Reason Is a Flower
FU Jiani, XIE Qun
Group Exhibition, C22 Space, Beijing
“The flower is the paradigmatic form of rationality: to think is always to invest oneself in the sphere of appearances—not in order to express its hidden interiority, nor in order to speak, to say something, but in order to put different beings in touch with one another.”
— Emanuele Coccia (Italy)
Slowness, patience, a long-term engagement, alongside gentleness—continuously exchanging energy with the local soil and weather. This is, for us, a radical stance in our time.
The allure of flowers stems from their vegetal nature. Plants are highly dependent on their environment, yet through photosynthesis they also ceaselessly shape that environment from within, breaking down the binaries of environment–subject and nature–culture. Nature is no longer a mere backdrop; it is a connective tissue in which all things permeate, coform, depend on one another, and are in continual flux (Interdependence).
A flower is not only an explosion of color and form in plant life; it is also the clearest embodiment of a vegetal perspective: by continually opening itself and drawing the outside world inward, it sustains proliferation and change. Through an order of opening and withering, it keeps itself in a weatherbound state of risk, creation, and experiment.
The Radical Bloom series seeks, through plantrelated works and action, to turn every element of the project into a flower’s survival gesture: blooming. They are encouraged to exchange energy with the world, to coshape one another, and to evolve until they fade. For this exhibition we have intentionally selected conceptual works that foreground the rarely discussed, intriguing relationship between floral imagery and human rationality. The works—spanning installation, moving image, painting, sculpture, papercut, design, and fashion—together form a materially sensitive ecology across media.
We hope they will come alive like blossoms, reviving what is most vital in art: the capacity to kindle new inspiration. Our invited Activators will, over the course of six months, generate new works of planting, music, and dance in response to the exhibition and its programs.
The exhibition itself is no exception: the opening is only its bud stage. It will continue to bloom through onsite interactions, discussions, and participatory actions that connect with everyone who comes. As the preface puts it, a flower blooms “so that different beings may touch one another.”
Artists
Chen Liang, Fu Jiani, Hu Xiaoyuan, Jiang Zhi, Liu Ye, Lo Lai Lai Natalie, Jean Michel Othoniel, Kyungmi Shin, Koki Tanaka, Danh Vo, Wang Ye, Wang Yin, Xiao Bo, Xie Qun, Xiyadie, SAMUEL GUÌ YANG, Zhang Ding, Zhu Changquan
Activators
1334, Chen Liang, NiNi Dongnier, non, Su Yang, Yang Dewu
About Curators
Zhang Yuling, art historian, writer and curator. Graduated from Peking University and Paris Pantheon-Sorbonne University.（Paris 1） Adjunct Lecturer, Department of Art Administration, China Academy of Art. West Bund Museum — Research Fellow, Climate and Soil Research Project. Has published a range of works in visual culture studies, art criticism, and experimental contemporary art writing。Her research, writing, and curatorial practice focus on the relationships among artistic creation, embodied experiences, power structure and nature, across different temporal-spatial historical contexts.
Dai Xiyun, curator and writer. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Space Design from the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) and a Master’s degree in Fine Art from the Dutch Art Institute (DAI), ArtEZ University of the Arts. Her research interests lie in how the production of space and spatial regulations shape bodies, desires, and the circulation of knowledge. Over the past three years, she has particularly engaged with the spatial form of botanical gardens—its entanglement with herbal knowledge, understood as a form of reproductive technology, and with the history of early modernization. Emphasizing co-production and locality, she employs archival research and fieldwork to link contemporary art with diverse disciplinary perspectives.
About C22
C22 is a non-profit art space founded in 2025. Dedicated to supporting experimental and research-driven contemporary art practices, the space is committed to presenting projects that seek to be seen rather than passively consumed.
