Huang Yong Ping’s commissioned installation for the The Oceanographic Museum in Monaco feels like a meeting up between Louise Bourgeois and Professor Pierre Aronnax.
The Oceanographic Museum in Monaco hosts a unique exhibition dedicated to the Mediterranean Sea, bringing together contemporary art and science. The exhibition presents a monumental installation by the celebrated Sino-French artist Huang Yong Ping and features an exceptional collection of maritime objects that illustrate the rich biodiversity of the Sea. The exhibition, which is on view from 20 November 2010 to 20 May 2012, is presented with the Nouveau Musée National de Monaco.
Huang Yong Ping’s 25 metre installation, “Wu Zei”, is a site specific commission for the Museum’s Salon d’honneur and alludes to the 9 metre octopus from the Museum’s collection that is exhibited on the floor above (1st Floor).
“Wu Zei”, a gigantic hybrid animal—an octopus and a cuttlefish—is inspired by the sea and refers to the maritime disasters caused by man. While its head is suspended around the Medusa chandelier, designed by the German biologist, philosopher and free thinker Ernst Haeckel, its tentacles invade the gallery space. One of the tentacles circles around the column, another stretches out towards the first room of the exhibition, and others reach out towards the sea and the statue of Prince Albert I.
Via e-flux
