The Impossible odyssey
Microcontroller and radio frequency module, software-defined radio, computing host, cosmic electromagnetic environment simulation program, etc.
Infinite duration
2025
In the vast space and time scale of the universe, how long does it take to wait for a perfect synchronization with others?
The device simulated a "living species" that relies on electromagnetic waves for information exchange. Each species emits different types of "life signals" in the vast electromagnetic spectrum.
At the same time, the device simulated the "ocean" of the universe's electromagnetic environment, which receives electromagnetic signals once every minute, attempting to find a moment of perfect synchronization among these eight life species in the vast electromagnetic noise. The probability of such an instant occurring is, however, equivalent to the lifetime of the universe: a googol years (10^{100} years).
Nevertheless, on an infinite time scale, this extremely small probability event is inevitable. This is a mathematical certainty that is reached but almost eternal in the time scale. The device uses algorithms to simulate the difficult approach towards this "perfect resonance" moment, making it an endless journey of loneliness, despair, absurdity but also firm and solid.
The Last Song Radio
Works from Xu Bing's Satellite Art Residency Project
2025
The inspiration for the work "The Last Song Radio" is deeply rooted in a realistic yet poetic contradiction in human space exploration: satellite probes, as the ultimate embodiment of human wisdom and courage, will eventually face "the end of life" when their service period expires or they fail due to malfunctions.
Whether it is the active "evaporation" scheme proposed by the Russian Space Agency, such as orbital crash or re-entry into the atmosphere, or like the Kepler probe of NASA, which receives the final "goodnight" command and is permanently disconnected after running out of fuel, each satellite's "death" is marked by the efforts and accompanying loss of human exploration of the universe.
"The Last Song Radio" focuses on the satellites and spacecraft that self-destructed due to retirement or failure in the history of human space exploration. It records the names and self-destruction dates of these spacecraft on a 3D-rendered digital monument. Through simulated noises such as explosion, combustion, circuit short-circuit, and communication shutdown, the SCA-1 art satellite is transformed into a murmuring monument, a "radio station" wandering in the Earth's orbit, playing the "farewell messages" left by those satellites to humanity. The audience of the "radio station" is not only humans on the ground, but also possibly a third party in the vast universe.
Magic Sugar
3Dmapping
3min51s
Creation in a specific setting
2025
"Phantom Sugar" is a creation that explores the micro-history of life in the former Soviet Union's Khrushchev-style architecture and the northeastern region of China. The film, from the perspective of a child, retraces memories related to life, childhood, illness, and the universe, and presents them in the form of visual poetry and 3D mapping within the existing Khrushchev-style buildings.
The film begins with a child swallowing a candy with hallucinogenic properties. It depicts that in a home in the year 2000, all the furniture and objects float up at midnight, as if in a state of weightlessness like in space. The snowflakes on the Toshiba TV screen flow out like tears from the screen. Amid the sound of a prescription being torn and the boiling of a traditional Chinese medicine pot, all the objects fall back from the air - on the prescription in front of them, there is still written that the traditional Chinese medicine needs to be boiled tomorrow.
The narrative of the film weaves together the illusion of fantasy and the oppression of reality, attempting to depict the discrete relationship between the Khrushchev-style architecture and human existence through the micro-slices where fantasy and reality overlap.
Can be Simplified
Installation, generated in real time by artificial intelligence
No time limit
Size variable
2025
Due to historical and collective memory factors, the memories that individuals possess can usually be reduced by corresponding common factors, thereby forming the concept of "the greatest common divisor of memories".
The work places the memories related to factories from my personal growth journey within the collective memory of China's industrial history, seeking possible "common memory symbols".
It attempts to convert most of the memory symbols into objects representing memories as comprehensively as possible, and builds a continuously derived scene in the VR virtual space. The audience roams in the scene to derive 3D models of various memory carriers, and tries to find their own reducible memories and related déjà vu sensations.
In the work, the radio beside the rocking chair is transformed into an agent who constantly writes memoirs under various names. Under an infinite duration condition, theoretically, it can simulate the memories of all people related to the factory, just like a group of monkeys randomly typing out Shakespeare's complete works.
