【SCôP | Symposium】8 Stories behind "Peer to Peer"

 Open Eye Gallery Director Sarah Fisher, SCoP Artistic Director Karen Smith

On December 9th, SCoP hosted a special and inspiring event: 8 participating artists of SCoP’s latest exhibition "Peer to Peer" engaged with curators Serein Liu and Lindsay Taylor, our Artistic Director Karen Smith and the audience in one day-long dynamic dialogue.

Artist Chen Zhe

In the first panel “Perception in Photography”, artists Chen Zhe and Othello De'Souza-Hartley talked about their use of photography to describe their perception. Chen Zhe’s work studies the state of trance and disquiet that is brought on by experiencing dusk. “I am a research-based artist who pays attention to communication among different media. I’d rather call myself a garbage collector or a magician, and I like to see what can I get after collecting a massive amount of objects.”

Artist Othello De’Souza-Hartley

Othello De’Souza-Hartley uses male portraits to talk about masculinity and how it is perceived today. “The inspiration of my work came from my wish of becoming a ballet dancer when I was a little boy, but I was ashamed to tell my father, who would have rather preferred me to pick a more masculine activity.” 

The event site

Artist Sun Yanchu

During the second panel “Framing Human Affairs," the artists showed how they addressed three social issues by visualizing them through photography.  

Jonny Briggs’ work exposes some unpalatable truths, addressing “the constructed reality of the family, through the constructed reality of photography”. 

The stark black and white photographs of Sun Yanchu are reflective of the strange landscapes of suburban decay. “My project just shows the places around me or when I am travelling. They are very common spots but ignored by us. Yet when I saw them, I was deeply addicted. There may be a lot of secrets behind the images, that I still don’t know. ”

Artist Wu Yue and  Jonny Briggs

Wu Yue documented life in a nursing home in Dongguan that, prior to a crackdown on the sex industry, was a nightclub. “What I saw in Dongguan still amazes me. I can feel that the past is still there, hidden in some grey places. It looks as if two parallel worlds coexist in a misleading space.”

Artist Qin Yifeng explained the work to audience

The third panel, "Making Pictures," presented how Qing Yifen, Jiang Pengyi and Fan Xi combine digital photography, traditional darkroom technology, and contemporary concepts, and how the making process of photography becomes a part of the final presentation of the artworks. Qin Yifeng uses traditional large format camera to shoot Ming dynasty furniture, showing the details of “Sugong” on negatives. "I want my work to be done in collaboration with Nature, and I would like to blur the boundaries between abstract and concrete, paintings and photographs."

Artist Jiang Pengyi and Fan Xi, Lindsay Tayler from University of Salford Art Collection

Jiang Pengyi’s work is made without a camera, through manipulation of darkroom techniques. “It is hard to explain my process of making images, since it is the result of years of experiments and attempts, playing in the darkroom.”

Fan Xi’s work experiments with an unconventional way of constructing a photograph by putting together hundreds of images to form a single tree. “Using one image to create another one in mind is very important to me. I hope to return the original condition or the original shape of an object through my work. ” 

Audience interaction

Photography ©️ Zhu Jiajie

Shanghai Center of Photography

Current Exhibition 

Peer to Peer

2019.12.08-2020.02.09

   10:30 - 17:30  

  Tuesday to Sunday

  Closed on Monday

Shanghai Center of Photography, 2555-1 Longteng Avenue

（021) - 64289516