An exhibition at Buxton Contemporary in Melbourne, titled "Poetry Goes No Further Than Language: a Historical Moment of Art Becoming Art Again," brings together the complete artistic output of the New Measurement Group, a pioneering Chinese conceptual art collective from Beijing, alongside four conceptual experiments by Shanghai-based artist Qian Weikang. Curated by Carol Yinghua Lu and artist Liu Ding, the show aims to reassess early Chinese conceptual art, featuring works by the New Measurement Group (Chen Shaoping, Gu Dexin, Wang Luyan), pieces from the New Wave art movement, and new commissions by Melbourne artist Darcey Bella Arnold. The curators faced challenges locating the group's five publications, including one purchased on eBay from Europe, and used re-enactment and re-fabrication to recreate lost works like Qian's "Ladder Poem" (1990).
The exhibition matters because it addresses a significant gap in art history: the obscurity surrounding early Chinese conceptual art, which was exacerbated when Qian destroyed all his work in 1995 and the New Measurement Group ceased making art in the mid-1990s. By reviving these forgotten practices and situating them within a broader historical context, the show reasserts the importance of these pioneering artists and their experimental methods, which sought to remove individual consciousness through rules and measurements. It also highlights the challenges of reconstructing lost or dispersed artworks, offering a model for art historical inquiry through re-enactment.