Shuang Xu

BOTANICAL ISLANDERS

(2024)

The exhibition is situated on Kulangsu Island, the project delves into the island’s botanical entities, each carrying community tales or
site-specific narratives. Through participatory observation methods in ethnography, the exhibition aims to uncover their entanglements and symbiotic relationships with human caretakers or witnesses, portraying them as non-human islanders. From the tree cultivated by teachers and students along the Art Academy (福州大学厦门工艺美术学院) of the island in the 1960s to the mango tree on Yongchun Road where generations once gathered, or the century-old banyan tree nearly failed by a typhoon – the exhibition unveils these ground truths on the island. Adopting a perspective beyond the human, it exhibits a visual narrative that transcends the boundaries between more-than-human species and human existence.
Through research and curation methods such as recording, collecting, harvesting, and printing, the intricate symbiotic ecology between island residents and plants is composed, of weaving history and life into a poetic tale of the island.

ROOT CARRIER TEMPLE

(2023)

The exhibition- Root Carrier Temple is a research based exhibition that unfolds the intertwined travel narratives of ”non-natives,“ the Asian Artemisia plant species, and the diaspora community through installations, prints, and storytelling-based recordings, with a focus on the Cambodian-Teochew women who gather at the temple of the 13th arrondissement in Paris.

The project took shape after an encounter with Asian Artemisia plant species in the Netherlands, followed by the speculated history of their arrival to Europe notably linked to the 19th-century French occupation of Indochina. The travel path intertwines with the narrative of the Cambodian-Teochew diaspora community in Paris and their family travel tales spanning generations. The research illuminates the complexities of the notion of ”non-native,“ particularly in the context of migration impacted by the colonial past.

"ROOT CARRIER" CEREMONY

(2023)

This installation and performance explore the topic of non-native plants through research on Artemisia plants and the Teochew diaspora community in Paris. The Artemisia plants take center stage in the research of the history of the Teochew diaspora, narrating stories of the Teochew community in the 13th arrondissement of Paris.

EATING THE LANDSCAPE

(2023)

Eating the Landscape is a collaborative
research project with Lena Breitenborn and Sandra Revuelta Alberto.

The project is the result of multiple encounters and collaborations, through the means of food. There is no ending point to arrive at, nor is it static, but continuous discoveries lead to particular revelations. The project encompasses different media such as a recipe calendar, photographs, writings, and events.

CYBER CAFE

(2022)

This project is a reflection on the boundaries between the artificial and the 'human.' The notion of cyborgs is intertwined with imagination and material reality. It disregards conventional boundaries, such as those between 'human' and 'animal' or 'human' and 'machine.' Recipes generated by Artificial Intelligence, as an experiment to explore the materiality of digital taste and communication with AI, aim to create a mutual amalgamation of food and hybridity

(2022)

This project is a reflection of symbiotic life which leads me to question our current state with microbiology, other living beings, and the idea of individual living as anthropocentric thoughts. The fungus growing in the typeface was collected from different lichens as a metaphor for learning from the symbiotic organism. The methodology enforced simultaneous questioning and reviewing what it means for a singular society, and perhaps, what we could challenge through learning from fungi and lichens.