Double Square 双方藝廊

Double Square Gallery is delighted to present German artist Florian Claar’s solo exhibition – Sweet Dreams / Silent Music, which will run from August 26 to October 7, 2023. The fruit of four years of preparation, the exhibition is Claar’s second solo exhibition at Double Square Gallery after its precedent in 2019, and features more than a dozen sculptural and video works from his new series. Specializing in using aluminum and bronze, Claar is known for his unique signature use of fluid line, and his keen observations of architectural space, through which he formulates his artistic expression informed by sci-fi imaginations and forces propelling contemporary industry. This exhibition explores to a great extent the interlacing and formation of dichotomous narratives—the artist uses logic and geometric modules to convey rational narratives, and depicts non-rational narratives through dreams and feelings. Through juxtaposing and comparing dissimilarities and similarities between diverse media, such as objects, sounds, and videos, this new series of works uncovers conflicting connections between different elements, immersing the audience in a distinctive dialogue of art.

Sweet Dreams / Silent Music revolves around the artist’s inquiry into the working of human thoughts. Claar has continually lived as an expatriate in different places for years. Such life experience has contributed to his creative style shaped by his observations of the surroundings from a third-person point of view. In this exhibition, he invites spectators to explore the emotional connections buried deep in their minds through means of gathering, reconstructing, and integrating. This establishes a deep understanding of how dreams are translated into thoughts. To Claar, the key to understand the experience of human feelings lies between two extremes: the rational and the non-rational. Drawing inspiration from actual dreams, he utilizes the rhythmic logic, numbers and geometric modules in music as the material media to build a rational foundation, and adopts a similar non-linear narrative approach to show the non-rational logic of dreams, trying to awaken the paradoxical and conflicting connections of feelings in the listener’s mind. Through concentrating on specific architectural structures, Claar challenges spectators’ perception with the idea of unusual, large-scale space that prompts unpredictable responses. Although these new works are expressed differently, they all revolve around a common theme – an investigation of human experiences – and demonstrate free-flowing thoughts and dreams. At the same time, the artist utilizes objects, installations, and videos to reveal the veil hidden in the public collective mind, showing his perception of real life.