Year: 2019
Medium: laser print, LED light box
Dimensions: 76.7 x 93 x 13 cm (30 1/4 x 36 1/2 x 5 in.)
Acquired from Ota Fine Arts, 2022
As the title suggests, numerous glass bottle fragments are scattered on the rain-soaked street. This is perhaps downtown at night. The reflection of the neon signs on the puddles appears to be a painting sprinkled with vivid color paints. This work ingeniously captures the quiet yet frantic-tense atmosphere away from the hustle and bustle of a back alley. This is also a powerful work that allows the viewers to sentimentally aware of the violence of a place filled with broken glass from a safe distance. To capture this realistic scene, Chen’s works are photographed in a studio similar to cinematic productions. The technique is called “constructed photography” or “setup” photography, an attitude contradicting the concepts of street snapshots or straight photography. It can also be considered as a contemporary offshoot of the high-contextual photographic expression with a strong awareness of the art history of Jeff Wall and others who advocated the Vancouver School.
