Jul 23, 2024
Eternal Time and Endless Experiences: Wandering in Meng's "Vacuum"
Meteorites become materials, materials become weapons, weapons become games...
From May 26th to August 15th,UK-based artist Zhou Meng constructs a world "Beyond the Mundane" at Tianmuli's R PLUS Gallery.
Stepping into the serene black exhibition hall,
the large installation "Star Chart" composed of 88 iron meteorites evokes the infinite cycle of the universe before your eyes.
Wandering through it feels like a dream... In that moment, time leaps off its linear track and reaches a higher dimension.
Star Chart Wallpaper, iron meteorites, silver
Dimensions variable
Wallpaper height adjustable between 2.8 - 4 meters
「Vacuum」Exhibition Scene Photo
Aries / Capricorn / Lyra
Fossils, wood, shells, resin, pearls, meteorites, pulp, organic and inorganic materials...
Zhou Meng's creative process often begins with a curiosity about nature and all known existing substances.
He then restores, combines, and polishes these stories, fossils, and fragments using traditional and modern techniques and artistic methods.
Among people, between peopla and nature...
The fragments of ancient myths and microscopic observations ultimately become tangible objects created by Zhou Meng from void.
Embracing all materials and stories from all civilisations is the main theme of his creations.
Since the exhbition opened, about two thousand people have visited "Vacuum".
The ineffable internal impacts, conveyed through these stones, minerals, and arrowheads, evoke different emotions and deep reflections.
「Offerings to Nut, the Sky Goddess」
Ink, resin, mineral powder, animal hide glue, wax, meteorites, pearls
23h x 17w x 20d cm
「Offerings to Nut, the Sky Goddess」details
"Seeing artist Zhou Meng's work for the first time is like stepping into the garden of forking paths.
He has found his own path, encompassing everything from parallel spaces to the entire universe in an instant.
What I do know is that he has a unique way of walking.
Zhou Meng's work has a lot of texture.
If you peel back the layers, it becomes incredibly interesting.
The first thing you notice are the layers of texture and the rational processes involved:
a heap of materials like meteorites, ink, mineral powder, resin, glue, wax, and so on.
The painting process, as I imagine it, is like that of a meticulous chemist.
This process must be full of exploration, experimentation, uncertainty, and new beginnings with moments of surprise.
I interpret this joy as a deeply satisfying happiness, like the view seen after reaching the summit
—a vast snowy mountain, the sun a bit closer, a challenge to both body and soul.
Looking deeper, the painterly elements hidden within appear like a flickering fire in a dark wasteland, full of vitality.
The starry sky and the universe within are filled with unknowns, like a collage of cosmic explosion fragments.
In the artist's work, I see a search, an exploration of boundaries and adventure.
This search, though guided by a rational methodology, is driven by an inner core like a poetic flame.
It seems to be a direction of growth, full of primal force and the charm of infinite possibilities."
— Ma Xin
「The Fearless Attendee」
Ink, Wood Panel, Mineral Powder, Animal Gel and Insect Wax
Including frame：65h x 95.5w x 6d cm
「Midday Coma」
Ink, Wood Panel, Mineral Powder, Animal Gel and Insect Wax
Including frame：65h x 95.5w x 6d cm
"Attending Zhou Meng's exhibition requires one to reshuffle their mental inventory or willingly place themselves outside the influence of gravity.
In essence, it demands that both mind and body step away from their usual gravitational orientation.
He has orchestrated a 'black room,' a space where linear time and narrative are abandoned.
Instead, it is filled with elements that touch the edge of the entrant's perception, consciousness, and abstract or concrete thinking, testing the limits of experiential knowledge.
Different individuals inside will find their minds ignited, their thoughts accelerating in rapid spirals.
Fossils, shells, pulp, and herbs are scattered everywhere.
Fragments of cave murals, cave life, and ancient myths gradually piece together into a woven net of a cosmopolitan explorer.
Different people, tracing their paths, weave their unique nets, with these nets interconnecting.
Zhou Meng merely laid out some nets or provided some bait in advance.
Layers upon layers, spanning hundreds of millions of years ago, a century ago, today, and the future.
The artist revisits the fragments of civilizations—crafts, myths, fossils, and paleontology.
Under his hands, the materials of creation are continuously wiped, dissolved, overlaid, restored, combined, and polished.
The fleeting present intrudes upon eternity, while the ancient eternal gazes back at the present.
Humans are both weavers of these fragments and voyeurs.
In the entire black room, human shapes wander across the surfaces of ancient murals and meteorite sculptures.
These shapes could be meteorites, stars, mammoths, ancient millipedes, insects, or plants.
They might also be the targets humans aim for in games of rock-paper-scissors, yet they do not change according to human will.
We are all intruders."
—Zhang Yun
「A Tear of Quetzalcoatl」
Resin, Mineral Powder, Wax, Animal Hide Glue, Convex Lens and Peacock Feather
41h x 22w x 21d cm
"Creating with multithreaded time and extending historical objects in space,
based on the artist's personal understanding of contemporary dance and music,
both macro and micro, conceptual and marvelous."
