Open House Exhibition Series

Open House is an ongoing series of pop-up exhibitions presenting new work by emerging artists from 2nd, 3rd and 4th tier Chinese cities for one afternoon in a space that is for rent, sale or slated for demolition. There is no equivalent of the American concept Open House in Chinese, but the term Yangbanjian (样板间) conveys a similar feeling where real estate is on display for public consumption. Open House is designed to give people an opportunity to interact with contemporary art beyond the black and white box in a gallery or museum. ChART commissions artists to create a new project based on the Open House model and each project is on view for one Sunday afternoon between 2 p.m. - 6 p.m.

CHEN KE

A ROOM OF ONE'S OWN

March 28, 2010

Chen Ke (b. 1978) is a product of China’s 1-child policy and her work deals with the isolation and loneliness of growing up without an extended family in Tongjiang county. Open House: A Room of One’s Own is a site-specific installation conceptualized by Chen Ke and inspired by Virginia Woolf’s 1928 text A Room of One’s Own. Woolf addresses the feminist movement through the assertion that a woman cannot write fiction without money and a room of her own. Using Woolf’s argument as a point of departure, Chen Ke invites us inside the psyche of a young woman who has relocated to Beijing in an ambitious attempt to succeed economically and socially.

Open House: A Room of One’s Own is created from tailor made clothing, all based on the artist’s measurements, embroidery and household accessories. This project was installed in a 10sqm underground housing compound, located below one of Beijing’s highrise residential developments.