artwork review: Sorry by He Xiangyu

Sorry by He Xiangyu

"Sometimes Americans say 'I'm sorry', but they don't really feel sorry. When I lived there, I always felt a sense of distance because I didn't speak English. It's like facing a door that you can't open, and the handle is too hot to hold. -He Xiangyu

If an open door welcomes people in and out, and a closed door refuses to welcome them back, what is an unopenable door like?

He Xiangyu's work Sorry (2012) presents a whimsical idea: a narrow door in bright magenta with a light bulb as the handle.

These sculptures are doors that cannot be opened and closed, boldly coloured to attract the viewer's attention; after a moment, the viewer realises that there is no way to enter, and the handle becomes a glowing light bulb that is straightforwardly turned away from the door.

This leads to a variety of analogies and associations: about privacy and limits; adventure and stability; surface and essence; idealism and reality. This work was exhibited in an exhibition where the artist stated: "In my view, our imagination of the future is reduced to a quest for security, and the ultimate goal is simply to master that security.

The series 'Sorry' is based on personal narratives. Sometimes Americans say 'I'm sorry', but they don't really feel sorry," He said. When I lived there, I always felt a sense of distance because I didn't speak English. It's like facing a door that you can't open, a handle that's too hot to hold, and I can't get into their everyday life.

The seemingly unassuming yet striking door is adorned with a 'too hot to hold' handle that is a deterrent. This is the unique poetry of He Xiangyu's conceptual artworks, which are at once light and pretentious, yet deeply ambitious and violent.

Ho's violent imagery is based on the physical materiality of the object and the human perception of it.