Muchuan

Muchuan is an experimental installation and graphic-based artist who has exhibited in London, Bristol in the UK, Paris, Venice, and Zhuhai, China. She is a graduate from the Royal College of Art, widely considered to be the finest art school in the world.

Ranging from assembled toy-like neon labyrinths, over-stimulating glitter memes, symbolic glass coffins, and commodity-based constructs appearing like structures of candy, the works of Muchuan are based on concepts of subversion, cynicism, and witty institutional criticism. At the very first impression, these configurations may appear to be kitsch, but are in fact works of mockery towards social systems of materiality and consumption. For example, Muchuan’s ‘glass coffins’ are installations which references the way society associates consumer culture with women. Often, these dark metaphorical references in her work allude to an overarching theme of a tyrannical commercialized culture and system which tries to erase authenticity and individuality. As a result, Muchuan’s works are highly relevant and reveals as well as criticizes the fragile structure of a world based on imitating our basic impulses in the most obscene and superficial mannerisms possible. 

The consistent use of bright neon colors in Muchuan’s work is done conceptually to convey notions of sociological associations of imposing irrelevance towards individuals and substances. Neon is strategically used as a sort of sticker or glitter-like material in the works of Muchuan. Many of the works can appear quite ‘over-the-top’ to the point of being ridiculous in cuteness or completely absurd in functional form. This sense of ‘cute’ personality she applies to the work is actually an overt mockery and cynical subversive criticism of the prevalent surface culture operating in the world, especially amongst the more commercialized aspects of society. Muchuan highlights neon-colored commodities to convey collective invisibility which emote notions of hidden individuals, an evasion of social hierarchy towards a sense of purpose. The works depicts a ‘disposable society’, a commodity-based realm based on consumption and surface impressions, while also deconstructing these notions into concepts of hypocrisy. 

The Magic of Staying: A Summoning Spell of Wealth (pictured above) depicts a meme created by the artist. The sheer ridiculousness of this constructed meme reveals a sense of overwhelming kitsch which borders on vulgarity. Using low-resolution graphics, imagery which has been purposely over-saturated, and antiquated digital appearances, Muchuan creates imagery of such overwhelmingly poor taste to the point of mockery and subversion of both internet and meme culture. 

Unrelenting and over-cute, the multidisciplinary works of Muchuan portrays a world bathed in glitter, candy-like commodities, mazes of toys, ritualistic fragile unconcealed coffins, and memes based in overwhelming absurdity. These cynical works are an overt culture and institutional critique of surface aesthetics within consumer and visually-based aspects of society. The art is not just an overt mockery of materialism and social hierarchy, but also a subtle and indirect criticism towards contemporary art and design elements as well. These neon-colored structures and graphics with symmetrical features are a provocation towards contemporary notions of order and fragility, in essence, Muchuan invokes chaos in a contemporary realm which demands unrelenting and unrealistic perfection pertaining to illusions of sequential arrangements.

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