YUGE ZHOU

2017; 5280 × 5280 pixels; 3 minutes (infinite loop) with sound; Sound design by Stephen Farrell
Permanent collection of the Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation

Underground Circuit is a collage of hundreds of video clips shot in the subway stations in New York. Station to station, the movement of the commuters in the outer rings suggests the repetitive cycle of life and urban theatricality and texture. The inner-most ring includes people sitting on benches waiting; the central drummers act as the controller of the movement, inspired by the concept of the Four-faced Buddha in Chinese folk religion, the god who can fulfill and grant all wishes of its devotees.

《地铁环路》是一部由数百个视频片段拼贴而成的影像作品，拍摄于纽约的地铁系统。候车时的站台被转化为展景与舞台，乘客彼此既是演员，也是观众。从一个站点驶向下一个站点，外环通勤者的持续流动暗示着都市生活的重复循环，同时也揭示了城市中层出不穷的戏剧性瞬间与细微肌理。内环则是坐在长凳上等待“上台”的人们；位于中心的鼓手象征着运动与节奏的控制者，鼓点与人流的起伏彼此呼应。其形象灵感源自中国民间信仰中的四面佛，这位神祇被认为能够回应并满足信徒的诸多愿望。

Press:
Hypebeast: Yuge Zhou's Video Installations Explore Individuality Within Urban Environments at Site:Brooklyn
BOOOOOOOM: “Underground Circuit” by Artist Yuge Zhou

Exhibition History: 

• Interreality at Desmond Tower (10.14, 2023 - 03.17, 2024), Los Angeles, CA

• Cyberarts 2020—Prix Ars Electronica Exhibition at OK Center for Contemporary Art (09.09,2020 — 09.15, 2020), Linz, Austria

• Ars Electronica 2020 (09.09,2020 — 09.13,2020), Kepler's Garden, Linz, Austria

• "In the Shape of a City" Solo Exhibition (10.18,2017 — 11.08,2017), Paul Watkins Art Gallery, MN

• Currents New Media Festival (06.08,2018 — 06.24,2018), El Museo Cultural De Santa Fe, NM

• "Universe of Relations" Group Exhibition (06.08,2018 — 09.23,2018), Zarya Center for Contemporary Art, Vladivostok, Russia

Underground Circuit (video), original resolution 5280 x 5280 pixels

To view the video version of Underground Circuit in larger format, please click here