Cang Xin (b. 1967)

As one of China's most celebrated performance artists, Cang Xin approaches his work as a means to promote harmonious communication with nature inspired by traditions of his native Mongolia. Cang is a bona fide shaman; he holds the profound belief that all things have spirit - both animate and inanimate objects - and is a member of an order of enlightened holy men who have the ability to enter various forms at will. His works have included bathing with lizards, adorning the clothing of strangers, and prostrating himself on icy glaciers: each act representing a ritual of becoming the other.

Executed in 2006, the present sculpture entitled Communication is a life-size, ultra-realistic representation of the artist himself sprawled on the floor, tongue out and licking the ground. The work is a culmination of Cang's most celebrated performance series of the same title - a project that spanned a decade from 1996 and saw the artist lick and consume everything from insects, cobblestones to banknotes. Engaging with the world at large with his tongue - one of the most intimate and sensitive parts of the body - Cang's performance represents an internalising of knowledge and a religious communion with place, object and person. Communication ultimately illustrates Cang's quest for an ideal interaction between Man and the spiritual world in a modern world.