Pain and Performance: Interviewing Cang Xin
15 February, 2025
Cang Xin, Communication Series IV, 2002. Image courtesy of the artist.
Cang Xin’s shadow looms large in the Chinese contemporary art scene, with his works having been accessioned into such internationally renowned collections as M+ in Hong Kong, Saatchi Gallery in London and White Rabbit in Sydney. Nevertheless, he is often seen as an enigmatic figure. Nevertheless, over the course of this interview, conducted by students from the University of Western Australia in Chengdu in July 2024, we found ourselves developing a deep appreciation of Cang’s multi-faceted work, which stretches religion, identity and technology. Yet as this interview demonstrates, his disparate works achieve unity in the theme of memory- collective and individual.
Question from audience: You have said that performance art is like wizardry and that you took inspiration from shamanism. However your work seems more concerned with contemporary social conditions. Do you think understanding Buddhism or spiritual traditions is important to interpret your work?
Cang Xin: Very much so. This has been a theme that I have dedicated a great deal of effort to over many years—yes, the realm of the divine, the mysterious, and the spiritual. Because I believe that the origins of performance art stem from the religious sphere. I have always been deeply engaged in this traditional form of mysticism and directed much of my artistic efforts towards the field of religious and spiritual practice. As a result, my works also lean heavily in this direction.
Audience: How Do you go about the process of making a new performance piece, do you research about a concept of interest first or simply begin making the work?
CX: Yes, I establish a concept first before proceeding with the work. It’s not something that comes to you in a single night—it’s a process of conceptualisation. This is a habit which I have formed over many years
Audience: So during your performance [Communication Series], did you find that people were kind about what they gave you to lick, and were there any objects presented to you that you were hesitant to touch? Moreover, did others have any hesitation about participating?
CX: No, I never had any hesitations, another artist at the Beijing Academy of Fine arts even gave me their socks to lick
Generally the audience had no idea except for those involved in the setup and management. The audience would generally come in, look ahead, then notice a sign. They would be startled, stand there for half a day before approaching.
In 2001 I also performed the Communication series during the Sydney Biennale. I stood at the entrance of Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art for seven days, six hours a day and I licked more then 10 000 objects. The director of the gallery even gave me her own tongue to lick, she is also a performance artist.
editors note: Cang Xin is slightly mistaken, he is referring to the 13th Biennale of Sydney '(The World May Be) Fantastic', which took place between 15 May- 14 July 2002.
Cang Xin, Exchange Series, performance during the 13th Sydney Biennale (The World May Be) Fantastic at the MCA. 18 May 2002. Image courtesy of the Artist.
Audience: Can you explain your continued exploration of inflicting pain upon your body during your artistic practice- particularly threading a needle through your tongue? Moreover, how does this relate to the Chinese 5 elements?
CX: Let me briefly explain as this is very complicated —Chinese tradition involves a system that extends from the head to the feet, with the sixty-four hexagrams and Taiji (the great ultimate). It’s a progression from birth to growth, from one to two, then to eight hexagrams and back to sixty-four hexagrams.
Within these, you need to align them with the natural world, like the influences of heaven and earth, thunder, fire, and so on—looking at the hours, observing the time—then how the Five Elements correspond. There’s the interaction of creation and destruction among the Five Elements, which is very complicated. Every person’s animal nature, including their birth sign and their relationship with the Five Elements, is calculated in Chinese astrology. From the moment of birth, these all play a role.
So, I think when it comes to the tongue and the pain, it is habitual for me. Because when I was a child, I was ill and spent two to three years in the hospital, so needles became normal for me. I got used to it.
Given this, I believe pain, in my personal opinion, has memory. Joy and pleasure qua memories, leave no marks or traces. Pain is very interesting in this sense, and this is how I understand pain.
The tongue is the most sensitive part of the human body; therefore, it is something I can remember when I am pricked by the needle. At that moment, the pain has a sense of memory. In fact, to enhance memory is almost like increasing the memory of pain itself. I personally believe that the existence of human beings themselves is related to pain. For instance, when a person is born, mothers experience the most intense pain. I’ve also seen that pain. The highest threshold of endurance for pain is found in women, especially during childbirth. Indeed, this may be the greatest pain that humanity can endure, perhaps it is even more painful than having limbs amputated.
