Qiu Zhijie was born in Zhangzhou, Fujian province. A keen learner since childhood, he began to systematically study the epistemology of western philosophy at a young age, it allowed him to observe the western intellectual's belief on “concern for oneself”. He is one of the few Chinese artists who has adopted Nietzsche and Foucault's “study of genealogy” in constructing his life and its experiments. At the same time, he was among the earliest Chinese artists to pay attention to how to draw from cultural resources he needed; an artist who has seriously contemplated the relationship between self-cultivation and artistic creativity. His twenty years of artistic experience demonstrates that for an outstanding artist, the impact of a body artwork does not depend on its volume, but rather on the historical differentiation and spiritual symphony it unleashes. At the same time, such creativity also helps us to stay vigilant, because in a piece of artwork, in addition to the inventiveness and action, there is a person who has lived this way—and this makes the existence of certain things become inconceivable—in this era, the explorations completed by certain people were so unstoppable, exceeding all expectations, and then succeeding because the time was ripe.

As “these things” unfold, we are unable to imagine the world as it was before “things like this” had emerged. These works and actions over time have given us such intense shocks, even though his unrestrained “procreation” is so hard to for the eyes to take in that it causes doubts, and yet he does indeed have the ability to make us believe that he is the most creative, active and inspiring artists in the history of contemporary Chinese art.

Qiu Zhijie has always occupied multiple roles in the course of narrating Chinese contemporary art. In the role of artist, his Copying Lanting Xu 1000 Times , Tattoo series of photography works, and his unique “light calligraphy” have all became classics in the history of Chinese contemporary art. His creativity encompasses photography, video art, calligraphy, painting, installation and performance art. Already early on, his practice transcended the narrow aesthetic of medium, revealing a rich spiritual state. As a curator, his promotion of new media art, and his curatorial endeavors surrounding questions of “post-sensibility” have given rise to an entirely new artistic landscape. In the Long March art project that he co-curated, he promoted site-specific art. As a teacher, in recent years he has implemented a unique pedagogical concept of “Total Art” while teaching at the Chinese Academy of Art. Aiming to reconstruct individual creativity and to understand socially interactive models based on cultural research has allowed him to be at the forefront of artistic creativity.

The topics upon which he has reflected over time and the artistic experiments conducted are intimately interconnected with the history of China's of artistic explorations over the last twenty years. Most importantly, as his thinking matured in the mid-1990s, his artistic experiments and work—an important time for the development of Chinese contemporary art—have given “soul” to this work. He is not only a promoter and leader of the game, but someone who arouses enthusiasm and gives his work soul. Thus, his work endows the spirit with another dimension and allows the spirit to be its primary conduit. His creativity no longer limits the making of art to a form of expression, but pursues the expression of its entirety. In other words, Qiu Zhijie is determined to transform art into something beyond art. His series of works are carried out by “branching out” and “reproducing”. His passion for this work (of art), or being slightly fanatic—perhaps not his “reminders”—have initiated a type of “way of speaking” in contemporary Chinese art —as Chinese contemporary Art is submerged under expressing cultural identity, contradiction, anxiety from other influences, side-effects of this era and “personal matters”, what transgresses his work has always been politics and joy—using one of Deluge's phrase, “Since Copying Lanting Xu 1000 Times (1990-1995), it has been laughter, and since Standpoint (1993), it has been all politics.”

In fact, Qiu Zhijie's ambitious Nanjing Yangtze Bridge Project has shown us the emergence in Chinese contemporary art of a surging energy in the writing of contemporary Chinese art—an energy characterized by great spirit and powerful formation that has accumulated in his work over time. He has always had the strong desire to make people feel, as Heidegger put it, that “the world will still end in the soul of the poets, rather than in the byproducts that replace them.”

