An immersive meditation on club spaces by the acclaimed Danish-Norwegian artist duo
For their show in Hangzhou's contemporary art center, By Art Matters, Elmgreen & Dragset installed a club space in the ground floor, a meticulously designed environment in which they strategically placed sculptural works: a monochrome bottle shelf filled with rows upon rows of the same milky liquid; a modernist circular bar that turns the tables on customers who could be served only when its center became accessible; a terrier on a merry-go-round; and a tightrope walker. Upstairs the exhibition spaces were divided into several tableaux, such as bronze figures painted in plaster white; and more. This book documents these complete environments in gorgeous spreads, along with shots of earlier installations for context. Texts by Tian Wu, Zian Chen and Alvin Li explain both the history of the artists' work and how it interrelates with Asian gay subculture, alongside an interview with the artists.