A Thousand Plateaus Art Space is honored to be invited to participate in the inaugural edition of Loop Lab Busan in 2025—an international media art platform dedicated to movement, time and moving image practices, bringing together leading institutions and artists from around the world. Originating from the acclaimed Spanish organization Loop Barcelona, Loop Lab Busan is its independently developed expansion in Asia. Focusing on the convergence of video, installation, sound, and media art, the platform fosters contemporary artistic discourse through exhibitions, forums, and curated programs. As the sole gallery from mainland China selected for this edition, A Thousand Plateaus Art Space will present The Empty City (2012), a seminal work by artist Chen Qiulin.
When the traces of a city are swallowed by time, does it truly disappear? In The Empty City (2012), Chen Qiulin weaves together seven videos to reconstruct a city that once existed—a place shaped by regional transformation and imbued with the dislocation of the individual within the tides of history.
The work draws inspiration from the artist’s childhood memories of Wanxian, a city submerged and reshaped by the Three Gorges Dam project. In the video, she is both an observer and a wanderer, moving through vanishing streets and deserted parks, attempting to grasp remnants softened by time. A carousel, public square dances, da dad‘s vintage military uniforms, and toy guns—these objects drift between reality and memory, reinforcing the work’s sense of estrangement.
This time, the video is presented as a single-channel video, intertwining previously separate narratives into a layered experience where time and space blur into one another. This reconfiguration not only amplifies the work’s visual and emotional intensity but also expands its discourse within contemporary art—how does one define belonging amidst social upheaval? How does moving imagery respond to the rupture of collective memory? The transformation of a city is not merely a remapping of space but an accumulation and erosion of memories. For Busan, a city that has also undergone waves of change, such an experience may feel all too familiar.
