索引，亲密的房间 Index, intimate room
The exhibition begins with "Index," starting with the ZOO Index project, presenting the visual and textual research archive of zoos established by Terezie Štindlová. She uses an alphabetical system to classify the endless stream of online images, distilling certain typical things, behaviors, or phenomena within the context of a zoo. She also invites contributors to address the question from different perspectives such as gaze, sound ecology, zoo architecture, and pets: Do we need zoos? What does meaningful coexistence with animals look like?
索引，亲密的房间
Index, intimate room
艺术家 Artists：
Terezie Štindlová
李奇航 Qihang Li
胡沁迪 Qindi Hu
GOUPIXIAO
策展人 Curator：
陈家心 Jiaxin Chen
2025年2月15日-3月12日，
周二至周日11:00-19:00（周一休息）
Accessible between 11:00-19:00 (closed on Monday)
15 Feb. — 12 Mar. 2025
北京市朝阳区798艺术区陶瓷一街中段龟力空间
Stasis Space, Taociyi St, 798 Art Zone,
Chaoyang District, Beijing
设计：童思萱 Graphic design: Sixuan Tong
Exhibition Introduction:
The exhibition begins with "Index," starting with the ZOO Index project, presenting the visual and textual research archive of zoos established by Terezie Štindlová. She uses an alphabetical system to classify the endless stream of online images, distilling certain typical things, behaviors, or phenomena within the context of a zoo. She also invites contributors to address the question from different perspectives such as gaze, sound ecology, zoo architecture, and pets: Do we need zoos? What does meaningful coexistence with animals look like?
Perhaps the act of "indexing" resembles the "silent domestication" of exhibits in spaces like zoos-or natural history museums-that organize and categorize their displays by size, behavior, and appearance, shaping the way audiences view them. Terezie once wrote in the afterword of the publication:“This system parallels zoos themselves, where we try to split wild nature into categories. I believe there is something comforting for humans in categorizing the world around us. Rationalizing and categorizing are systems that help us feel like we do get it, that the world make sense and we can feel in control.” We might as well carry a hint of this comfort amidst critique and vigilance, allowing these occasional words to draw out more personalized fillers, transforming sparse grids into a soft quilt of our own. Each word grows countless tentacles.
Zoos are filled with special enclosures, yet these boundaries are sometimes crossed, fences are climbed over or slipped through, and cats, birds, rabbits, storks, and lizards sneak into the grounds, bringing encounters beyond order. The journey from "Index" to "Intimate Room" is an ongoing "crossing" within the exhibition space, reflecting the ethics of care Donna Haraway writes about in *The Companion Species Manifesto*. Through dynamic, continuous "prehension," we constitute each other and ourselves in relationships, co-choreographing the dance of being. The "Intimate Room" features works by three artists, each writing from a personal perspective about different forms of attention, listening, and intimacy: Li Qihang's audio piece uses collected recordings combined with text, where breath-like sounds slowly crawl outward, conveying gentle care—like water in water[1], or the accidental discovery of "a bow tied on the zoo's fence." Hu Qindi uses "flyers" to document her encounters with birds; sketches of duck formations pass through different papers and printing techniques, eventually landing on blank sheet music, only to be reinterpreted by friends into new performances. Her medium transformation tells stories of memory and forgetting, as well as friendship. GOUPIXIAO's "Grid Animals" series of photographs exists in every fleeting moment of encountering life, like Cortázar's line, "Every now and then, a rabbit suddenly pops out of my mouth." She immerses herself in the authentic state of blurred boundaries, spitting out twelve tiny fables about life.
[1]“Every animal is in the world like water in water.”— Georges Bataille, Theory of Religion
ZOO Index
ZOO Index is an open platform for research on zoological gardens, questioning its (un)importance today.
ZOO Index Reader, which is one of the results of the ongoing project, examines the relevance of zoos and how they shape our gaze towards nonhuman animals, and by extension, ourselves and one another. Through a mixture of visual research and written contributions on the history of menageries, the confinement and privatization of land, zoo architecture, pets, the “naturalization” of animals, and the roles of zoos and animals in the history of cinema, this first volume asks: Do we need zoos? What does a meaningful coexistence with animals look like? Why have we decided to give a balloon to an elephant?
About artist | Terezie Štindlová
Terezie Štindlová is a designer, one half of a non-workaholic studio Day Shift Office, concrete office chair maker and a founder of ZOO Index project. Her research dives into the (un)necessity and implications of zoos and current office enviroments, shedding light on the power dynamics of labour and control exerted through (human) design. She graduated from Werkplaats Typografie in 2023 and is currently based in Amsterdam.
