Every minute, every second, people are in different spaces doing the same thing, or different things. Some of the things they do excite my
interest, because within a certain relative period of time they can alter the function of the space. This can be seen in my earlier work Lady’s Room.
Underground 2 is another example: a woman unconsciously tearing off the peeling skin on her lips for more than 20 minutes. On a conscious level she is already immersed in the situation, and the underground is no longer everybody’s underground, but has turned into a public space of private necessity. As an observer, my desire to watch is obstructed by the people in this public space — my watching has become a sort of spying. I used video technology to stretch this sensation into a film that lasts for three hours. This extension of time alters the meaning of the woman, the obstruction, the observer, and the surrounding environment, and also the way they relate to each other. This is what I want to show in this work.
— Cui Xiuwen

Selected group exhibitions: 2002: 2nd Pingyao International Photography Festival; East Woman and History, Korea; Run, Jump, Crawl, Walk, East Modern Art Center, Beijing; Sorry for Inconvenience, Thailand; 2001: Dialogue: Others, Museo Civico, Bari; Made in China, Ethan Cohen, New York; Up-Ricing, Museum of Site, Hong Kong/ Substation, Singapore/ National Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia/ Wha Shang Art District, Taipei/ Rail Warehouse, Chiayi/ BASH, Beijing; China-Germany new media arts week, New Media Art Space, Beijing; Constructed Reality: Beijing Conceptual Photography, Art Center, Hong Kong; Scar: Chinese Photography and Video Exhibition, BASH, Beijing; 2000: Post-Material, Red Gate, Beijing; About Me: Chinese Conceptual Photography, New Vision, Shanghai; Beijing Contemporary Painting Invitation Exhibition, Beijing; Today’s News: Conceptual Art Exhibition, Art Commune, Beijing.