At the first glance, the booth of the gallery Tang Contemporary Art at Art Basel in Miami Beach looks like the gallery’s office, relocated to the art fair’s halls. Only after entering the office the visitor realizes that there’s something strange going on here: The office is breathing! Chinese artist Wang Yuyang created an installation that is a life-size replica of an ordinary office, a ‘finance department’, complete with desktop computers, rolling chairs, telephones and other furnishings. The artwork is a piece of Wang Yuyang’s ‘breathing series’. In this case, Wang Yuyang breathes life into ordinary office objects such as garbage cans, fax machines and paper stacks, by recreating them out of silicone and animating them by installing a small motor, which creates the movement that simulates the breathing.
Wang Yuyang was born in Haerbin (China) in 1979. He studied at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, where he is currently teaching in the Experimental Arts Department.
Wang Yuyang: Breathing Series – Office, Tang Contemporary Art, Art Basel in Miami Beach, December 4, 2013.
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