COULD ATLAS - XIAOXIAO ZHAO

If we imagine a cumulonimbus cloud as a micro-lifeform, we can observe how it goes through the transient life cycle of birth, growth, and death within the span of ten minutes. Fleeting and ever-changing, clouds have been presenting infinite variations in shape and form above us for over four billion years.

The ancients were known to have recorded the constantly shifting state of clouds in pictorial indices (yuntu) both to forecast the weather and perform divination. Drawing on these natural phenomena, Xiaoxiao Zhao has created the installation Cloud Atlas by integrating weather data from the city of Qinhuangdao with seven locations in the surrounding area.

The observation and recording of cloud activities is not only inseparable from meteorological science, but also distinctly reflects the ecosystem. Adjacent to the Bohai Sea to the south and to the Yan Mountains to the north, Qinhuangdao has a temperate monsoon climate with four distinctive seasons. It is embedded in a mountainous area, hugged by the curving coastlines of Beidaihe with a view of the sea unique to Northern China. However, as cities proliferate and expand, the issue of air pollution, haze and dust becomes increasingly critical. Cloud Atlas depicts the local weather of Qinhuangdao and reflects on the complex power dynamics between ecology and urban development.

Appearing to capture a section of floating cloud from the Aranya Gold Coast, Cloud Atlas allows the viewer a moment of reflection and contemplation as it shifts and drifts. Perhaps we may catch a glimpse of the wispy, ink-like motion of clouds as they are being blown away in Shi Tao’s painting, the incessantly rolling clouds in Shelley’s poems, and the novel Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell that travels across the time. In this semi-translucent artificial cloud, atmospheric phenomenon and artificial intelligence, communication technology and divination, cyborg vocabulary and spiritual meditation are able to overlap and coexist.

Commissioned and produced by UCCA Center for Contemporary Art and Aranya, specially presented by theTANG.

UCCA

UCCA Center for Contemporary Art is China’s leading contemporary art institution. Committed to the belief that art can deepen lives and transcend boundaries, UCCA presents a wide range of exhibitions, public programs, and research initiatives to a public of more than one million visitors each year across three locations. UCCA Beijing sits at the heart of the 798 Art District, occupying 10,000 square meters of factory chambers built in 1957 and regenerated in 2019 by OMA. UCCA Dune, designed by Open Architecture, lies beneath the sand in the seaside enclave of Aranya in Beidaihe. UCCA Edge, designed by New York-based architecture firm SO – IL, opened in Shanghai in May 2021.

ARANYA

Aranya is an innovative, future-oriented lifestyle brand established in 2013. Located on Qinhuangdao’s Gold Coast, Aranya is designed to explore the possibilities of a more beautiful Chinese life. Aranya took its name from a Sanskrit word meaning "a serene location, far from human bustle,” where we may rediscover our true selves. Surrounded by its natural landscape and profound cultural heritage, with deep ties to its community and commitment to its spiritual values, Aranya has launched a series of community practices based on its brand mission that “life can be more beautiful.”

THETANG

theTANG is a series of hotel that focuses on multidimensional vacation space that inspires the search for our inner selves, with the core mission to provide high-quality and unique vacation experiences and to foster a spiritual atmosphere within its spaces. Architect Shuhei Aoyama was commissioned to create an enclosed hotel complex featuring a layered spatial design that encourages a sense of community and interpersonal engagement, utilizing architectural language to create a dynamic scene for social life and ever more possibilities for leisure lifestyles.

如果将一朵积雨云视为微型的“生命体”，它会在短暂的十分钟内诞生、成长和消逝。云稍纵即逝，却在四十亿年的时光里变幻不息，于天地间演绎着无穷景象。

古人将千变万化的云气绘成“云图”，用以预测天气、占卜吉凶；而艺术家赵潇潇的装置作品《云图》则在自然现象的基础上，通过与秦皇岛市区及周边7个监测站天气数据的联动，创造出一朵可以与观众实时交互的“数据之云”。

对云的观察与记录不仅与气象科学息息相关，也鲜明地反映了生态状况。秦皇岛南邻渤海，北靠燕山，属温带季风性气候，四季分明，不仅坐拥峰峦跌宕的祖山自然风景，更不乏婉转旖旎的北戴河海岸线，拥有北方难得的滨海景致。但随着城市发展进程的加快，近年来雾霾、扬尘等空气污染问题也日渐突显。作品《云图》既具象化地展现了秦皇岛本地的气候，又折射出生态环境与城市发展之间错综复杂的权力关系。

《云图》似乎撷取了一朵阿那亚黄金海岸上变幻莫测的云，让观者在这一隅云朵漂浮其间的空间中领略片刻的沉静与省思。也许我们可以从中瞥见石涛绘画中的吹云散墨、雪莱笔下升腾不息的云流、大卫·米切尔穿越时空的云图演绎，而就在这朵半透明的人造机械云中，大气现象与人工智能、通讯科技与占卜学、赛博语汇与灵性冥想得以交叠与共生。

本项目由尤伦斯当代艺术中心与阿那亚联合举办，于theTANG唐舍特别呈现。

ABOUT UCCA尤伦斯当代艺术中心 & Aranya & theTANG

UCCA尤伦斯当代艺术中心是中国领先的当代艺术机构。UCCA秉持“持续让好艺术影响更多人”的新理念，每年为超过百万的观众带来丰富的艺术展览、公共项目和研究计划。UCCA目前拥有三座场馆：UCCA北京主馆位于798艺术区的核心地带，占地约一万平方米，其原址为建于1957年、历史悠久的厂房，于2019年完成由荷兰大都会建筑事务所（OMA）主持设计的场馆改造；UCCA沙丘美术馆由OPEN建筑事务所设计，坐落于北戴河渤海海岸的阿那亚社区内；UCCA Edge由纽约SO – IL建筑事务所设计，于2021年5月在上海对公众开放。

阿那亚是一个生活方式品牌，在自然资源丰富、人文积淀深厚的黄金海岸，营造一个面向未来的先锋性社区，探寻中国人的美好人生何以可能。阿那亚（aranya）一词，来自梵语阿兰若，意指“人间寂静处”，找回本我的地方。地处秦皇岛黄金海岸的海边社区阿那亚，成立于 2013 年，是一个有着优美自然环境和人文空间、深厚情感价值和高度精神内涵的生活方式品牌。阿那亚提出了“人生可以更美”的品牌号召，并开展了一系列有关“美好生活”的社区实践。

theTANG唐舍酒店，是探索多元度假空间，激发探寻内心的系列酒店品牌。以提供优质且独特的度假体验为核心，且追求对于精神空间氛围的营造。酒店邀请青山周平打造的围合式建筑酒店群落，错落有致的空间设计完美诠释了唐舍酒店对于人群关系和距离的探索，展现错落空间交互的美好。用建筑的语言形式刻画生动的社交场面，也赋予度假时光更多可能的休闲形态。