Self-interview by Chen Zhen

Minji Kim
Contemporary Art and New Media in China
2 December 2010

Blog Entry

"Self-interview by Chen Zhen." That short phrase turns this interview
into a very dramatic reversal. It made me look over the entire
conversation all over again. Asking, answering the questions, and
making conversations were all done by an individual, and I think that
the concept of "Transexperiences" is well shown throughout the
conversation done within himself. Chen Zhen defines the
characteristics of genes to be the internal power of heredity and the
external conditioning factors. Also, while explaining the definition
of "spiritual running-away," Chen Zhen states, "one should learn to
break out of one's own cocoon, and be courageous enough to break away
from one's own self, and to abandon one's own cultural context," and
it might be the reason he conducted this self-interview. In many
parts of the conversation, Chen Zhen seems to use these self-inquiries
to excavate what kinds of thoughts or intentions have been staying
undiscovered in his mind. In the interview, he deals many questions
with a relationship either between one and others or within an
individual ego. It was a very inspirational example of how one
endeavors to find a genuine identity of a self.