Some days, don’t you just feel like you’re simply biding time, waiting for who knows what? The monotony and sameness of each day is especially prevalent in this in-between period between winter and spring. The blah, indecisive weather. The lack of motivation. The waiting.
It must have been how artist Cui Fei felt while creating her work Not Yet Titled, which currently occupies the walls of the entrance of the Amelie A. Wallace Gallery at SUNY College at Old Westbury.
A series of thorns mimicking the hash marks used to mark time. A prisoner’s calendar of sorts. Mesmerizing repetition, and yet beautiful in its way.
The work is a commentary on the second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945), a war most Americans are unaware of. Each thorn marks one day of the war, and the overall work is a calendar system with each row representing a month, a large column representing a year. Fei created the work to raise awareness of this painful period of Chinese history, and to ensure that such tragedies are never again repeated.
Cui Fei, Not Yet Titled, thorns, thread, dimensions variable, Arario Gallery, New York, 2009.
It’s a part of an exhibition at the gallery, curated by Hyewon Yi, called “Regarding Nature: thorns, twigs, buds, and branches.” Artists Fei, as well as Barbara Andrus and John Day, display sculptural and other works employing natural materials, all created on site.
Cui Fei. Photo by Monika Zhu.
If you’re in need of a little inspiration, check out “Regarding Nature.” The opening reception for the exhibit is tonight night, from 4 pm to 7 pm. The exhibit runs through May 2, 2010. For more information, contact the gallery at 646-421-5863.
For more works by Fei, keep reading.
Cui Fei, Not Yet Titled, thorns, thread, dimensions variable, Arario Gallery, New York, 2009.
Manuscript of Nature V Installation, tendrils, pins, dimensions variable, 2002-present Photo by Jan Staller.
Manuscript of Nature V, Cui Fei, detail. Photo by Jan Staller.
Cui Fei. Photo by Hyewon Yi.
Read by Touch, Cui Fei. Thorns on rice paper, 9 1/4” x 10 3/4” each page, total 11 pages, 2005 - 2006 Photo by Zheng Lianjie.
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