Ontogenesis in the Liminal Heat of Remains
Artist: Jun Zhang
Curated by Yindi Chen
Jan 11– Mar 1, 2026
ACEC (Apeldoorns Centrum voor Eigentijdse Cultuur)
Roggestraat 44, 7311 CD, Apeldoorn, Netherlands
Ontogenesis in the Liminal Heat of Remains by Jun Zhang transforms the underground boiler room of ACEC into a mythological site for the emergence of nonhuman life. Drawing on lore of incarnations from various Asian folk cosmologies, the artist constructs speculative installations that intertwine organic matter with human-made materials—soil, engines, and sculptures—to imagine a liminal ecology in which latent life forms can embed themselves within machinism. Amid the remnants of the building’s industrial history, energy transfer—once central to mechanical production—is reconceived as a generative force that parallels the process of breathing, shaping ways of life-making and sustaining cycles of destruction and rebirth.
In the cave-like basement, the video Cavern of Saline Genesis recounts folk traditions surrounding salt mines, particularly narratives of fertility. Fictions of ancient beings are collaged with stories from ACEC’s past, presenting a pseudohistory in which myth, matter, and architectural residues converge.