Vivian Xu is an interdisciplinary artist and researcher. Her research and practice intertwine two courses of inquiry, the investigation into life and the living, from philosophical and biological perspectives, and the question concerning technology, with reference to cybernetics. This practice charts a movement from investigations into organic and living matter, toward hybrid bodies and living systems, and to current explorations into broader ecological configurations. This progression emphasizes a consistent concern with destabilizing dualist pairings of human-nonhuman, body-environment, nature-culture, and life-nonlife. Her work is research-driven, process-based, and informed by Art-Science practices that merge methods from the studio and the laboratory. 

 

Xu’s work has been exhibited and presented at various institutions in Asia, Europe, the United States, Brazil, and Australia. Notable institutions include the National Art Museum of China (China), the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra (China), Power Station of Art (China), Three Shadows Photography Art Center (China), Fotograpfiska (China), NTU Center for Contemporary Art (Singapore), the New York Science Museum (United States),  Kapelica Gallery (Slovenia), and the Museum of Decorative Arts Dresden (Germany), amongst others. She has been awarded research residencies at institutions such as SymbioticA (Australia) and the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (Germany). Her work has also been featured in books such as Climates. Habitats. Environmentsand The Annual of Contemporary Art of China: 2021 Edition. Her practice has been covered by media including Global China Television (China), ArtNow (China), Elle magazine (United States), Tagesspiegel (Germany), Neural Magazine (Europe), and CLOT Magazine (Europe). In 2022, her work The Silkworm Project was selected for the Lumen Prize for Art and Technology Hua Awards Shortlist hosted by the Serpentine Gallery (UK).

 

Xu is currently an Assistant Professor of Media and Art at Duke Kunshan University in China. She is also Co-Director of the Design, Technology, and Radical Media Lab (DTRM), Co-Associate Director of the Duke-Duke Kunshan University Presence Lab, and Co-Lead of the Art, Media, and Cybernetics Working Group under the American Society for Cybernetics.