Challenging the conventional notion of the  °materiality ± of contemporary art, this exhibition contains three works which explore the potential of fire and jade as means of artistic expression. One of the two  °fire ± works is a burning piece of charcoal made from an enormous tree trunk; the other is an exposed car engine with a stainless steel exhaust system that turns red following periodic explosions. Because of the shortage of appropriate terminology we may call them installations, but both works are far from  °readymade ±, resulting instead from carefully planned transformations of natural materials and utilitarian objects. The third work in the exhibition is a tiny jade human head set on a stainless steel base upstairs. Equipped with a motorized mechanism,  it strikes the wall at a rate of 16 times per minute. Its cool, hard material and monotonous, repetitive action contrast dramatically with the two  °fire ± works displayed downstairs. 

The three works all allude to violence and danger, but of different forms and cultural connotations. They impress people with a penchant for danger coupled with technological precision---a characteristic of Shi Jinsong ˉs art which achieves a new level of expressiveness in this exhibition. Shown at this particular moment in August 2008, these works are imbued with deep social and psychological significance: the fusion of aggressive burning and impassionate technical calculation reflect what may be called the current  °China conditions ± - the country ˉs impatient and explosive thrust into the modern world, and the exhilaration and threat generated by such desire and movement.