Plane Exercise
laser jet on hahnemuhle paper
33*50cm
2021
Black Background
laser jet on hahnemuhle paper
72*90cm2022
Temptation element 4
nail, film
variable size
2023
One
film, Iron wire
variable size
2023
1m³
laser jet on hahnemuhle paper
100*150cm2022
Tama（white）
marble，cement
35*25*30cm
25*25*120cm
2023
Sheaf of Landscapes
film
25*1000cm，variable size
2023
Moment
bronze, handmade candles
70*80*110cm
2022
Simulation Sequence (7)
nail, film
variable size
2023
Grey Background
laser jet on hahnemuhle paper
60*90cm
2022
“Simulation Play”, installation view，Fotografiska, Shang Hai，2023
Simulation Play
Perplexedly staged, the exhibition hosts an array of “new plant species” that Fan Xi has bred in a realm of supernatural vegetation. From her early series to recent works, the evolution and metamorphosis of artificially created plants is a reoccurring theme. By trimming, cutting, collaging and assembling digitalized nature, real-life dimensions are distorted, and new axis of perceptions are formed.
The boundaries of 2D and 3D is blurred, disrupted or even reversed, challenging the viewer’s physical interpretation of customary imagery. It is a mixed reality of virtual beings materialized onto different dimensions in concrete spaces. From manipulated images on prints, to large-scale three-dimensional collages, to photographic and 3D-printed sculptures, these images of plants seem to grow and take over surfaces and volumes in an adaption of its own.
Simulation Play renders the notion of how photography is an act of imitation by the superimposition effect of the man and machine. And yet it is not a simple “simulation” of reality but aiming to challenge the conventional method of creation and visualization of photographic representations, to redefine and to push the boundaries of the medium, to question its existence and its relationship with the viewer. Through her investigation and practice, the works evoke exploration into a wider approach on the interpretation of photography.