An Ultimate in Savings
Song Dong, one of China's most inventive artists and only two years short of official Baby Boomerdom, being born in 1966 the start of the Cultural Revolution, has made from his mother's life and her art of saving and recycling, a wonderful installation art project that is on display at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC running through Sept 21.
"When Mr. Song's father died, in 2002, his mother was inconsolable. She continued to live in the jammed Beijing house, throwing nothing away and obsessively bringing more stuff in it, as if continuing to feather a nest for a now-absent family. And despite the fact that surrounding area was threatened with destruction, she would make no move that entailed parting with her possessions."
For nearly 60 years she lived in the city with her husband and two children in a tiny house crammed with domestic odds and ends — clothes, books, kitchen utensils, toiletries, school supplies, shopping bags, rice bowls, dolls — which were used, then recycled, then indiscriminately hoarded. Now the entire cache, every odd button and ballpoint pen, is at MoMA, along with Ms. Zhao’s fridge and bed.
See this article in the NYTimes about Song Dong's mother's life and what she saved from hutong life in Beijing.
NY Times Article --
Comments