Both images are from the work of Jin Lipeng, featured below.

​A "Waste Not" Philosophy

For many Chinese eco-artists, eco-art is not merely about reusing materials or protesting environmental destruction. It is about cultivating a nature-centered sensibility: grieving with the dead, cherishing the living, feeling the feelings of all creatures, caring for one another, honoring the cycles of transformation, drawing from the naturalistic depths of Chinese cultural heritage, being open to the world, exposing what is harmful and hateful, and embracing a compassionate “waste not” philosophy. This page introduces four such artists: Shen Shaomin, Song Dong, Jin Lipeng, and Xu Bing.

Empathy, Coexistence, & Rebirth 

Contemporary Chinese Eco-Art

​

In contemporary Chinese eco-art, many themes from traditional Chinese thought find renewed expression: empathy with all living beings, coexistence within the web of life, living in cycles of life and death, living simply and frugally (waste not) and rebirth. 

Thus we learn from Xintian Liu of Shandong University in Beyond Life and Death: Humanistic Care of Eco-Arts in China. Liu traces the deep cultural roots of contemporary Chinese eco-art, beginning with classical references—from A Dream of Red Mansions, where Daiyu mourns fallen blossoms, to Gong Zizhen’s poems on the regenerative power of petals returning to earth—to show how traditional Chinese literature intertwines empathy, mortality, and renewal. Liu argues that today’s eco-art continues this lineage, transforming it into visual practice.

For Liu, eco-art is not merely about reusing materials or protesting environmental destruction, but about cultivating a humanistic sensibility: grieving with the dead, cherishing the living, recognizing the cycles of transformation that sustain all existence; building upon the cultural heritage, and living simply. To frame this sensibility Liu focusses introduces readers to artists whose works embody these themes. All of the artists have long and rich histories, and their art is not reducible to eco-art. Rather eco-art is part of the larger scope of their careers which encompass many genres.

What follows are (1) paraphrases of Liu’s discussion of these artists, followed by (2) a brief explanation of how the three themes emphasizes in  Beyond Life and Death: Humanistic Care of Eco-Arts in China resonate with process philosophy and (3) a gallery of videos and images from the four artists.

​​Four Chinese Artists

Shen Shaomin’s art shows that empathy for plants and empathy for humans are inseparable. His unsettling works, such as the Bonsai series, make visible the hidden violence in practices of control. By shackling and twisting living trees into unnatural forms, Shen exposes the cruelty that lies behind aesthetic beauty when it is born of domination. The series resonates with historical practices of coercion such as foot binding, reminding us that the urge to reshape nature parallels the urge to reshape human bodies and communities. In other works, Shen expands this critique to modern society, drawing attention to the ways education, politics, and culture can also function as systems of manipulation, bending people into conformity much like his trees. Shen’s art challenges us to feel beyond the human, to sense the silent suffering of the natural world, and to see that domination—whether of plants, animals, or humans—violates the relational fabric of life itself.

Song Dong’s installation Coexisting with a Tree captures the ingenuity of everyday ecological wisdom. Set in a Beijing courtyard house, it depicts a small room where a tree grows straight through the bed. Rather than remove the tree, the space adapts around it, preserving its life while accommodating human use. With humor and irony, the work shows that harmony between people and nature does not require domination but balance. It offers both a playful reminder of daily resourcefulness and a warning against destructive practices like cutting down trees or blasting mountains for construction.

