4C Exhibition 2024 Q4 Circular Ruins
At the intersection of history and memory, we are both the creators of the world and its products, performing the rituals of existence daily.
Words by Annie Yangyang Li

Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges explores the intertwining of dreams, fiction, and rituals in his short story The Circular Ruins. In the story, the protagonist creates a boy through his dreams, only to discover in the end that he himself is merely a shadow in someone else’s dream.
The 4C Q4 2024 exhibition, The Circular Ruins, builds on a cyclical and unending cosmology, prompting reflections on contemporary life: Are we too trapped in an infinite cycle? At the intersection of history and memory, we are both the creators of the world and its products, performing the rituals of existence daily. Through the works of 11 artists—Xinyue Geng, Lingyi Kong, Sela Lin, Lu Di, Shiqi Luo, Yuanhao Tang, Yanzhi Wang, Ziyang Xu, Mengxi Yang, Yucen Yao, and Erica Zhan—this exhibition presents the complexities of this relationship and invites viewers to reflect on the meaning of our existence and creation in this boundless universe.

Xinyue Geng, Digital Muse: Programming Nature, 3D Print
Xinyue Geng's sculptural work Digital Muse: Programming Nature uses 3D printing and algorithmic programming to present the dynamic relationship between cycles and creation in the natural world. Drawing inspiration from the cyclical nature of biological structures, this series of sculptures is influenced by the cellular organization and growth patterns of organisms like sponges and corals, exploring the intersection between organic forms and geometric programming. Like a living entity in a dream, the work continuously grows and evolves through countless iterations. By generating the work through algorithms, it not only recreates the complexity of nature but also captures its inner dynamic vitality through digital means, forming a new life form that is both natural and beyond nature. The piece challenges the boundaries between traditional nature and virtual creation, much like the dreamscapes in The Circular Ruins, revealing a cycle of growth from chaos to order. At the same time, it takes the form of digital corals, offering a satirical contrast to the real-world coral reefs that are gradually disappearing, prompting reflection on the tension between environmental destruction and technological salvation.
Lingyi Kong's multimedia work Goodbye, Icarus combines mythology and technology to explore the themes of ritual and cyclicality in modern life. The piece centers on the mythological figures of Icarus and Jingwei, engaging in a dialogue about choice and fate, reflecting on their existential states in the face of adversity. Jingwei's endless task of filling the sea is a repetitive act, while Icarus's flight toward the sun is imbued with a ritualistic, almost religious fervor. Both characters’ actions and consciousness are strongly cyclical, suggesting a destiny in which we perpetually drift between choices and decisions. Through illustrations, art books, interactive video, and a wave installation, the work merges traditional and modern technologies to create a narrative experience akin to a ritual. The dynamic representation of waves resonates with the oceanic elements in the myths, reflecting Borges' theme of eternal cycles. In the comic narrative, the integration of wave dynamics and programmed interaction disrupts conventional reading experiences, blurring the boundaries of time and space, and immersing the viewer in a sense of eternal recurrence. The contrasting imagery of sea and sky, stones and wings, staying and leaving ultimately converge in a surreal and infinite space.

Lingyi Kong, Goodbye, Icarus, multi-media installation

Shiqi Luo, Rebirth, multi-media painting, acrylic, fabric
Shiqi Luo's Rebirth revolves around the theme of ritual and cyclical self-healing, deeply exploring the relationship between the body and emotions through highly textured sculptural installations. Her work primarily uses fabric as a medium, symbolizing a person's "second skin" and emotional experiences. The artist stretches, cuts, knots, and burns the fabric, then secures it with nails to form "beautiful scars." The sense of tearing in the piece expresses an internal tension and beauty, and it is through this ritual of self-destruction and reconstruction that the artist creates a new method of self-healing. Through these fabrics, she reconstructs an abstract world filled with scars, rich in rhythm and melody, and brimming with emotion. Different viewers will have varying interpretations, as each individual's experience is unique, and these scars carry the emotional cycles of both personal and collective experiences. The work functions as a visual ritual, using the repeated manipulation of materials and transformation of forms. The artist starts from personal emotions but extends the work to broader traumatic themes, such as war and history, revealing a delicate balance between universal fragility and resilience, pain and healing. It is a form of self-healing through artistic expression, representing the cyclical rebirth and reconstruction of the human body and identity.
Sela Lin, ___day, performance, video

