SPINE BOUNDARY: Liang Fu

SPINE BOUNDARY (2025), a sculpture crafted from a discarded horse collar, embodies the absent presence of the body and evokes memories tied to a fading way of life. Through the absence of physical form, it reflects both human and animal bodies retreating into shared oblivion, while contemplating the displacement of traditional agriculture by industrialization. What was once a space of labor and life now stands as a silent shell, confronting us with the absence it contains.

Originally a site for the taming of animals, the horse stall is reimagined here as a symbolic structure that speaks to the dynamics of control and submission, proximity and separation between humans and animals. This piece prompts reflection on the constraints imposed on the body and interrogates the act of domestication itself: When nature is disciplined and the body erased, what connections and perceptions remain?

The coal-covered floor and rusty walls ground the exhibition in the somber rhythm of decay and transformation, their weathered surfaces reflecting the erosion of a vanishing way of life. Together, they evoke the quiet aftermath of industrial progress, confronting the viewer with the corrosion of once-sturdy systems and the passage of time. 

Fu's exploration of materiality, drawing from both the fragility and strength of the objects he creates, resonates in this work. The discarded, repurposed materials serve as metaphors for the passage of time, the erosion of tradition, and the ever-shifting relationships between humanity and the natural world. The sculpture offers a space to reflect on the impermanence of existence and the quiet yet profound power of transformation, much like the artist’s broader exploration of water’s symbolic influence.