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installation view, Neïl Beloufa: Soft(a)ware, chi K11 art museum, 2016

Neïl Beloufa: Soft(a)ware 尼尔•贝卢法软·见



Curator: Victor Wang 王宗孚
chi K11 art museum, Shanghai



chi k11 art museum and the K11 Art Foundation presents Neïl Beloufa: Soft(a)ware, the first institutional solo exhibition in China by French-Algerian artist Neïl Beloufa, guest curated by Victor Wang 王宗孚.

The artistic creations of Neïl Beloufa, which seamlessly blend technology, materials, video, and politics, attain a unique significance when displayed in the context of China. Within this context, where capital, the internet, and online communication are heavily regulated, Beloufa's work takes on a contemporary significance that questions the forms of integration that is currently observed in the process of globalization. His installations frequently incorporate moving image systems integrated within multi-sensory environments. The artist operates like an editor, carefully splicing snippets of film to create immersive environments that seamlessly merge elements of his videos with the physical world. This integration of information and material is particularly relevant when considering the current instability of the present, and the ways in which socio-technological forces shape our daily lives.


[installation view] Neïl Beloufa: Soft(a)ware, chi K11 art museum, 2016
installation view, Neïl Beloufa: Soft(a)ware, chi K11 art museum, 2016

[installation view] Neïl Beloufa: Soft(a)ware, chi K11 art museum, 2016













Taking up half of the space of the chi K11 art museum, the exhibition is divided into three parts: ‘Life as Data’; ‘Real Estate’ and ‘Soft(a)ware’. These sections feature a combination of previously exhibited and newly commissioned artworks, making their debut in China. The exhibition delves into the examination of how sovereignty and digital technology intersect within the context of technological advancement and neoliberal hybridization. The spatial divisions of the exhibition offer a unique perspective on each individual artwork and section, while their sequential arrangement highlights the interconnectedness between land, atmosphere, and data, illuminating the complex relationships that underpin our precarious global system.

In the section "Life as Data," we present, for the first time, the work of artist Beloufa entitled "Data for Desire" (2014). This work endeavors to comprehend attraction and the actions and decisions of a group of individuals through the utilization of mathematical formulas, reflecting the algorithmic method that is increasingly utilized by corporations to track consumer choices and preferences. The film explores various scenarios, ranging from a house party to a classroom, where a group of mathematicians assign numerical values to each interaction. Accompanying the video is an extended environment, "Rationalized Objects" (2016), a series of sculptures that expand spatially on the content and context of the film. These data-like sculptures occupy their own semi-digital space and create a stage within which the video may be experienced. The exhibition display for this section adopts visual merchandising display strategies that are commonly used in the retail industry.



installation view, Neïl Beloufa: Soft(a)ware, chi K11 art museum, 2016

[installation view] Neïl Beloufa: Soft(a)ware, chi K11 art museum, 2016


The section entitled "Real Estate" features the kinetic sculpture entitled "Superlatives and Resolution, People Passion, Movement and Life" (2014). This sculpture utilizes a railway track system to move through the gallery, and features video projected onto its movable panels. The video, which is projected both within the sculpture and into the surrounding gallery space, is composed of staged interviews that depict an ideal urban lifestyle, emphasizing key elements such as a desirable patio view, a balanced work-life ratio, the enjoyment of dining out, engagement with nature, and the practice of power napping. The video is set in a bustling North American city center and seamlessly transitions between scenes of urban development and personal narratives, thus promoting the appeal of urban living. Through this combination of industrial material and projected digital stories of urbanization, the sculpture highlights the concept of misunderstood utopias or dystopias as extensions of the artist's custom-built environment. Additionally, the sculpture serves to illustrate the increasing relationship between the erosion of physical land and the expansion of virtual space.

In the section entitled "Soft(a)ware," visitors are greeted by a semi-transparent technospheric dome that spans the ceiling of the gallery. This installation, entitled "Untitled (Ceiling)" and created in 2016, serves as the backdrop for a collection of sculptures that occupy a unique infrastructural space at the intersection of environment, architecture, and network. The sculptures, suspended above the viewer, create an enclosed climate that is streamed live, drawing attention to the complex relationship between data and our physical environments. The theme of the section, "Soft(a)ware," speaks to the emergence of a new subjectivity within our networked realities and the interconnected agency that informs the selection and assemblage of information from physical and digital media as we navigate and understand the contemporary world.



