The post-apocalyptic vision of A Blueprint for Ruins

Destruction often breeds renewal, but at what cost? With skyscrapers borne from the rubble of whatever came before it, the modern cityscape is ever-evolving, at once a force of demolition and creation. This is where White Rabbit Gallery’s latest exhibition lies: within the constant metamorphosis of urban China.

Amongst the group exhibition you may find an amassed collection of antique lamps by Bai Yilou, the setting of an abandoned disco by Chen Wei, ‘cardboard’ boxes that Hu Qingyan has recreated in marble, Hu Weiyi’s atmospheric photographs of demolished buildings, of which he says, “It’s as if every abandoned building, about to disappear, is attempting to sing its last note, and eventually they will come together to form a requiem for an era.”

View, in pictures, the abandoned cities of A Blueprint for Ruins.

ZHOU JIE 周洁, CBD, 2010, porcelain, rice, 80 x 400 x 400 cm. Photography Hamish McIntosh.

DRAWING ARCHITECTURE STUDIO 绘造社, Analogous City for Art, 2019, giclée print, 100 x 250cm. Photography Hamish McIntosh.

Ground Level – A Blueprint for Ruins. Photography Hamish McIntosh.

JIAN JUN XI 奚建军, The Empire, 2013, wood, mattress, pillow, light, books, clothing, closed-circuit camera, 520 x 286 x 286 cm. Photography Hamish McIntosh.

OUYANG CHUN 欧阳春, Volcanic Ash, 2013, Bronze, installed approximately 20 x 400 x 500 cm. Photography Hamish McIntosh.

TU WEI-CHENG 涂維政, Bu Num Civilization Revealed, 2003-07, photographic prints, artificial stone, installation, 228.5 x 479 cm. Photography Hamish McIntosh.

YUAN SHUN 袁顺, Soft Landing, 2018, wood, sand, lights, fog machine, stones, aluminium, just using 4 panels 400 x 400 cm total. Photography Hamish McIntosh.

YUAN SHUN 袁顺, Soft Landing, 2018, wood, sand, lights, fog machine, stones, aluminium, just using 4 panels 400 x 400 cm total. Photography Hamish McIntosh.

ZHANG DALI 张大力, Square 9, 2014, resin, 180 x 170 x 90 cm. Photography Hamish McIntosh.

ZHOU DONG 周栋, Exist, 2018-19, acrylic on canvas, 350 x 295 cm. Photography Hamish McIntosh.