meimei(Xinyi Mei)
Hanging Study
The concept of "hanging" evokes thoughts of gravity, hesitation, suicide, precariousness, fragility, the uprooted, and the inevitable. Hanging objects are a metaphor for an unstable vertical hierarchy, in contrast to those that grow from the ground, which seem more rooted, reliable, and connected to a source. Hanging, on the other hand, begins in the air, temporary and ephemeral, like a mirage.
This research project investigates the various physical forms of hanging, such as hanging, dangling, draping, and suspension. Through the study of objects and materials like willow trees, wind chimes, chandeliers, fishing lures, and plumb bob levels, I aim to examine the "hanging situation" as a potential state of feminist knowledge and post-humanistic contemplation.
[study 01]
wind bells chiming in the garden, photography, 2020
When COVID-19 began in spring 2020, school shut down suddenly, I forced myself to break the depression to go out for walking as a means of therapy. There were merely no one in the street in my community, as well as human voice. The very obvious and stunning sound suddenly flushed into my hearing is the subtle sound of wind bells chiming. These folk wind chimes are made of various objects such as traditional materials of wind chime decoration and unexpected useless metal components of household activities. Later I was told that the chiming of these various objects was seen as a prompt for the returning moments when the spirits of ancestors and departed families visiting their loved ones.
[study 02] writing with willow tree, pencil on cotton paper, 210×290cm each, work in progress
[study 03] Dubious Fusion (a black dog* at the top of waterfall), mineral pigment on silk, alu minum alloy window frame, 80×100cm, 2022
[study 04] A female fishing lure, UV curable resin, paint, deer fur, rope, bells, metal parts, size variable, the lure 128×53×72cm
meimei(Xinyi Mei)
she/her
website: meixinyi.net
email: meimei.jpeg@gmail.com
instagram: meiixiinyii
meimei(Xinyi Mei) is an artist and situation creator based between Shanghai and Jiangsu, China. Her multidisciplinary practice oscillates between image and text while incorporating media theory to intervene in the representations of material culture.
