Waste Not, by performance and installation artist Song Dong, is a beautiful monument to art as a tool for working through the grief of losing a loved one. Initially installed in at the Tokyo Gallery project space in Beijing (2005) with the help and direction of his mother, Zhao Xiangyuan, this installation comprises the contents of their family home, consisting of over 10,000 household possessions neatly organized and grouped.
In Chinese culture, frugality is a virtue: nothing is wasted or thrown away. For many, living by the maxim "waste not want not" is the only way for a family to survive. Zhao Xiangyuan took this practice to an extreme after she fell into a deep depression when her husband passed away in 2002. As an attempt to fill the emptiness, she began obsessively collecting items, regardless of their possible use, and refused to throw anything away, to the growing alarm of her children. This project was Song Dong's way of giving her new purpose and a use for all the items she had been hoarding. In the extended statement that accompanies the piece, Song Dong explains that he became her assistant with this project.
This collaborative and personal piece is powerful and engaging. The story accompanying it is moving, but also lends some insight into life in Communist China. It is visually arresting and illustrates the result of letting go. The exhibition runs until June 12, 2012 at the Barbican in London.
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