Zheng Guogu emerged in the 1990s as a conceptual artist. He uses ink, installation, photography, film and painting to explore topics relating to globalization and the development of the “New China,” which he witnessed growing up in a part of the country that was experiencing rapid economic growth due to industrialization.
‘Computer Controlled by Pig’s Brain 2014 No.2’ (2014) is from a series that Zheng began in the late 1990s, which features the text and graphics from mass media sources, including magazines in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Guangdong. These elements were digitally altered and printed as rubber relief characters that were then adhered to the canvas. He intentionally created the series without any traditional painting components.
Zheng’s work speaks to the strong influence and exchange of popular culture in these regions. Upon closer inspection, viewers familiar with local media may recognize many of the celebrity names from the early 2000s. The flashiness of the neon pigments that Zheng adopts further hints at the acceleration of commercialization and consumerism. The title, ‘Computer Controlled by Pig’s Brain,’ suggests the effects of the proliferation of banal contemporary signage, slogans and tabloids. Translated literally, the word for ‘computer’ in Chinese is ‘electric brain.’ The Cantonese insult ‘Human head, pig brain’ means a ‘foolish person.’