作为创立于2021年的新一代年轻艺术机构，inner flow荣幸宣布画廊空间将于2023年9月27日正式入驻北京798艺术园区，并举办开幕首展——崭新的。此次展览以“新”为聚焦主题，呈现9位青年艺术家基于不同成长环境与创作媒介，所体现出关于“新”的实践，也希望通过这个词汇本身所携带的意象，指向无限的可能性。
“新”是文化和艺术理论中常出现的术语，同时还是一个极不确定的概念。新(neo-)往往作为前缀，起到重新定义已有概念的作用，这种用法似乎天然携带着两个矛盾的含义：延续和推翻，一方面“新”和“旧”不是割裂或二元对立的关系，它是基于对过去的理解和面对新问题时，需建立的应对主张，另一方面，它也是出自人性主动、内驱的本能，是对固有价值体系鲜活的抵抗。我们所谈论的“新”，或许是旧系统中的陌生感，地缘中的遥远性，或许是有进步意味的时代思潮，我们之所以渴望“新”，因为我们都想更接近未来。
此次展览的艺术家们同属于充满活力的青年一代，处于人生中一段未完成、不确定的时期。正因他们在人生中最纯粹的阶段身处于交叉着科技变革、社会加速、精神迷茫、信仰危机的复杂多变的现实世界，且尚未对一切都习以为常，他们总能敏锐、及时地用感知对当下做出反应。同时，现实的牵绊作为附着在身上的印记，成为具体的抓力，使他们在向精神世界探索的同时不陷入虚无主义。青年是塑造每个时代和民族的关键力量，而每个人的青年时期都是线性时间维度里的单一阶段，对于那些过去的，他们是崭新的。
巴什拉曾在《空间的诗学》中指出：“空间并非填充物体的容器，而是人类意识的居所。”赛博空间向物理空间和心理空间的扩张重构了我们对于场所的解读，我们不拒绝穿梭在多重复合的场所之间，但我们依然需要那些真实，也渗透着精神力量的空间。让我们想象一个纯粹中性的空间，开放的、崭新的，看看未来带给它些什么，被塑造成怎样。
Marking new generation of art institutions founded in 2021, inner flow is honored to announce that its new gallery will open on September 27, 2023 in Beijing’s 798 Art Park, and will hold its innaugural exhibition—Brand New. This exhibition focuses on the theme of “new”, presenting nine young artists whose disparate creative practices range across region and media. Through imagery carried by the word itself, this exhibition hopes to point towards infinite possibilities.
“New” is a term that often appears in cultural and artistic theory, but at the same time is a very uncertain concept. “Neo” is often used as a prefix to redefine existing concepts. This usage seems to naturally carry two contradictory meanings: continuation and overthrow. On the one hand, “new” and “old” are not separate or binary. The antagonistic relationship is based on the understanding of the past and the response propositions that need to be established when facing new problems. At the same time, it is also derived from the active and driven instinct of human nature, and is a living resistance to the inherent value system. The “new” we are talking about may be the strangeness of an old system, remoteness in geography, or current progressive trends. The reason why we long for “the new” is because we all wish to be closer to the future.
The artists in this exhibition all belong to an energetic young generation and exist in an unfinished and uncertain period in their lives. Precisely because they are in a complex and ever-changing real world intertwined with technological changes, social acceleration, spiritual confusion, and crisis of faith in the purest stage of their lives, and have not yet become accustomed to everything, they can always respond to the changes with their perception keenly and promptly. React in the moment. At the same time, the tether of reality, as a mark attached to the body, creates a concrete grip, allowing them to explore the spiritual world without falling into nihilism. Youth is the key force that shapes every era and nation, and everyone’s youth is a single stage in the linear time dimension. For those in the past, they are brand new.
In his text, the Politics of Space, Gaston Bachelard pointed out that “space is not a container filled with objects, but the residence of human consciousness.” The expansion of cyberspace into physical space and psychological space has restructured our interpretation of place. We do not refuse to shuttle between multiple and complex places, but we still need spaces that are real and permeated with spiritual power. Let us imagine a purely neutral space, open and new, and see what the future will bring to it and how it will be shaped.
