David Zink Yi / Angie Keefer

Interested in the ways identity finds expression through the body, Zink Yi is known for video installations that dwell upon physiological aspects of musical perception, and for large-scale sculptures of squids and octopuses, animals whose apparent physical identity may change dramatically as a form of communication or defense. Born in Peru, Zink Yi trained as a sculptor in Germany and developed a passion for Cuba's music, history, and culture when he traveled there in 2001 and began studying Afro-Cuban percussion. He draws an analogy between a cephalopod's limbs, which operate relatively independently from the animal's central brain, and the "independence" achieved by some advanced musicians, particularly percussionists, whose limbs take on seeming autonomy when they play.