(https://tereziestindlova.info)
snake's letter
a garden hose slithers through the grass; her face and torso have completely lost their function, leaving only nose.
she plugs her ears with cotton and hasn’t heard anything for a week.
she neighs; when it snows, she has a tail.
if you happen to see her, please send her my sincerest greetings.
About artist | Li Qihang
A work of letting go of the sleep but sitting a bit longer.
Li seeks the nature of human emotions and bonding through a series of fleeting moments that gives rise to sublimities of the daily life. She experiences and feels those so-called magic moments in an ongoing recording practice as a response and dialogue of which primarily takes form in journaling and sound gathering.
Flyers No.013
"Flyers" means birds in flight, aviators, and advertising leaflets.
An unfolding in progress.
In my encounters with the birds, I am also part of them.
In field ornithology, observations of birds and their nests are documented on "nest cards." Similarly, I document my emotions, routes, and experiences of meeting birds on "Flyer Cards." Since I started birdwatching in the autumn and winter of 2023, I never expected it to become one of the most important parts of my daily life. So much learning, so many choices and experiences, have revolved around birds—or rather, have been connected because of them. Some footprints: Poyang Lake, Burgan Beaver National Nature Reserve, Koenji in Tokyo, Togakushi and Kamikochi in Nagano, the Yellow River Delta Wetland Reserve, Martyrs' Park in Changsha, Xixi Wetland in Hangzhou, Jiangyangfan Wetland Park, and more. Birds seem to have lent me wings, giving me a sense of flight. These "Flyers" leave lines on transfer paper, which are then printed using a small alcohol-based printing press, freely experimenting with different types of paper. During the process of printing these small editions, unexpected glitches emerge—just like in my memory, where things blur, get overwritten, or fade into blankness.
Flyers No.013 comes from the Flyers series. It records a moment of birdwatching with my friend Lanzai in her hometown, Dongying. The sky is often a habitat easily forgotten—too self-evident, always just there when we look up. Geese and ducks flew over our heads, calling as they shifted formations, wave after wave. I captured one of these moments and printed a few copies on staff paper, creating a score that is not a score, awaiting new sounds to emerge.
