Fall into Oblivion

Singapore—Pearl Lam Galleries is pleased to present a solo exhibition by Chinese artist Yang Yongliang, opening on 2 April, 2016. The exhibition is a blend of moving image, photography, and painting, which showcases the expansive size and scope of Yang’s artistic practice. Through his works, the artist examines cultural and personal memory, highlighting moments of alignment—and discord—between the two.

The main highlight, Yang’s full-length film Fall into Oblivion, will make its Southeast Asian debut at the exhibition. Dressed in kendo armour and chasing after a tripedal raven guide, the protagonist in Yang’s film takes the audience on a journey through a timeless dreamscape. The film’s narrative is influenced by Yang’s reading of Tao Yuanming’s “Peach Blossom Spring”, in which the protagonist chances upon a utopian society detached from the urbane world. The armoured kendo warrior is anonymous and stands as a solitary figure amidst a busy metropolis. Though dignified in his armour, his mind is selfenclosed. He is alone and detached from the chaos of urban civilisation. The film also engages with what has been referred to as Zhuangzi’s great dream, where the melding of his lucid dreams as a butterfly with his waking life as a human being leads him to question the existence of any sort of reality.