On-site description
“Entering Building 1 of the Today Art Museum Beijing, one is immediately met with ten stacking contortionist girls atop a few levels of circular stairs. Other works from the Acrobat Series are scattered in the 13 meters (43 ft) tall main exhibition hall, some of them elevated mid-air with steel pipes and stands. In the furthest corner, a few guardian-like acrobats stand upon an elliptical illumination and overlooks the hall, which is almost bisected diagonally by the 4 meters (13 ft) high skywalk. The skywalk offers an interesting viewing angle from which the elevated acrobats appear quite different from the way they do from ground level. Many artists have mentioned that arranging artworks in this space is a difficult task.

Across the tall exhibition hall, there is a narrow space that is slightly lower in height - the Animal Series is sparsely distributed here. From the gazing white horse overlooking its shoulder, the elephant, the seals, the invulnerable creature, to the little dog and the girl touching one another, the mostly lying postures suggest to the viewer a downward-looking viewing angle, which, when combined with the upward-looking angle of the Acrobat Series, echoes with the way humanity is viewed.”

For all writings related to this exhibition, please click on the following links:

Zhu Zhu Mind Versus Matter: Fairytale or Allegory? | Will Things Ever Get Better? Xiang Jing’s Works 2008-2011 | Beijing | Today Art Museum Publishing | 2011 | P.34-42
Xiang Jing x Chen Jiaying: Will Things Ever Get Better? – A Discussion between Chen Jiaying and Xiang Jing | Will Things Ever Get Better? Xiang Jing’s Works 2008-2011, Beijing | Today Art Museum Publishing | 2011 | P.1-7
Xiang Jing A World in the Eye | Will Things Ever Get Better? Xiang Jing’s Works 2008-2011 | Beijing | Today Art