XIN HAIZHOU (China, B. 1966)

Xin Haizhou graduated from the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute. Because of his geographic location, it was unavoidable that he was deeply influenced by the Scar Art movement early in his career. Beginning in 1992, he started to take on the perspective of a game to rethink reality and the artistic language. Rule of the Game No. 2 (Lot 159) uses the game of pool as a metaphor for the state of existence. The artist once explained, “I chose the subject matter of the “game of pool” because it embodies the consumerism culture of our times. A covert sense of gameplay and absurdity is ubiquitous in contemporary life. We are thrown into a pre-fabricated stage set where monitors surround us. Karaoke and Hong Kong martial arts movies stroll down the street together. We jump from one box, which we call an apartment, to another box, which we call a bus, to encounter a bunch of strangers in an tightly confined space. We do not know what will happen today, and we spend the day curiously anticipating. We are like the billiard balls that roll around on the pool table, waiting for our chance to strike.”