COSPACE｜李淜个展《无限的轮廓》

COSPACE荣幸宣布将于2023年12月17日至2024年1月10日展出艺术家李淜的最新个展“无限的轮廓”。本次展览将展出30件李淜的最新作品，这些作品讨论着网络搜索引擎算法和当代艺术家想象力的联动和交流。这是李淜自2021年的“B-Side”之后在COSPACE的再次亮相。

COSPACE is honored to announce that it will exhibit artist Li Peng's latest solo exhibition "Contours of Infinite" from December 17, 2023 to January 10, 2024. This exhibition will feature 30 of Li Peng’s latest works, which discuss the connection and interaction between Internet search engine algorithms and the imagination of contemporary artists. This is Li Peng’s second appearance at COSPACE since his “B-Side” in 2021.

新作“相似图片搜索”系列是李淜的一次新的尝试。算法及其想象力是其创作这一系列作品的最初动因。

创作的过程并不复杂，李淜选择了两个最常用的搜索软件百度和谷歌，从一张白底黑色圆点的图片开始，每搜一步，便从中选择自觉“最能成画”的一张继续搜索，以此类推，持续地再选择，再搜索……这显然是一个没有终点的行为，也为他提供了源源不断的创作素材。此次展览是这一项目的阶段成果。

艺术家看似将创作的主动权让渡给了技术和算法，但实际上，最终的绘制母题还是源于自己的选择，只不过选择的基本范围是由算法所给定的。“最能成画”是艺术家给自己设定的一个选择标准，且真正吸引他的往往是那些超出他经验和想象的图片。有时候，他会刻意选择那些看似不在或已超出本序列的图像作为描绘对象，这些图片超越了历史与现实的限定，也不受具象与抽象的风格约束。于是，当已完成的作品像照片墙一样并置在一起的时候，我们发现，不同风格、不同主题的图像在此被某种魔力野蛮地连成一体。这个魔力可能是最初的那个“黑色圆点”，也可能是中间冒出来的一条线、一个动作，还可能是艺术家的某种经验或“潜意识”……毫无疑问，这是一个始终处在变动中的无限秩序，维系这个过程的则是人的认知与算法认知之间的激烈角力，而艺术家所提供的只是某个片段或局部的轮廓。

李淜选择了“百度”和“谷歌”，最终呈现的是两个不同的视觉结果，至于这个结果及其差异具体是什么，他不得而知，他相信观众会找到自己的答案。

-- 鲁明军

The new "Similar Image Search" series is a new attempt by Li Peng. Algorithms and their imagination were the original motivations for creating this series of works.

The creative process is not complicated. Li Peng chose the two most commonly used search engines, Baidu and Google, starting from a picture with black dots on a white background. After each search step, he selected the one that he felt was "the most suitable for painting". Continue to search, and so on, continue to choose, search again... This is obviously an endless behavior, and it also provides him with a steady stream of creative materials. This exhibition is the stage result of this project.

The artist seems to have handed over the creative initiative to technology and algorithms, but in fact, the final painting motif still comes from his own choice, but the basic range of the choice is given by the algorithm. "The best painting" is a selection criterion set by the artist for himself, and what really attracts him are often those pictures that are beyond his experience and imagination. Sometimes, he deliberately chooses images that seem to be absent or beyond the sequence as objects of depiction. These images transcend the limitations of history and reality, and are not constrained by figurative or abstract styles. So, when the completed works are juxtaposed together like a photo wall, we find that images of different styles and themes are brutally connected by some "magic". This "magic" may be the original "black dot", or it may be a line or an action that emerges in the middle, or it may be some kind of experience or "subconscious" of the artist... There is no doubt that this is an infinite order that is always changing. What maintains this process is the fierce struggle between human cognition and algorithmic cognition, and what the artist provides is only a fragment or partial contour.

Li Peng chose "Baidu" and "Google", and finally presented two different visual outcomes. As for the specific results and their differences, he did not know. He believed that the audience would find their own answers.

-- Lu Mingjun

部分展出作品

 一点凝视训练，布面油画，52 x 96 cm，2023

One Point Focus Practice, Oil on canvas

李淜，1975年出生于江西于都，1998年毕业于江西师范大学美术系，获学士学位；2008年毕业于上海大学美术学院油画系，获硕士学位；2008年至今任职于上海油画雕塑院。

鲁明军，复旦大学哲学学院青年研究员。近年策划“疆域：地缘的拓扑”（2017-2018）、“没有航标的河流，1979”（2019）、“缪斯、愚公与指南针”（2020）、“靡菲斯特的舞步”（2021）等展览。在《文艺研究》《美术研究》等刊物发表多篇论文。近著有《目光的诗学：感知—政治—时间》（2019）、《美术变革与现代中国：中国当代艺术的激进根源》（2020）等。2015年获得何鸿毅家族基金中华研究奖助金；2016年获得Yishu中国当代艺术写作奖；2017年获得美国亚洲文化协会奖助金（ACC），同年，获得第10届中国当代艺术评论奖（CCAA）；2019年获得中国当代艺术奖（AAC）年度策展人奖。