Matter: Energy Bound, Group Exhibition, Taoxichuan Gallery, Jingdezhen
The work combines observed avian behavior with allegorical narrative structures to examine the relationship between individuality and collective organization. The shadow cast by a solitary figure operates as a metaphor for the individual’s position within wider social and ecological systems, simultaneously present and contingent upon larger networks of interaction.
At the center of the work is the murmuration of starlings, whose synchronized movement demonstrates a complex form of distributed intelligence. Although each bird possesses its own distinct vocalizations and the capacity to mimic a wide range of surrounding sounds, from mammals to mechanical and urban noise, the flock moves as a coherent body without centralized authority or imposed hierarchy. Their collective precision emerges through continuous mutual responsiveness rather than predetermined control.
The work approaches this phenomenon not simply as a natural spectacle, but as a behavioral and political model. In contrast to the fragmented tendencies of human societies, where cohesion is frequently destabilized by conflict, ideology, or individual separation, the murmuration proposes a form of collective existence built upon adaptation, relational awareness, and dynamic negotiation. Through this parallel, the installation reflects on how social structures, communication, and coexistence are continuously composed through movement and reciprocal attention.
Video acknowledgment Flight of Starlings, Jan van Ijken
Curated by Feng Boyi, Xue Xuan, Li Yifei, Gao Wenjian
This work, Forest Was Not Made for Man, Man Was Made for Forest, was developed during my residency at the Jingdezhen University, Longquan Research Institute, China.
My residency period was supported with Impulse & Deepening Grant by CBK Rotterdam.
