At Basel Social Club 2024, artist Chen Qiulin (b. 1975) creates a site-specific installation “吃豆腐CHI DOU FU (Eating Tofu) (2024)”. Using 350 kg of tofu dregs from TUYU tofu factory in Basel, Switzerland, the work is sculpted onsite and will naturally degrade and disappear on the farmland.

This year's Basel Social Club (BSC) hosts a week-long open-air event on the farmland of Basel, Switzerland, from June 9th to 16th, spanning from the city's borders to the edge of the forest, across fields, barns, and trees.

Chen Qiulin's site-specific installation 吃豆腐CHI DOU FU (Eating Tofu) (2024), delves into themes of ecology and humanity, as well as equality, sustainability, and circularity, resonating with this year's BSC ecological focus. The piece is sculpted onsite amidst the landscapes, agriculture, and farm animals. It is not only an ecological art that reflects on the environment and humanity, but also a land art that responds to materials and landscapes. Morover, all these aspects can also be incorporated into newer discussions on identity and cultural fluidity, making it a topic worth exploring deeply.

Since 2003, tofu has been a creative medium of artistic expression for Chen Qiulin. Tofu, as a widely recognized symbol of Eastern culture around the world, allows the artist to reflect on her own culture and identity. In addressing evolutionary themes, she embraces more complex and diverse challenges, forming the critical thinking behind her new work with different materials.

In response to this year's ecological focus of BSC and the nature of the specific site, Chen Qiulin collaborated with local tofu producer TUYU, using soybeans sourced from farms within 30 kilometers of the site. The work 吃豆腐CHI DOU FU (Eating Tofu) (2024) is sculpted on-site at the farm and will naturally decompose during the art week, allowing the soybeans from this land to eventually return to it. Additionally, the artist aims to explore the relationship between usefulness and uselessness, as well as the connection between humans and nature in today's globalized world.

"This is the best project I've seen at this year's Basel Social Club. It excellently responds to the ecological focus of this year's art week!” said curator Li Zhenhua.

On the opening day of the Basel Social Club, artist Chen Qiulin and TUYU Tofu founder Jinhee Park created a special tofu snacks on-site. The snacks combined organic tofu with traditional Chinese flavors, blending tradition and modernity. Visitors were free to join in and enjoy an exquisite experience from within their bodies at the farm, savoring moments of interaction with the artist.

艺术家陈秋林在2024年第三届Basel Social Club（巴塞尔社交俱乐部）现场制作并展出特定场域装置作品《吃豆腐 CHI DOU FU (Eating Tofu)》，作品用来自于瑞士巴塞尔TUYU豆腐工厂的350公斤豆腐渣制作完成，在现场自然降解消逝。

今年的Basel Social Club (BSC) 于 6月9日至16 日在瑞士巴塞尔农田上举办为期一周的露天活动，活动范围从城市边界延伸到森林边缘，地处田野、谷仓之间和树木之间。

陈秋林作品《吃豆腐CHI DOU FU (Eating Tofu)》，深度思考生态、人性，以及平等，可持续、循环等议题， 与今年BSC的生态主题相呼应，作品也构建于景观、农业和农场动物等核心元素之间。即是生态艺术，对环境和人的反思。也是大地艺术，对材料和风景的回应。但一切又都可被纳入到更新的身份，文化流动性等议题中，值得深入讨论。

2003 年以来，豆腐为陈秋林创作媒介的艺术表达，豆腐作为一种在全球广泛传播的典型的东方标志，有艺术家对自身文化和身份的反思，并在演化的议题中，接受更为复杂多样的挑战，构成新作背后的批判性思考。

应今年BSC的生态重点，及作品特定场域需要。陈秋林与本地豆腐生产商TUYU合作，使用的大豆均来自在附近 30 公里以内的农场。现场塑造的作品《吃豆腐》，放置在农场内，活动期间自然降解，来自这片土地的大豆，最终回归土地。同时，艺术家也意在探索有用与无用之间的关系，以及在当今这个全球化世界中人类与自然之间的关系。

“这是我在今年Basel Social Club看到的最棒的项目，很好的回应了今年艺术节的生态之重点。”，策展人李振华说。

Basel Social Club开幕当天，艺术家陈秋林与TUYU豆腐创始人朴珍熙(Jinhee Park)，现场制作融合豆腐小吃。有机豆腐与中国的味道搭配，传统和现在。自由参与的人，在农场享受来自身体内在的绝妙体验，享受和艺术家交流的瞬间。