Since 1967 Cheng has also worked under the moniker John Doe Co. as a simultaneous critique of corporate culture and the Vietnam War-era discrimination he faced as an Asian American. His interest in new, often unusual materials and his years spent navigating government bureaucracies to create public artworks imbue his work with a generosity, irreverence, and playfulness. His work has also consistently probed questions of natural agency and the extractive impact of humans on the environment, from his early Erosion Machines (1969) to his more recent Tar Pool Project (2020). These investigations are tied to his unique approach to technology as an artistic tool and his critique of neoliberal notions of progress that undergird both the art market and Silicon Valley. Because the majority of Cheng’s oeuvre is still in his possession, the exhibition will be an opportunity to animate the arc of his career through a presentation of artworks that are multidisciplinary, ephemeral, material, process-based, and interactive.
Carl Cheng: Nature Never Loses is part of Teiger Foundation's Climate Action Pilot.