The Nanjing Yangtze Bridge Project encompasses the various foci of Qiu Zhijie's work in recent years: meditations on politics, unpredictability, and destiny, which have revealed his outstanding ability for research and his incisive understanding of the material and the large number of surveys from his fieldwork. The impetus of this project is to focus on and collaborate with self-initiated suicide intervention organizations related to the bridge. By reflecting on and intervening to prevent “suicide”, Qiu Zhijie has chosen the emblem of success for Chinese modernization and the locale of death, as well as all spiritual matters associated with the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge as the content of his study. His contemplation on life and death, the individual and time, has zeroed in on the complexity arising from the silence of the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge as the point of inception for this project. From the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge Project , we take note of the artist's unknown prerequisite that originates from his inherent sensitivity and concern—at the same time, it reminds us of the imminence of a “future” that lies beyond physical time. Although it cannot be measured as an object, it embodies its own measurements, control, rhythm and fate. Only when we experience the fate that time presents us, can we fully understand the meaning of living in this moment and our very existences. Therefore, the origin for creating this project not only satisfies the artist's need to construct subjectivity, but also originates with the prediction, incisive reference and writing on the “imminence of time”. For this reason, we can location his writing on the trajectory of this train of thought. In essence, his themes concern life and death, and are related to fate and its various permutations, as well as politics. The artist will, as Heidegger would say, eventually “appear on the path of return from roaming about to popularity”.

In observing and reading Qiu Zhijie's work, we must carefully select topics and terms that guide the viewer in the search for the path of creativity. Because the works demonstrate such a complex network that we, as viewers, run the risk of overlooking his unique contribution to artistic language and vocabulary, and instead treat him as an unceasing fabricator of dialogue, an incisive observer and operator working while others are asleep. In fact, if we look to the details, we will notice that Qiu Zhijie's work has always followed a certain distinctive lines. Knowledge, art and action overlap along these lines, moreover, these themes are constantly contesting both sides of the boundary line, and express seemingly impossible distinctions. In one respect, he reflects on and experiments with the metaphysics of the spirit, such as the ideas of Heidegger, Rainer Maria Rilke, existentialism, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Marxism. In another respect, his works are reflections on and investigations of the individual and its fate. Perhaps beyond these themes, the work is also about recurrence and return, about ideas of the prodigal son, or the unpredictable feeling of impermanence like “swan foot prints in slushy snow”, as well as concerned with the concept of ephemera and the passing of all things, in which his work subtly embodies the greatness of Zhuang Zi (Chuang Tzu) and the Buddha, as well as traditional Chinese poems.

In contrast to many artists of his generation, Qiu Zhijie has chosen to embrace a life that combines art and wisdom. Fearlessly encountering the narrow path of destiny, he is courageous in the face of danger, and embarks on experimentations and explorations while reveling in the joy of imagination; he is a practitioner of art who “transforms himself through his works”, and thus shapes his own destiny.

It is difficult to describe the works of Qiu Zhijie, because the road he has chosen for himself is an ascetic one. It also seems impossible to assign a “single” mode of thinking to his process; he has set up many “path of escape”. The initial motivation for writing out one's choice is attained by constant writing thereafter. “The progress and choice in each one of our self-formations, which are based on freedom, must be achieved by every individual's own effort and wisdom.” Which elements, then, consist of Qiu Zhijie's “generator of expression”? Can we unveil his uniqueness by meticulously examining his work against the backdrop of notions of historical progress and other phenomena? Indeed, this task is invigorating. Don't we wish to render the complexity of the art happening here, as well as the individualism and the most sensitive aspects of the artist's life and thoughts in terms of the excitement of the encounter of desire and creativity, and in the context of the vocabulary and actions of life and the profound reflections provoked.

