Lot 936: 30 Letters to Qiu Jiawa L10-You Need to be the Spring of the World L11-Do not Believe in Oaths of Eternity L12-Do not Let Exaggerated Expressions Become Your Own Burden

QIU ZHIJIE (B. 1969) 30 Letters to Qiu Jiawa L10-You Need to be the Spring of the World L11-Do not Believe in Oaths of Eternity L12-Do not Let Exaggerated Expressions Become Your Own Burden A set of three hanging scrolls Ink and ink rubbing on paper Each scroll measures 503 x 192 cm. (198 x 75 1/2 in.) Executed in 2009 (3)

503 x 192 cm.

Beijing, Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art, Qiu Zhijie: Breaking Through the Ice, 15 February-25 May, 2009.

Monumental in scale and boldly conceptual in nature, Qiu Zhijie's 30 Letters to Qiu Jiawa is a series of thirty hanging scrolls dedicated to the artist's daughter and was commissioned by the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in 2009. The triptych featured here depicts a fantastical segment of the iconic Nanjing Yangzi River Bridge - a symbol for national power and, incidentally, a common site for suicide attempts in China - festooned with cacophonic imageries of springs, candles, locks, water taps and babies. Emblazoned across the bridge are statements intended for Qiu's newborn daughter who fell critically ill when Qiu started to create the work: advising her, for example, to disbelieve in vows of eternity. The triptych evolves from Qiu's on-going sociological project on suicide and the Bridge. Lodged between the public and the private, Qiu's work offers a poignant commentary on China's rapid modernisation and the social effect it might have on the collective mind.