15th Shanghai Biennale Review: Code Switching

The 15th Shanghai Biennale, titled 'Code Switching,' has opened at the Power Station of Art (PSA). The exhibition, centered on the theme of what hears and what can be heard, features immersive installations like Allora & Calzadilla's floating yellow synthetic flowers in the atrium, which create a striking yet artificial environment that visitors eagerly photograph. The experience is framed by promotional gestures, such as free manuka honey samples, blurring lines between art, commerce, and audience participation.

NEVERCREW Explores Our Tenuous Relationship with Nature in Huge Murals

The artist duo NEVERCREW, composed of Christian Rebecchi and Pablo Togni, has unveiled a series of large-scale murals across Europe that confront the deteriorating relationship between humanity and the natural world. Their recent works, including the mural "Souvenir" in Vienna and "Switch" in Wuppertal, utilize surrealist imagery—such as polar bears merged with plastic toy components or whales encased in architectural structures—to illustrate how nature is increasingly viewed as an artificial, distant object rather than an integrated system.

Withdrawing from Intense Labor: 'Quiet Quitting' Discussed in a Milan Exhibition

Sottrarsi al lavoro troppo intenso. Si parla di ‘quite quitting’ in una mostra a Milano

Artist Niccolò de Napoli explores the phenomenon of "quiet quitting" in his solo exhibition, "I’m here, but not entirely yours," hosted at Studio Lombard DCA in Milan. The exhibition, produced by PROGETTO LUDOVICO, utilizes the unconventional setting of a strategic consultancy firm to showcase works that critique modern labor expectations. Key pieces include a blue neon sign mimicking corporate aesthetics, a sound installation referencing the 1983 film "Vieni avanti cretino," and monochromatic cases made of switchable glass that obscures itself as viewers approach, symbolizing the withdrawal of the self from the workplace.