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Wallace Chan-'Transcendence' with Soundscape by Brian Eno curated by James Putnam . To coincide with the 2024 Venice Biennale, Wallace Chan created a new installation in the Chapel of the famous Church of Santa Maria della Pietà, near the Doge’s Palace and the Arsenale. The title ‘Transcendence’ comes from the Latin term transcendere that means to rise above or go beyond and is used to describe a spiritual state, or a condition of moving beyond physical needs and realities. The site-specific installation comprises a series of hanging titanium sculptures suspended from the Chapel’s ceiling placed in dialogue with the building’s sacred context. The arrangement of hanging sculptures alludes to a progressive transition from a state of conflict to one of peace and tranquility.
The first sculpture that confronts the visitor is a rather terrifying skull-like face with hollow eye sockets and a gaping mouth as if in shock. Although it appears outwardly frightening and distorted, if you look longer and carefully it becomes more tranquil and less intimidating. Also on closer inspection the sculpture’s gaping mouth and cavernous eye cavities resemble open flower petals. This ‘floriform’ face has a conceptual relationship to the last sculpture in the series, a vast tulip with open petals. In Chinese culture tulips are a symbol of renewal and represent the start of a fresh cycle and new beginnings. Flowers also have a special significance in Buddhism, besides symbolizing impermanence; each phase of growth represents different stages on the path to enlightenment. This vast tulip sculpture relates both to beauty and fragility while it also alludes to the transience of life. The evocative yin-yang juxtaposition of Chan’s giant flower and initial skull like face has fascinating parallels with the imagery of Catholic reliquaries in Venetian churches.
As its title suggests the installation is about achieving a meditative state that enables the mind to transcend the normal limits or boundaries of space and time. Transcending from the corporeal earthbound form into the ethereal spiritual realm is consistent with many religious beliefs where attaining eternity involves transcending both time and space. At the end of the chapel is an altar structure on which Chan has placed two small hybrid sculptures, where the bodies of Buddha and Christ become merged suggesting their spiritual interconnectedness.
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'Transcendence i'- 2023 Titanium Sculpture |
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'Transcendence 1V'- 2023 Titanium Sculpture |
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Transcendence 1(reverse) 2023 Titanium Sculpture |
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| 'Buddha/Christ'-(with heads reversed)2024,Titanium Sculptures, altar installation |
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