Artist explores technology and communication in modern world

Li Shuang presents “Distance of the Moon,” an exhibition running until January 12, 2025 at Prada Rong Zhai, a historic residence built in Shanghai in 1918. It marks her first solo institutional exhibition in Asia as he showcases a series of new works created specifically for this space.

The exhibition delves into the complexities of human connections in the digital age, reflecting on how technology, once a tool for fostering communication, often becomes a barrier.

“Communication and technology have always inspired my works. When communication can only happen digitally, technology and algorithms become draconian, where everyone is flattened into pixels, and physical bodies are rendered helpless,” Li said. “All of these tools that were supposed to make communication easier — instant messages, video calls, stickers — have lost their magic, and actually create more distance.”

She highlights the frustrations of digital interactions, where words lose their meaning and attempts at connection frequently result in misunderstandings. Drawing from personal experience of tension between generations in a typical East Asian household, Li’s work explores the alienation brought about by technological “progress” and its impact on intimate relationships.

Li’s work spans performance, interactive websites, sculpture, moving images, and multimedia installations. Rooted in the contemporary digital landscape, her art explores the dynamics of interaction and intimacy — between users and technology, and between technologies themselves. She examines how these systems, as part of a globalized communication network, shape our bodies and desires.

The title “Distance of the Moon” is inspired by Italo Calvino’s book “Cosmicomics.” In its opening story, Calvino imagines a prehistoric time when the moon and earth’s gravity brought them so close that people could climb to the moon on ladders to gather “moon milk.” One night, a sudden shift in gravity pulled the moon far away, leaving some people stranded on the moon while others managed to return to earth. Li said she found solace in this story during the pandemic when she was stuck in Europe and unable to travel home.

The exhibition transforms the historic Prada Rong Zhai into a dynamic interplay of light, sound, and form. The venue’s blend of Chinese and Western architectural elements provides a fitting backdrop for Li’s exploration of communication and technology.

A centerpiece of the exhibition is “With a Trunk of Ammunition Too” (2024), a large-scale installation that merges the forms of a wind chime and a chandelier. In this piece, lights blink chaotically, translating a letter in Morse code, embodying the concept of “speaking into the air,” a nod to John Durham Peters’ seminal work on communication. The installation is accompanied by a sound piece created in collaboration with Chinese DJ and producer Hyph11e, enhancing the sensory experience.

Li’s resin works encapsulate a unique interplay between the ephemeral and the permanent. Made with semitransparent resin, they encase fabric, beads, vinyl prints, wires, cables, and found objects, thus crystallizing fleeting memories, personal desires, and intimate regrets into solid yet delicate structures. These works resemble phone screens, blending the visual language of technology with a tactile, handcrafted quality.

While rooted in the digital realm, her work subverts technology by embracing lo-fi glitches, elements with the potential to disrupt or break technological norms. The resin’s liquid-like surface evokes a sense of being submerged in water, creating a striking contrast with its solid form.

In “Shackles” (2024), photography printed on mesh is layered with found objects and cables, giving screens a new material presence. Meanwhile, works like “Kingslayer” (2024), featuring abundant pearls, mimic pixelated screens, exploring the transformation between digital imagery and the physical world. These pieces challenge the boundaries of technology, materiality, and memory, inviting viewers to reconsider their relationship with the digital.

Another chandelier installation, “Distance of the Moon” (2024), is designed to resemble an ongoing conversation. It translates a conversation between Li and her mother on WeChat during the pandemic into light. In this piece, language and its meanings seem to dissolve, leaving only signals behind. The lights in each chandelier respond to one another, shifting colors and flickering at varying rhythms.

These changes might reflect the tones and emotions of their conversation, symbolizing the fluidity of communication — at times harmonious, at times disjointed, capturing the essence of connection and disconnection, echoing the dynamics of a mother-daughter relationship in a digital age.

If you go:

Date: Through January 12, 2025 (closed on Mondays, 10am-6pm)

Venue: Prada Rong Zhai

Address: 186 Shaanxi Rd N.

Admission: 60 yuan