Map of Reactivation

Qiu Zhijie designed the conceptual "Map of Reactivation" specifically for the 2012 Shanghai Biennale. The map was presented to the co-curators and participating artists, and was also provided to the audience as a learning tool. Inspired and instructed by others, he redrew the map. After all, an accurate map is only feasible through the incremental experience of generations of travelers over time. His so-called curatorial work stemmed from the production of a set of maps and their accompanying notes. The entire map is based on a system of thermal power stations. Situated in the top right are the "resources." Three fuel inlets feed the power station: natural resources enter the stomach, spiritual resources enter the nervous system, and community resources enter the lungs. After initial conversion, they enter the Reform Boiler. The remnants left after combustion become so-called artworks, with the material forms then going through the precipitator. Some of them enter a museum and exert an influence on daily life. Others return to society via the flue gas stack and become reintegrated into resources, thereby completing a mini-cycle of resources. The upper section of the Reform Boiler consists of pipes. Water coming from the "River of Daily Life," which represents the audience, turns into steam after entering the Boiler—this is the process of artistic experience. The steam then enters the turbine engine, which drives the generator on the right-hand side of the map to produce electricity. The water/audience enters a series of lakes in an area called "Revival" at the bottom of the map. These processes—those of reflection, revisiting, and activation in everyday life—happen before the water/audience returns to the River of Daily Life, thereby completing the water cycle. The energy from the generator is the renewal of social consciousness, which first enters the transformer before being connected to the transmission network. The power generated finally enters the community and is immediately transformed into new energies, except for a portion that is transmitted to the city at the top right of the map. The city itself is also exporting energy. In the center of the top of the map, the Tesla coil emits lightning, providing wireless power transmission and connecting the city, brain, and community resources, while renewing the spiritual resources and completing the cycle of energy transmission.