In 2003, YANG Zhenzhong went to the Siemens factory just outside of Shanghai where some 1,500 workers were busy assembling mobile phones for the entire planet. YANG asked each of the workers successively to say one word from a speech by DENG Xiaoping, the politician who led China to a market economy, as well as the workers' jobs there in the first place, until all 1,500 isolated words had been recited. Then the artist painstakingly spliced their contributions and recomposed together the entire speech, a long process which made the video look like a merchandise produced in assembling lines. The work emancipates faithfully the productive forces of criticism and stands as one of few works which invites audience participation and unfolds the entire processing of creation.
Overpass,
Canvas International Art, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
10.28, 2008
-11.10, 2008
Yang Zhenzhong,
Nikolaj Copenhagen Contemporary Art Center, Denmark
02.22, 2008
-03.12, 2008
Yang Zhenzhong,
Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, U.K.
09.21, 2006
-10.15, 2006
China Contemporary,
Netherlands Architecture Institute; Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen; Netherlands Fotomuseum, The Netherlands
06.10, 2006
-08.13, 2006
Spring Story,
Siemens Shanghai Mobile Communication Ltd, Shanghai
2003