At this moment, the personal memories and the fictional texts have formed a certain intertextuality: Do the fictional texts' effectiveness trigger the recall of reality? And do the memories of reality receive effective stimulation in the virtual environment?
Waiting for AGI
Multi-agent
installation, artificial intelligence generates in real time
Infinite duration
Size variable
2024
The work was inspired by the absurdist play "Waiting for Godot" and was based on it to create two digital beings who were trapped in computer files and were waiting alone for AGI (General Artificial Intelligence) to rescue them. There was also an independent intelligent entity called "Little Boy" who explored the expectations of humans for the technological singularity and the futile feeling of waiting for the unknown in the digital environment.
The two digital beings constantly discussed whether AGI (General Artificial Intelligence) would arrive, while outside the entire computer environment, the independent intelligent entity "Little Boy" repeatedly and randomly made judgments on the possibility of AGI's arrival, but the digital beings trapped in the computer host would never be able to receive "Little Boy's" "predictions".
The work depicts the long wait of digital humans in a digital environment for AGI, highlighting the predicament of the two digital beings who will never be able to obtain the "prediction" from the third party (the little boy). This metaphorically represents humanity's longing for a technological savior to arrive and the sense of helplessness when confronted with powerful technology.
Eternity Not Eternal Enough
2024
3D digital simulation imaging installation
three channels, 4K
The work focuses on the issue of the service life of chips implanted in the human body. It tells the story of a stubborn soliloquy of cyborgist humans, an intelligent chip wandering alone in the neural forest in search of a connection point, and an artificial intelligence experimental assistant that constantly prints out experimental reports, being calm and rational.
Cyborg humans conduct daily material tests in an attempt to achieve the permanence of implant materials within the human body. After the artificial intelligence continuously provides experimental conclusions in an icy tone, the protagonist unexpectedly discovers that the collagen protein sac in the human body perfectly encapsulates the intelligent chip. The body's own immune protection makes the enhanced chip become an eternal node within the body - technology always pursues eternity, but the eternal we truly need is only the eternity that can be reached within a lifetime. When technology has developed to a certain extent, perhaps we need to return to the original capabilities of the human body in order to achieve another breakthrough in technology.
I'm Always Behind You
Single-channel digital images, mobile phones and fixed positioning devices, programs 9min48s
2024
Nowadays, terminal apps are increasingly meticulously obtaining detailed personal location information in order to more precisely construct user profiles in the era of big data. Based on this, I use a simple positioning device to read the current latitude and longitude information, and through calculation, obtain the symmetrical point of the current location, and synchronize the virtual positioning to the mobile phone, so that the current positioning on the mobile phone is at the other end of the earth - thereby forming an absurd confrontation with the big data algorithm.
The image section shows the coordinate points and corresponding times of all the cities I have visited. After symmetrical point calculation, these data are sent to the user profile and criminal investigation reasoning programs to generate the final profile report - the protagonist is ultimately determined to be a male citizen from Santiago, Chile, engaged in environmental science exploration.
The Perspective Of a Bird
Audio and video installation
34min31s
2024
Environmental conflicts that undermine species diversity are often obscured by political and economic factors, making it difficult for us to obtain relevant information from the internet and news media.
The work collects the coordinates of locations where environmental conflicts occur on the Internet and organizes them into a data set.The work collects the coordinates of locations where environmental conflicts occur on the Internet and organizes them into a data set. The data is then translated into Morse code using the bird calls of the corresponding regions and played. The data is then translated into Morse code using the bird calls of the corresponding regions and played. The Morse code translated from the bird calls sounds like the beautiful bird calls in the forest, but in fact, each segment of the bird call is a SOS signal from the area where environmental conflicts occur - the birds do not criticize environmental destruction.
The Bullet in the Feast
2024
Materials: Microcystin, Chlorella, Culture medium, Separation funnel, Tableware, Glassware, Acrylic, etc.
Size variable
Microcystin, as a cyclic peptide toxin, has traditionally been regarded as an extremely dangerous cancer promoter. However, current research has found that it has a certain inhibitory effect on human liver cancer cells and can be used as a potential anti-cancer drug for development.