Sela Lin's performance-video work ___day explores the cyclicality and futility of modern life. Set in the central library of the University of Washington, Seattle, the piece presents an endless workplace ritual, where employees take turns at a desk, performing disengaged, monotonous tasks, solely to be replaced by the next worker. This cycle of replacement and eventual displacement hints at the repetitive and meaningless behaviors people engage in within modern society. The work not only examines the mechanized and ritualized aspects of life but also uses the absurdity of everyday work scenarios to satirize the emptiness and tedium of office life. ___day, as a site-specific performance, uses the academic setting of the library to subtly mimic and critique the rigid systems of higher education and society’s imposed need for order. The library becomes a stage for an augmented reality performance, exposing the rigid structures in modern life and our endless cycle of repeated actions and choices. The rituals of daily life are not acts of freedom but inescapable cycles, trapping people in patterns from which they feel powerless to escape.
Through Shadows in Socialization, Lu Di delves into the interplay of cycles, reality, and truth, exploring the profound impact of bullying, particularly its role in the formation of social anxiety. The work revisits the artist’s childhood experiences of bullying in school, re-presenting those painful emotions through artistic expression, creating a cycle of personal feelings and collective experiences. In this cycle, the audience not only recalls the reality of bullying but is also prompted to reflect on how such experiences have left marks in their own lives. The piece combines various media such as photographs, poetry, and diaries—these mediums, like emotional fragments repeated over and over, symbolize how the trauma from bullying accumulates in the victim's heart over time. Surrounding images of ears and mouths represent the indifference of bystanders, revealing how silence and inaction are also part of this cycle in the reality of bullying. Through this creation, the artist not only exposes the true face of bullying but also explores how this cycle might be broken. The work is not merely a reproduction of past experiences but a call to society to confront the issue of bullying and to drive change.
Lu Di, Shadows in Socialization, multi-media installation


Yanzhi Wang, Francis, Back to the South, Haiku, poetry
Yanzhi Wang's poetry focuses on the intertwining of fate and reflection within personal experiences and cultural backgrounds. Francis uses poetic narrative to delve into the cyclical nature of a tragic story unfolding across disjointed times and spaces. Inspired by news of a Chinese social media influencer who died as a result of domestic violence, the author shifts focus to a similar tragedy occurring in a different time and culture, exploring whether fate was predestined and how culture and environment shape an individual's life trajectory. Back to the South, on the other hand, is an artistic expression of the artist's own life experiences moving between China and the United States. Through memories of the humid climate of his homeland and the repeated journeys across the Pacific, the work reflects the complexity of belonging in the heart of a wanderer. In this exhibition piece, Wang captures the constant cycle of searching for and returning to a sense of belonging, as though it is a ritual of modern life—each return home serves as a reaffirmation of personal identity.
Yuanhao Tang's two paintings revolve around the cycle between reality and the virtual, exploring the intertwining of dreams and technology, and humanity's sense of being lost and in search within these two worlds. In Midnight Summer Madness, the artist presents a tangible manifestation of a dream, blurring the boundaries between reality and the virtual. The characters in the work wear protective suits, symbolizing the "toxicity" of the dream and the implied sense of power and control, conveying the dangerous uncertainty in the cyclic exchange between dream and reality. The work portrays the dream as an extension of the virtual world, forming a cycle with reality, where the two mirror and influence each other, filled with tension. Uncharted Sailing reflects on the rise of artificial intelligence, a virtual technology. This work depicts humanity's smallness and ignorance in the face of emerging technology, exploring the interaction and cycle between the virtual and the real: while we develop and explore the field of AI in the real world, the growth of AI also continuously influences and reshapes our reality.

Yuanhao Tang, Midnight Summer Madness, Uncharted Sailing, digital painting
Our Art Panel

Ziyang Xu's architectural design project Eternal Ruins aligns with the exploration of cycles and regeneration, delving into the permanence and adaptability of architecture while showcasing the unique allure of ruins as cultural and historical symbols. The reconstruction of ruins emphasizes that architecture is not merely a physical existence—it continuously evolves across time and space, gaining new life as eras change. The project explores the extension of a building's life cycle, conveying that even after historical decline, architecture can be reimagined and recreated, becoming part of a new cultural narrative. The artist believes that the decay of architecture does not signify its end but rather the beginning of a cycle, turning ruins into spaces for modern artists to reactivate and imbue with new meaning. Ruins oscillate between decay and renewal, serving as points where historical memory and future possibilities intersect.