About artist | Hu Qindi
Carve woodblocks, make drypoint, write calligraphy in cream, weave dough into vines, paint on water, keep shadows by the sun. Walk around and meet birds. Learn languages, make some noise.
The Icicle Melts & 12 Fables
"The Icicle Melts" is a series of photographs that take place within several man-made forests.
"12 Fables" consists of twelve parables about the eleven lost treasures from that place.
About artist | GOUPIXIAO
Photographer, who once studied graphic photography in Paris, is currently residing in Shanghai.
“在东京的上野动物园，狒狒被训练成日本字符的形状。在《老友记》第二季第十二集中，罗斯·盖勒试图从纽约市的一个动物园偷走猴子马塞尔（未成功）。2005年上传到YouTube的第一个视频‘我们在动物园’记录了一个年轻人在动物园的一天，模糊的背景中大象缓缓摆动它们的鼻子。”
—— Terezie Štindlová, ZOO Index (afterword), 2023
展览从「索引」进入，以 ZOO Index 项目为起点，呈现 Terezie Štindlová 建立的动物园视觉与文本研究档案。她用字母化的系统将无穷的网络图像进行分类，提炼了动物园语境下的某些典型事物、行为或现象。并邀请不同背景的作者们从凝视、声音生态、动物园建筑、宠物等角度，回答这样的问题：我们需要动物园吗？与动物有意义的共存是什么样子？
https://zooindex.net/
项目的文本部分伴随着视觉研究，进一步探索动物园在当代社会中的角色。展览选取了四篇文章进行了翻译，作为文本阅读材料，期望触发观者有关自身的经验、联想与思考。
1/ “框中之兽：三个场景下的动物园式凝视”, Jacob Lindgren (2020)
2/ “动物园非完整聆听指南：以声音生态解放后自然的动物性”，Institute for postnatural studies (2023)
3/ “如果某件事从根本上是错误的，试图让它变得更好只会推迟不可避免的灭绝”，Terezie Štindlová 采访动物园建筑设计师 David Hancocks (2020)
4/ “音调诗”，Suzanne van der Lingen (2020)
也许“建立索引”的行为俨如动物园（或自然博物馆）对其展品的“静默驯化”——按照大小、行为和外形对它们进行规整与分类，塑造着观众的观看方式。Terezie 曾在出版物后记中写道：“这个系统与动物园本身平行，在那里我们试图将野生自然分割成类别。我相信，分类对人类来说有一种安慰——将我们周围的世界合理化。分类和合理化是帮助我们感到理解世界、世界有意义并且是我们可以掌控的系统”，我们不妨在批判与警觉中带上一丝这样的安慰感，借由这些偶然的词语牵引出更多个性化填充物，让稀疏的网格变成一张属于自己的，柔软的棉被。每个词语都长着无数个触须。
关于艺术家 | Terezie Štindlová 是一位设计师，非工作狂工作室 Day Shift Office 的联合创始人之一，混凝土办公椅制造者，以及 ZOO Index 项目的发起人。她的研究深入探讨了动物园和现代办公环境的（非）必要性及其影响，揭示了通过（人类）设计所施加的劳动与控制的权力动态。她于 2023 年从 Werkplaats Typografie 毕业，目前常驻阿姆斯特丹。她于2023年出版了《ZOO Index Reader (Volume 1)》，将阶段性的研究集合成册，并希望这是众多卷册中的第一本。
https://tereziestindlova.info
《ZOO Index Reader (Volume 1)》
我看到蛇
偷偷地从我的凉鞋带里钻出来。
我小心翼翼地穿过操场，
以免惊动它们。
我的手掌上
有一只长着翅膀的红色昆虫，
它将小囊固定在我的皮肤上，
整齐地排成一排。
——苏珊娜·范德林根，《音调诗》
动物园里到处是特殊的围合建筑，而这些边界有时会被跨越，围栏会被翻越或钻过，猫、鸟类、兔子、鹳和蜥蜴会偷偷潜入园区，带来秩序之外的相遇。从“索引”走到“亲密的房间”的过程在展览空间是始终进行中的“跨越”，也是唐娜·哈拉维在《伴侣物种宣言》中写到的关注的伦理，通过动态的、持续的“理解”（Prehension），在关系中构成彼此和自身，共同编排存在之舞。
