Tao Hui
In the Land Beyond Living
Tai Kwun Contemporary
Hong Kong
Sep 26–Feb 2, 2025

Individual dilemmas of identity permeate the global subconscious; and such inner conflicts can be exacerbated by migration, urbanization and the rapid development of technology, and the clash between desires for freedom and regulated societies. In his multimedia practice, Chongqing-born, Beijing-based artist Tao Hui delves into stories from across China, examining complex social psychologies that have arisen in a country facing relentless advancement.

For his exhibition “In the Land Beyond Living” at Tai Kwun Contemporary, Tao Hui tackled this profound subject matter with a surrealistic flair through video installations, sculptures, sound, and set design. The concise but poignant show, curated by Jill Angel Chun, drew attention to narratives of alienation and displacement due to climate change or technological advancement across China. The central video installation, Chilling Terror Sweeps the North (2024), was screened inside a custom-built structure several meters tall, embellished with Chinese and Islamic design features. It surveys one young woman’s experience of deracination, torn between her love for a young man—who yearns for his city in the south—and her attachment to her native land in the rural northwest. Forced to reckon with her identity and autonomy, she grapples with the existential dread which can emerge from difference and division. Stunning images of vast mountain landscapes, juxtaposed with claustrophobic scenes of an urban dwelling, lent a cinematic and dream-like atmosphere to the reality faced by the two protagonists.

In the same room, Tao Hui attempted to evoke continuity with the film’s landscapes. The anthropomorphic forms of colorful glass chicken feet strung together and suspended in Money Grab Hand (2024) are a comical allusion to the interconnectedness of life. Yet, as explained in Chilling Terror Sweeps the North, they are also a cultural reference to the traditional practice of fortune telling. Surrounding Tao Hui’s central installation, sloped wooden surfaces formed a landscape punctuated by tufts of artificial grass. Perched askew atop one surface was Cuddle (2024), a cracked ceramic toilet strangulated by a petrified python. The work is symbolic of the pressures of everyday life which, as proven in Chilling Terror Sweeps the North, can force even the most resilient to breaking point.

In parallel with the impacts of climate change and desertification on rural communities, China’s urban life is increasingly shaped by technology and media consumption. Tao Hui’s video Hardworking (2023–24), projected on a curved freestanding screen, explores these virtual realms as the protagonist reflects on her role as a livestream host in China. While critiquing the contradictory nature of the e-commerce industry, she scrutinizes the increasing overlap between digital and physical worlds, and the driving obsession with new forms of consumption. She asserts: “Audiovisual culture has replaced print culture,” and “My brain seems to have developed neural links with apps.” Through his protagonist Tao Hui raises the question of how a highly mediated, moving-image culture has impacted human relationships with nature, materialism, emotions, and practical life. At the end of the video the protagonist pulls the screen down—a metaphorical and literal weight—on her shoulders. Behind the physical display in the gallery, a “melting” wood-crafted figure mirrored her final act. Though supporting the folding screen on its back, this anonymous figure represents all who bear the burden of these developments in a technology- and media-saturated world.

With four major works, “In the Land Beyond Living” was not an extensive exhibition. Yet the video installations succeeded in showcasing Tao Hui’s poignant observations of the emotions and psychology surrounding social identities in contemporary China. Combining fraught subject matter with surreal and absurd stylistic choices, Tao Hui’s exhibition had the potential to resonate with a range of audiences while setting forth a sardonic reminder that the world is but a vast performance.

Annabel Preston is an assistant editor at ArtAsiaPacific.