It can be said that Qiu Zhijie's investigations of Chinese culture have had a great influence on his thinking. The eastern gaze on the truth of the world constantly reminds us of the truth of unpredictability. “He notices that the contemplative attributes of calligraphy has a calming effect on him, as an art form with deep cultural roots and intricate interest, has helped him to anchor himself as a creator in time and space within the historical and cultural context.” Thus, creativity and self-cultivation has trained Qiu Zhijie to be someone who understands the profundity of the unpredictability in one's destiny. In his work, one can often catch a glimpse of the endless variations of emotions, chaotic states of mind that are unspeakable, all of which are coincidental yet natural, unpredictable yet predestined. There are also trains of thought developed from key issues, and more interestingly, such meanings are often carried out by the vehicle of calligraphy. “Qiu Zhijie's response in the 1990s was in the form of Buddhist monk. He suggests how we can find our footing by not viewing ourselves as too ‘clean' or perfect, by seeing the world as it really it, and doing things with a fearless attitude.” From Copying Lanting Xu 1000 Times (1990-1995)—a work of spiritual significance to Qiu Zhijie—the artist's reflection on collective memory versus individual memory that is embodied in Monument (2006-2007), to his work, The City of Defeat (2009), concerning human fate in the echoes of history. His unpredictable style is the product of both his introspection, the lessons of daily practice, and also a point of spiritual support in relation to that which is beyond him.

Over the course of time's unpredictable passage, it is the subtle, little in life things that become the carriers of our unpredictable thinking, and “miracles” in life that are particular to a given individual. This is the second component of Qiu Zhijie's work: the history of things. These works often “present” quotidian objects, for example, in Object (1997), Archaeological Pit No.1 of Yaojiayuan (1998), One Line Sky (2009) and etc. Yet the only pivots we can grasp and use to pull ourselves up and testify to the world, our making of the world as well as our failures. “These objects” often vanish into the historical void, “they” appear as a given object before our eyes only because of our structuring gaze—it is by virtue of the gaze that the “variable quality” of the object is constituted and we gave rise to the narrative of the objects. If “unpredictable” intentionality offers a rational attitude towards the comprehension of our existence and the world, then the gaze at the history of objects can be seen as resistance to such unpredictability. “Let him see how content, innocent an object can be, yet it belongs to us” , writes Rilke. The worldly object is grounded in the realities of people's lives, even worldly politics. Through this gaze we construct the objects as belonging to us, yet for which must first emancipate the objects from worldly controls. Thus, the object is also our body—resisting the object is also a resistance of the body.

The illuminated objects and the emancipated bodies are confronted with the imaginary enemy of “control”—this is Qiu Zhijie's other quest. The ground on which life and opinions contest has always been politics, therefore the essence of subjectivity is the latitude of politics, and it is a locale where relationships with the outside world are constantly renewed, overlap ped and expand ed . Since this contact with the outside world remains open, truth is constantly perceived by subjectivity in order to resist standardization and control. Therefore, the true thinker must always attack presupposed values and the governing power supporting it (just as Qiu Zhijie says, “the traps of everyday life we are accustomed to, common sense, common practice and belief system”), moreover to remain skeptical of the contemporary vision at all times. The works Tattoo (1994) and Rainbow (1995-1996) series, Fine (199 6 ), and Interface ( 1999 ), exemplify these ideas, up until Group (2007), Qiu Zhijie has been appropriating analysis to illustrate an invisible “clamp down” of the situation and political vocabulary in which we are submerged, it is sufficient to demonstrate the foresight in his thinking. Therefore, once we understand his thinking behind “micropolitics” and how the works expanded from the aforementioned quotidian experience, it is easier to understand further how social troublemaking took place under attitudes of “ignorance”.

The attitude of the ignorant implies that, akin to differentiated logic, its externality will never be exhausted, each attempt to capture it will cause excess or nourish new domains, and releasing new flight paths—this is the path of the ignorant. Troublemaking is devoted to the external, while benefits from within, the most external troublemaking would return to the most introspective cultivation of the self. Thus, troublemaking have become a true form of self-cultivation. Observing the thread of ideas in Qiu Zhijie's in his work, one is aware of the active choice he has made, and how this is also the most vivid aspect of his life. Therefore, How to Empty Your Mind is undoubtedly a critical point in his thinking is the relationship between thoughts and existence that generated much of Western thought, and the way in which Eastern wisdom has its own concerns and solutions, and the place where these two points cross is an important point for Qiu Zhijie.

