Moments of Grammatical Collapse
July 4, 2025 - July 11, 2025
ARCH 8 CRANLEIGH MEWS, BATTERSEA, LONDON, SW11 2QL
A Space is pleased to present Moments of Grammatical Collapse, a group exhibition that confronts the essence of instances that challenge the standardised narratives and means of understanding. Under the institution of modernity, where truths get smoothened out to fit pre-determined discursive structures, the works remind the viewers of the authenticity of expression and of the worldly experience, where the moments of disruption, in fact, represent the chances to discover identities that had been lost in translation and adaptation to structural grammar.
Central to the exhibition is The Theater by The Theater Team, an immersive VR experience that utilises advanced AI motion to bridge performance and interaction by juxtaposing Eastern collectivism and Western individualism, inviting the viewers to experience the interplay between personal identity and communal belonging. Complementing this is Shan Gui, a visually striking 3D short film that reimagines a traditional Chinese spirit figure, blending ancient theatrical imagery with futuristic design to evoke themes of isolation and cultural longing.
Another strand of the exhibition interrogates histories of (in)visibility, particularly in relation to gender and labor. Taped
1650 by Christine Moog uses graphic design to surface the overlooked contributions of women printers in early modern London, revealing how their exclusion has shaped historical narratives.
Meanwhile, Echoes Between Threads by Hui Zhang, reclaimed denim and natural fibers are woven into sculptural vessels that carry intergenerational memories of domestic labor, made audible through layered soundscapes. Together, these works challenge conventional archives and histories, highlighting the intimate and ecological dimensions of women’s work and memory that the mainstream discourse has intentionally failed to capture throughout history.
The exploration of language, perception, and memory permeates the remaining pieces. Decoding by EJ Lee confronts the ever-evolving nature of language and seeks to identify a consistent underlying mechanism to the reading experience by producing the poem via the International Phonetic Alphabet. Parallel to this, The 8 Day by Yaotian He investigates language’s paradoxical power to both connect and obscure meaning through fragmented
multimedia installation, exposing how language, despite being created for comprehension, often falls short of fully expressing experience.
Lost Moments by Ruiqi Peng captures the quiet emotional texture of urban wandering, embodying the identity of the ‘Wanderer’ by Walter Benjamin to explore the emotional texture of the city. Cyclists by Odile Yu traces the ephemeral rhythm of movement and memory through fragile sculptures made from salvaged bicycle chains. Exploring beyond
anthropocentrism is Unfinished Perception by Jiatong Han, which extends the inquiry into human-machine collaboration, using generative AI and natural elements to explore perception as an open, ongoing dialogue beyond fixed authorship.
Finally, the kinetic sculptures Amor Fati and A Round by Yihao Zhang confront the classic sociological quest that explores individual agents and society, demonstrating that beyond what can be captured in the locutionary world, we seem to operate inevitably by ideologies and discourses that predate our existence.
Together, these diverse works in Moments of Grammatical Collapse unearth the phenomena that are often lost in the process of translating intangible emotions to tangible vocabularies. Via the different perspectives, the audience is encouraged to confront and validate their own experiences, and to critique and break through rather than comply
with the generalised narrative that implicitly urges us to stay a part of the herd.
Installation View
