XHale : In & Out of the Age of Coronavirus
Online Exhibition + Live Broadcasting Open Discussion :
LIFE during COVID-19
Preface
“I like living, breathing better than working... My art is that of living. Each second, each breath is a work which is inscribed nowhere, which is neither visual nor cerebral, it's a sort of constant euphoria.”
—— Marcel Duchamp
“I took a deep BREATH and listened to the old brag of my heart. I am, I am, I am.”
——Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar
"Let all of life be an unfettered howl. Like the crowd greeting the gladiator. Don't stop to think, don't interrupt the scream, EXHALE, release life's rapture."
——Vladimir Nabokov
Grasping for straws is easier / You can see the straws/ “This most excellent canopy, the air, look you,” / … / All I get is a thin stream of it, / A finger’s width of the rope that ties me to life/ … / I inhale it anyway, / Knowing that it will hurt / In the weary ends of my crumpled paper bag lungs.
—— Mark O’Brien, "Breathing" from The Man in the Iron Lung.
Statement
Together with Oh, Not Gallery, the Beijing-based art institution specializing in the promotional art of public spaces, ISPVA(The International Society for Performing and Visual Arts) is pleased to presents the first major virtual exhibition, X-Hale, with a series of live streaming conversations between artists and audience worldwide. As COVID-19 struck the world as a global pandemic with more than 3 million cases in the U.S. and waves of infections and outbreaks throughout the world, this exhibition humbly engages a select company of international artists with interviews and conversations to further unfold their experiences during the crisis.
As Internet remains as the most viable and contingent way of connections nowadays, this exhibition takes this opportunity to invite artists for meaningful and engaging conversations, dialogues, and Q&As to share their thoughts and perspectives around art and its enduring possibilities: its creative agency in making changes, its role as a conceptual catalyst, its capacity to trigger inspirations, ideas, stories, and its therapeutic function for emotional and mental states.
Separately and together, each artist unfolds their art practice and creative process through a compilation of video teasers and Vlogs, while also contributing their passion and energy to this exhibition with a live video streaming on YouTube, Bilibili to answer questions and share stories. This online virtual exhibition is comprised of five sessions, each of which will present four or five artists together with live video streaming to share thoughts and to connect with audience. It will continue to evolve with the addition of new artists and materials as it premieres online session by session overtimes.
Call for Entries:
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Formal Artist Bio
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Artist Statement
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Work Lists: 3 - 5 pieces of your art practice with detailed introduction ( artworks in any medium are welcomed)
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Share your thoughts and experiences about your life, art pratice and social issues during the age of COVID-19 Global Pandemic
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A Written Memo Based on the theme of “exhale x inhale x breathing”: could be a poem, a dialogue, a word collage, a song/lyrics, a monologue.