In the early 1990s, as a young man who just entered the art world, Qiu Zhijie began to contemplate and construct himself. He did so primarily in terms of five areas of preoccupations: from worldview to operative logic; from the cultivation within to troublemaking in historical sites; from returning to self-cultivation to understanding the need for introspective reflection about the world. All these converged in narratives prior to Breaking Through the Ice at UCCA. In fact, he began to read and study extensively, and from these initial studies completed his earliest series of works. These works touched on the limitations of language and society, which obviously contrasts with his initial resistance to the consequences of university education and way of thinking. His college graduation thesis work Large Pieces of Glass: On the New Life (1992) has already adopted new experience to construct points of support for his observation and thinking—it is a work that best demonstrates his initial break from fixed modes of self-expression and investigations of issues related to experience. Moreover, it was a work that revealed others' preoccupation with ideological expression and the grand narrative of that era in the art world. Qiu Zhijie has incisively become aware that at the outset of the new era, innovative language is an important avenue of self-exploration.

He chose to “anchor”, “cause trouble” and “march on”, which became the process by which he learned to make rational decisions and understanding his own fate. To “anchor” is to take a position for himself, but it is a temporary position for those travel by sea, a position that will shift according to progress—it not only echoes with history, but is also the starting point of adventures. Thus, since “anchoring” the intention of the “boat” also alludes to “icebreaking”, this manner of speaking seems to formulate the narrative of the future.

Those at the point of encounter of a certain historical moment, gathering various opportunities onto themselves are often called the “genius” of their respective eras. Today, whether or not we use the term “genius” implies the anxiety of wishing for something usual, an outlandish experience, or extreme behavior to happen in a world that is increasingly standardized. In fact, does the “genius” explain the meaning of life to us? Of course no one actually believes this, because the “genius” is in fact a therapeutic invention of the contemporary society. What it might tell us, on the contrary, is that life renews itself through preeminent and continuous creativity. There are plenty of opportunities for everyone, while one embarks on journeys of exploration and accepts one's limitations. What differentiates them from others, however, is that they have always contributed to the world through their persistent work, their spirit and experience, their unceasing questions and discoveries, their joy of giving—in other words, the “biography” of a genius' exemplifies his subjectivity. For an artist like Qiu Zhijie, the expression of his internal contradiction and the contradiction among his various abilities perhaps could never represent his fundamental knowledge of life in comparison to all the vocabulary of psychology, such as talent and ability, used to describe the quality and characteristic of a person. A person's inherent nature is positioned on a higher level, even the so-called talent and characteristics are also that derived from one's inherent nature.

Over the nearly twenty years of Qiu Zhijie's artistic career, facts prove to us that the field of vision of his work has not been limited to art, but also contain his thinking, judgment, understanding and actions in the world, as well as his path for life and creativity, and these works are all testaments to his spirit. His work is not only an expression of longing for an absolute truth, but also eulogizes the ephemera of life, and excavates our memories and understanding the world—all of which have been perpetually shuttled between these coupled opposites. Such a goal can only be realized in the realm of infinity and the absolute, and this realm is where the meaning of “existence” resides—art is one of its main vectors, and Qiu Zhijie has indeed connected these subjects that require wide-ranging knowledge and diverse abilities in order to continue embarking on a career of “breaking through the ice”.

Heidegger maintained that language is more powerful than man, and this was a central tenet of his thinking. In his view, there is a language that is more expansive than “human speaking”, and it is the originary source of “human speaking”, and that is the “way of speaking” of the “great way”. Man belongs to the “great way”, and is always already on the “way to speaking”, always already listening to what is “spoken”. (Sun Zhouxing, In the Forest of Thinking: Heidegger's Philosophy ).

Position on Future Archaeology , Chang Tsong-zung, 2008

Position on Future Archaeology , Chang Tsong-zung, 2008

Ibid

Selected Poem of Rilke , ninth poem of “Duino Elegies”, People Literature Publishers, 1996