… a post for Roz and John …
I’ve struggled to find the words to describe this art installation by Chinese artist Song Dong. It forms part of the Sydney Festival, and has been set up in Carriageworks at Eveleigh.
I’m not sure it’s a piece that would appeal to everyone. At first glance, it appears to be a cross between art and a huge garage sale. Truly appreciating the installation requires some understanding of the story behind it – the political turmoil in China which drove the artist’s mother to excessive frugality, the traumatic and sudden death of his father which exacerbated her compulsion to hoard, and how his creation of this piece helped her to find peace.
I photographed all the descriptive text accompanying the piece as it’s a great read – if you’re interested, please click on the photos below and a larger copy will open up in a new window (then click a second time for a further enlargement)…
The artwork is made up of over 10,000 items collected and stockpiled by the artist’s mother. Growing up during the harshest period of communist China, and having suffered major turmoil as a young girl, she learned to deal with the ever present threat of shortage by never discarding anything that might be of future use.
Even years later, when such hoarding was unnecessary, she was unable to stop – as I walked through the installation, I wondered if it was her own way of guarding against the unpredictability of life and death…
At the centre of the room stands the skeleton of one of the family’s original homes…
Even shards of broken pottery were stored away for possible reuse…
Piles of rags – used to sew clothing which would otherwise require government-issued coupons to purchase…
A large collection of plastic bags…
Several old record players highlighted the marked absence of machinery – no washing machine, dryer, dishwasher or any other modern convenience, apart from a couple of old television sets…
Plastic bottles were cleaned and stockpiled – I was told the artist’s mother would often use the lids for buttons…
The story behind the large stack of soap is particularly poignant (please click on the text below for more information), providing an insight into both the mind of the artist’s mother, and the labour-intensive life she lived as a young adult. She was so afraid that her family would have to do without soap that she hoarded these cakes for over forty years, planning to pass them on to her children when they married.
It gave me enormous appreciation for the modern age in which we live, where we can throw clothes into a machine and come back an hour later to find them clean…
. . . . .
Waste Not, by Song Dong, will be on display in Carriageworks at Eveleigh until 17 March 2013. I found the exhibit and its associated history extremely moving. Entry is free.
Dad and Mum, Don’t Worry About Us, We are All Well, a survey of Song Dong’s work over the past three decades, is on display at the 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art in Haymarket until 30 March 2013.
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
Absolutely wonderful, Celia
It really was, Glenda! :)
Fascinating, truly remarkable. Words aren’t capable of describing how it feels to see this, so I imagine actually seeing it in person it’s even stronger and more profound. i also imagine how walking through it all would stay with you for some time after wards.
I’m off to read the details, thank you for this post. It’s stunning. When installation art is brilliant it really is BRILLIANT.
Claire, thank you for reading all the text – I really didn’t want to just post photos of the installation without providing some understanding of the background behind it. It was all so entwined with the artist’s personal history and his mother’s journey…
It really did add to the photos you posted, as you say put it into context.
Hope you have a super week :)
This sounds like an amazing exhibition. It is odd to think how much life has changed, just in the past century. My grandmother recently did her memoirs and it was fascinating to read about how they used to have to churn their own butter, pluck goose down for pillows and even make their own soap from ashes. It really makes you feel blessed to live as we do now.
Kate, I know exactly what you mean – I’ve spent the last few days viewing all the items in our house with fresh eyes…
So true, we take it for granted. Have we been spoilt too much in the modern world? But we can at least share with others our thoughts and maybe we will change through this. John.
John, thank you to you and Roz for directing us on this contemporary art adventure – we would never have gone down this path if it wasn’t for you! :) Hope to catch up soon! xx
How I wish I could see this…but thank God you were there to show us….
Norma, I’m so happy to be able to share this with all my friends whom I know would never get to the Sydney Festival! xx
Absolutely fascinating! Thanks for sharing the story & the pictures of the exhibit!
So glad you enjoyed it, Abby! x
WOW – interesting – reminds me of my grandmother and some of the things she held onto (i.e. soap pieces, plastic bags, containers galore of all variations, sizes and shapes). Thanks for sharing – Have a Great One:)
Thanks Renee! It was a really interesting exhibition!
