Back to Index
 |
|
aaajiao
aaajiao (b. 1884, Xi’an, China. Lives and works in Shanghai and Berlin)
Active online as a media artist, blogger, activist and programmer, aaajiao is the virtual persona of Shanghai- and Berlin-based artist Xu Wenkai. Born in 1984 — the title of George Orwell’s classic allegorical novel — and in one of China’s oldest cities, Xi’an, aaajiao’s art and works are marked by a strong dystopian awareness, literati spirit and sophistication. Many of aaajiao’s works speak to new thinking, controversies and phenomenon around the Internet, with specific projects focusing on the processing of data, the blogosphere and China’s Great Fire Wall. aaajiao’s work is interdisciplinary, extending from post-internet art to architecture, topography, design, and beyond to capture the pulse of the young generations consuming cyber technology and living in social media.
aaajiao’s work has been featured in numerous exhibitions around the world. Recent shows include “Deep Simulator” Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Turin (2019-2021); “Art in the Age of the Internet, 1989 to Today”, The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, USA (2018); “unREAL”, Haus der elektronischen Künste, Basel, Switzerlan (2017); “Shanghai Project Part II”, Shanghai, China (2017); “Temporal Turn: Art and Speculation in Contemporary Asia”, Spencer Museum of Art, Kansas, USA (2016); “Take Me (I’m Yours)” (curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist, Jens Hoffmann and Kelly Taxter), Jewish Museum, New York, USA (2016); “Overpop”, Yuz Museum, Shanghai, China (2016); “Hack Space” (curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist and Amira Gad), K11 Art Foundation Pop-up Space, Shanghai, and K11 Art Museum, Hong Kong, China (2016); “Globale: Global Control and Censorship”, ZKM | Centre for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, Germany (2015); “Thingworld International Triennial of New Media Art”, The National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China (2014); Transmediale Festival of Digital Art, Berlin, Germany (2010). His solo exhibition includes: “Remnants of an Electronic Past”, Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art, Manchester, UK (2016); OCAT Contemporary Art Terminal Xi’an, China (2016), among others. aaajiao was awarded the Illy Present Future Prize in 2019, the Art Sanya Awards Jury Prize in 2014, and was nominated for the first edition of OCAT-Pierre Huber Art Prize in 2014.
404404404
2017, Installation, Ink & Sponge Roller, Dimensions Variable
404 is the error message which appears on blocked websites in China and around the world – a digital language transcending alphabets and cultures to be understood everywhere. Translating the digital message back into analog form, 404404404 (2017) is aaajiao’s subtle commentary on censorship and the flow of information in our digital culture. The error message is always the same, no matter the diversity of content it is covering from view. But in the artist’ rendition, the work becomes entirely site-specific, taking a new form with each installation; multiplying the message 404 in a diversity of forms and contexts.
As it relates to his native China, 404404404 becomes a striking commentary on China’s increasingly stringent censorship of artistic expression and communication platforms. As a media artist, blogger, activist and programmer, aaajiao has for many years throughout his practice addressed the issue of China’s Great Firewall – the policy of restrictions on internet content begun in 2000, blocking websites which would enable unfettered access to media and information.
Watch here the Spotlight interview with aaajiao