Within a Magic Spell

Zhu Zhu, Tr. Denis Mair

it has to do with resistance and subversion directed against patriarchy, chauvinism and sexism. Its insistent edge sometimes reaches the point of overcompensation and reveals a radical, culturally vengeful mentality. “Femininity” is mindful of the equal dignity and value inherent in human beings of either gender, and it responds to this world from a standpoint of independent female awareness. For Xiang Jing, a clear line has not been drawn between these two kinds of awareness: her Are A Hundred Playing You? Or Only One? of the female body negotiates the ground between them. Yet the psychic force and expressiveness she pours into her works gives them — first of all — a strong validity as forms. “Speak through the body” — Xiang Jing’s initial approach was consistent with the collective course of contemporary feminism, even though she objects to the label “woman artist.” She feels that it comes laden with prejudice and “violence that pins down a woman’s flesh like a butterfly.” Nevertheless, if it were not for the overt context of feminist theory and the concept of “second sex” as a barrier she had to struggle against, her creations could hardly come across with such clarity, force, and effectiveness. In fact, when standing in front of her sculptures, I plainly sense an invisible cordon. Even in conversation when I began to speak of the female body in Your Body, she immediately corrected me: “This is a man’s body too.” This response exposed her tense attitude toward the topic of gender. The tautness of her nerves, with their readiness to snap out a retort at any time, reflect her paradoxical mental state: on one hand she hopes that viewers will forget her gender and treat her as simply an artist; on the other hand she often focuses on detecting and nabbing chauvinism, which indicates considerable intensity in her feminism. Her phrase “break through gender” means that gender is a theme, perhaps even a magical spell, and that Your Body has the intention of breaking that spell (See “The Transcended Body”: A dialogue between Huang Zhuan and Xiang Jing).
This piece exhibits to us a female body with nothing left out. This woman’s body size exceeds the norm, and every part of her is open to our line of sight. The spread position of her legs serves to expose and even distend her pubis, so that one’s gaze can