arkartfoundation

DKING.W STUDIO

OFFICIAL ARCHIVAL STATEMENT

Mirror.Mirror: Conceptual Genesis, Material Characteristics, Exhibition History, and Site-Specific Development

Issued by: DKING.W Studio
Archival Institution: Ark Art Foundation

Preamble

In recent years, artistic practices involving gunshot-marked metal surfaces, reflective materials, physical traces of damage, and spatial installations have attracted renewed attention through exhibitions, critical commentary, and media discussions within the international contemporary art world.

As these practices continue to enter public and institutional discourse, it becomes increasingly important to establish accurate historical records of their respective origins, material characteristics, and modes of presentation.

In light of these developments, DKING.W Studio, in collaboration with Ark Art Foundation, hereby presents a formal account of the conceptual genesis, material history, and principal exhibition milestones of the Mirror.Mirror series, based on the artist’s original creative records, photographic documentation, and related exhibition materials.

This statement is intended to preserve and clarify the artist’s own historical record and to provide primary documentation for subsequent research, archival study, and art historical discussion.

I. Conceptual Genesis and Material Characteristics

2014 | Initiation of the Mirror.Mirror Series

Artist Wang Dalong (DKING.W) formally initiated the Mirror.Mirror series in 2014.

From its inception, the series employed mirror-finished stainless steel panels bearing marks produced by actual gunfire. The artist brought together physical traces of impact and the highly reflective surface of polished metal, allowing material damage and reflected images of the surrounding world to coexist on the same surface.

This material approach was fundamental to the series from the beginning. It did not emerge through a later transition from conventional glass mirrors to stainless steel.

II. Major Exhibition and Presentation History

1. March 31, 2015 | Brussels, Belgium

Who Can Give Us Peace?

Works from the Mirror.Mirror series, consisting of wall-mounted, gunshot-marked, mirror-finished stainless steel panels, were publicly exhibited on March 31, 2015, at the European Parliament building in Brussels, Belgium, as part of the international exhibition Who Can Give Us Peace?

This exhibition represents an important early international public presentation of the series.

During the exhibition, Ambassador Yang Yanyi, then Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Chinese Mission to the European Union, and Member of the European Parliament Béla Kovács presented certificates to participating artists. Relevant diplomatic records, exhibition reports, and photographic documentation form part of the historical materials associated with this presentation.

Within this institutional setting, the reflective surfaces incorporated the images of viewers and their surroundings, bringing the act of looking into direct relation with the actual marks of gunfire on the metal surface.

2. 2017–Present | An Ongoing Artistic Practice

Public-Space Presentation and Large-Scale Double-Sided Outdoor Full-Length Mirror Installations

In 2017, works from the Mirror.Mirror series were publicly presented for approximately one week in the civic public area surrounding Los Angeles City Hall.

A significant development during this presentation was the artist’s transformation of the gunshot-marked mirror panels into large-scale, double-sided outdoor full-length mirror installations.

The installations featured reflective surfaces on both opposing sides, allowing viewers to approach and view the works from either of two opposing directions. From either side, viewers could encounter the gunshot-marked reflective surface and see their own images within it.

This marked an important development within the Mirror.Mirror series, extending its presentation from wall-mounted works into large-scale outdoor spatial installations with a double-sided reflective structure.

In this configuration, the work was no longer limited to a single frontal viewing position. Its opposing reflective surfaces established viewing relationships from different directions, including directly opposing positions. The gunshot marks, reflected images of viewers, surrounding architecture, public space, and natural light together entered the work’s changing reflective structure.

Public space therefore became more than a setting for the installation. It became part of the work’s visual experience. The viewer’s body and immediate environment were incorporated into an ongoing relationship between reflection, perception, and physical presence.

The 2017 presentation marked the beginning of an ongoing artistic practice in which the Mirror.Mirror series continued to develop through different exhibition environments and natural settings. Its modes of presentation expanded from wall-mounted panels to large-scale outdoor spatial installations.

This ongoing practice has continued to explore the relationship between reflective surfaces, viewers, surrounding environments, and the changing conditions of specific sites.

3. 2023–2024 | Upstate New York, USA

Site-Specific Presentation in a Natural Environment

In 2023, the Mirror.Mirror series was further extended into an outdoor setting at an estate in Upstate New York. The presentation and its subsequent documentation form part of the 2023–2024 phase of the series’ development.

Placed within a natural landscape and open environment, the works reflected surrounding trees, architecture, changing light, weather conditions, and seasonal variations.

Unlike presentations in institutional interiors or urban public spaces, this natural setting established a more direct relationship between the work and the passage of time. The reflected environment continuously changed, allowing the work to assume different visual conditions at different moments.

