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Living Distance


→Cosmic Metabolism
→Living/Distance (solo), Make Room Gallery, 2020
→The Ground is Falling (solo), Aranya Art Center, 2021
→Seedlings and Offsprings (solo), Pioneer Works, 2023
→The 14th Shanghai Biennale: Cosmos Cinema, Power Station of Art, 2023
Film Still, Living Distance (2019-2020) 


“After my wisdom teeth were extracted, I did not know what to do with them. They are tiny, lifeless rocks out of flesh, but then they catch the light, enamelled little creatures. How strange to hold a part of me in my hand, a black hole left behind. I have chosen one to exceed me— to be the first of us to go to space.”

Film Still, Living Distance (2019-2020) 


Film Still, Living Distance (2019-2020) 




Outer Space Performance
Digital Video 
Virtual Reality Film
Mixed Media SculptureLiving Distance is a fantasy and a mission, in which a wisdom tooth is sent to outer space and back down to Earth again. Carried by a crystalline robotic sculpture called EBIFA, the tooth becomes a newborn entity in outer space. Its performance concerns death, body and home, in a world where our science exploration and spiritual journeys diverge. 


Sundance Film Festival Official Selection
SXSW Film Festival Offical Selection
The 14th Shanghai Biennale: Cosmos Cinema


Selected Press:
LA Times | Why artist and engineer Xin Liu sent her wisdom tooth into outer space
Artforum International ｜ Yxta Maya Murray on Xin Liu
e-flux | Artist Artist Cinemas presents Xin Liu, Living Distance, conversation with Emma Enderby
Artforum 艺术论坛 ｜刘昕谈“序章：一颗坠落的牙齿”
DAZED ｜ 刘昕：一场在太空漫游的表演艺术



Two-Channel Digital Video
2019
10’46’’ (ENG\CHN subtitle)

In this technology-infused outer space performance, Xin weaves her tooth’s journey with her inquiry on land. The performance is represented in a two-channel video installation that mixes documentary footage of the methodical but contingent unfolding of the launch with imagery of the artist performing underwater and in the Texas desert. The installation opens up a space between the space mission and the dreamlike ceremonies that anoint its passage.
EBIFA Sculpture and Payload
2019
Dimension Variable
Tooth, Aluminum, Steel, Brass, Glass, Custom Electronics, Polycarbonate, 3D Prints and Various Hardware
Virtual Reality Film
2020
8’32’’ ( Vive Pro or Oculus Rift, with D-box Motion chair)

In the VR experience, the audience takes on the role of the tooth and experiences the journey firsthand. A tooth emerges in darkness, destined for extraction, but its life takes an unexpected turn when it enters another darkness: the infinite of outer space. Using D-box motion chair tech, we simulate a weightless experience. The sense of weightlessness is about detachment, of leaving and being untethered.  


“In these works, we “become” different states of beings, objects, and life forms constructed in these worlds…Liu gives life to the inanimate object, articulating a journey from the mouth that, by the end of the piece, finds renewal in its own meaning. Enabling space travel in virtual space through the metaphor of the tooth, Liu is offering users the same experience she gave her wisdom tooth, a rebirth of sorts.”

— Andrea S Kim From IndieWireDrawing Notes
2019
wood, acrylic paint, acrylic, brass, 3D printed resin, gold leaf, copper
13” X 17” X 4” 



EBIFA - first-born
2019
3D printed resin, borosilicate glass, human tooth, steel, wood panel