Have heard about it on and off from Xu Bing for 2 years. Finally get to see the completed work, and the full story behind it, with a simple but fantastic documentation show.The installation is monumental, a pair each of 40feet long, nesting in the Beijing CBD backdrop (outside Today Art Museum instead of Fortune Tower where it was originally destined for). It was a brilliant and irreverent decision to use construction debris to contrast the shiny capitalist commercial building. This came as Xu Bing observed the extremely primitive and harsh labor process of the workers in how they build state-of-the-art buildings.
The dedication, ups/downs, and the interwine with commerce and marco environment makes for an interesting behind-the-scene story. The project was stopped due to the financial crisis, funding was pulled, and the project ran out of construction debris because construction was stopped during the Olympics period to cut down pollution. There are many natural (and sometimes not so natural) forces that drive the artwork, and gives it character.
Xu Bing was clearly very happy about the work - and said it might be shown in Shanghai EXPO. Also numerous museums have reached out to work out deals to show the work!
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