Liu Xiaodong 'Weight of Insomnia' catalogue available to purchase
29 August 2019
Published on the occasion of Liu Xiaodong's recent exhibition at Lisson Gallery in London (25 January – 2 March), the 'Liu Xiaodong: Weight of Insomnia' catalogue is now available to purchase via Cornerhouse Publications.Liu began work on the technologically radical Weight of Insomnia project in 2015 with the expertise of (among others) Fito Segrera, an artist, technologist and Head of Research/Creation at the Chronus Art Center in Shanghai, where the first paintings in the series appeared in a show curated by CAC's Director – and Liu’s long-time collaborator and friend – Zhang Ga. Using a robotic arm and surveillance technology, live streaming data and imagery, Liu and his collaborators created a painting machine to transcribe the ever-changing flow of movement in city landscapes into a complex network of abstract marks on canvas, ultimately producing entirely machine-manufactured contemporary landscape paintings.
This book, designed by Studio Bergini, is the first to publish the full extent of this project from its commission by Zhang Ga, whose essay introduces the project and its first iterations in Beijing, Jincheng and Shanghai. After its world tour, taking in other cities including Berlin, Karlsruhe, Sydney and London, the author, artist and technologist James Bridle discusses the human consequences of our device-induced insomnia and the machine’s ability to work constantly and silently, without tiring or despairing.
This volume also includes an interview with the artist conducted by Karen Archey, the Curator of Contemporary Art for Time-Based Media at the Stedelijk Museum, as well as Liu’s diaries written during the project’s gestation, installation shots and working documents.
Copies can be purchased via the Cornerhouse website.
