Ritual of Subject
Ritual of Subject - Digital Preview, Xi Li 李曦
Ritual of Subject, a multimedia installation consisting of four separate digital videos and a 3D printed sculpture, is commissioned by Artspace Aotearoa and included in Artspace Aotearoa's exhibition "Cruel Optimism: New Artists Show 2021".
Based on Lauren Berlant's seminal book Cruel Optimism (2011), Ritual of Subject presents four things that are commonly desired paranoidly under contemporary notions of capitalism and consumer society: fitness, sexuality, consumer symbols, and idol worship; and, based on Jacques Lacan's theory of "Objet petit a" systematically constructs a narrative scene that corresponds to it. The practice echoes the mythic nature of contemporary culture with a metaphysical subtlety and a religious-like atmosphere, presenting the fantastic visions and mythic magic embedded in the object of desire, capturing the anxieties and reactions of the subject in the midst of fantasy.
Ritual of Subject - Overview, Xi Li 李曦
Ritual of Subject: The Idol Worship of Cynic
2021 / 4K Video / 3840 x 2160/ 00'20"
Ritual of Subject: The anti-enjoyment mentality of abstinence
2021 / 4K Video / 3840 x 2160/ 00'20"
Ritual of Subject: The Flattering of Physical Changes
2021 / 4K Video / 3840 x 2160/ 00'20"
Ritual of Subject: The grotesque of consumer symbols
2021 / 4K Video / 3840 x 2160/ 00'20"
Ritual of Subject: Aggregate of desires
2021
655 × 250 × 250mm
Polylactic acid, cyanoacrylate adhesive, nitro-alkyd compound spray