Liu Shuai, a multimedia artist from Shandong province, China, presented an interactive installation titled "The Kiss" (2025) at VILLA tbh in Shanghai during the 15th Shanghai Biennale (2025–26). The work, co-created with carpenter bees, features bamboo stalks punctured by the insects and transformed into hanging instruments. It was part of the biennale's "City Projects" and housed in Liu's temporary studio within the Shanghai Botanical Garden, offering a poetic exploration of interspecies collaboration.
This article matters because it highlights a growing trend in contemporary art where artists engage directly with non-human collaborators, challenging anthropocentric perspectives. Liu's practice, rooted in childhood experiences of collecting bugs and caring for pets, reflects broader ecological and philosophical concerns about mortality, corporeality, and power. By opening his studio to the public during a major biennial, the work also underscores the increasing importance of process-oriented, site-specific art within global exhibitions.