An active experimental artist since 1999, Shi Qing developed his approach to art-making by combining elements of installation, photography, video, and performance art in order to examine the ritual and ceremonial aspects of human nature. Frequently drawing on techniques employed in theater, Qing endeavors to create works that present connections between mythology and group thought.

Since 2005, he has turned his attention toward social and historical issues, using complex allegories to describe how systems of power affect daily life and thought. In NONO: New Ruse of the Empty City, an exhibition organized by Qing, the artist wrote an operetta about how city traffic is controlled during a major political conference. Qing employed professional actors from the Peking Opera to perform the work, and the resulting installation presents looped video along with stage props. Ultimately, the opera itself functions as an allegory within an allegory, using traffic control to represent social and political dynamics, and using the Peking Opera to represent centuries of allegorical story-telling.

A self-trained artist, Qing was a founding member of two important artist collectives in Beijing, Post Sense Sensibility (1999-2002), and the Complete Art Experience Project (2005-6). His position as an artist rests between the self and the collective, and the strength of his work lies in his constant pursuit of a complex artistic language that seeks to articulate our collective consciousness.

- Colin Chinnery