...as if time is not a river but
Surplus Space
2026

…as if time is not a river but is Shuyi Cao’s solo exhibition at Surplus Space. Taking bodies of water, geological residues, and matter in migration as its points of departure, the exhibition brings together the artist’s recent sculptures, moving images, light works, site-responsive installations, and weather-specific interventions. Dispersed across the floor, columns, and suspended air, the works collectively form a fluid interface between artificial infrastructure and biological dwelling: Xenophora (2026), assembled from driftwood branches and recycled plastic, resembles debris washed ashore or an unnamed form of wetland life; Drift (2026) suspends a group of glass shells from delicate metal chains, as if they were benthic organisms attached to a floating island between the city and the architecture; Still (2026), composed of translucent glass, backlight, and metal structures, evokes hydraulic devices, urban scaffolding, and mineral terrains. The moving-image work When Hydra Clear its Fog (2024-26) extend Cao’s filming and research across different hydrological environments in North America and Asia over the past three years, presenting water systems continually transformed by climate, geological movement, infrastructure, and human activity. Installed outside the main exhibition space, Drop (2026) stems from the artist’s recent fieldwork in Indonesia. Volcanic soil and ash are fired into miniature hydrological markers suspended within the building’s crevices, extending the exhibition into weather, leakage, and the surrounding urban environment.

These new works respond to the unfinished and porous architectural condition of Surplus Space, approaching the building as an active field open to weather, seepage, reflection, and the surrounding city. Water here is no longer simply a metaphor for continuity, but a material force: it interrupts, deposits, disappears, and reappears in another form.


The glass sculptures featured in the exhibition are developed with the support of UrbanGlass Visiting Artist Fellowship 2025-26.