As part of How to Turn the World by Hand, Chinese artist Sun Xun combined a new temporary wall painting especially created for Collective with seven animations. At the time, Sun Xun was one of a new generation of Chinese artists who produced politically engaged works. Using a wide array of materials and techniques including charcoal, newspaper and montage, he took the viewer through human landscape where the personal often becomes the political. Drawing from eclectic subject matters such as world history, politics and natural elements, Sun Xun's work investigated the construction and narration of history through the process of drawing.

Sun Xun was born in Fuxin in Liaoning province, China. He currently lives and works in Beijing. He graduated from the Printmaking at the China Academy of Fine Arts and established π Animation Studio in 2006. In 2010 he received several awards including the Chinese Contemporary Art Awards and Taiwan Contemporary Art Link Young Art Award. Solo exhibitions include: Beyond-ism, ShanghART Beijing, 2011; 21KE, Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai, 2010; The Soul of Time, Kunsthaus Baselland, Basel, 2010; and The New China, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, 2008.

Read the How to Turn the World by Hand publication here

How to Turn the World by Hand was a year-long international research project between Collective, Edinburgh, PiST///, Istanbul and Arrow Factory, Beijing. It involved a three phase project including an exhibition exchange, events and a discussion programme investigating trade. How to Turn the World by Hand also included exhibitions by Fiona Jardine, Sun Xun and James N Hutchinson at Collective.