Guan Xiao’s installations such as 4S Prequel deal with the documentation and cognitive perception of objects and images circulating around us, insisting on the mutability of their meaning and the complexities defining cultural structures and knowledge systems. In colloquial Chinese, 4S refers to authorized Chinese car dealerships or car shops, 4S representing Sale, Sparepart, Service and Survey. In Guan Xiao’s view “everything is material for reading”, thus the concept of the frame is a central and recurring motif. This is prominent in this installation where various objects and framing devices—from stacked rock formations to various protruding car exhaust pipes—are arranged against impressive photographic backdrops. Where in a photographer’s studio the image fixes a moment and angle in time, Guan Xiao's camouflaged snake-patterned screens and choreographed objects open up a field of generative associations and speculative angles that offer a multiplicity of reading and seeing objects and their cultural significance.