Reality in the privacy of their thoughts.
Videos offer different possibilities for the interpretation of the space, whereas the space in turn allows the emotions expressed through the videos to be extended and fermented. Perhaps there is a Toto of the Cinema Paradiso in every one’s mind.
We directly deconstructed the common "three-bay" houses in southern villages, and presented the segments of roof, corridor and rooms separately. We hope that space and visual works can provoke visitor's memory.
Catenary Roof:
At the beginning we were told that the construction of our design should not destroy the original exhibition hall.Therefore we decided to use the catenary curve to represent the form of the roof. Space is simply formed by ropes which is anchored to a precast concrete block and the original pillars of the exhibition hall. We wanted the roof to be as soft as curtain, with minimal contact with the existing building.
Corridor and Rooms:
Corresponding to the position of the roof, we set up three rooms and the corridor in order to increase the depth of the space. Five works by the artist are displayed on the wall in the form of television. The wooden bench borrowed from the museum cafe is placed under the porch, which divides the projection area and the TV area, visitors can choose to watch those works in different directions.
Materials and reuse:
The exhibition has always been faced with the problem of waste disposal after the removal. We present the space in a "dry-joint" approach in order to recycle materials as much as possible after removal. Moreover, the misplaced use of materials bring new space experience. For example, we use PVC anti-slip strips as roof purlins, which can not only present catenary curves, but also can be recycled as art installations for reuse.As an artistic derivative of this exhibition, the tin foil tile roof can be used as a picture folder when opened. The size of the tile is extracted from the video work "Paintboard 90X60" by Li Binyuan.Jumping He is responsible for the presentation of the tile, which can be given to the visitors as a souvenir after the exhibition is removed. As for the triangular iron frame in the projection area, Cui Cancan, the curator, suggested moving to the Pingshan Art Museum's rooftop terrace for an open-air film for the Nine Tiered Pagoda retrospective.
“As the fourth of the Nine-Tiered Pagoda series, Cinema Paradiso is a love poem or more precisely a depiction of emotion emblematic of what the creators pursue spiritually and emotionally in the field of art, architecture and design.” --Cui Cancan