Beijing exhibition tackles absurdity in modern life

Song Ziwei, a graduate of the Central Academy of Fine Arts who works as an editor by day, created three pieces for the exhibition.

In Tired (2025), a clock with hands made of soft silicon moves slowly and somewhat reluctantly, resonating with many viewers who feel similarly exhausted by the relentless rat race yet must keep slogging.

In The Working Shell, the Working Ghost (2025), Song presents a pair of hand-shaped white candles adhered to the giant machine. The movements of the hands, as they type on a keyboard, are reflected in the work. As the candles burn, the hands gradually melt away, leaving a trace of their existence on the ground.

For Pay to Make the Artist Smile (2025), Song displays images of all four participating artists on an iPad, each wearing neutral expressions. The audience can click a button to pay any amount they wish to activate the artist's smile for one minute. Alternatively, they can choose another option to achieve the same effect without making a payment. This interactive piece highlights the challenging circumstances many artists, particularly emerging ones, face as they often work for minimal or no compensation.

Gao Suodu's A Windy Night (2025) presents a dynamic installation featuring an orange wooden box placed on top of a blue basket. The box displays candid photos of various unremarkable windows, resembling a residential building. These images were taken by the artist in his hometown of Baotou, the Inner Mongolia autonomous region. On the box, a pile of oranges and lemons progressively dry out or rot with time.

Gao recreated a familiar scene, capturing innumerable windows from the outside but finding it challenging to connect with the people living behind them. In an artist talk held on March 8 at Cai Jin Space, Gao stated that these steel-framed and security mesh windows symbolize modern individuals who, feeling insecure, adopt defensive or even aggressive attitudes, especially online.

The exhibition is free of charge and will run until March 31.

Location: Cai Jin Space, Room 502, Building 311, Qixing Dongjie, 798 art district, Chaoyang district, Beijing.