Exhibition Publication: Lu Chunsheng

The first man who bought a juicer bought it not for drinking juice was presented as part of Counterpoints, a two-person exhibition featuring contemporary Chinese artists Lu Chunsheng (b. 1968, Changchun) and Jia Aili (b. 1979, Dandong) at the Institute of International Visual Arts (Iniva) in London. The exhibition explored the social, psychological and cultural consequences of rapid transformation in contemporary China.

Lu Chunsheng’s single-channel video combines documentary realism with surreal, dystopian imagery. Its cryptic title suggests a disconnection between intention and action, reflecting the contradictions of modern life shaped by consumerism, industrialisation and technological change. The video depicts a dystopian landscape inhabited by hybrid human-machine figures performing repetitive, ritualised movements. Their mechanical actions evoke alienation, loss of individuality and the diminishing sense of human agency within systems of production and consumption.

Drawing on his background in sculpture, installation and experimental film, Lu uses fragmented narratives, repetition and unsettling imagery to explore tensions between humanity and technology, tradition and modernity. Through its surreal visual language, the work reflects on the psychological effects of rapid industrial development. Bringing together the distinct practices of Lu Chunsheng and Jia Aili, Counterpoints examines how economic and technological transformation reshapes physical environments, memory, identity and individual experience.