Nianzhang Liu - Do Not Ask Me, "Where Is It?"
Nianzhang Liu is an artist born and raised in Shenyang, China, and currently based in New York City. Liu’s photography practice is composed of casual observances and sensitive composition, inspired by the different places he has lived over the past six years. Much of his work addresses the rapid destruction of natural landscapes brought on by cyclical globalization and urbanization. Through capturing simple moments sustained in time and space, he traces the cultural fusion and de-regionalization created by the movement of people across cities. He photographs architecture, commercial spaces, people, man-made landscapes, and himself; in each case, studying the formal characteristics that bridge specificity and familiarity in a person or place. Moreover, Liu’s work is a study of the progressing trends of assimilation. Throughout his life, he’s observed the ways in which cities have been swallowed up due to the irreversible nature of population movement and urbanization.
In his series, Do Not Ask Me, “Where Is It?” Liu maintains objective and dispassionate observations and detached reflections, which he states are neither criticizing nor praising. While his work is evidently coloured by his own perspective, he hopes that the viewer can reflect on these photographs as objective truth. His favourite, and most frequently asked question in regards to his body of work is, "Where is this?" Liu always looks forward to hearing this question; however, not for the reason you might think. Rather, Liu loves this question because the answer itself is evasive–can we really answer where we are, when the cities’ high-rises are all towering reflections of each other?
