On July 20, 2024, China’s first public sculpture and installation art theme park—Beidaihe Da Butong Installation Art Theme Park—officially opened, marking a significant milestone in the country’s art scene. The exhibition, organized by the local government, the Contemporary Center of the Central Academy of Fine Arts Museum, and Art China, showcased top artworks from around the world.
With the theme Embracing Diversity, the work Cave of Invisible Reflection by Yang Zhaobo and his art collective SSG was selected as one of 36 pieces chosen from over a hundred global submissions. The piece received authoritative recognition from the executive curator, senior Art China editor Xu Bocheng, and other esteemed experts.
Within the expansive 240,000-square-meter park, the installations embody a dynamic interplay of unity and diversity, creating a dialogue between the artworks, the viewers, and the natural environment. The exhibition features a compelling array of works, from the iconic 45° Artificial Rock by Zhan Wang and Tan Xun’s Rainbow series, which exemplify the mastery of seasoned artists, to the innovative contributions from emerging artists like Xu Shuo and the SSG collective. These emerging artists, equipped with global perspectives and contemporary sensibilities, engage in a thoughtful reinterpretation of the concept of diversity, infusing the exhibition with a rich, multilayered artistic narrative that deepens and enriches the thematic exploration.
The work Cave of Invisible Reflection stands as a notable highlight. It stretches ominously towards the sky, existing on the edge of reality, as if suspended between dimensions, wavering between solidity and dissolution. Its angular, otherworldly lines pierce the heavens, distorting the sky into a surreal, semi-transparent mist that clings to its unstable, alien surface. As darkness falls, the piece transforms into a hard-edged, luminous halo, where the external world refracts into an eerie reflection of light at its core. This structure blurs the lines between the viewer, the landscape, and the cosmos, merging them into a single, uncanny entity. It elevates the moment of contemplation beyond the ordinary, hinting at the extraterrestrial.
Given SSG’s extensive use of digital art, installation, and other mediums, their approach to public sculpture uniquely blends the work with its environment, creating an illusion that blurs the line between reality and the virtual. This approach further contributes to the creation of a contemporary alienated landscape. Within the context of this exhibition, the art collective employed acrylic materials, neon lights, and other elements that carry contemporary narratives, resulting in a suspended, lightweight visual effect that evokes a sense of an otherworldly presence. This aspect is particularly striking, as noted by a visitor named Alex, who mentioned in an interview that the piece aroused his curiosity and amazement from afar, especially with the night-time visual effects, which he likened to the awe of watching a science fiction film.
Yang Zhaobo from SSG explains that this work continues their exploration of balancing sensory experiences within states of instability, ultimately creating new ways for viewers to engage. He reveals that this piece originated from their first work created in the Lake District during the pandemic. At that time, they sought to create a visually unstable yet balanced effect by simply stacking geometric shapes. This project has a long narrative arc, from the Lake District in the UK to Yueyang and now Qinhuangdao. The initial story behind is considered into their concept. in 2020, Merz Barn provided an exhibition space for their project involving five art collectives. However, the project never materialized due to the passing of curator Ian Hunter during the pandemic. Their ideas were first realized in Yueyang in 2023 and were further developed in the Qinhuangdao project.
These experiences during an unstable era have infused their works with warmth, fostering a strong connection with and accessibility for the viewer. They are particularly caring about the local audience’s view and the nature, as they did the research and realized that the need for a memorial function of the work. Without disrupting the landscape, the materials and viewing approach of their work are non-intrusive, blending gently into the environment. They reflect the scenery in a light and harmonious way, both in terms of cultural and geographical context. In the Supportive Economy, the stated needs of the new human for sanctuary and connection are embodied in the materiality and interactivity of this work. It invites participation through its movable and accessible spatial structure, creating an immersive experience within a semi-enclosed space that fosters interaction among participants and with the artwork itself.
As stated in Art and Fear, “The only voice an artist has is the original one.” This landscape creatively merges instinctive expression and interaction, making it an outstanding work of the exhibition.
Another piece of this collection, Playground of Building Block (2023), serves as a precursor to this current piece. Located in a remote landscape on Junshan Island as part of the Art in the Fields exhibition in China, the large-scale work was constructed from the region’s abundant bamboo and water reeds. Despite its imposing size, the structure had a certain fragility, reflecting ecological uncertainty. As a counterpoint to this instability, the work offered a playful approach to interacting with the elements, challenging the conventional ways reality is constructed.
