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Wang Peng
Distance
2011
single-channel video, 5:00 minutes
Distance deals with perception. Two pictorial planes are presented side-by-side: one
portrays a moving dot of light against a black empty space; the other an array of imagery
shot at close range including urban streetscapes, logos of luxury brands like Channel and
Gucci, a stone statue, a tea cup, a pot plant. The images are recorded at night or in dark
settings, partially revealed and edited through selective illumination. A light dot appears
to mirror and trace the camera lens point-of-view, following the movement and zoom
variations as the camera records the objects and spaces with a systematic yet poetic logic.
The viewer’s gaze darts back and forth between the dual visuals in an attempt to compare,
contrast and reconcile the imagery. The viewer strives to uncover the artist’s thought
processes, to equate and understand the serial associations. This work evokes a poesis of
distance – the artist creates and questions distances between reality and illusion,
abstraction and realism, future and present, ideal and truth.
Above: video still
