Ma Yansong's 'Timeless Beacon'

A Colorful Beacon for an Abandoned Building

John Hill

22. 三月 2023

Photo: Screenshot

An abandoned market in Taiping Xu, China, has been transformed by MAD's Ma Yansong for Guangdong Nanhai Art Field. In a short film, Yansong describes the art installation while the camera reveals the transformed spaces of the largest abandoned building in Taiping Xu.

“Timeless Beacon,” as the installation is titled, consists of strips of reflective film wrapping the building and pieces of colorful fishing net draped from a mast that doubles as a multimedia device that illuminates the installation at night. On display until summer 2024, “Timeless Beacon” is a striking intervention that should draw many visitors to the dormant but once-bustling market.

Video Production: Studio Fang

With its colorful fabric, “Timeless Beacon” is reminiscent of MAD's earlier “Invisible Border Installation” made for Interni's Open Borders exhibition during Milan Design Week in 2016: