Hatch Space is pleased to present the works of Tianzhuo Chen and Xinyi Liu in a condensed re-imagining of The Great Exhibition which took place in London in 1851, and The World Expo which took place in Shangai in 2010. In both instances, visitors were simultaneously exposed to a bizarre pairing of new technologies and cultural and historical artifacts.

This experience of peering into the infinite possibilities of the future whilst glancing back into the past is one that is polarized by the artists‟ travelling between China (currently undergoing massive economic and technological transformation) and the UK (who seemed to undergo their most radical industrial revolution in the 1850s). The artists‟ note the rapid changes taking place in their homeland compared to the relatively static development of the UK is like 'experiencing time travel'.

'The rapid environmental changes blur the nomads' acknowledgement of their realities, physically and psychologically. The Great Exhibition has been curated to encourage the two artists to work with their chosen individual subject matter by referencing the idea and exploring the potential of „Transcend‟ in the field of contemporary art production. In the work of the two artists, the audience may find themselves standing at the time when the very first World Expo (1851) took place in London. The curators want to give the audience the experience of “Transcend”, like you can see in the future and the past all over the world, and this can instill within the audience the feeling of the impact of globalization”. Wei Guo - curator