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Infinitesimal Time, Monumental Matter: Scales of Existence

March 20, 2026 - May 9, 2026

Artists: Mary Corse, Peter Dreher, He Xiangyu, Hsieh Tehching, Lalan, Roni Horn, On Kawara, Alicja Kwade, Kayode Ojo, Tomás Saraceno, Zao Wou-Ki

Richard Qi

One of the central values of contemporary art resides in its capacity to reflect upon and respond to the conditions of our existential environment. In our current era, material production under the logic of capitalism does more than merely shape the form of social commodities; it permeates human temporal perception and existential awareness, tethering the experience of living to concepts of consumption, labor, and utility. The exhibition Infinitesimal Time, Monumental Matter: Scales of Existence takes the concepts of "matter" and "time" as its point of departure. Featuring nine artists from diverse cultural backgrounds, the exhibition unfolds across three distinct yet interconnected chapters, presenting a visual discourse on the essence of being. From the consumerist surface of material production to the reshaping of existence through repetitive labor and temporal homogeneity, the journey ultimately leads toward the possibility of nature as an alternative scale of existence. Through the dialectic between "infinitesimal time" (fragmented individual time) and "monumental matter" (material carriers imbued with meaning), the exhibition re-examines the values and boundaries of human existence.

The fundamental logic of cultural capitalism lies in the deep integration of industrial production with commodity signs, stripping objects of their utilitarian attributes to endow them with layers of social interpretation—identity, class, and desire. In The Society of the Spectacle, Guy Debord posits that the governance of contemporary capitalism has shifted from "violent oppression" to "spectacular alienation." By constructing false visual landscapes, it draws humanity into a passive frenzy of consumption, where the consumption of things supplants human existence as the core metric of value[1]. In this chapter, we distill themes of fast-consumption, fast-fashion, and luxury symbolism from the works of Mary Corse, He Xiangyu, and Kayode Ojo to construct a concentrated critique of cultural consumer signs.

Furthermore, within the production logic spawned by symbolic consumption, capital not only facilitates the alienation of objects but extends into the realm of human labor, giving rise to the twin phenomena of repetitive toil and temporal homogeneity. In Mythologies, Roland Barthes notes that capitalism employs "naturalizing" narratives to frame repetitive labor and homogenized time as "normal" states of being. This leads individuals to accept such alienation, equating "labor time" with "existential time," thereby losing an autonomous perception of time and profound reflection on existence[2]. Using repetitive labor as manifested in material production as an entry point, this chapter analyzes the works of Peter Dreher, Tehching Hsieh, and On Kawara, exploring how these artists—through extreme repetition or minimalist temporal records—reveal the state of survival under the alienation of labor, thereby reconstructing the concept of production within human society.

The dominance of this instrumental rationality has ultimately reshaped the relationship between humanity and nature. Here, Stuart Hall’s theories on "cultural identity" and "representation" provide a crucial perspective: identity is not a fixed essence but a process constantly constructed within the interplay of power. Under the hegemonic singular narrative of capitalism, "Nature" is assigned a passive cultural identity—represented either as the "Other" in opposition to civilization or as a "standing reserve" for extraction. This cultural hegemony integrates natural creations into an anthropocentric logic of domestication, stripping nature of its agency as an independent existential subject. The works of Zao Wou-Ki, Lalan, Alicja Kwade, Roni Horn, and Tomás Saraceno offer a path toward breakthrough. Zao Wou-Ki, through his fluid abstract lexicon, elevates nature from an objectified landscape into a cosmic field teeming with "Qi" and primordial energy. In a contemporary resonance, these artists adopt "Nature as a Method" to decenter anthropocentric identity, exploring natural objects as alternative ways of recording time and existence, thereby reconstructing a primordial connection between humanity, nature, and our own being.

The true thread of the exhibition lies in the dialectical relationship between "infinitesimal time" and "monumental matter." "Monumental matter" serves both as the concrete carrier of capitalist alienation and as the material anchor resisting the vacuum of the spectacle. Conversely, "infinitesimal time" is the essence of individual existence—the site of authentic experience, self-reflection, and connection with the world. Through this exhibition, we seek to present a narrative and research-driven curatorial approach that allows viewers to re-examine the shaping and alienation of human existence. By stripping away signs, moving beyond repetition, and relinquishing anthropocentric biases, we return to the primacy of matter to contemplate the authenticity of substance, the experience of time, and symbiosis with nature. Here, we find the true scales of existence: an authentic experience of every "infinitesimal" moment, an honest dialogue with "monumental" matter, and a harmonious resonance with the world.