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Date
2003
Format
Essay
Description
This critical essay was written by artist and critic Kai-Jun Gu for Xin Cang. Through Xin Cang's innate "shamanic temperament" as the starting point, and connected to his Manchu heritage and Buddhist family background, the essay maps his art practice as two phases and one hidden thread. In the early phase, represented by the Trampling on the Face and Communication series, the body becomes a sign of "social therapy." In the later phase, represented by Identity Exchange and Unity of Heaven and Man, the body shifts from a "social body" to a "body of the world" that resonates with the essence of the cosmos. The hidden thread running for both is "The relationship between the needle and the flesh", which links medicine, psychology, Buddhism, and cognitive science. That serves as the key to understanding the cross-disciplinary logic behind Xin Cang's practice. The essay examines how Xin Cang transforms the shamanic archetypes he has grasped into a tangible artistic language with the Eastern character, conveying it to the public through his body. Additionally, the essay also includes images of each work, with links to their online descriptions. (Angela Tan ‘28)
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