Two new exhibitions of the “Nine-Tiered Pagoda: Spatial and Visual Magic” project opened at the Pingshan Art Museum early this month.

A featured component of ancient Chinese architecture, the pagoda has a special structure, with each tier telling a different story. These stories, spaces and designs are closely intertwined with each other into a superimposed whole, formulating the external image and also becoming the spiritual core of the exhibitions.

The “Nine-Tiered Pagoda” project, launched last year by curator Cui Cancan and architect Liu Xiaodu (Pingshan Art Museum’s director), is a hands-on project that mixes ideas, methodologies and tools. They invited nine groups of artists, nine architects and nine designers to form nine temporary teams to do art.

Four exhibitions under the project opened last year and are still being held. The two new exhibitions are:

‘Similar Results, Different Approaches — Chen Wenji + Ding Yi + Liang Quan + Tan Ping’

“Similar Results, Different Approaches” centers on a discussion on abstract art creation methods, with the focus on an elementary and core issue in art, architecture and design: dots, lines and planes. The exhibition is based on the works of the artists Chen Wenji, Ding Yi, Tan Ping and Liang Quan, with architect Chang Yungho designing the space and graphic designer Han Jiaying in charge of posters and other visual designs.

A scene at the exhibition. Photos from Pingshan Art Museum

“Similar Results” refers to the common use of dots, lines and planes as elements of creation; “Different Approaches” refers to the different working methods, conceptual intention, production mechanism, as well as the artistic language employed by the four artists.

Chen uses industrial colors and modules to form a matrix of ordered abstract works with various rhythms and pauses by using different combinations and splices.

Ding started in 1993 to create the exhibited five works. He uses multimedia, materials, brushstrokes, colors and structures to create artworks with the patterns of the cross, therefore creating a myriad of variables.

Liang chooses pieces of paper in different colors and collages them all in one picture. The diverse distribution of the pieces forms a never-repeated relationship between dots, lines and planes.

Tan sets up a rule in his “Position Series,” where he draws a few dots randomly on the paper, pulls out the radiating rays, pins down a few intersections on the rays and finally secures the position of dots in the plane.

The exhibition hall designed by architect Chang has become another form of “dots, lines and planes,” giving viewers different experiences. Here, architecture is interacting with paintings, just as viewers are interacting with the exhibition.

‘Forma Fantasia — Solo Exhibition of Liu Wei’

“Forma Fantasia” is like a rhapsody, a laboratory of forms that inspires imagination, or a stage play that breeds infinite power. The exhibition is based on the geometric installations created by artist Liu Wei, with architect Ma Yansong designing the space and graphic designer Guang Yu in charge of posters and other visual designs.

A glance at the “Forma Fantasia” exhibition.

Compared with other exhibitions of “Nine-Tiered Pagoda,” this exhibition presents a new way of cooperation. Liu doesn’t provide a “complete” work, but some materials and parts instead. The circles, blocks and curves of the geometric shapes, with traces of polish, are like the brushstrokes of a Cubist painting, or abstract shapes waiting to be placed.

When architect Ma placed these “untitled” works in an “unfamiliar” space, similar to a black hole in the universe, this granted the works a completely different style: The silent exhibits release a huge tension and a beam of light foreshadows the vastness outside.

Hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m., closed Mondays

Booking: WeChat account “PingshanArtMuseum”

Venue: Pingshan Art Museum, Huide Road, Pingshan District (坪山区汇德路坪山美术馆)

Transport: Take the high-speed rail from Futian Station or Shenzhen North Station to Pingshan Station and then take a taxi