steel, newspapers, and television sets, 3,000 cm long, 260 cm in diameter
Impressed, upon his arrival in Paris in 1990, by the flood of information generated by Western society, Wang Du became interested in this media landscape, which from that point on became the source of his work. Using images he extracts from print media, television, or the Internet, he creates monumental sculptures and installations, appropriating and playing with the media and their language.
By shifting from a flat, detached representation to a tangible, exaggerated one, Wang Du removes the “media filter” and establishes a more direct relationship with the world of media. The Space-Time Tunnel invites the viewer on a journey through the media. “In the same space, one can see Africans suffering from famine alongside the idyllic scenery of the British royal family’s vacation spots… one can hear that war and politics are linked, that scientific research and human obsessions are synchronous…” As visitors walk through this tunnel, they are immersed in a stream of media, recreated by more than 60 televisions nestled among a pile of newspapers and magazines, broadcasting channels of various origins and themes. “Are the media the nerves of reality?” “With their ubiquity, their absolute power, and their ability to infiltrate, the media influence society as well as people's thoughts and behavior at every level. […] We have become both consumers of media and objects consumed by the media.”
Extrait du Wand Parade Magazine, n°4, 2004.
production : -- Les Abattoirs, Toulouse -- La Criée centre d’art contemporain, Rennes -- Le Palais de Tokyo, site de création contemporaine, Paris -- Le Rectangle, Lyon
