Lot 44: XING DANWEN

B. 1967
DISCONNEXION B9, D9, A7, A14, C2 (GROUP OF FIVE WORKS)

each: 58 1/4 by 47 1/4 in. 147.9 by 120 cm

B9: signed, titled and numbered 2/5
D9: signed, titlted and numbered 2/5
A7: signed, titled and numbered 1/5
A14: signed, titled, and numbered 1/5
C2: signed, titled, and numbered 1/5

chromogenic prints, in 5 parts

Executed in 2002-2003.

EXHIBITED

Beijing, Millennium Art Museum; University at Buffalo Art Gallery, Chinese Maximalism, 2003 - 2004, illustrated
Paris, Centre Georges Pompidou, Alors, la Chine?, 2003
New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, The American Effect: Global Perspectives on the United States 1990-2003, July - October 2003, illustrated
Paris, Galerie Pièce Unique, Urban Fiction (solo show), 2004
Atlanta, Kiang Gallery, disCONNEXION, 2004
Palo Alto, Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University, On the Edge: Contemporary Chinese Artists Encounter the West, January -- May 2005, pp. 62-63, illustrated in color
Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Made in China, 2006

LITERATURE

Xing Danwen, "How Do We Look - Xing Danwen, China," The New York Times, June 21, 2003, A7, illustrated
Babara Pollack, "Beyond Stereotypes," Art News, New York, vol. 103, Number 2, February 2004, cover and pp. 98-103
Qing Pan, "Review: On the Edge," Yishu: Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art, Summer 2005, pp. 99-105 and cover

NOTE

"I intend to sketch a visual representation of our 21st-century modernity. I carefully choose direct and intimate moments to portray the objects that I find. The aesthetic quality of the imagery almost removes the photographed objects from their social context. But I cannot forget the facts and the reality of what I see.

Since the summer 2002, I have traveled several times to South China's Guangdong Province, one of the most developed areas in the country. Along the coast, more than 100,000 people from Guangdong and migrant workers from Western China make their living by recycling piles of computer and electronic trash, operating in rough environment and social conditions. This huge amount of e-trash is shipped from industrialized countries - Japan, South Korea and mostly from the United States - and dumped here.

We are in an information and communication era, and rely extensively on these high-tech facilities for our modern life. These machines become deeply rooted in our daily activities, replacing the old ways of doing things. Millions of newly purchased products follow on millions of trashed ones. Confronted with vast piles of dead and deconstructed machines, the overwhelming number of cords, wires, chips and parts, with the clear indication of the company names, model numbers and even individual employees, I felt shocked.

Modernization and globalization shape urban development. In my country, I have experienced and witnessed the changes that have taken place under the influence of Western modernity. These changes have contributed to a strong and powerful push for development in China, but at the same time they have led to a big environmental and social nightmare in remote corners of China.

I have lived in New York, and traveled forth and back between my mother country and the West. It has made me more aware of the conflicts between modernity and tradition, dream and reality. These have become important themes in my work and personal concern."
XING DANWEN