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The Deals Go On

Half-Field Plan in New York: Solo Exhibition of Cai Guojie

 

Oct 14th – Nov 6th, 2020 (12 pm – 6 pm)

Appointment only, please send an email to halffieldusa@gmail.com

Artist: CAI Guojie

Curator: LAM Sio Man

The Founding Fathers of the United States have treated the right to own a piece of land as the cornerstone of a free society. Yet today’s high price of properties in American cities has forced people to lose their choices to claim this right. Augmented by the coronavirus pandemic, people have been confronted with increasing displacement due to their incapability to pay for the rent or debt. However, it is apparent to some real estate practitioners that the speculation of real estate properties has remained, especially in New York City.

Taking this into account, artist Cai Guojie debuts his solo exhibition in NYC with his 15-year alternative real estate business named Half-Field Plan(半田計畫). It is an art project in which Cai examines cadastral maps inventively to develop conceptual land properties. Specifically, Cai identifies the liminal spaces between the boundaries of properties, marks them on the cadastral map, and grants them to the public as a form of participatory art and social commentary. Whenever a space is granted, a “land deed” is signed between the artist and the grantee. To Cai, this is a process of pursuing infinity. It provides people with the right to virtually own any piece of land in the world.

For this debut project in New York, Cai has developed 3 groups of “listings”’ in New York, Chicago and Washington D.C.– all carefully conceived in response to the current emergencies of American society – the systemic racism (Jamaica Estates), the unprecedented pandemic (Hotels Where Heroes Are Not Admitted) and the critical presidential election (White Tower). On the one hand, visitors are invited to claim these lands and enjoy the free deals in this uncanny time of history; on the other hand, you are challenged to recognize the highly-capitalized market mechanism, the cannibalized state apparatus and the displaced individuals and communities under this unstoppable system.

liminal space illustration

 

Online Sales Gallery

http://thedealsgoon.caiguojie.com (Coming alive on October 14, 2020)

 

Open House Events

Open House I: Virtual Comedy Storytelling Show

Racism! Homophobia! Evil real estate practices! Toxic masculinity! Let’s get together and laugh at those things because it’ll feel better than crying!

Before the second presidential debate kicks-off, enjoy this virtual comedy storytelling show hosted by David Lawson (Comedy Central)! Four comedians performing stories that relate to the awfulness of that particular man being satirized in The Deals Go On exhibit. Performers for the show include: Rhonda Hansome (Sirius XM’s “Tell Me Everything”), Andrew Sanford (ABC Discovers Showcase), David Hu (RISK! storytelling podcast), and Kelli Dunham (Simon & Schuster published author).

Thursday, October 15, 2020, 7:45 pm-8:30 pm EST (Free, RSVP required), via Zoom

Open House II: Sales Gallery Guided Tours

Sales gallery guided tours. Selected tours led by real estates salespeople. Each tour is about 30 minutes.

Saturday, Oct 17, 2020, 2pm-4pm EST (Free, RSVP required), at SLEEPCENTER
Saturday, Oct 24, 2020, 2pm-4pm EST (Free, RSVP required), at SLEEPCENTER
Saturday, Oct 31, 2020, 2pm-4pm EST (Free, RSVP required), at SLEEPCENTER

 

About CAI Guojie

Cai Guojie is an artist whose works create multi-dimensional integration. He believes that art is to describe differences. Artists should never give up the power of art in the name of art.

“Half-Field Plan” is a 15-year practice of Cai to mark the interspaces in space and to explore “the field of power” in art. His art practices focus on the ownership of the interspaces between boundaries, and the transfer of rights from concepts to entities. In his Half-Field Plan project, the signing of deeds is a game of power; the giving of choices is a granting of power. To him, it is crucial to reveal the power of boundaries as well as human being’s desire for these artificial boundaries. The recognition of them is significant for ones to pursue “infinity” – the freedom that we long for.

Born in Hsinchu, Taiwan, Cai received a master’s degree in Installation Art from the Taiwan University of the Arts and is currently pursuing a doctorate degree in Cross-Media Art at the China Academy of Art. Previously he has held solo exhibitions in various art organizations, including AMAC Projects (Paris, France), oMo Art Space (Berlin, Germany), Foundation of Trieste Contemporary Art (Trieste, Italy), Shi Jie Zi Museum (Gansu Province, China), ITPARK (Taipei, Taiwan), Université Paris VIII (Paris, France), Macao Oriental Foundation (Macao, China), etc. Cai currently lives and works in Macao and Hangzhou.

 

About LAM Sio Man

Born and raised in Macao, Lam Sio Man currently works as an independent curator and arts administrator in New York. Her curatorial vision is informed by the vibrant cultural scenes and artistic communities in New York and Macao. She is interested in alternative practices and contemporary art that trigger dialogues, break the boundaries and create new connections.

Lam received a bachelor degree in Chinese Linguistics and a double degree in Arts from Peking University. She holds a master’s degree in Visual Arts Administration from New York University. Prior to coming to New York, she worked at the Cultural Affairs Bureau of Macao, designing and implementing a series of subsidy programs to foster local creatives. Later she relocated to New York and has served at different art departments including the Percent for Art Program of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the Exhibition Department of the Museum of Chinese in America, the Education Department of the Flushing Council on Cultural and the Arts, etc.

In 2019, Lam was appointed as the Curator of Macao Pavilion at the 58th Venice International Art Biennale and curated the exhibition Heidi Lau: Apparition. In the same year, she curated an object and video interactive performance art exhibition Yingmei Curious Macao at Macao Ox Warehouse.

 

New York Creative Team

Exhibition Advisory and Design: Xige XIA
Public Program Curator: Haihong CHEN
Print Solution and Land Deed Design: Uchiyama Printshop

 

Macau Creative Team

Project Website Infrastructure: CES IDEAS Design, Atman CHAN
Project Website Design: Kuuga WONG

 

Support

Exhibition Sponsor: Cultural Affairs Bureau of Macao SAR Government
Powered by: SC CreativeService (SCCS)
Parcel Map Support: Loveland Technologies
Special Thanks: Aileen Tam, Tina Seligman, Reina Shibata, Garrett Carroll, Yaoyu Liu


This exhibition is powered by SC CreativeService (SCCS).