Huang Yong Ping, “Wu Zei”, Oceanographic Museum, Monaco, 2012

A founding member of the Xiamen Dada group in China during the mid-1980s, Huang Yong Ping has garnered an international reputation as an avant-garde provocateur. His diverse practice explores ideas related to society, its destiny, cultures, and the impact of globalization on identity. The artist combines Oriental and Western philosophies and adapts mythologies, giving them modern day references, to draw attention to the troubling and alarming events of our time.

His large scale installation for the Oceanographic Museum is inspired by the sea and refers to maritime disasters caused by man. “Wu Zei” is a gigantic hybrid animal – an octopus and a cuttlefish. The 25 metre monster invades and takes possession of the entire ceiling of the Museum’s prestigious Salon d’Honneur and encircles the pillars with its eight tentacles. The monster sits in position and waits to entrap the smaller aquatic animals, representatives of the life of the Sea.

By calling his installation “Wu Zei”, Huang Yong Ping creates ambiguity. The title “Wu Zei” is the Chinese name for a cuttlefish yet Huang Yong Ping’s work is a hybrid beast. “Wu” is also the character for the colour black and “Zei” the symbol for spoiling, corrupting or betraying. Huang Yong Ping plays with language and semiology juxtaposing cuttlefish ink to oil spill and corruption to regeneration.