[installation view] Neïl Beloufa: Soft(a)ware, chi K11 art museum, 2016





installation view, Neïl Beloufa: Soft(a)ware, chi K11 art museum, 2016

installation view, Neïl Beloufa: Soft(a)ware, chi K11 art museum, 2016


installation view, Neïl Beloufa: Soft(a)ware, chi K11 art museum, 2016


installation view, Neïl Beloufa: Soft(a)ware, chi K11 art museum, 2016


installation view, Neïl Beloufa: Soft(a)ware, chi K11 art museum, 2016




Neïl Beloufa: Soft(a)ware
Curator: Victor Wang 王宗孚
chi K11 art museum, Shanghai
9 November – 8 December 2016



Reviews


Frieze: Critic's Guide: Shanghai

Art Radar Journal

The Art Newspaper, Shanghai

最独特的当代艺术展——关小：弹性睡眠/Neïl Beloufa：软．见&hack space即将全新开幕


Chinese Version


尼尔•贝卢法软·见
策展人：（王宗孚）
chi K11美术馆和K11 Art Foundation推出法籍阿尔及利亚艺术家尼尔•贝卢法的中国首次机构个展：《尼尔•贝卢法：软•见》，特邀策展人为王宗孚。

艺术家尼尔•贝卢法擅长糅合技术、资料、视频和政治主题元素，而当此手法与中国的文化背景碰撞时，便呈现出全新含义。在中国，资本、互联网和在线交流都处在监管之下，正因如此，贝卢法的作品具有与众不同的当代现实意义。贝卢法的装置艺术作品通常囊括移动影像系统，并将其嵌入多重感官艺术装置中。贝卢法更像一名编辑，将电影的不同片段拼接在一起。他打造出的沉浸式环境呼应了视频中的各个元素，游走于电影和物质世界之间。信息与资料以此方式彼此交流，体现出对当前不稳定现状的理解，以及对社会与技术元素的相互交织如何塑造我们现有生活的见解。

本次展览占据chi K11美术馆的一半空间，共分为三个部分：“数据生活(Life as Data)”、“房地产(Real Estate)”和“软·见(Soft(a)ware)”。各个部分都展示了贝卢法早期和近期受委托创作的作品，每件作品均在中国首次展出。展览展示不同阶段的作品，旨在探索在技术扩张与新自由主义融合的大环境下，主权和数字领域是如何产生联系的。展览分为三个独立部分，使参观者能够单独欣赏每个部分的作品；而三个部分在空间上又是连续的，但众多系统性关系中的其中一段关系将我们岌岌可危的全球系统调动起来，即土地、氛围和数据之间的相互关联。

在“数据生活”部分，我们首次展出了贝卢法的作品《欲望数据》（Data for Desire，2014年），这件作品试图探析一群人的兴趣所在及行动和决策，通过数学公式计算进行预测，反映出越来越多公司采用算术方法来探知消费者的选择和偏好。影片在各种不同场景中切换，从家庭聚会到教室，一群数学家为每个场景中的每次互动指定数值。影片旁边将展示一件延伸作品，《合理化对象》（Rationalized Objects，2016年），这件作品由一系列雕塑组成，在空间上扩展了影片的内容和背景。和雕塑作品一样，这些数字作品占据着各自的半数字空间，打造出独特的展区，让参观者能够深入感受视频片段的精妙之处。该部分展览采用零售行业常用的视觉陈列显示策略。

“房地产”部分展示的作品是《巅峰、决心、热情、变迁及生活》（Superlatives and Resolution, People Passion, Movement and Life，2014年），这是一件移动雕塑，在一条轨道上不断在展厅来回穿行。投射到雕塑的可移动镶板上的视频片段，将穿过雕塑内部折射到展厅的空地上。这段视频汇集了不同阶段的采访视频，刻画了人们理想的都市生活方式，凸显出一些重要的生活元素，如风景秀丽的露台、生活和工作的平衡、愉悦的外出就餐、拥抱自然以及唤醒活力的日间小睡等。这段视频将背景设定为北美某个市中心，场景在城市发展和个人故事中切换，激发人们在如此美妙的城市中心生活的愿望。作为贝卢法对理想生活环境探索的延续，本视频片段展现了人们对乌托邦或反乌托邦式生活的误解。贝卢法将工业材料和以数字投影方式展现的城市化故事相结合，描绘了土地消失和虚拟空间扩张之间的伴生关系。

“软·见”部分则引领参观者进入一个半透明的技术球状圆顶，该作品名为无题（天花板）（Untitled，2016年），覆盖了展厅的天花板。作品占据了环境、建筑和网络之间的基础设施空间。这些雕塑悬挂于参观者眼前，形成一个封闭的环境，参观者可在其中观看视频直播，旨在吸引人们关注数据和现实环境之间的关系。接着将人们的注意力吸引至“软·见”的理念，并传达出网络化现实中的一种全新主观性概念：主动从 物质和数字媒介中挑选和收集信息之间的互联互通，以及利用所获取的信息加深对当代世界的了解。


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