Zhang Peili: from Painting to Video is a collaboration between the Australian Centre on China in the World (CIW) and MAAP-Media Art Asia Pacific, Brisbane. The project is built around the generous gift to CIW, in 2014, of one of Zhang’s last paintings from the 1990s before he shifted his focus to video and media installation art. Newly restored, and never before exhibited, Flying Machine (1994)—a gift from Zhang’s friend and fellow artist, Lois Conner, became an opportunity to explore this significant transition from painting to video, to reflect on the development of media art in China. Developed with MAAP director Kim Machan, who has worked closely with Zhang for more than a decade, From Painting to Video features a set of the artist’s pioneering video works, which retain their challenging ambiguity. These are complimented by a complex video installation from the late 1990s and a custom-made LED work commissioned by MAAP in 2010. This rare and diverse collection shows how Zhang Peili’s practice has continued to deconstruct media and destabilise systems that produce meaning. Whether by systematically smashing and repairing a mirror, or systematically feeding language through translation software, Zhang’s work enacts an applied system and logic that ultimately reveals uncertainty in the authority that surrounds us.
Curated by Dr Olivier Krischer (Australian Centre on China in the World) and Ms Kim Machan (Director, Media Art Asia Pacific).
展览《张培力：从绘画到录像》由中华全球研究中心 (CIW) 和 MAAP – Media Art Asia Pacific（布里斯班）联袂促成。这一项目起源于最近收藏的张培力于90年代创作的最后几张绘画作品之一《飞行器》（1994年）, 当时张培力的创作焦点正在转向录像和媒体装置。 张培力的朋友兼艺术家同仁Lois Conner慷慨地将此作品捐赠予CIW。已重新修复并首次展出的《飞行器》为探讨艺术家从绘画到录像的重要转向，及媒体艺术在中国的发展提供了契机。
《从绘画到录像》 由同张培力有十余年的密切合作关系的 MAAP 总监Kim Machan参与策划，呈献该艺术家的一组具有先锋性的录像作品。这些作品意义模棱、极具挑战性。它们由90年代末创作的一套复杂的录像装置及2010年MAAP委托定制的一件LED作品组成。这一罕见并具多样性的组合展示了张培力是如何在其艺术实践中持续地解构媒体并颠覆制造意义的系统。无论是系统性地砸碎和修复镜子，还是系统化地为翻译软件输入语言，张培力的作品制定了一个应用系统和逻辑，最终在无处不在的权威中揭示了不确定。