U2 by UCCA (U2 Art Museum), which opened on February 28 in Beijing's Chaoyang Joy City, attracted a younger generation of Chinese audiences under the photo economy with a blockbuster exhibition in London, "Alice the Curious Girl".
Girls dressed in Lolita costumes, internet celebrities with photographers following the video along the way, young parents holding their children, a couple of selfies - at the exhibition site of the U2 Art Museum, audiences of different ages came to this dream world. It's an immersive journey for contemporary audiences who love to take photos and share, and the exhibition reinforces this in particular.
There are three punch-in photo spots at the exhibition site, as long as you find the punching point, pick up your mobile phone to take a selfie, you can get a printed photo of the scene at the exhibition exit, as well as a passport of "Alice in Wonderland".
"Curious Girl Alice" is a landmark exhibition project for the V&A Museum in the United Kingdom to reopen after the epidemic, and the first stop of its global tour was selected in Beijing, becoming the first exhibition of the U2 Art Museum in Beijing, and the exhibition will last until June 11.
The exhibition uses nearly 300 exhibits to completely sort out the evolution of "Alice" as a popular culture IP in various eras. Since its birth, Alice in Wonderland has influenced world cinema, literature, fashion, theater and art for 158 years with its gripping story, and has been reimagined by countless artists.
The diversified integration of technology and art, virtual and real, online and offline makes the "Curious Girl Alice" exhibition have a unique sense of adventure, allowing Chinese audiences to experience an experience of following Alice tumbling into the rabbit hole.
Cultural IP spanning a century and a half
In the 19th century, the British mathematician and fairy tale writer Louis Carroll created the Alice in Wonderland series, which tells the story of a seven-year-old girl Alice who fell down the rabbit hole and entered a wonderful and absurd world after chasing a talking rabbit with a pocket watch.
Since its publication in 1865, the fairy tale has influenced everything from fashion to film, art to advertising, pop culture to politics. The exhibition "Curious Girl Alice" attempts to show exactly how Alice has influenced the world.
In the original fairy tale, Alice learns to read in the living room before her adventure. The first chapter of the exhibition, "The Longest Day," is also a history lesson for the audience. 19th-century books, manuscripts, grandfather clocks, ceramic teapots transport the viewer into the real Victorian era and how the social environment and regional culture of Louis Carroll's social environment inspired the authors of Alice in Wonderland's origins in Oxford.
In the second chapter, "The Magic Theatre", the audience enters Mr. Caterpillar's Mushroom Forest to explore how Alice's story has expanded from a book manuscript to the screen, with posters, advertisements, plays, and sketches from different eras displayed on the exhibition wall. The 1903 black-and-white silent film Alice in Wonderland was 10 minutes long and was the longest film of its time. Disney's 1951 animated film Beautiful Mary Blair, as well as live-action films by film director Tim Burton in 2010 and 2016, looped through the showroom.
Alice's magical world nourished the minds of many surrealist artists, such as Dalí, who was inspired by Alice. The exhibition features watercolor reproductions of Dalí's collaborations with Disney Studios in the 1940s, as well as paintings on related themes.
Carroll's use of psychological storytelling, and his ability to shuttle between the real world and the dream world, attracted a lot of artists' interest in the subconscious. The Chinese writer Shen Congwen's 1928 book Alice's Travels in China imitated the writing style of Alice in Wonderland. The fantasy novels The Wizard of Oz and The Chronicles of Narnia were also heavily influenced by Alice.
The final chapter, "Alice's Proof," presents Alice's influence on the art and fashion worlds. From Victor Rolf and Vivian Westwood to Tom Brown, from Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama to Heston Blumental, costume masters apply elements of cards and chessboards to clothing, and the artist explores Alice's extraordinary mastery of imagination in his work.
Art spaces within the mall
In the exhibition "Curious Girl Alice", art and entertainment, scientific and technological means and cultural consumption are superimposed on the new ways of playing in the new art museum.
As the elevator ascends to the 10th floor of Chaoyang Joy City, it is gradually away from the hustle and bustle of shopping malls. The space here is tall, the gray walls are gray, and the "U2" pink font is simple and eye-catching. Presenting pop culture that transcends boundaries and connects people, spaces and lifestyles is an artistic experience that U2 Art Museum wants to create.
The U2 Art Museum, which has been in preparation for three years, is behind the museum group UCCA and the cultural IP operation platform Amerite. Designed by architect Zhuang Ziyu, U2 Art Museum has a total construction area of nearly 3,000 square meters, including nearly 1,500 square meters of professional exhibition halls and nearly 1,500 square meters of composite cultural space.
Feiyu Tian, director of the UCCA Ullens Center for Contemporary Art and CEO of UCCA Group, sees the new U2 art museum as a younger existence. In UCCA's multi-museum and multi-brand art museum industry group system, U2 uses art to connect the community and young audiences and play a new and sharp game.
Next door to the U2 Art Gallery, the EPSON teamLab Phaseless Art Space has erected an façade and is under intense renovation. This summer, this art space will open, and the two art spaces will become new landmarks for cultural consumption in Beijing.