From 20 September to 27 November, JNBY and UCCA present "Xu Qu: Hunting."

Designed with the physical layout and surroundings of JNBY concept store in mind, the installation Hunting is an extension of Xu Qu's continued research into sports, their corresponding playing fields, and the interstitial moments produced therein. Here, the artist guides viewers on a plotted course through a tennis court, questioning the sport's social and cultural status with phenomenological play.

The general visual experience of a tennis court consists of the synthetic court, wire fencing, and consumer products that dress participants. In the midst of rapid urbanization, the sport has taken on a new status for the burgeoning middle class, a means to maintain fitness in order to better engage the physical demands of an urban lifestyle. The new, post-industrial generation has grown up accustomed to the sport, enjoying it as players and viewers. In the midst of the sport, time is separated into the active and inactive according to the state of the ball. A dead ball is "useless," unable to produce the elation of movement, and renders time meaningless. Players must immediately pick up the ball and start again. Hunting presents a state filled with imagination and transformation, distilling the dead ball situation by ridding the court of its physical conditions and solidifying the "interstitial" into scenes that allow viewers to contemplate the entire process. Viewers can also engage the scene through their own actions. The participation of consumers becomes dictated by the tennis ball, while the exercise gear hints at the absence of tennis players. The wire fencing separates areas of motion and non-motion, forming an emotional tension and delimiting player and audience, proprietor and consumer.

Download "Xu Qu: Hunting" press release.