Paradoxity, which opened in SoHo, New York earlier this month and runs through November 24, invites guests to venture through four stations of settings that represent different issues of urban life with a theme of paradox.
“We’re only a student team, but we’re not only doing a student project.” -Founder Jianhao An
Organized by the four art schools’ CSSAs (Chinese Students and Scholars Associations in Pratt Institute, Parsons School of Design, School of Visual Art and Fashion Institute of Technology), the exhibit aims not only to provide a platform for students to showcase their talents, but also to build a space for interdisciplinary art practices. A team of 13 students spent one year to complete their dream project. Among them are Jianhao Andy An, Zhihong Fu, Haopeng Lin, Ziwei Liu, Jingyi Wang, Jinghan Hu, Anran Mina Li, Ellen Ren, Liuqing Yang, Chuqiao Lily Liu, Alex Chen, Thyan Zou and Ruihan Xia.
Paradoxity, meaning “paradox in the city,” uses city as a prototype.
Paradoxity features four large settings, Nowhere Station, Green Pollution, Transparent Bathroom, and Addictive Office. These four settings, respectively, illustrate the ideas of the sense of being lost in life, environmental issues, privacy and sexuality issues, and working pressure.
Paradoxity is more than a space for “instagram-friendly” pictures.
Throughout the exhibition, designers embed their reflections upon both the ever-busy city life and the humanities through a variety of visual devices and plenty of interactive installations. While encouraging its audience to interact the installations, the team of Paradoxity also prompt the audience to explore these issues further and arrive at a new understanding of their city.
In addition, sustainability is highly valued by the team. Some installations are made from trash which were collected from streets in New York City. Paradoxity will donate its profits to other non-profit organizations that are dedicated to environmental issues and sexual politics.
Learn more about the exhibit through www.paradoxity-nyc.com
Instagram: @paradoxitynyc
