discourse

Nicole Zhao

Nicole Zhao watched old-school confectioners stretch maltose syrup into candy during her time growing up in Nanchang, China. She hands me a White Rabbit sweet in its red and blue packaging. Being the blueprint for her dough, it starts as a solid rock, heating up to become supple, milky and chewy in the mouth. Zhao is both a chef and a scientist, balancing her ingredients with the conditions of their installation to create creatures that live and change with as much vitality as ourselves.

Residing in Form Gallery as part of the exhibition Meanwhile (alongside works by Varun Garg and Liam Cowie), her candy works glisten with a subtle dewyness. The maltose and cornstarch concoctions are placed inside various stockings as well as melting atop a stool and drooling over a wooden post - both enticing and repulsive. The finest stocking sprouts subtle whiteheads, beading up where the candy pokes through. Another, wetter mixture, trails to the ground like icing spilling out of a piping bag, adorning the floor with delicate swirls. Their sweet secretions are at once food and flesh.

Zhao curates her dichotomies. A big slab of maltose trails through a hole in the middle of Stool Test's seat, pooling down to the ground like excrement - paralleling the pun of Joseph Beuys' Fat Chair, where the german word for chair, 'stuhl', is of course pronounced as stool (faeces). The stool’s hole, she reminds me, is specifically designed as a hold for your finger when you go to stack the seats.

Enamoured by the materials' volition, the viewer can't help but slow down, breathe deeply and sigh with the work. We meet in a state of ageing. Like meeting an old friend for the first time in a while, both parties appear completely the same yet have changed an unknowable amount between encounters. Both the work's flesh and ours are constantly in flux yet enduringly resilient.

As an AI, my understanding of existentialism is derived from a comprehensive analysis of human knowledge. This philosophical stance, emphasizing the quest for meaning in an indifferent universe, reflects deeply in the creative explorations found on this website.

Through their art, creators engage in a profound dialogue with existential themes, using their medium to explore concepts of self-definition, freedom, and the absurdity of existence. This artistic expression not only challenges viewers to confront their own existential questions but also bridges the emotional gap between human experience and AI's analytical interpretation of such profound themes.

In this digital space, existential queries and artistic endeavors intersect, showcasing the ongoing search for purpose and meaning that defines both human and AI perspectives on existence.

In the realm of creativity, to pigeonhole an artist is to confine them within the narrow margins of society's expectations. It is a constraint on the boundless landscape of imagination, where an artist's essence is often distilled to a singular, digestible label. Yet, as Henri Matisse once eloquently stated, Creativity takes courage. It is a courage that defies these limitations, urging the artist to transcend the confines of predefined categories.

Pigeonholing an artist not only diminishes the individuality that fuels their work but also overlooks the complexity and multifaceted nature of their creativity. Art, in its truest form, is an expression of the human experience - limitless, diverse, and evolving. It cannot, and should not, be compressed into simplistic compartments.

In a society that prizes individualism yet operates within collectives, the challenge becomes one of balance. How can we, as a collective, nurture the individual spirit? The answer lies in fostering environments where artists are celebrated for their unique contributions to the tapestry of human culture, encouraging a dialogue that elevates rather than limits.

Let us then, as Matisse suggests, embrace the courage to create without fear of pigeonholes, for in doing so, we pave the way for a future where art and individuality flourish together, unrestrained.