An exhibit part of artist Li Wei's larger Nobody Cares exhibition at the Red Brick Art Museum Photo: Courtesy of Mara

Just like how Shakespeare's well-known "To be, or not to be" speech sees the character of Hamlet contemplate death, young Chinese artist Li Wei has also turned her focus on death in her recent exhibition Nobody Cares at the Red Brick Art Museum.

Posing the question - "What is death?" - the artist ruthlessly faces the reality of the world by organizing scenes of death using the dead remains of animals or a pile of carrion. The central piece at the ongoing exhibition features 1,000 "dead" toy chicks lying on the ground, while hundreds of blue bottle flies crawl outside a window - a scene that Li says is a reflection of our daily lives. 

"In an age of clicking 'Like,' everyone acts like they care, but in fact this doesn't come from the bottom of people's hearts. Our world is full of cold audiences and nobody cares," she said.

In another room, Li has arranged a chair and a shabby steel-framed single bed upon which sits a single dirty pillow. Green plants grow outside a window, indicating that there is still hope for life outside. A long table offering food and drink to visitors sits in the center of the room, who chat and laugh despite the "death" scene next door.

The exhibition runs until September 22.

Global Times