— The Priest
「Exmouth」
Resin, Mineral Powder, Animal Hide Glue, Wax, Fossil and Pearls
25 r cm
「White Cliffs」
Resin, Mineral Powder, Animal Hide Glue, Wax, Fossil and Pearls
25 r cm
「Devon」
Resin, Mineral Powder, Animal Hide Glue, Wax, Fossil and Pearls
35 r cm
「Medusa’s Heart」
Resin, Mineral Powder, Animal Hide Glue, Wax, Meteorite, Shell, Convex Lens, Bells and Seeds
14h x 17w x 13d cm
"Symbolic people are like stars
Dancing, stretching, faintly disappearing or overlapping and interweaving.
I really like a passage by curator Weiwei:
'From the exploration of the cosmos to the humanities, meteorites become materials, materials become weapons,
and weapons become games. The exhibition "Beyond the Mundane" humorously dissolves some
anthropocentric concepts, teaching us to reconcile with nature and with time.
In this 'black box' created by the artist, we can once again feel the overlap and echoes of civilization,
the endless vitality of nature, and the position of humanity within it.'
Speechless emotion
Returning in the evening and looking at the photos, I suddenly felt like crying
I thought of death, loneliness, dreams, the universe, and dust
Cherish kind thoughts, be unattached.
All is unattainable: past thoughts cannot be attained, present thoughts cannot be attained,
future thoughts cannot be attained, and the unattainable itself cannot be attained.
This is the birthless nature of the unarisen."
— Xiao Zhong
「Medusa’s Heart」details
"It's been a long time since I've seen such a stunning small exhibition.
Even though I read some related materials beforehand, I still couldn't have imagined the presentation and effect would be like this.
Actually, I hesitate to use the word 'stunning' because the works have a depth that goes beyond that term.
I wonder if Zhou Meng has experienced transcendence beyond our four-dimensional world,
having journeyed through higher dimensions.
The memories left from such experiences are difficult to convey using our four-dimensional media (words, images, videos).
Instead, they must be described using various natural materials to capture the physical properties of time,
as well as the flesh, spirit, love, struggle, and oblivion that flow within it.
The framing and exhibition layout as part of the artistic expression are theoretically 'professional,' but in the art industry,
it is rare to see form serving content without being contrived.
Although Zhou Meng's 'Beyond the Mundane' exhibition is small, it is of a very high level.
(I won't go into specifics, but if you're interested, you must experience it in person.
I feel that some of his approaches are not just technical ingenuity but a necessity of his creative process.)
Zhou Meng, born in 1992, is very young.
His thoughts, materials, presentation forms, craftsmanship, and expressive effects are all outstanding.
His future is promising, and his work is worth collecting and following continuously.
Unfortunately, the piece I most wanted has already been snapped up."
— Cheng Buer
「Hero Game - Arrow」
Bronze, Meteorite, Carbonized Wood
90 h cm
「Hero Game - Arrow」details
"Existence
Have existed
Did it ever exist?
Various surprises and unexpected materials
Holding a meteorite, heavy in my hand, does it belong to my constellation?
Sharp sword feathers
Sickle and axe, symbols of productivity
Can also be part of a 'game'
The relationship between the universe and me
Seems always hazy
Through Zhou Meng's works
The white mist before my eyes seems to grow clearer
No rush to find answers
Enjoying this clarity — A user with a square inch of skin belonging to 'Rite of Spring'
Without a doubt
Upon entering this ancient realm
Humans lose a certain distinct sense of coordinates
Here, it feels beyond the mundane
The sun no longer shines
Meteorites become the favored children of energy
Eternal conches
Transform into messengers of black mysteries
Chaos fosters the spread of life
A youth from the water village
Perhaps long acquainted with Zhuangzi
Roams the myriad phenomena
Encountering Pina Bausch
Contemplating the origins of the Divine Comedy
No longer believing in fragility
With gentle yet powerful hands
Solidly polishing the will of the universe
Peculiar fragments of information
Woven by him into a mysterious aura
Peace has perhaps never been so comfortable
The entire constellation
Reflects the radius of humanity"
— Jiang Zhou
「The Momentary Daylight」
Ink, Wood Panel, Mineral Powder, Animal Gel, Insect Wax, Meteorite and Resin
Including frame：55h x 45w x 11d cm
"Zhou Meng's 'Beyond the Mundane' pulled me, an ordinary person living in the 'dust of the world,' into a time and space he arranged.
Automatically and consciously, I followed his thoughts, seeing myself conversing with distant souls,
using his ideas to awaken the often absent-minded me of the present.
In this piece 'Ephemeral Daylight,' I didn't read eternity,
but one corner of the installation's frame is inlaid with a meteorite, clearly stating this is eternity.
Which lasts longer, the ephemeral daylight or the unlit starry night?
In the R PLUS gallery, I wandered back and forth five or six times.
Sometimes I felt like an integral part of something beyond the mundane,
yet at other moments, I realized I was only a fragment.
This is the contemplative thought the artist evoked in me, often feeling within the art circle,
yet so many times detached from it.
If everyone is their own deity, would the body shiver when the soul is impacted?
There are many curiosities, stepping into the paintings, peeking into the installations.
Zhou Meng's guidance is gentle, not forceful, without overemphasis—it just exists.
Seeing his thoughts exists.
Perhaps he spoke of the realms of yin and yang,
perhaps of peace and war,
perhaps of the ephemeral and the eternal.
What I understand is that I am being my momentary self within the eternal space."
— Chen Fang