Artwork Description

Title: Short Circuit
Artist: Wu Jianjun (吴建军)
Date: 2007
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 78.7 x 51.2 in (200 x 130 cm)

Artwork Identification
Short Circuit features two spectral male figures rendered in Wu Jianjun’s characteristic thermal hues of green and ochre. One figure appears to be fiddling with a yellow cassette player or device, while the other holds strings tethered to an ambiguous form on the ground. The figures, elongated and semi-transparent, hover on the edge of human recognizability, their gestures hinting at confusion, curiosity, or disconnection.

Artistic Style and Influences
Wu Jianjun’s signature blend of figurative ambiguity and chromatic intensity is on full display here. Employing a palette reminiscent of x-ray fluorescence or night-vision optics, he externalizes internal states of tension, frustration, or malfunction. The painting’s Title: evokes technological breakdown, which parallels the figures’ psychological or existential short-circuiting. The influence of Francis Bacon's figural distortions and Gerhard Richter’s blurred realism remains palpable, though Wu’s aesthetic is distinctly his own.

Historical Context
Created in 2007, Short Circuit speaks to a time of rapid technological advancement and its psychological toll. In the context of post-socialist China, where the individual was increasingly caught in the throes of modernization and alienation, this painting becomes a poignant meditation on disconnection—between body and machine, self and society.

Provenance
Provenance documentation can be provided upon contact.

Condition and Conservation
The artwork is in very good condition, with the canvas and pigments well-preserved and no signs of damage or restoration required.

Artistic Significance
Short Circuit is a masterful example of Wu Jianjun’s ability to translate psychological states into visual form. Through his disembodied, glowing figures and their cryptic interactions with obsolete technology, Wu presents a quietly devastating reflection on human fragility in the digital age. The work stands as a bold testament to the artist’s vision—one that transcends realism to articulate the invisible circuits of emotion, memory, and loss.