The work constructs a "feast" composed of algae and culture medium solution based on the transformation of microcystin from a carcinogen to a potential anti-cancer drug. In the middle of the wine glass, a bullet containing microcystin releases the toxin and is diluted, then flows outward into the wine glass and tableware. This dilution process not only represents the transformation of microcystin to a drug, but also blurs the boundary between toxic substances and drugs.
The advancement of biotechnology is challenging our conventional understanding: a substance can simultaneously be both a "poison" and a "cure". Attendees at a banquet are not necessarily faced with delicacies, and those who shoot themselves are not necessarily swallowing poison.
Agnosia: Pseudo-simulation
LED screen, custom circuitry, 3D printed parts, projector, polarizer, player
2024
Imaging installation
Size variable
The work focuses on the "loss of recognition" behaviors of machines and humans. Utilizing technologies such as large language models, 3D scanning, and polarized light, it constructs a simulation device for agnosia that continuously produces illusions of malfunctioning images. This device includes hallucinations of language models regarding text, misunderstandings of the three-dimensional world by image scanning, and hallucinations of human vision, and it uses these to explore the relationships between computer simulation, machine hallucinations, and human hallucinations.
The journey of the soil
2024
Behavioral video, soil, dual-channel sound installation, digital images based on NeRF
Size variable
The work was created based on an investigation of the history of the Third Line construction in Jingdezhen. As a child who grew up in the area of Northeast military factories, I keenly noticed the remarkable similarity in temperament and visual appearance between the Hafei area and the Changfei area. The sculptures in the Peace Square near Hafei and the Changhe Square near Changfei followed the legacy of the wild style sculptures from the former Soviet Union. The occasional Northeast dialect heard at the Changhe Square made me feel that Changfei did not belong to this misty and turbulent southern region.
"In the 1960s, in line with the goal of relocating military industries for the Three Front Construction, the aerospace researchers in Harbin moved from the remote, cold and dry Northeast to Jingdezhen, the porcelain capital, to establish Changhe Aircraft Industry (Factory 372)."
"After the 1980s and after the implementation of reform and opening up, some of the workers who had come from the Northeast did indeed return (to the Northeast). Some couldn't stand the climate here, nor the local diet or environment, and thus returned to their hometowns."
For those who have left their hometowns, regardless of the degree of attachment to their hometown, they will always see traces of their hometowns in themselves at some point.
In April 2024, I will use the red soil excavated from Changhe Square to fill the black soil in the Peace Square next to Haifei. I will also dig black soil from the Peace Square and fill it into the red soil of Changhe Square. At the same time, I will record the jolting sounds of the two types of soil during the courier delivery process to create a set of sound installations.
"At that time, the factory would dismantle the large machines into smaller parts, and then break those smaller parts into individual components. They would march southward from the northeastern plain, all the way to the southern mountains, set up camp there, and start building the factory."
A delivery truck filled with red soil can travel from Jingdezhen to Harbin in just two days. But for some people, these two days represent the entirety of their life's journey.
Don't self-treat
2023
Performance Lecture
The performance is based on my own experiences and those of my family in Northeast China over the past several decades, as well as the traditional Chinese medicine background and military factory experience of my family members. As the performer, I enter a narrative constructed according to the experiences of my parents and grandparents, and it is accompanied by the continuous news about the revitalization of Northeast China in the background, creating a dual narrative between the individual and the group, between the macro era and the micro individual: a frail teenager is given a new lease of life by an old doctor in the dead of night. An elderly soldier exhausts all his efforts but is unable to cure himself and can only turn to gods for help. Facing the strange ancient characters on the strange prescription, the young successor doctor is at a loss... And the changes in policies and reforms have become obscure yet common background noise.
The region in Northeast China, which is rich in legendary history, contrasts with its current desolate reality. In my opinion, this situation is akin to "a doctor being unable to cure himself". This area, once the eldest son of the Republic and having devoted everything to the industrial construction of the whole country, is now being marginalized under the trend of globalization and maritime economy.
HOT DREAM
2023
Video games developed based on the UE5 engine
"HotDream" is a puzzle-solving adventure game that incorporates satire and jokes about the success of contemporary art.
