The art army
- Source: Global Times
- [11:19 July 01 2010]
- Comments
Thinking big
None of this, however, prepared us for the three pieces of art that awaited in the largest of the warehouses. Moving quickly through a huge space containing forklift trucks, industrial cranes and endless stacks of wood being chopped and sliced, we found a room that can only be described as spectacular.
To the left sat an enormous sculpture of a giant, maybe 6 meters long and 3.5 meters high, covered in cow hides in various shades of brown, black and white. Entitled Giant Man No.1, the work intends to present us with another view of the hero figure, sleeping after a hard day's work.
The various tumors growing out of the body and a small second head cozily positioned on the giant's neck gives an eerie quality to a figure that would otherwise be cuddly and cute.
It is hard to pin down exactly why Giant Man No.1 is so utterly engaging. Maybe it is the size, or perhaps the beautiful hues of the hides, or the fabulously expressive qualities of the faces. Whatever the reason, the work grabs you and will not let go.
Turning to our right, we came upon a train. Three massive carriages of a massive train, lying partially derailed on tracks and totally smashed up, a twisted heap of metal.
Qiao Wei, Zhang's studio manager, explained that the artist had bought this train for several million yuan after it was destroyed in the devastating Sichuan earthquake in 2008.
Zhang's intention is to exhibit the work in Beijing and then sell the train at auction as a commemorative piece for a huge profit. He will use the money generated to set up education projects in Sichuan Province.
It seems Zhang even does "found-art" on a terrifyingly large scale. This is not only a truly haunting, horrific piece of art, but the project also shows off his qualities as both a philanthropist and a sharp businessman.
There is one further story to tell about this room, and it concerns a pig. Trapped in the wreckage of the Sichuan earthquake in 2008, a pig that came to be called "Zhu Gangqiang" managed to survive alone for over 40 days.
One of two famous pigs to survive prolonged confinement during the disaster (the other being the more celebrated "Zhu Jianqiang," who survived only on rainwater and a bag of charcoal), Zhu Gangqiang was eventually bought by Zhang and now lives on his property, just behind the warehouse.
In yet another display of his direct, highly ambitious approach to art, Zhang plans to further the career of his pig by sending it up Qomolangma, "as a performance art piece to speak out against global warming," according to Qiao.
Qiao also said that Zhang has been in talks with British entrepreneur and pioneer in the field of commercial space flights, Richard Branson, to discuss the possibility of sending Zhu Gangqiang into space. While we are unsure of the artistic underpinning of this extraordinary idea, it is yet further proof of the possibilities that open up when sizeable artistic vision meets sizeable personal wealth.
