If a diamond ring could be created within 10 minutes and placed on a lover’s hand, would it still

symbolise eternal love? If afternoon tea no longer appeared in its complete form, could it still

represent an elegant lifestyle? When a telephone is given different cultural attributes, does it

acquire a new identity? And when the Eastern cultural symbol of a ‘Ping An Kou’(safety pendant)

travels across the seas to the West, does it merely become an ordinary round jade stone, stripped

of its original meaning?

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These questions point to a shared theme: when established concepts are deconstructed, where do

their value, culture and identity go? ‘UN-’ is not only a statement of the ‘unfinished’, but also an

exploration of the untranslatable nature of culture, the unlashing notion of eternity, and the

endlessly unfinished state of human behaviour.

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Culture, value and identity are like pencil marks on a sheet of paper—written by humans, erased

by humans. Meaning flows in the act of granting and stripping away. When diamonds are defined

as ‘eternal’, their value no longer lies solely in their physical properties, but in a consensus shaped

by the desires of love, as lovers search desperately for something to stand in for eternity. But when

this consensus is disrupted by the most artificial means, does the meaning of ‘eternity’ itself begin

to crumble? Similarly, when cultural symbols are extracted from their original contexts, do they

become ghosts of their former selves in new settings? Perhaps what truly remains untranslatable is

the human yearning and disorientation in the search for meaning.

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Through these ‘UN' layers, the exhibition seeks to investigate the intricate relationship between

objects and meaning in modern society. It reminds us that many seemingly self-evident concepts—

such as value, eternity, tradition, and even safety—may conceal layers yet to be deconstructed.

These unfinished, disjointed and misunderstood moments are precisely where ‘UN-’ begins its

inquiry.

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This is an exhibition filled with ‘UN’s. Everything in its curation has been marked with the prefix

‘UN’. I believe that whether it’s about deconstructing something, redefining something, or tagging

something with ‘UN’, it is all a reflection of life experiences—an endeavour humans have been

engaged in since infancy. Defining is not only about what the external world is, but also about

understanding who we are. In this exhibition, you will join the artist in questioning love, questioning

value, and questioning meaning. But perhaps the ultimate answers do not lie within the ‘UN’s

defined by the exhibition itself; rather, they reside in how you confront these ‘UN’s and, in doing so,

find yourself.

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Enjoy!

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Yi Fan

Written on a winter afternoon