If it was possible, anything on Earth could be tagged with a validity period, starting at a certain point and ending at another. Each of these validity periods, variable and of uneven importance implies two metaphors: an obvious validity period of life, and a reminder of destiny's uncertainty. For Xu Zhen (MadeIn), Yang Fudong and Yang Zhenzhong, these extended meanings form a common but free way of understanding the world.

In 2000, "Useful Life" reflected three young artists' impulsions, enthusiasm, desires and dreams. Their experimentations and explorations of visual works, their brimming energy and excitement, seem to have crossed the barrier of time and remain in our memories.

"Useful Life 2010" is more a challenge rather than a continuation. The art environment, artists' creative concepts, their ways of expression, even their identities, all changed. How to face a new context, how to find one's place? The exhibited works represent these artists' responses to these issues. They present each other's thoughts, forms and rhythms, in an analogous way to their creators' different life attitudes.