Jin Lipeng’s art shows that reusing and recycling materials is a sacred act, revealing that nothing in the world is ever truly “garbage.” This vision is embodied in his eco-art action projects at Sichuan Fine Art Institute, where he serves as a teacher. Beginning in 2012, Jin and his students built compost bins across campus, converting tons of raw food waste from the cafeteria into fertile soil. He has consistently applied sustainable concepts of energy recycling, combining permaculture principles with artistic composition—for instance, helping campus woods regenerate and restoring ecological balance. His work extends beyond materials to community, integrating ecological awareness with academic lectures, meditations, regional walking activities, workshops, and events such as parent-child days and communal breakfasts. One example is his Healing Garden, which revitalized an abandoned space on campus. Through edible landscaping, seed-ball production, pocket gardens, beekeeping, composting, earthworm towers, and papermaking workshops, Jin invited students, faculty, and neighbors into hands-on participation. These socially engaged eco-art practices not only healed the land but also reknit community ties, reminding participants that ecological well-being and human connection are inseparable.
​
Xu Bing’s art shows that recreation and rebirth are at the heart of reality. His monumental installation Phoenix (2010), created from discarded construction debris, transforms waste into radiant, soaring forms that shine with new life. By day, viewers see rubble repurposed; by night, they see glowing phoenixes that embody resilience, hope, and the possibility of renewal. At the same time, the work critiques the human cost of urban development in China, for the debris was gathered from construction sites where migrant workers often lived and labored under harsh conditions. The phoenixes are thus not only symbols of rebirth but also monuments to the lives and struggles hidden in the shadows of progress. His Background Story series extends this vision by arranging scraps—wood chips, plastic, cotton—behind screens, so that when lit, they appear as luminous landscape paintings. The effect is double-edged: from the front, the paintings recall the serenity of classical Chinese art; from behind, the discarded materials expose the contradictions of modern consumerism. Similarly, his American Silkworm Series (1994–1999) stages the life cycle of silkworms, allowing audiences to witness mulberry leaves turning into cocoons and moths. In all these works, Xu reminds us that endings are beginnings, and that what is discarded, forgotten, or overlooked can become the seed of transformation.

[1] Published in Lagoonscapes: The Venice Journal of Environmental Humanities and based at the New Institute Center for Environmental Humanities in Venice,

​

Resonance with Process Philosophy

---

The three themes Liu highlights—empathy, coexistence, and rebirth—resonate deeply with process philosophy and the work of Alfred North Whitehead.

Empathy. Whitehead affirms that all beings are subjects of their own lives, not merely objects for others. Each entity, whether plant, animal, or human, has subjective aims for satisfaction in the situation at hand. To feel the feelings of another is to acknowledge their reality as a center of experience. Shen Shaomin’s art dramatizes this truth by showing how violence against plants is entangled with violence against people. Empathy, in a process perspective, extends beyond the human and becomes a way of honoring the interconnected subjectivity of life itself.

Coexistence. Whitehead also emphasizes what he calls the principle of relativity: no entity exists in isolation, but only through its relations to others. The universe is a web of interwoven becomings, where each moment is shaped by its past and becomes part of the conditions for what follows. Jin Lipeng’s eco-art, especially his Healing Garden, gives tangible form to this principle. Composting, recycling, and community collaboration are not merely practical tasks but enactments of a metaphysical truth: what perishes continues to nourish the future. In this sense, coexistence is both ecological and spiritual, a reverence for the ongoing life of the world.
​
Rebirth. Finally, Whitehead insists that novelty is intrinsic to the universe. Reality is not static but always advancing into new forms, a creative advance into novelty. Xu Bing’s phoenixes, background landscapes, and silkworm cocoons make this truth visible. They remind us that what seems like waste or ending is in fact part of a larger rhythm of renewal. For Whitehead, as for Xu Bing, rebirth is not an exception but the very essence of existence.​

 Song Dong

​Xu Bing

​Jin Lipeng
​

Shen Shaomin
​

image © designboom

---

Jin Lipeng 
​

Song Dong 
​

​Xu Bing

​American Silkworm Series 

from Xu Bing's Website

Materials: Mixed media installation; mulberry plant, silkworms, vase


"During the exhibition opening, an immense bouquet of blooming mulberry branches is arranged in an oversized vase, displayed in the lobby of the venue. Hundreds of silkworms crawl on the branches and feast on the fresh leaves. Throughout the exhibition period, the mulberry leaves are completely consumed by the silkworms, leaving only naked branches. The silkworms then proceed to spin their silk into silvery cocoons, transforming the bare branches into a scene replete with a new beauty. As in many of his works, Xu's deceptively simple approach embodies a deeper philosophical connotation, grounded in the artist's application of an Eastern perspective to the objectives of contemporary art. The Opening addresses questions such as the uncertainty of an object's true nature and the transformative nature of concepts and boundaries, central themes in Xu Bing's works."