Merging eastern and western artistic philosophies, Ni Youyu examines the diverse cognition on the concept of universe, keeps sorting out his thoughts on time and space in his “Dust Painting” series. Fascinated by astronomy, Ni creates exact replicas of constellation and galaxy images by meticulously applying chalk powder on images he previously measured and grilled with the utmost precision. The artist then sprays glue several times in order to fixate each millimeter of dust on wood panels. This whole series can be deemed as deriving from Arte Povera movement and Marcel Duchamp’s idea of the readymade – the idea that such a mundane and “cheap” material as chalk powder can be transformed into a precious object of value. The title of this series alludes not just to his powdery medium but also to his belief that “the universe is dust”, anything inside of which is an unstable and ephemeral micro like dust.
倪有鱼的“尘埃”系列糅合东西方哲学观点,探讨对宇宙概念的不同认知,持续梳理其对时间和空间的思考。出于对天文学的着迷,倪有鱼将收集得来的星系照片以打格子的测绘方式,等比例放大到木板上,高精准地定位星辰的位置,并以粉末精心点绘并反复喷胶,将以毫米计的粉尘固定在木板上,最大限度地复制出真实的星系图像。这系列作品可以被认为是重溯“贫穷艺术”及杜尚提出的“现成品”概念,赋予粉笔尘这般平凡而低廉的日常媒材全新的美学价值。而系列的标题“尘埃”不仅仅提示了作品创作的媒介,更暗示了艺术家关于“宇宙即尘埃”的理念,身处其中的一切都如尘埃般渺小、短暂且不稳定。