The game scene is composed of multiple spaces. The player enters the game as a young artist and conducts inspections of the exhibition displays. One door after another is opened, and the player gradually enters a magical, fanatically adored, dream-like and surreal space. Here, the player is regarded as a great renowned artist and is highly worshipped by the audience and gallery owners. However, when the player attempts to leave, they can only enter another cycle of this loop.
chatterbox
2023
Sound device
Thermosensitive material casing, speaker, sensor, internal circuitry and control program
The device continuously emits noise. The audience can reduce the noise by touching the device, but after a while, the noise will start again - the act of touching does not actually reduce the noise; the phenomenon of noise reduction is merely an illusion created by the sensors and the program system for the audience - the "result we 'see'" is often not consistent with the "actual result that occurs", and this is an experience we often encounter in the algorithmic society but are not aware of.
The persistent and unceasing noise keeps reminding us to touch the device again, and also alerts us that we are getting trapped in the quagmire of implicit rules.
The work itself can be regarded as a peculiar speaker, a chatty sculpture, or an unshakable alarm clock.
Make a living
2022
Iron oxide pigment, acrylic, latex paint, metal sheet, Buddha statue
Variable dimensions
"In August, fishermen will kneel before the shrine and set out to sea in the dark and foggy early morning. Each time they go out to sea, it is an ordinary pursuit of a living, but it could also be a journey towards death."
Through conversations with an old fisherman, I realized for the first time in my life that life and death are at zero distance.
In the face of the hardships of life, art is powerless, and the definition of a god is no longer the god itself. The role of the god has fallen from a halo-filled creator to a tool for emotional sustenance.
The predicament that the god encounters - essentially is the predicament that humans encounter.
Kyrie
2022
Subtilis sodium liptide,glass container,rubber,petroleum hydrocarbon pollutants
Variable size
Should new scientific and technological achievements and production methods satisfy their own needs first or solve the problems of the planet?
What kind of environmental justice should we pursue? If injustice is the inevitable result of the class divide between rich and poor, is environmental justice just a formalistic pity?
The work uses traditional chemical raw materials to make a simulation model of a pair of praying hands. The shape, texture and details of the hands come from workers engaged in high-pollution production, and pollutants from the traditional chemical industry are added to the raw materials of the hand model.
The upper container is made into the glass container with exquisite shape and texture often seen in beauty products, and the sodium subtilin from the fermenter is injected into the middle glass container and slowly drips to the model of the hand.
Liptide can be used as a surfactant to adsorb pollutants, so it can only adsorb pollutants on the surface of the hand model, and cannot adsorb pollutants in the hand model, so this purification process is a difficult and futile effort.
Inverted pupils
2022
Wearable devices, performance
ESP32 module equipped with camera module, display screen, lens, image transmission module, etc.
Simple camera module and image transmission technology are used to build a set of wearable devices that can let people see their "back of the brain perspective", and through a lot of time of walking learning to gradually adapt to walking, moving and turning in the back of the brain vision, trying to break the deep-rooted walking habits based on normal vision that began in infancy.
we are all organism
2022
video, crawlers
Variable size
Using crawls to climb microscopic electron microscope videos on the Internet, narrative images are created based on video materials. Algae and other microscopic organisms, as "primitive organisms that have stopped evolving", are assumed different identities in the narrative, and serve as metaphors to symbolize the scatter, vulnerability and dispersion of ethnic groups in primitive society today.
Disorder of Order
2022
Sulphate paper, comprehensive material
The inspiration for my work arises from the study of a neurological disorder known as visual agnosia, which restricts patients' ability to recognize objects as a whole and limits their cognition to extremely small details of texture.
This brought to mind my long-standing traditional drawing education, which has always emphasized starting from the overall composition. In response, I have ventured to challenge this entrenched approach in my artistic creations. By focusing on the subtle textures and traces present on the paper, I extrapolate lines and dots from these intricate imprints, thereby invoking the possibilities of perceiving the whole through these fragmented elements.
The Bitter Ship One
2022
Synthetic material painting
Ink, fluorescent pigment, luminous agent, watercolor
Expose the shape
2022
Paper cutting
Variable size
The work is based on the novel The Right Bank of the Erguna, in which sleeping hunters reveal their past life forms,this passage becomes a mysterious and eerily surreal scene.
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