Ziyang Xu, Eternal Ruins, concept design

Mengxi Yang, Ai Can, animation video
Mengxi Yang's work revolves around the exploration of cycles and memory, challenging established paradigms and boundaries, with a focus on the temporality of the mind and memory. Her experimental animated short film Ai Can provides an in-depth portrayal of the final stages of the life of a gardener named Zhang Aican, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease. By depicting his gradually fading memories and his ever-growing collection of objects, the artist reflects deeply on the blurred line between "madness" and "artistry." This depiction of the fading of individual memory and the liminal state of the mind symbolizes humanity’s endless cycle between remembering and forgetting. Mengxi Yang’s work reveals the fragility and fluidity of individual memory, showcasing how the intangible forces of the mind shape one’s identity and artistic expression. Through her video and installation pieces, the artist invites the audience to reassess the relationship between time, memory, and the self, exploring how art can be used to recreate and reinterpret memory as it fades away. This cycle is not only about the disappearance and reconstruction of memory, but also the intersection of the mental and physical worlds, reflecting the artist’s profound contemplation on life and existence.
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Erica Zhan, My Prescription is a Long Confession, video
In My Prescription is a Long Confession, Erica Zhan reveals the modern obsession with psychotherapy through the lens of ritual, the cycles of contemporary life, and consumerism. When faced with life's dilemmas, social media rapidly promotes a flash sale of therapy: quick-fix psychotherapy services to address newly discovered ADHD, bipolar disorder, anxiety, or OCD, often self-diagnosed online. Amid the constant flow of terminologies, a new mode of communication and sanctuary begins to take shape. The work critiques society’s overreliance on psychotherapy discourse and the consumerist mechanism lurking behind it. The flood of therapy terms erodes genuine psychological care, drowning out the voices of individuals truly in need of help. In the piece, the artist uses sound and body language to depict seemingly endless repetitive behaviors: talking, rubbing the body, and taking medication. By presenting these repetitive actions, the work symbolizes the perpetual cycle in which people become lost between psychotherapy and consumerism. The endless consumption of therapy and the ritualistic nature of self-sacrifice trap individuals in the capitalist system, where they are unable to achieve real healing but instead are led into an endless cycle of consumption and self-sacrifice.
Yucen Yao's multimedia project Eco Garden Toolkit centers around the themes of natural cycles and rituals, advocating for the harmonious coexistence of humans and nature through the cultivation of native plants. This artwork aims to raise awareness of the importance of native plants in ecosystems, breaking away from the rigidity of traditional lawns and transforming yards into environmentally friendly green spaces. This shift is not merely a physical transformation, but also an environmental ritual in modern life, where every choice to plant native species symbolizes our recognition and participation in nature's cycles. The design of the toolkit resembles a ritual, guiding people to actively engage with nature’s cycles in their daily lives. The process of planting native species not only represents a deep connection with nature but also reflects a sense of responsibility toward the environment. The toolkit provides abundant resources for families and nature enthusiasts, helping them cultivate and share native plants while fostering environmental awareness in the next generation. It also offers nature lovers a pathway to deeper understanding and protection of the planet. With the Eco Garden Toolkit, people will become more aware of the cyclical role native plants play in ecosystems, inspiring them to take the first step toward creating a sustainable future.
Yucen Yao, Eco Garden Toolkit, mixed media

The exhibition The Circular Ruins continues 4C Gallery’s deep focus on conceptual art, showcasing works that explore the cyclical concepts of the universe, reality, and nature. Through artistic expressions of these cycles, the exhibition presents the artists' exploration of self-identity and existence within an endless loop. 4C Gallery remains committed to providing a platform for contemporary artists to showcase their ideas and innovations. In this exhibition, not only does it present a wealth of artistic creativity, but it also prompts viewers to reflect on the cyclical and ritualistic complexities of everyday life, further advancing the dialogue between contemporary art and philosophical themes.
