The Bridge_Work project showcase at Chicago’s Hyde Park Art Center brought together a dynamic collection of works from artists across diverse backgrounds and generations, celebrating contemporary creative practices while exploring intersections between the human body, environment, technology, and tradition. Among the standout pieces was Air Flows Between Us by artist Xingyu Huang, an immersive, participatory installation that explores themes of anxiety, interaction, sound, and traditional medicine. Through a sensory-focused experience, Huang invites viewers to connect with intricate emotional and psychological layers.
Embodied Anxiety and Tangible Experiences
In Air Flows Between Us, Xingyu Huang addresses the somatization of anxiety, where psychological distress—fear, tension, or unease—manifests in physical symptoms like dizziness, palpitations, and headaches. Inspired by interviews with individuals living with anxiety disorders, Huang translates these internal sensations—mental noise, accelerated heartbeat, trembling fingers, and fluctuating emotions—into distinct rhythms and sensory cues within the installation space. This externalization of anxiety creates a shared experience that brings an often-invisible struggle into a more relatable, empathetic realm.
A Space of Sensory Resonance
The installation immerses viewers in a space filled with sound and scent, forming an almost gravitational pull that guides powdered blue pigment—a mix of medicinal and dye forms of the woad plant—to fall in a pattern synchronized with bio-rhythm data. The powder slowly accumulates and dissipates, echoing the buildup and release of tension. This layering of sound and scent encourages viewers to step into a space where unspoken emotions can be felt in a visceral way, bridging gaps in human understanding.
Reframing Emotional Communication
In her artist statement, Huang discusses her intent to use sensory experiences to explore the complexities of human connection. Her work reconstructs emotional and physiological states, allowing viewers to engage with shared yet intensely personal experiences. Her background in architecture shapes her focus on spatial awareness and sensory environments, considering how physical space affects consciousness and emotional processing. Elements such as traditional medicine, botanical matter, ambiguous sounds, erratic movements, and enclosed spaces contribute to her nuanced investigation of the relationship between body, space, and emotion.
The Silent Language of Anxiety
Following the exhibition, Xingyu Huang joined curator Yoonshin Park in a conversation titled “Sensing the Unspeakable: Soundscapes of Communication,” co-presented by Working Title and the Hyde Park Art Center in the Muller Meeting Room. This artist talk offered insights into Huang’s exploration of emotion, space, sound, and the complexities of communicating what words often cannot express.
Huang discussed the conceptual and technical challenges she faced while developing Air Flows Between Us, where sensory thresholds are explored through a blend of sound, medicinal herbs, and organic materials. She explained how the abrupt sounds produced by the installation’s mechanical elements contrast with the gently falling powder, symbolizing the tension within anxiety—reflecting both inner turmoil and outer calm. This interplay between violent and serene elements captures the often-overlooked duality of mental health struggles.
Art as a Bridge Across Sensory and Emotional Boundaries
The Bridge_Work exhibition demonstrates the power of art to transcend cultural and generational boundaries, creating a platform for shared experiences. Xingyu Huang’s Air Flows Between Us is notable for its innovative integration of sound, scent, and spatial interaction, transforming anxiety into a form that resonates both physically and emotionally. By breaking down traditional viewing modalities and constructing a sensory-driven environment, Huang prompts audiences to explore the intricate connections between body, emotion, and environment.
Through this dialogue, viewers not only experienced the subtle interplay between physical and emotional realms in Huang’s work but also gained insight into the challenges contemporary artists face when depicting complex psychological landscapes. As Yoonshin Park remarked, Huang’s work illustrates that art can serve as a conduit for emotional communication, transcending linguistic barriers and fostering deeper self-understanding and empathy.
In this retrospective review, Air Flows Between Us stands out as a powerful yet sensitive approach to conveying universal themes of anxiety, empathy, and human connection, bridging sensory boundaries to create moments of profound introspection and understanding.