This presentation further expanded the series’ exploration of reflection, spectatorship, site, and time, forming part of its ongoing artistic development since 2017.

III. Continuing Development and Core Aesthetic Relationships

The Mirror.Mirror series is not simply an exploration of gunshot marks as visual effects, nor is it merely the use of reflective surfaces as supports for bullet damage.

Its continuing artistic development is structured around several interconnected dimensions:

1. Physical Damage and Reflection

The irreversible physical traces produced by actual gunfire coexist with the images reflected by the mirror surface. Destruction and reflection do not replace one another; they remain in tension on the same material plane.

2. The Viewer and the Subject of Perception

The reflective surface prevents the viewer from remaining entirely outside the work. In particular, the double-sided configuration extends the viewing relationship beyond a single direction, allowing viewers approaching from opposing sides to encounter the work from different positions.

Their images, physical presence, and surrounding environment enter the reflective structure, making the act of looking itself part of the work’s experience.

3. Public Space and Site

From the institutional setting in Brussels, to the urban public environment of Los Angeles, and subsequently to the natural landscape of Upstate New York, the work has undergone successive changes in its modes of presentation.

Space is not merely a condition that accommodates the work; it becomes an integral element in shaping its visual experience.

4. Time and Environmental Change

As the exhibition settings change, so does the content reflected by the mirror surfaces. Natural light, weather, seasonal transitions, and the presence of people and objects in the surrounding environment continually alter the work’s visual state.

Together, these dimensions constitute the continuing artistic trajectory of the Mirror.Mirror series.

IV. Statement on Artistic Chronology and Historical Documentation

The chronology, material characteristics, and principal exhibition history of the Mirror.Mirror series should be understood through the artist’s actual creative records, original photographic documentation, and independently verifiable historical materials.

The series’ initiation in 2014, its presentation in Brussels in 2015, its development into large-scale, double-sided outdoor full-length mirror installations in the public environment of Los Angeles in 2017, and its subsequent site-specific presentation in the natural setting of Upstate New York in 2023–2024 form part of the documented history of the artist’s practice.

The year 2017 also marks the beginning of an ongoing artistic practice through which the series has continued to develop its public-space and site-responsive modes of presentation.

In recent years, other artistic practices involving gunshot-marked metal surfaces and related visual approaches have also entered the international art world. These include Maurizio Cattelan’s Sunday, exhibited at Gagosian in New York in 2024, as well as related metal-panel works presented in London in 2025.

These subsequent exhibitions and the discussions surrounding them make an accurate understanding of the historical development of such practices particularly important.

DKING.W Studio emphasizes that the works of different artists should be examined independently through verifiable records of their respective creation dates, materials, forms, and exhibition histories.

For Mirror.Mirror, the creative records and exhibition presentations dating from 2014 onward constitute essential historical evidence for understanding the development and position of the series.

This statement does not seek to establish an absolute claim of historical priority based solely on the use of a particular material or visual form. Rather, it formally documents DKING.W’s actual chronology, original material approach, and specific developments in the presentation of the series.

V. Archival Preservation and Institutional Documentation

DKING.W Studio has provided Ark Art Foundation with creative records, exhibition materials, historical photographs, and audiovisual documentation relating to the Mirror.Mirror series for archival organization, cataloguing, digitization, preservation, and research publication.

As the institution responsible for preserving and studying these materials, Ark Art Foundation will continue to organize and supplement the historical record according to the provenance, documentary nature, and verifiability of each source.

The archival materials include:

Creative records and early documentation of the series beginning in 2014;
Exhibition records and photographic documentation from Brussels in 2015;
Documentation of the public-space presentation near Los Angeles City Hall in 2017;
Photographs and records of the large-scale, double-sided outdoor full-length mirror installations;
Documentation of the site-specific presentation in Upstate New York in 2023–2024;
Related institutional records, media reports, and supplementary digital resources.

These materials will be catalogued according to their respective sources and documentary status, distinguishing among the artist’s original records, third-party institutional documentation, research publications, and media materials.

Ark Art Foundation will maintain and further develop this archive as a documentary resource for art historical research, curatorial work, and public understanding of the artist’s practice.

Statement Issued by:
DKING.W Studio

Artist:
DKING.W (Wang Dalong / 王大龙)

Archival Institution:
Ark Art Foundation

Archive Reference:
AAF-ARCHIVE-2015-EU-MM01

Official Archive Page:
https://www.arkartfoundation.org/mirror-mirror

Document Version:
Studio Archival Statement, Version 1.1, 2026