‘geographies2’ comprised a three-person invitation exhibition of original works, co-curated by Barfield, created for the converted factory Guang-Shi-Yu-Gang (Light That Matters Gallery) in the heart of Beijing’s 798 contemporary art district. It was based on discussions over the preceding three years with Dr Wang Qijun, leading Chinese cultural and architectural historian, and at the invitation of Professor Xu Zhong Ou, Director of the Central Academy of Fine Art City Design School, Beijing, which sponsored the event to develop intercultural understanding of practice-led research.
The project involved site visits and a close study of the site’s architectural plans to devise the exhibition strategy and direct the viewer’s journey and spatial experience. The resulting exhibition extended Barfield’s research into spatial notational systems, particularly in the context of site specificity and the use of symbolic as well as visual cues to describe space (Abbott, 1991; Rucker, 1986; Eysenck & Keane, 1995; Banchoff, 1990).
Methodologically, the primary strategy was to generate ‘language dissociation’ through placement of incompatible and/or decontextualised spatial cues and symbols both in relation to each other and, specifically, to the ‘host’ space of the gallery: thus the research sought to engage the artefacts (prints, installation, objects, video), the location, and the audience in a critical dialogue on the language(s) of space and the indeterminacy of spatial experience. The research also extended Barfield’s work on simultaneity theory, and the symbolism of surveillance.
Due to large visitor numbers, the exhibition was extended, and was reviewed in print and for television. Work was acquired for the CAFA collection. Related outcomes include invitations to exhibit at Tsinghua University (2014) and at the Today Art Museum in Beijing, an art journal article for publication in Spring 2014, and a related lecture at Tsinghua University’s Academy of Art and Design (which took place May 2013).