According to my new curatorial framework, the exhibition installation of artist Wenxin Zhang‘s work “Time Burns” is not composed solely of its own imagery. Through interlaced linear interventions and lighting renderings within the space, Wenxin Zhang constructs a concrete “thinking burning field”.
Installation shots of exhibition Time Burns
《The Bonfire of Time I–III》Concept:
Three abstract animations express the “structural collapse of time” using different 3D simulation techniques, creating both a virtual and real contrast with “Memory Caustics” and forming a continuous trilogy of “time collapse” alongside the “daily time destruction” depicted in Time Burns.
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Bonfire I: Like an ever-expanding “information vortex”, symbolising the way modern people’s attention and time are drawn into an irreversible acceleration.
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Bonfire II: A simulation of spatial collapse and explosion, corresponding to the collapse of human limits under the pressures of working rhythms.
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Bonfire III: A one-sided structure of aggregation and dissipation, metaphorically reflecting fragmented lives and the struggle to maintain a “sense of wholeness”.
The Bonfire of Time I, II, III (2017) video screenshot
Memory Caustics (2017) 作品概念：
Memory Caustics (2017) video screenshot
In “Memory Caustics”, Zhang uses photographs from her past travels as material, reconstructing the “places of memory” into digitally simulated spaces through 3D modelling and interactions with virtual characters. These characters walk, drink, swim, and sleep within these simulations—appearing leisurely, but in reality, repeating a coded daily routine.This technologically mediated reproduction of memory gradually transforms “human memory” into “machine memory”, metaphorically reflecting the reality of time control over contemporary individuals within a technological-capitalist framework: we live according to a time constructed for us by others or by systems, rather than following a rhythm that genuinely belongs to ourselves.
When reviewing the artist’s profile, I found it particularly interesting that she defines herself as a “terrain builder”—not in the sense of crafting natural wonders, but by constructing “perceptible landscapes of human and non-human minds” through images, sound, installations, and writing.Through her works, she guides audiences to “fall from the plane of daily life” into a perceptual state within “liminal space-time”.
This composite artistic language of “time–consciousness–space” offers crucial visual and methodological support for the exhibition, helping the audience intuitively experience and reflect on the mechanisms of time control through their own embodied experiences.It can be exhibited alongside my interactive installation “If I Have Time…” within the same space. After engaging with Zhang’s works, audiences are likely to find themselves in a state of emotional awakening, making them more willing to participate in interactive expression.
Resources：
ZHANG Wenxin(b. 1989): https://www.zhangwenxin.com/wenxin-cv
Project Time Burns: https://www.zhangwenxin.com/time-burns
The Bonfire of Time I, II, III (2017) HD color animation with sound: https://vimeo.com/238578616?&signup=true#_=_
The Excerpt from Memory Caustics：https://vimeo.com/238583253
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