The Institute for Critical Zoologist (ICZ), a fictional scientific organization made up by artist Robert Zhao with a vision to communicating natural science outside labs and research institutions, is designed to provide alternative ways of presenting and experiencing natural history and ecological research findings. It engages in publications of research findings, seminars, installation artworks, photography exhibitions and performance art. In Robert’s “The Nature Museum” on view at Hugo Boss Asia Art 2017, various specimens, archived letters, photographic installations and other works are displayed to visualize the interactions and relations between nature and human beings in different periods and localities. From the production of colonial knowledge to the ecology of today’s urban areas, the artist envelopes extensive knowledge into this exhibition in the form of fictional narratives that interpret how people have intervened and controlled nature, so as to capture the audience’s attention and inspire them to identify the often overlooked paradoxes and assumptions.
Insects (or their bodies) can be found everywhere in a school. Big or small, they may be hiding on a windowsill, or in a corner, a crack or the grass, and get easily neglected, especially if it is so tiny that you can hardly spot it. In this workshop, the artist will share his art practices with the students at Shanghai Weiyu High School, and instruct them to make specimens of insects they collected from every corner of the school.
“批判性动物学家研究所”（ICZ，Institute for Critical Zoologist）是艺术家赵仁辉虚构的一个科学组织。该组织旨在重新编整自然史和生态研究发现的呈现与体验方式，让自然科学摆脱实验室与研究界的桎梏。它的工作涉及诸多形式：研究出版、研讨会、装置艺术、摄影展览和行为表演。本次 2017 Hugo Boss 亚洲新锐艺术家大奖展览展出的赵仁辉作品“博物自然馆”中包括动植物标本，档案通信，以及摄影装置等，关注不同时期和地域的社群与自然的互动方式。从殖民知识生产到当代城市生态，本展将多个知识脉络糅合成一次博物馆的奇遇：他以艺术家的身份去构建一些非真实的故事，以展示人类对自然的干预、控制，引起人们的好奇心，并向大家提问有关哪些被忽略的矛盾和假设。
在校园中，昆虫（或昆虫尸体）可能存在于窗台、墙角、裂缝、草丛等各个角落。虽然平时和同学们生活在同一个环境中，却常常被人忽略。它们有的体积稍大，有的微小到不注意根本看不见。在本次工作坊中，艺术家赵仁辉将会与同学们分享自己的艺术创作，并指导同学们将校园中找到的昆虫制作成标本。