By Percy Chen, Junior Project Manager Art-Science
On November 21, the eleventh Café des Sciences: Semiotics through New Media Art took place at the swissnex China office. Andreas Gysin, Swiss artist, residency artist at Chronus Art Center and Pro Helvetia, thoroughly went over his creations involving “found geometry” and urban signage systems, showing his interpretations as well as reconfigurations of the “signified” and the “signifier”.
Andreas during the Q&A session with audiences.
Andreas’s works strike a balance between familiarity and the uncanny. For instance, one of his early pieces tilts a traffic sign for 45 degrees. At first glance, it is insignificant work. Yet, it is this subtle disconnect between the sign we used to know and the sign as it appears in Andreas’s work that motivates us to question: “why is it tilted?”; “what is it that the artist tries to accomplish?”; and eventually, “why does the sign appear as it was in the first place?'“
Compared to contemporary modern art that employs abstraction and dramatic impressions, Andreas’s works are far easier to approach. If the former is rocket science that inspires people, then the latter would be a practical tip for a math problem that we have been struggling to solve. Each of Andreas’s works functions as a small glitch in the matrix, reminding us of the present and decelerating us from the constant fall into banality.
As of today November 22, we have exactly 40 days until 2020, a brand-new decade. In the past 5 years, digital technology has been growing at an unbelievable, exponential rate. Regardless of what one thinks of technology, we are entangled in this inevitable information revolution together - more social media integration, surveillance, and smart devices have yet to come. Already hooked up to smart phones, we will be even more inclined to live behind the “glorious” facade of digital reality.
Therefore, a glitch in the matrix is something we need to seize, a reminder of reality we ought to accept and embrace.
Andreas presenting one of his traffic sign pieces.
Audiences are especially interested in Andreas’s digital works.
At the end, we would like to thank Andreas Gysin for his fantastic presentation and all those who were involved in the discussion. We aim to create and share values among our community members and this Café des Sciences was more than informative. Thank you! Stay tuned for our next event.
To view more photos from the event, click here.