Let's Puff

This video installation featured in the 2003 Venice Biennale and is the best known work by this Chinese artist. 'Let's Puff' involves two video projections screened opposite each other in a box like space. On one side we see a young woman against a black background blowing air in sharp bursts towards the other side which features footage of a city street in Shanghai. Every time she exhales, the street scene shifts backwards slightly suggesting an impermanence in this urban environment, famous for its always being 'on the move'. The viewer is caught between cause and effect, and the illusion also suggests an elasticity in the walls of the building that we currently occupy. This work was presented by the Art Fund through Art Fund International. Birmingham and Walsall art galleries are working together to build up a collection exploring the metropolis and urban environment under the Art Fund International scheme.