Introduction
Beiqiu Museum of Contemporary Art presents Tiān Gōng Kāi Wù: Rocks, Fire, Thunder, the first solo exhibition in China by German artist Julius von Bismarck. Drawing inspiration from the seventeenth-century Chinese encyclopedia of technology, Tiangong Kaiwu, the exhibition bridges ancient wisdom and contemporary thought, exploring the interrelations between nature, technology, and humankind.
Bismarck’s artistic practice consistently revolves around the triangular relationship between humankind, nature, and technology. In his art and thinking, “nature” is not external to human, nor does it stand in opposition as a passive material world; rather, nature, for him, is mutually shaped through human perception and experience. Often employing the logic of scientific experiment, he combines satellite data, meteorological instruments, mechanical structures, and moving images, transforming art into a renewed experiment of natural phenomena.
The title Tiān Gōng Kāi Wù (or Heavenly Craftsmanship, Opening Things) carries philosophical resonance: “Heavenly Craftsmanship” refers to the self-generating artistry of nature, while “Opening Things” denotes human creativity that mirrors cosmic laws. The title thus signifies more than a text; it embodies a worldview in which art and technology evolve through cycles of imitation and transcendence, modeling a vision of coexistence and renewal between humanity and the natural world. In Bismarck’s artistic thought and practice, he resists the conventional, narrow definition of “nature” —one that relies on a binary logic to oppose it to “the human,” or to divide the “natural” from the “artificial.” In this sense, Bismarck’s understanding of “nature” resonates profoundly with the philosophy of ancient Chinese technologies. Therefore, the exhibition’s triad—rocks, fire, and thunder—are no longer forms of “nature” external to humanity, but rather isomorphic entities of man and nature, transformed through the artist’s mediation and creative process.
At the heart of the exhibition lies a newly commissioned site-specific work for Beiqiu—a rock sculpture series inspired by the museum’s name, Beiqiu, meaning “North Hill.” These seemingly solid boulders are hollow structures supported by steel frameworks, revealing the illusion of mass. Inspired by his visit to Lingyin Temple, where worshippers leaned wooden sticks against rocks in prayer, Bismarck extends the metaphor by giving the stones “legs,” imbuing them with a sense of life and humor, and reflecting on the spiritual autonomy of matter.
Across the triad of rocks, fire, and thunder, the exhibition traces humanity’s enduring dialogue with natural forces. Complementing new rock sculptures are Bismarck’s long-term studies of fire and lightning. The Talking to Thunder series, born from his personal lightning strike, transforms atmospheric electricity into an aesthetic event that unites experiment and ritual. In Fire with Fire, slow-motion mirrored images of wildfires turn catastrophe into contemplation, rendering fire as both destructive and sacred.
In Tiān Gōng Kāi Wù: Rocks, Fire, Thunder, Bismarck fuses the precision of science with the sensibility of art to rekindle awe toward the natural world. His works suggest that to “open things” (kāi wù) is not merely to expand the realm of technique, but to rediscover the resonance between the human mind and the cosmos.