Automatic Arms is an installation project involving a group of modified arms taken from lucky knocking cats, or maneki-neko. Commonly used to decorate small shops and restaurants, knocking cats are seen as symbols of good luck and good fortune. Although originally from Japan, due to the vast majority of these ornaments being made in China and their appearance happening to coincide with the worship of traditional Chinese gods of fortune, it has become a symbol throughout China as well. Even more interesting is the fact that the knocking cats found across China usually have an electrically driven arm that is seen to invite wealth and encourage a growing family, although it is difficult to prove who exactly made this change. Through the imaginative force of the artist, the project aims to make use of this common decoration to blur together the romantic symbols of commerce and revolution. By removing the outer casing to reveal the inner workings of the mechanism, cutting the paws of the cats and changing the direction of rotation, the motion of “beckoning” is transformed into one of “protest”. This dismantled and modified group of knocking arms are arranged in a triangular array, akin to a military phalanx. The shining golden arms relentlessly rising and falling one after another gradually works to claw away at the viewer’s patience.

The works of Liu Xinyi often pay particular attention to the political connotations inherent in cultural phenomena. As he sees it, politics works as a kind of text to be analysed, or as an intellectual resource that can serve as the foundation for conceptual research. In this area he playfully satirises, questions, and reconstructs the landscape of innate awareness and historical discourse, in the pursuit of personal liberation.

(Edited by Lijie Wang & Miao Zijin, 2019)