BEIJING— Back in the 2001 Venice Biennale, artist Xiao Yu’s installation Ruan, a formaldehyde-drenched reconfigured body constructed with a human fetus's head on a bird’s body, shocked the public. Later, when it was shown at the Bern Museum of Art in Switzerland, it was soon withdrawn from view.

Xiao’s new works, currently on view at Beijing Commune gallery from June 26 to August 25, seem conceptually poetic and less aggressive than that controversial piece. Titled “Turn Around,” the show features a series of bamboo installations. Distorted and bent into abstract formations, the bamboo is stripped of its role as a cultural symbol and seems to emanate the charm of metamorphosis.

Placed in Xu's enigmatic context, the bamboo conveys a sense of randomness and eeriness. The artist expects his audience to freely interpret the works based on their individual experiences, with the belief that the confusion sown by the lack of context in his art tends to generate a more dynamic dialogue between the artist and the viewer.