The concept of "gap" first appeared in WU Houting's 2014 canvas oil paintings, which depicted the fissures and crevices of natural rock. Since 2017, WU’s study of “gap” has taken a marked metaphoric and symbolic turn, focusing on consumer goods and the hidden and oft-overlooked spaces that lie between the outer packaging and the actual object. His works are based on the product’s external structure, the packaging materials, and the gaps between the product and the packaging. WU disassembles, cuts, juxtaposes, and reconstructs these three elements, endowing his work with the shapes of standardized modern industrial manufacturing. Through reconstruction, the functionalist design concept of “form follows function” is divorced from the product’s original function. The shape of WU’s works does not reflect the essence or function of the packaging or commodities, and rather, they manifest the organic and inorganic, tangible and metaphysical forms of man-made objects.

Using and referencing commodities and products in sculpture can be traced back to the object sculpture of the early 1980s, which arose as a contemporary response to the concept of the ready-made commenting on the power and ubiquity of global marketing and the world of consumer goods (Judith Collins). Based on either the aesthetic function or an interpretation of social culture, artists directly use, copy, or transform everyday objects. In the UK, object sculpture revisits broken, discarded, and anonymous items- Richard Wentworth referred to as “the archaeology of the dust bins”, which challenged ideas about authenticity and originality in art.

WU’s work is closely related to object sculpture, but the “object” of his work borrows the forms of both products and packing materials. At the same time, the product itself is removed from the sculpture, the space it once occupied is reorganized, and its function ceases to exist. The artist also embeds the concepts of “nothingness” and “gap” into the context of his work, imbuing his work with an “aura” that takes it beyond the scepticism of authenticity. Here, “nothingness” and “gap” refer to the spaces between the packaging material, fillers, and products. The relationship between “nothingness” and “gap” is both explicit and hidden, with the former being spatial and the latter being visual. Before the packaging is opened, the form of “nothingness” consists of the space between the product and the package, and overlaps with a visual “gap.” When the product is removed from the package, the “gaps” disappear, and “nothingness” enters the wider space around it. When the commodity product reaches its terminal destination, “nothingness” changes form, while the “gaps” allude to the fate of the temporary and fleeing objects. Here, WU halts the rise of entropy that occurs after unpacking, and “nothingness” and the “gaps” are solidified on the brink of chaos.

WU’s “gaps” have evolved from those found in nature to those found in packaging for commodity products. Gaps in rock formations and mountains speak to longevity and growth, while these artificial gaps only exist to protect and store products while they are being transported – they are temporary, and ultimately formless. WU sculpts objects with auras. In dismantling and exposing the restrictive environments inhabited by commodity products, WU reflects the mythos of production and life in contemporary society. He reshapes and recreates the gaps as a form of rebellion against time, and transfers eternity to ephemeral forms.

“间隙”的概念最早出现于吴厚挺2014年的布面油画作品中，平面作品的描绘对象是山石在自然环境的演化中所形成的裂缝，而自2017年起吴厚挺对于“间隙”的研究与考察则具有了强烈的隐喻性及象征性，转向了对全球市场与日用消费品中被忽略却真实存在的掩藏于包装外箱之下的隐匿空间。他的作品取型于商品外部造型结构、包装箱内防震、减震的塑料泡沫块形态以及存在并充斥于这两者之间的间隙空间。吴厚挺将这三者拆解、切割、并置、重构，赋予了其作品以现代工业设计中直接与标准化制造的造型，同时在重构形制的过程中将功能主义设计思想中的“外形跟随形态”与其商品的原属功能性完全剥离。作品的形制不反映包装物及商品的本质或功能，而成为了由有机体和无机体，有形的和形而上的人造之物的表现形式。

在雕塑中对于商品物的直接使用与取型可追溯至1980年代初的物品雕塑（Object Sculpture）——“是当代对于现成品概念的回应以及对于普遍存在且极赋力量的全球商品市场的注释”（朱迪思·柯林斯）。作品或基于审美功能或基于对社会文化的诠释，艺术家直接使用、模仿或改造日常家用物品。在英国，物品雕塑则偏向对于破烂的、丢弃的、无名物品的重访，理查德·温特沃斯将其称之为“垃圾桶的考古学”，也正因其对商品物的直接使用与取形引起了关于作品原真性问题的探讨。反观吴厚挺的作品，其与物品雕塑的关联是密切的，其中的“物”在吴厚挺的作品中体现为对商品及填充物的部分外形结构的取形，同时物本身的形象被去除、其占据的空间被重组、功能性不复存在。此外吴厚挺将“无”与“间隙”这两重概念嵌入作品语境之中，使其具有了脱离原真性问题的“灵韵”。“无”与“间隙”共同指代包装中除去被填充物、包装品和商品占据空间以外的剩余空间，“无”与“间隙”的关系是外显的、隐秘的；前者是空间性的而后者是视觉性的。在打开包装前，空间性的“无”具有形态且被限制于物品与包装物之间，并与视觉性的“间隙”同时存在；当物品被完全从包装中取出后“间隙”消失，而“无”则进入其周围更广泛的空间之中。在实用商品踏向流通领域的终点之处，“无”变换了形态，而“间隙”则暗示了那些临时的、转瞬即逝之物的命运，拆开包装后熵值不断上升的法则也在此被吴厚挺打断，“无”与“间隙”被凝固于走向混沌的最初。

在吴厚挺的作品中“间隙”的所处之地由自然转向实用商品包装，山石间隙暗示长久的存在与生长，而人造间隙只为商品流通过程中的保护与承载功能服务，是临时的，终将归于无。吴厚挺的作品是含有灵韵的物品雕塑，其对于限制性环境的拆解与曝露映射的是对于当代社会生产与生活的迷思，而对于间隙的造访与重塑折射出的是一种对于时间性的反叛，他为无塑形，赋转瞬既逝之形以永恒。