“亲密的房间”由三位艺术家的作品组成，从私人的角度书写了关注、倾听与亲密的不同形态：李奇航的音频作品用采集的录音，结合文字，呼吸一般的声音徐徐往外爬去，传递轻轻的关爱，是“水中水”[1]，是在动物园的围栏上偶然遇到了一个不知谁系的蝴蝶结；胡沁迪用“飞页”(flyers)记录她与小鸟的遇见，雁鸭的队形速写经过不同的纸张和印刷工艺最后落在空白的五线谱上，又被朋友们转译为新的演奏，她的媒介转换关于记忆与遗忘，也是友谊的故事；GOUPIXIAO的“网格动物”系列摄影作品存在于与生命相遇的每个短暂的时刻里，像科塔萨尔说的那样“时不时地，我的嘴里会突然吐出一只兔子”，她沉浸在模糊了边界的本真状态中，吐出十二则关于生命的微小寓言。
[1]“每一种动物存在于世，就像水在水中。”乔治·巴塔耶《宗教理论》
李奇航 Qihang Li , 2024
音频，时长约30分钟
一条花园水管蜿蜒穿过草丛，她的脸部和躯干已经完全丧失了功能，只剩下鼻子。
她用棉绒塞住耳朵，已经一个星期没有听到任何声音了。
她像马一样嘶鸣，下雪时她有尾巴。
如果你偶尔找到她，请代我向她致以最诚挚的问候。
奇航与 Terezie Štindlová 是朋友，图为她正在阿姆斯特丹的书店 San serriffe 做声音表演“turtle dreams”，在《ZOO Index Reader》新书分享会的现场。
关于艺术家 | 李奇航，生活和工作在阿姆斯特丹。她通过记录的方式更加完整地感知及理解情感在空间里的形态、人们之间的流动、声音中的传递、潜意识里的活动。记录在“魔法”飘来的瞬间形成，其形式包含文字，讲述，采集与制作声音。她的作品和表演中的很重要一部分是与他人的对话和集体性产生的桥梁，以柔和的方式呈现熟悉的情境，让观众逐渐进入其中。
胡沁迪 Qindi Hu , 2024
飞页-乐谱纸 176mm*250mm、飞页卡 127mm*76mm
转印纸酒精印刷于活页乐谱纸上
“Flyers”意为飞鸟、飞行者、广告传单。
一个正在进行中的发生。
与小鸟们的相遇，我也身在其中。
在野外进行鸟类研究时，会将鸟与巢的信息填写在卡片上，称之为巢卡。我则将我与小鸟们相遇时的心情、路径、内容汇总在“飞页卡”上。自2023年秋冬开始观鸟以来，没想到这成了我日常生活中最重要的事之一，许许多多的学习、选择与经历都围绕小鸟展开，或者说因为鸟类而串联了起来。一些足迹：鄱阳湖、布尔根河狸国家级自然保护区，东京高円寺、长野户隐与上高地，黄河口湿地保护区、长沙烈士公园、杭州西溪湿地、江洋畈湿地公园等等。小鸟像借给了我翅膀，给予了一些飞行的动力。画的这些“飞页”，在转印纸上留下线条，随后用一台小型的酒精印刷机进行印制，并自由使用不同的纸张。在产生少量复数的印刷过程中，也会产生新的故障图像（glitch），如同我记忆里，模糊、被覆盖、或者留白遗忘的部分。
Flyers No.013 的这张，来自 Flyers 系列。记录的是和友人蓝仔一起在她家乡东营观鸟。天空往往是容易被遗忘的一种生境，因为它太过理所当然，我们抬头便是。雁鸭飞过我们头顶，一边叫着一边变换着队形，一波又一波。画了其中的一个时刻，并印了几张在五线谱纸上，组成不是乐谱的乐谱，期待新的发声。
*这件作品曾经被当做过礼物赠与友人，也曾以音乐演奏的方式在聊天框中回到hu那里（作为一次爱的回馈）。于是我们邀请了更多的朋友，用手头的乐器/任何道具“演奏”这段不是乐谱的乐谱（怀着友谊之情与发出声音的决心），你将会在现场听到这样的转译♪
关于艺术家 | 胡沁迪，刻木板，印铜版，折叠纸张，用奶油写花体字、将面团编织成藤蔓，在水上画画，靠太阳保留影子。到处走走，与小鸟相遇。学习语言，发出一点噪音。
GOUPIXIAO, 2024
摄影&文本
「网格动物」是一组照片，它们发生在几座人造森林之中。
「寓言十二」是十二则寓言，关于那儿丢失的十一件宝物。
「网格动物」节选
00
自由并不存在，困境也不存在，鹦鹉睡了。
“叽叽喳喳”，鸽子说。
“啊？”，小熊说。
“啊？”，小兔子说。
“啊……”，在画画的河马说。
“走咯，”小猫说。
“走咯，”小狗说。
听到他们说要走了，树慢慢靠过来，想与大家拥抱告别。
可是树移动的太缓慢了，他终于靠过来时，其他动物已经死掉了。
“来咯，”雨滴说。“啪嗒啪嗒。”
01
（海）
一片湖落在这里，它清澈、明亮，动物们围绕而居。
它安慰受伤的小鹿，养育鸟儿和鳄鱼。
它最好的朋友是红金丝雀，他们无话不谈。
“我要去远一点的地方，”有一天湖告别道，“我要离开这里。你来吗？”
“每次我张开双臂，都会再次回到这里，”金丝雀说，“你去吧！我们会再见面的。”
“天空也是我，当你需要的时候。”湖说。
“我抬起头总是老旧的屋顶，但是我不会忘记你倒映的天空。”金丝雀说。
湖走了。听说湖越走越远，变成了海，而金丝雀度过了舒适、安逸的一生。
渐渐的，连海豚和鲸鱼都忘记它了。
只是偶尔隐约听到，在他们顶着球到处跑，迎来满场喝彩的时候。
总有一些遥远的声音吹向这里，非常平静，非常小声。
——「寓言十二」节选
关于艺术家 | GOUPIXIAO，摄影师，曾在巴黎学习平面摄影，目前暂居上海。
首图来源©️ins: jacobjindgren
ZOO Souvenir 鸭舌帽
每次从动物园或水族馆的主馆走出，都会迷失在琳琅满目的纪念品商店，谁能忍住不带一件纪念品走呢？成长至今，从小时候爸妈带着去动物园，到自己去别的城市旅行主动选择去看动物，见过好多不同风格的纪念品商店，因为某个园的周边做得太可爱太有创意，甚至产生了想去动物园周边部工作的念头。本次展览，我们做了一顶“周边中的周边”鸭舌帽，很显然，这就是一个动物园纪念品，那个每个人去纪念品商店也许会带走的东西。
丝网印刷托特包/两色
更多美妙展览活动请等待后续推送 🐾