(New York, NY) How do we find the balance between stillness and motion in our lives? The fast-paced modern lifestyle has transformed our traditional rhythm of rising with the sun and resting at sunset. Instead, we seek tranquility in the morning and release in the night. In an ambitious collaboration, the Flowing Space and A Space Gallery present “Sunrise/Moonset,” curated by Adrien Tang, Adela Sun, and Sumi Zhang, a thought-provoking exhibition that challenges traditional notions of daily rhythms. Opening on Feb 20th, 2025, the show examines how we navigate between moments of contemplation and intensity in an era where traditional patterns of rest and activity have been fundamentally disrupted. The debates on two contrasting life philosophies discussed in this exhibit invite viewers to experience the delicate balance between the forces of nature and the human will.
This two-floor exhibition transforms the Flowing Space-nestled in the Lower East Side’s thriving arts community-into a study of temporal and spatial contrasts. The curatorial approach deliberately inverts expected patterns: morning’s traditional burst of activity is reimagined as a moment of meditation, while night becomes a space for dynamic expression.
The ground level, with the theme al morning rush, offering instead a meditation on daybreak’s potential for stillness.
Among the works that define this contemplative space is In The Mountain, an oversized handmade folding fan that serves as both sculpture and metaphor. Crafted from wood and rice paper, the piece combines AI-assisted illustrative design with traditional craftsmanship, creating flowing mountain contours that seem to shift between digital precision and handmade imperfection. The artist’s use of crayon-imitated stamps adds a temporal dimension, marking presence within transience. Like the morning mist dissolving into daylight, the fan’s opening and closing motion embodies the exhibition’s central theme of fluid transitions between states of being.
Isabel Li’s Landscape as Chinese Tea Table reimagines the sacred space of tea ceremony through an architect’s lens. The piece plays masterfully with scale – at 1:1, each element corresponds precisely to the ritualistic movements of tea preparation, while at 1:50, the work transforms into an architectural landscape. Li, recognized as one of the 30 Best Architects Under 30 in 2023 and a Yale School of Architecture graduate, brings her considerable expertise in spatial relationships to this meditation on ceremony and form. Her background informs this sophisticated exploration of how traditional rituals can be reinterpreted through contemporary design language.
These works, in dialogue with each other, create a thoughtful counterpoint to the typical morning rush, offering instead a meditation on daybreak’s potential for stillness. Together, they transform the ground floor into a space where time seems to flow differently, inviting viewers to pause and observe the quiet unfolding of existence.
A Space Gallery’s curation of the basement level “Moonset 月落” embraces nighttime’s potential for radical expression. The underground space pulses with experimental installations that challenge conventional gallery experiences, creating an environment that mirrors the contemporary urban night – a time increasingly claimed for creativity and cultural production.
Here, the works delve deeper into personal histories and collective memory, exemplified by Chansong Woo’s powerful Untitled. The piece, which grapples with the cyclical nature of time and generational memory, transforms the seemingly simple observation of celestial rhythms into a complex meditation on historical trauma and inherited memory.
Woo’s work, characterized by its intricate pen work, serves as a compelling centerpiece for the basement space’s exploration of nocturnal consciousness. As a South Korean artist now based in Alabama, her perspective on how past events echo through generations adds a crucial dimension to the exhibition’s investigation of temporal experience. The work questions how post-generations process and internalize historical events through secondary sources, creating a dialogue between personal and collective memory that resonates with the exhibition’s broader themes of temporal fluidity.
The awakening and renewal of sunrise converges with the serenity and return of moonset. Rather than standing in opposition, these moments achieve a delicate equilibrium. In the flow of time, they exist independently while simultaneously defining each other.
What distinguishes “Sunrise/Moonset” is its refusal to present these states – contemplation and dynamism, tradition and innovation – as simple opposites. The exhibition reveals their interdependence, suggesting that modern urban life demands fluidity between such states rather than rigid categorization.
“Should we follow the path of nature and tradition,” questions the curatorial statement. “Or break free from constraints to seek greater freedom within our finite existence?
Review by Jin Han
Jin Han is a museum professional and cultural researcher whose work examines the intersection of East Asian art history and contemporary museum practices. Her recent publication explores how institutional collecting practices shape cultural narratives. Her research interests include digital heritage preservation, cross-cultural interpretation, and inclusive museum practices. Jin holds an MA in Museum Anthropology from Columbia University and has contributed to institutions including the Palace Museum Beijing and the American Museum of Natural History.
(text & photo courtesy of Flowing Space & A Space Gallery)
