New exhibition at GMK
Opening Tuesday, November 12th, 7:00 PM, GMK (Šubićeva 29)
Exhibition open until November 30th
Gallery hours > Tue-Fri: 4 PM – 8 PM / Sat: 10 AM – 3 PM
Free entry
Being in a world that constantly moves – somewhere, cycling through tabs, cycling through Excel, inputting and outputting data. Lantian Xie is an artist, researcher, director, storyteller of everything and nothing all at the same time. Being everywhere and nowhere while making images, objects, forms, engaging, jumping, swerving, moving, driving a car around Pompidou, rearranging groups, jazz bands and most importantly, parties.
110bpm Ducati Omnihabitus is intimately tied to the nuances of globalization and the complex interplay between local and global, asking viewers to consider (how) simple yet symbolic imagery can reflect broader geopolitical and cultural issues. We are provoked to contemplate the ways in which spaces, objects, and events carry collective and individual meanings. Moreover, we are encouraged to think critically about how we can situate ourselves within global systems.
In 2008, an Iraqi journalist took his shoes off and threw them at George Bush Junior during a press conference in Baghdad. The shoe was manufactured in Turkey under the model Ducati 271, named after the motorbike. Although Bush dodged the first shoe, the second struck the American flag behind him. While shoe-throwing as a form of protest dates way back in history, this act prompts us to consider whether such a form of protest can transcend its immediate context to become a global media spectacle. From that shoe being thrown at G. Bush, to the first images of a black hole captured by the Event Horizon in 2019, there are series of events, some forgotten or overlooked, yet interconnected, shaping a distinct thread that binds us all to this reality.
Both that and other references to individuals and diverse manifestations, whether through direct visual representation, allusions or symbolic gestures, help map out a complex network of relationships. Xie integrates these elements into a form of contemporary criticism – forming 10 distinct chapters. In the flood of endless information that we are served daily, the challenge isn’t accessing knowledge, but rather discerning what’s meaningful. We find ourselves paralyzed by options, torn between the urge to consume more and the struggle to make sense of what’s already there. Xie is a storyteller: he presents a perspective more powerful than mere hopelessness, underscoring the fact that anyone with a pair of shoes can initiate a protest.
110bpm Ducati Omnihabitus is a dynamic fusion that explores rhythm in a machine-driven world where boundaries blur. What does this accelerated heartbeat of our time even mean? Over the course of nearly 30 minutes, with a subtle nod to the absurdity of our human condition, Xie might be asking us what do we pay attention to when there are, out there, “voices (who) also exist without being able to be heard”?1
- Xie, Lantian, 110 bpm Ducati Omnihabitus, 2024, TimeStamp ↩︎
Lantian Xie (UAE, 1988) makes images, objects, things, things that happen, formulations, jumps, swerves, moves, exhibitions, books, working groups, jazz bands, motorcycles, and parties. Previous projects have been presented at the 57th Venice Biennial; 11th Shanghai Biennial; 3rd Kochi-Muziris Biennial; 14th Sharjah Biennial; 7th Yokohama Triennale; Hangzhou Triennial of Fiber Art; Dhaka Art Summit; Para Site, Hong Kong; Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Centre Pompidou, Paris.
Curators: Antonela Solenički & Petar Vranjković
Producer: Tea Matanović
GMK Director: Maja Pavlinić
Text editor: Sabih Ahmed
Video editor: İpek Hamzaoğlu
Sound editor: Kaushal Sapre
Technical support: Marin Kovačević
Opening photograph: Luka Pešun
Production: Generator multidiscipliniranih koprodukcija (GMK)
Special thanks to: Alla Semenovskaya
This project is supported by: Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia, City of Zagreb, Creative Europe – Culture Moves Europe
GMK is supported by: Kultura Nova Foundation, INA d.d.
