Liang Chen attempts at discussing the possibility of a paradox through his dual practice of architecture and art: infinity within the finite. Mathematician Georg Cantor once used the first Hebrew letter, א(Aleph), to signify “the finite/infinite set”, which evokes mysteries, infinity, space-time, as well as their interconnection, boundaries and freedom. Liang Chen tried to discuss the new definition of this symbol.
For any given set of entities, such as a concrete concept, an object, or a space, Liang Chen studies closely their shift, progression and spatial-temporal accumulation over long-term time, multi-layered time, and on large scales. Facilitating bodily immersions, he strives to construct new individual experiences and memories, which he then converts into new space-time through creative intervention. Liang Chen called the working method of "excavating and intervening in the space subconscious with space as the main body called spatial hypnosis".
Influenced by historian Fernand Braudel during his college years, Liang Chen experimented with a long-termed and multi-layered observation of architectural sites. He examined blocks and buildings, the formation of cities and substances, and people's daily behaviors. The discussions on the infiniteness about the longitudinal and time axis are further carried out to explore the clues of the site, and then a specific design method of space intervention is used to penetrate the site and the entire time and space. After a long-term and multi-layered time research of the Northeastern city, Changchun, Liang Chen began to study his hometown Dandong, Liaoning Province, with the same method from 2013. Applying the universe to be the new spatial-temporal coordinate, his analysis spans from the Big Bang, the formation of the earth, to the geology of Dandong, constitution of its landscapes, neighborhoods and streets, and finally ends in the residential building where he grew up, manifested in its three interior decorations from three different periods. Through a sub-conscious recapitulation of childhood city and architectural space, Liang Chen intends to awaken a sub-consciousness of substance and scope. This hometown study and self-analysis became the departure point and source for Liang Chen's work.
On the other hand, built on his research and practical experience in Erguna, Dandong, and Xinjiang, Liang Chen initiated interdisciplinary research "Border Project" in art, architecture, and anthropology. As a critical phenomenon in post-modern global cultural landscape, the temporal and spatial disparity between contemporary art and "local culture" is gradually dissolving and referencing each other, reconstructing the order and boundaries of global public culture. Therefore, the study of local knowledge has become necessary to understand the specific context of contemporary knowledge production. The Border Project focuses on borderlands, which are at the forefront of knowledge production and exchange. Starting from geographical borders, Border Project attempts to explore more possibilities for artistic innovation by taking an interdisciplinary view of the broader borders of culture, history, language, and social milieu.
Born in 1987 in Dandong, Liaoning, China
2006-2011 Studied at Jilin Jianzhu University, Bachelor of Architecture
2011-2015 Worked in Vector Architects, as associate and project architect, completed the Seashore Library and the Courtyard Hybrid projects
2014, 2016 As teaching assistant, completed the open design teaching of Tsinghua University School of Architecture: "The Space of Light" (Dong Gong Group)
2017 Began independent architecture and art practice, founded Studio: Aleph-Liangchen
Currently works and lives in Beijing
AWARD
Robb Report, 2020"Best of the Best" Designer
ARCHITECTURE PROJECT
Singer's House,Erguna,2017-2019,Built
Ale Museum, Beijing,2017, Built
Soka Art Center, Beijing, 2019-, Built
PCCA,Shenzhen,2019-,Built
Zian Art Foundation,2019-, Schematic Design
SOLO EXHIBITION
2021
CHAOS, Harmony, Shanghai, China
Bells of times, BART, Beijing, China
2020
1976/2020, DRC No.12, Beijing, China
2019
Liang Chen: Aleph, A4 Art Museum, Chengdu, China
SOLO ART PROJECT
2020
Other Stones, Shangchuan Island, Jiangmen, China
2019
Wishes on Water, Aranya, Beidaihe, China
2018
Project Aleph 2.0, Aranya, Beidaihe, China
2017
Project Aleph, Aranya, Beidaihe, China
CURATORIAL PROJECT
2022
From Antung to Dandong——Rafts, Broken Bridges and Strangers on the Yalu River,Wind H Art Center,Beijing,China
2020
Space Discipline: some buildings (after reform and opening up) and some architecture (after the Expo in Shanghai), OCAT Shanghai, Shanghai, China
2019
Urban Renewal: Reinvigorating the Old by Infusing with the New, Wide Narrow Alley, Chengdu, China
GROUP EXHIBITION
2021
Coordinate System·Sky Box, Hyundai Motorstudio, Beijing, China
The Methodology of the New Generation, Wind H Art Center, Beijing, China
2020
Evolution, Enjoy Art Museum, Beijing, China
Moving Black Project 3, Taiguli, Beijing, China
2019
At Ease in Xichong, 2019UABB(SHENZHEN) XICHONG SUB-VENUE, Shenzhen, China
Lunar Phases, UCCA, Beijing, China
Lost&Found, UCCA, Beijing, China
Killfish the Heteronym, George V Art Center, Beijing, China
B-Side, George V Art Center, Beijing, China
Moving Black Project 1, Joy City, Beijing, China
Moving Black Project 2, Taohua Street, Suzhou, China
Space Hypnosis Project: No.27 Yard, Neiwubu Street, Beijing, China
The Curation Workshop, OCT Art & Design Gallery, Shenzhen, China
3cm Museum, chi K11, Shenyang,China
2018
A brief history of nomadic, Qianchaoshou Hutong No.22, Beijing, China
History in the Making, Beijing Fashion Institute Rongcheng Fashion Industrial Park, Xiong’an, China
EXHIBITION DESIGN
2022
ON | OFF 2021 Carousel of Progress, HEM, Guangzhou, China
2021
XINGHUI, Nanchizi Museum,Beijing,China
The Artist's Way of Vincent Fang, Soka Art Center, Beijing, China
The Pulse of Modernity, Powerlong Museum, Shanghai, China
2020
QIU Xiaofei, Part I: Red/Part II: Trotskyky grew into a tree, New Century Art Foundation (NCAF), Beijing, China
Embodied Mirror: Performances In Chinese Video Art, New Century Art Foundation (NCAF), Beijing, China
In Memory of Forgotten, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
2019
Lunar Phases, UCCA, Beijing, China
Remapping Reality-Selected Video Collection from Wang Bing, OCAT Shanghai, Shanghai, China
2018
History in the Making, Beijing Fashion Institute Rongcheng Fashion Industrial Park, Xiong’an, China
History in the Making, 798 International Art Exchange Center, Beijing, China
LECTURE
2019
Hypnotize a Space, UCCA, Beijing, China
The Will of Time and Space, A4 Art Museum, Chengdu, China
The long time period and the multi-time period of the space, Renmin University, Beijing, China
2018
<Aleph>: the extension and solidification of the will of time and space, Beijing Jianzhu University, Beijing, China
<Atlas>: The beginning and stretching of the will of time and space, Beijing Jianzhu University, Beijing, China
<Uncovering the Sun>: the unconscious blending and presentation of the will of time and space, Beijing Jianzhu University, Beijing, China
<>: Everything, Black, Darkness, Nothing, Beijing Jianzhu University, Beijing, China
2017
An-tong and I overlap in time and space, Renmin University, Beijing, China