Lisa Chang Lee: Serenade of Woods (Private View)

San Mei Gallery is pleased to present Serenade of the Woods, a solo exhibition by London-based artist and researcher Lisa Chang Lee.

At the core of Lisa Chang Lee’s practice is a deep interest in the relationship between humanity and the environment in different cultures. Inspired by how Taoist ideology of nature permeates through visual art, music, poetry amongst every aspect in Asian culture, Lee works across moving image, photography, print and collaborative research-based projects with creative partners from other disciplines. Her work is made based on a vitalist conception of life which sees nature as a constant flow of transformation that contains culture rather than a static objectified exterior to man.

Serenade of the Woods is a project that uses the objectivity of algorithms to examine and challenge the binary opposition between technology and nature. Through data analysis, the rhythm of plants in the breeze is read and then transformed into music scores. Applied with Olivier Messiaen's scale inspired both by music and birds song, the algorithm processes movements of plants swaying in the breeze, recorded from everyday life. Each plant is given a musical instrument that corresponds to its synesthetic form. Eventually, musical scores written by nature are played by humans as a live performance and an audio-visual installation.

The project explores the act of 'non-doing' using AI and machine learning. Whilst technology is undeniably dominating our everyday life and our ways of experiencing the world, the artist believes that the principle of algorithms is ultimately neutral. The binaries can be computed to help us better comprehend the environment as an ultra-complex organism, as well as reveal the beauty of spontaneity and chance.

Lisa Chang Lee is a multi-media artist, independent curator and lecturer based in London. She obtained an MA from the Print department at the Royal College of Art in London in 2014. In 2018, Lee is now a visiting lecturer at Central Academy of Fine Art in Beijing and the Royal College of Art in London; Lee is also the curator of Print Future Panel of International Printmaking Triennial at China Academy of Art(CAA). Lee has exhibited her work internationally in recent years includingSerenade of the Woodsat the Rattles Collective London in 2019 (UK); Solo ExhibitionIndeterminate Loopat Ginkgo Space Beijing (2017,China);Unstable Landscape, M100 Contemporary Art Centre (2018, Chile); Seoul Biennale (2019, Korea); York Art Gallery (2018,UK); Shenzhen/HK Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/ Architecture (2017, China), etc. Upcoming exhibitions includeMoscow Biennale of Young Art 2020(postponed); solo exhibition at Ginkgo Space Beijing 2020. Recent prizes and awards she’s received include the nomination of Art Power 100 China (2019,China); Contemporary Art Trust Prize(2019, UK); Runner-up Prize (special mention) Collective City, Seoul Biennale (2019, Korea); the nomination of Awards of Art China (2018,China ); Vivien Leigh Prize from the Ashmolean Museum (2018, UK); Aesthetica Art Prize shortlist (2018, UK) Her work is amongst others in the permanent collection of Victoria and Albert Museum (UK); The Royal Collection (UK); British Museum (UK); Ashmolean Museum (UK); Metropolitan Museum (US).