Yang Fudong's Fifth Night at Galerie Marian Goodman

Yang Fudong's exhibition at Galerie Marian Goodman in Paris, from March 5 to April 2, 2011, featured the video installation Fifth Night. The work marks a shift in the artist's focus from spatial experience to temporal experience. Seven screens arranged in a gentle curve depict a short action set during a warm night. Mysterious characters cross paths, coexist, ignore or observe each other, wandering or absorbed in themselves. The looping video lasts 10 minutes 37 seconds, creating a mnemonic doubt: each viewing feels like discovering new images or that images have shifted screens. The installation challenges temporal markers and the Western left-to-right reading convention, leaving the viewer uncertain about the sequence of past and future. Dominique Païni wrote the accompanying text.