Rebecca Catching

Overclocking: A Solo Show by Tian Xiaolei
超标:田绍磊个展

(Press Release)

Overclocking: A Solo Show by Tian Xiaolei
Foreign Bodies: Human Identity in a Posthuman World November 18, 2016-December 9, 2016
Opening Ceremony: November 18th 2016, 7:30 p.m. Opening Discussion: November 18th 2016, 6:30-7:30 p.m. Department for Culture and Education of the
German Consulate General in Shanghai (AKuB)
Curator: Rebecca Catching

For more documentation of the VR works presented by Tian Xiaolei see Tian Xiaolei’s website here .

Tian Xiaolei, "The Creation," VR work, 2015
Tian Xiaolei, “The Creation,” VR work, 2015

The title of this exhibition refers to the technological term, a kind of hack whereby a computer component such as a CPU is configured to run at a faster speed than specified by the manufacturer. This hack allows the computer to run at a higher speed at a lower price, but like pushing film to a higher ISO, overclocking can lead to instability in the system and unpredictable behaviour.

Employing this metaphor, the artist alludes to hacker culture and the “high- tech low-life” of cyberpunk, yet there is something distinctly missing from Tian Xiaolei’s VR-generated scenarios . . . perhaps it’s the “life.” We see a figure of Venus sprouting prostheses, a man caught in a loop of eternal/infernal ecstasy, and two CCTV cameras in a passionate embrace. Bodies are present in all of their magnificent VR/3D splendour, ready to fulfil our every command as we wield the joystick, prompting them to destructive acts.

Tian Xiaolei, "The Creation," VR work, 2015
Tian Xiaolei, “The Creation,” VR work, 2015

Tian’s animations make it easy to envision the dystopias of “technological singularity” — the nightmare of runaway technological growth fuelled by a new form of artificial “superintelligence,” but AI allows for machines to upgrade, debug and improve themselves, who is holding the joystick?

Tian Xiaolei, "Secret," Virtual Reality Game, 2016
Tian Xiaolei, “Secret,” Virtual Reality Game, 2016

Overclocking: A Solo Show by Tian Xiaolei
November 18, 2016-December 9, 2016
Opening Ceremony: November 18th 2016, 7:30 p.m. Opening Discussion: November 18th 2016, 6:30-7:30 p.m. Department for Culture and Education of the

German Consulate General in Shanghai (AKuB) Curator: Rebecca Catching

Location: Department for Culture and Education of the German Consulate General Shanghai (101 Cross Tower 318 Fuzhou Lu, near Shandong Zhong Lu, Huangpu, Shanghai)