Moreover, when children are born, they all cry—they don't laugh, hence I believe that pain has a primal origin.
Audience: During your performance Identity Exchange, in which you put exchanged clothes with another person, did this act of exchanging clothes allow you to absorb their identity or become them? Also did this performance help you to form connections with the other person at a deeper level, as opposed to simply having a conversation?
CX: Each person’s experience of identity and each exchange of clothes has significant differences.
For example, when I put on the uniform of a police officer, I felt exceedingly powerful to the point that it was almost a magical suit. The whole atmosphere completely shifted. It also contained personal significance, as I have been arrested many times, hence when I put on the police uniform, there was a shift in the power dynamics.
There is another impression that stands out to me is wearing the clothes of a person with bipolar disorder. When I put on his clothes, they were soaked in urine and covered in feces. This left a mark on me because he had to take medicine and had to face his own issues to be able to swap identities with me.
Nevertheless, the surface-level exchange of clothes did not generally, for me, lead to a deeper connection or even a continuing connection after the fact.
Cang Xin, Identity Exchange Series: Policeman. 2006. Image courtesy of Leo Gallery, copyright of the artist.
Audience: You seem to emphasize piercing your tongue in lots of 33 in a single sitting. Why is the number 33 significant for you?
CX: 33 represents Jesus Christ’s age at his time of death. Moreover, I hope to pierce my tongue in this manner 33 times in my life. So far, I have only pierced my tongue 13 times, so I have 20 times to go?
Audience: Through your later works, you have attempted to show that there is a sickness in the contemporary religion of technology. Despite this, do you think it is possible to achieve a better future for humans through imaginary religion and still achieve enlightenment?
CX: Actually, I’ve raised three issues. Firstly, I believe humanity is divided into three parts. The first, in the 5th century BC, in the area around 30 degrees north latitude, many saints and sages suddenly appeared, such as Socrates and Plato in ancient Greece. Then, you have figures like Laozi and Confucius in China, and Buddha, Shakyamuni in India, all appearing around the same time. This period produced many sages who helped shape the basic morals and philosophies we hold today. Up until now, we are still influenced by them, following the norms they established. I believe this was the period of moral standards. This was the first wave for humanity.
The second wave, I believe, is materialism – humanity’s research on material, greed, and strategy. The third part, in my view, spans from the f1970s to the present. It’s about how technology influences humanity and is related to the spirit. I believe that humanity’s spirit can only be fully realised through technology, leading to a higher state or even transcendence. The issue of technology has been much debated, but personally, I believe technology is unavoidable. It was discovered in its respective place and is a form of fate. I think this, and I have always accepted it. Another way of thinking is that exploring life is preparing for the transcendence of life. Originally, we were formed by the Tao, and this is the ‘rule’ of life. Preparing for this, life becomes like a chip – these chips are the fundamental building blocks. I see this as a way of preparing.
Technology ultimately decides the spiritual height or direction of humanity. It is a trend in the development of human society, regardless of whether it’s good or bad – it’s the inevitable path. I think, despite the large amount of debate, humanity cannot escape from it. Artificial intelligence is already here, it always has been, and people just discovered it. I think you should take a look at a chip, really, we should be thinking about how to combine technology and spirit. But I think everyone will have to face this issue and pay attention to it. We cannot run away from it, and it is unavoidable that technology will change and control humans.
Audience: Something interesting about performance art is that the work is conceptualized and staged, but then it is also experienced by the artist during the action. Have your performance taught you unexpected things about reality, human nature and non-human nature? Can you please share with us a striking memory from one of your performances?
CX: Unexpected things are common during performance art in China. One time there was a performance and when I started there were 70 people on the street, but since they didn’t know what was happening, they got scared and called the police. After the police came, they stopped the performance midway through.
Because of both the police and the performance, it started to get chaotic, and three hundred people suddenly formed a small crowd blocking the road.