I thought Wang Jianwei’s installation was extremely thought-provoking. Knowing that it was meant to play with the idea of time forced me at least try to associate each piece with “time.” In an interview, Jianwei said that he wanted the audience to feel raw emotion when looking at the art rather than trying to interpret everything, but that was not always easy.

With the auction scene painting, I could clearly see the blurring of time. It is not a traditional painting. I like how it has a three dimensional quality, which can only be noticed from some perspectives. I also noticed that the area within two yellow slashes is a repetition of the figures. I specifically liked this work because it seems completely different based on the the point of view. From a distance, it looks like a normal conference table, but it turns into a time-lapse as you move closer and look at the details.

If there was any part of the exhibition that I was not supposed to understand, it was this set of three-dimensional sculptures. Rafael, our guide, told us to think of each piece individually, and then as an entire set. However, this was  impossible for me. It seems like chaos to me. Maybe, Jianwei was attempting to create this feeling of chaos as a representation of time—that time was chaos, and not as orderly as it may seem to us. I found myself reacting to these pieces solely by thinking of how Jianwei created them out of mostly recycled material. They seem irregular, clearly indicating that they were hand-crafted. This made me think most about the process in which they were made.

The trip to the Guggenheim was enlightening. I found myself capable of organizing my thoughts about the art well, as opposed to the beginning of the semester. Even in an exhibition that was supposed to blur time and cause some sort of confusion, I found myself able to make some interpretations and come up with clear thoughts.