Through a new lens
For instance, a pair of automated tail bones is seen gently wagging at each other, almost like a slow dance, in Cui Yu's mixed-media installation, Instinctual Language. The emotional vibe between the tail skeletons, which refer to the loss of tails in humans several millions of years ago, is quite palpable.
Co-curator Chen agrees that some of the artists "seem to be asserting the continued relevance and power of embodied emotional expression, even as we become increasingly enmeshed with technology". "They might be reaffirming the importance of our physical, emotional selves in dialogue with technological advancement."
However, she hastens to point out, "whether these artists are simply highlighting the body's emotional capacities, or if they're actively arguing against the diminishment of emotion in a tech-driven world depends on the specific content and context of each piece."
Ren Ruoxi's Electronic Eucharist might be an example of the latter. The piece combines a familiar Christian ritual performed through physical contact between the priest and parishioners with industrial elements - displaying magnified images of body parts that get touched during Holy Communion on aluminum plates connected by wires, suggesting that the experience might be programmed.
