By Xiaoxi Zhu ’22
Student Media Center
‘Wind Verification,’ an installation by visual artist Cheng Guo that reflects on how the internet has affected the public’s interaction with information, was unveiled at Duke Kunshan in March.
The work, in which a silver flag captures the movements of waving flags shown in footage drawn from video-sharing platforms, reflects the common perception of social media as a selective, altered representation of reality.
Students, faculty, staff and special guests gather for the unveiling of ‘Wind Verification’ on the Duke Kunshan campus on March 5.
As well as building the installation, the Shanghai-based artist created the algorithm used to capture the flag movements with Weihao Qiu, a Ph.D. student at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Duke Kunshan students Danming Kang ’23, Meixuan Wang ’23 and Zi Xun ’24 compiled the videos shown on screen from social media apps such as Kuaishou and TikTok.
Guo, a graduate of the Royal College of Art in the U.K., said he was motivated by differences in the flow and public verification of information during the Covid-19 pandemic compared with that of the SARS outbreak of 2003.
‘Most people could only rely on the reports from the official channels during SARS, but during Covid-19 they’ve been able to get information through social media,’ he said, explaining that the hand holding the silver flag in the artwork represents the power of the common people.
Visual artist Cheng Guo led a workshop for DKU students and took part in a symposium to discuss his artwork with experts Zairong Xiang, Ivan Mura and Vytas Jankauskas.
The piece is built around an upended metal bed frame, a common symbol of individuality, Guo said. ‘It also looks like wire mesh used in riots, while the hand holding the flag above indicates breaking through segregation.’
Guo created the installation as part of the CAC-DKU Research/Creation Fellowship, which ran October to December 2020 under the theme ‘World Wide What.’ The residency program is a partnership between Shanghai’s Chronus Art Center and Duke Kunshan’s Humanities Research Center.
‘Wind Verification’ was displayed on campus from March 5 to 9. In the run-up to its inauguration, Guo held a workshop with undergraduate students and took part in a symposium to discuss the work with Vytas Jankauskas, the CAC’s head of research; Zairong Xiang, associate director of art at Duke Kunshan, and Ivan Mura, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering.
The work will be on display at the CAC until May 23.
Learn more about research projects led by the Humanities Research Center including the Freedom Lab, the Health Humanities Lab, and the Planetary Ethics and Artificial Intelligence Lab.
Discover more about the Chronus Art Center.
