On March 9, 2025, the exhibition Fractured Continuum grandly opened at the Beijing Sound Art Museum. The exhibition, with Yu'er serving as the artistic director and Cheng Xi as the curator, showcased a total of fourteen works by five artists: Sara Christova (UK), An Ning, Li Yanzeng, Xu Han, and Yang Yu. The exhibition featured a diverse range of media, including installations, video art, sound art, performance, and painting, highlighting the multifaceted nature of contemporary art.

On the opening day, three musicians—Wen Liang, Dong Yan, and Fung Lok—were invited to present an electronic music concert titled Fractured Continuum for the audience. The performance not only resonated with the exhibition's theme but also enriched the audiovisual experience of the event.

"Fractured Continuum" is not only the title of this exhibition but also a metaphor for the contemporary world, pointing to the contradictions and uncertainties of our era. In this age, time is no longer a linear flow but has been digitized, fragmented, and even virtualized. Memory, too, is no longer a stable narrative of individuals or collectives but is instead recoded by algorithms, media, and power. Time in contemporary society manifests in multiple dimensions: technological advancements allow us to record, store, and reproduce time at an unprecedented pace, yet the intervention of technology has also fragmented time, stripping it of its historical continuity and depth.

We live in an era of rapid technological advancement, where artificial intelligence, big data, virtual reality, and other technologies are reshaping our ways of living and thinking. Time is fragmented into countless pieces, the body is gradually marginalized, and thought is increasingly controlled by technology. It seems as though we are losing our grasp on both ourselves and the world. Human thought is being replaced by fragmented experiences and perceptions. Yet, it is precisely within these fractures and gaps that we can still seek new possibilities and attempt to reconnect and construct new narratives.

Sara Christova's Work

Each piece in the exhibition attempts to respond to this theme from a different perspective. Sara Christova's installations and paintings, through the layering of mechanical devices, video, and painting, depict the nonlinear state of memory and time after being fragmented by technology. Through flowing data projections, her work illustrates the fragmentation and disorder of human thought in the era of information explosion.

Ning AN's Work

Ning An's video and installation works reflect on the excess of technology, exploring the boundaries and consequences of its limitless development. The images in her works continuously analyze, scan, and transform, prompting a technological reflection on human connections in an era dominated by technology.

Li Yanzeng's On-Site Work

Li Yanzeng's sound installation uses layered sound waves to metaphorically represent the overload and fragmentation of information in contemporary society. At the same time, it materializes time, reflecting our fragmented moments through metal mirrors.

Xu Han's Video Work

Xu Han's sound installation involves flying a kite outdoors. Tracing the Chinese lineage of kites, which were historically designed to produce sound and initially used in military strategies before spreading to Europe, the artist revives this lost auditory tradition. Using a combination of physical strings, radio antennas, and portable microphones, Xu Han captures sounds from altitudes inaccessible to humans, such as wind pressure and radio signals, and transmits them to ground-based sound devices. Through the interplay of the body, the installation, and nature, layered sounds of hums and murmurs are created, offering an auditory experience of both continuity and fragmentation of time. This reconfigures the perception of space and invites the audience to reflect on the relationship between time and memory.

Yang Yu's Work

Yang Yu's performance piece uses body language and interactive technology to explore the constraints and adaptability of the body in the digital age, as well as its marginalization in the era of technology. By placing the body within the torrent of information, we are forced to make choices, navigating the absurdity and helplessness of defining our own boundaries.

The exhibition is not only a reflection on technology and the body in contemporary society but also an exploration of the future. Through artistic forms, it seeks to reveal the impact of technology on human life and inspire audiences to contemplate how to find continuity within fragmentation and how to reconstruct meaning from the pieces. We hope this exhibition will encourage a reexamination of time, memory, and technology, and inspire new ways of connecting within the fractures.

Fractured Continuum will be on display until April 8, 2025. Everyone is welcome to visit and experience the exhibition.