THE third Shenzhen ● Guangming International Public Art Season opened Nov. 27 with “Natural Co‑community,” a large outdoor exhibition at Hongqiao Park. Free and open to the public through Feb. 28, 2026, the show turns winter parkland into an open‑air museum where contemporary art meets nature and technology.

As one of Guangming District’s top cultural brands, the Public Art Season has built a growing artistic legacy. Works from previous editions now inhabit local parks, cultural halls, and arts centers.

Building on earlier programs, this edition expands from “Nature × Art” to “Nature × Art × Technology,” reflecting contemporary cultural interests and creating new ways for the public to engage.

Across Hongqiao Park, pieces appear among trees, hills, and water. Some shimmer, others rotate or whisper; many invite visitors to discover them at their own pace.

‘Nodding Machines’ by Shen Shaomin

Three brightly painted “nodding machines” reinterpret the form of traditional oil pump jacks. Their former identity as heavy, industrial machinery disappears beneath red, yellow, and blue coatings, turning them into almost toy-like presences in the park. Once symbols of resource extraction, these machines now stand as playful, abstract objects that spark reflection on our relationship with nature and industry — a humorous yet thought-provoking gesture of transformation.

‘BDO Syndrome’ by Deng Xiao

Two conceptually charged sculptures combine deep matte surfaces with slowly rotating mirrored cores. “BDO” refers to the sci‑fi idea of a Big Dumb Object: mysterious, monumental structures. Here, a black oval encloses a mirrored core that fragments and recomposes its surroundings as it turns, bending light and the viewer’s image into a surreal, contemplative space.

‘Sunbathing Sunflower’ by Xu Ge

This poetic and technology-driven public artwork features a sunflower that blooms not under sunlight, but in the darkness of night.

During the day, the sunflower “sunbathes,” quietly absorbing sunlight and storing energy. But the true artistic gesture unfolds after sunset, when its photovoltaic petals light up one by one using the energy collected earlier.

The work subverts the natural instinct of sunflowers — the constant pursuit of sunlight. Instead, this sunflower chooses to bloom when the sun is absent, challenging assumptions about natural behavior, technological efficiency and our expectations of function.

‘Falling Into a Dream of Moonlight’ by Xu Ziwei

Using the circle as its formal language, the piece reconstructs how we experience the familiar symbol of moonlight.

In daylight, the circular structure becomes a vessel for sunlit fragments — drifting clouds, shifting colors, and reflections shimmer on silver pixel-like plates that tremble gently with the wind. These subtle motions act as preludes to the nighttime experience.

When evening arrives, streams of light awaken the work, creating an expanding halo that envelopes visitors as they sway on an integrated swing. Drifting into this “moonlight,” visitors find themselves immersed in a realm where light, wind, motion, and imagination intertwine — a dreamlike space that dissolves the boundary between reality and fantasy.

‘Trace of Time’ by Xu Jinlong

A quiet mechanical meditation: A circular disc rotates almost imperceptibly while a metal spring scratches fine lines into its surface. Over time the marks accumulate like memory, turning the disc into a record of irreversible change — traces left by life, history, and time itself.(Windy Shao)