I read every word and although I am not from the same background, it really resonates with me very strongly, both the story of the artist’s mother’s life and the story of the artwork itself. I have always loved history (and it’s what I studied at uni) and this thread of how hardships in life make a lasting impression on behaviour even decades after the privations are no longer relevant, is a recurring theme. We live in such a disposable society, it often makes me feel uncomfortable. For example, something like a watch, when the strap breaks or battery goes flat, the pricing and world we live in means it’s cheaper to buy a new watch than a new strap or battery! That itself encourages the disposable one-use culture. It’s a fascinating topic and I found the artistic installation very moving.
Kavey, I’m so glad you got something out of it – I was completely absorbed, particularly by her story about laundry. It’s hard to imagine the emotions involved – desperately wanting better for your children, hoarding soap so they wouldn’t have to do without, valuing it so highly that you wanted to pass it on as a wedding gift, and then finding out years later that it was no longer needed, but being unable to part with it because so much of your heart had been invested in saving it in the first place. I found that incredibly heart-wrenching..
A sad and uplifting post all at the same time. I suppose not too many of us will ever live with such privation that we are compelled to store absolutely everything. Makes me realise how lucky I really am. I wonder where on Earth she stored this trash or treasure? Perhaps if we were in a similar position the buzz word ‘decluttering’ would indeed be superfluous. Art and Beauty is indeed ‘in the eye in the eye of the beholder’. Very interesting post Celia thank you.
Granny, it’s a real eye opener, isn’t it? Since seeing it, I’ve been trying to get my head around the concept of every single material item being precious – every sheet of toilet paper, every scrap of cloth, every bottle cap. It’s hard to understand a life where that’s the case, particularly from our first world perspective.
What a touching, poignant & fascinating instillation. I think it’s fantastic that the collection has fulfilled it’s destiny & become used for something. Thanks for sharing. Kay
Kay, that bit made me laugh! I can just imagine his mother’s joy at being able to say, “see, I told you all these things would come in handy one day!”
I see John has already made a comment, so proud of myself for being bossy and sending you to the exhibition. As I watch TV shows on chronic hoarders I will think again when I form opinions about them. But there is something about grouping, lining and shaping the objects that heightens the meaning of the collections. I am amazed further when I see how many artists today in China are taking their place alongside contemporary artists from the west and when they tell such stories about their culture they are doing what I enjoy about contemporary visual art.
Since we cannot get to the exhibition I will out your blog on top of my reading list and I will also forward it to friends. Love to you for taking the time and believing me that you would find something in this exhibition Roz
Bossy, Roz? Now who said that? ;-)
Your point about the grouping and ordering was something I should have mentioned – I’m sure that being able to bring order to his mother’s hoarding chaos (as it was after his father’s death) must have given his mother enormous comfort and perhaps calmed her agitated mind. The whole installation is, in fact, a great gift of love from son to mother. I believe she passed away recently, so this has become both his way of remembering her and his tribute to her.
You’re a great friend Roz, so many things we’ve learned this year through your guidance! Thank you! xx
Fascinating. Thanks.
Glad you enjoyed it! :)
It is amazing! My mother had a neighbour (who died recently) who hoarded so much stuff the family had to walk through narrow tunnels to get from room to room. There was little room to do anything in the house…it still happens.
Deb, it made me rethink what triggers a hoarding mentality, and to view it with much greater kindness…
Interesting, Celia. Especially after watching Welcome to India on SBS over the last couple of weeks, where nothing, literally NOTHING, is wasted.
Puts our disposable first world lives into context, Lizzy..
This is so amazing. I have read about this installation, and wish I could see it. Thanks so much for documenting it so carefully. For some reason, those plastic bags just made my heart lurch. What an amazing, thought provoking exhibition.
Siobhan, I really wanted to share it in as much detail as I could – not just the physical side of it, because without the story it would simply seem like clutter. I was particularly touched by the efforts the artist had gone to to ease his mother’s pain…
Such a profound piece of art. Wonderful review Celia. Thank you.
I’m really glad you enjoyed it, Linda… x
It’s so sad that under communist rule the people of China lived such impoverished and harsh and severe lives. I can understand living in those conditions where there was nothing to buy and even if there were things to buy you had no money, that you could begin to hoard anything you could get your hands on. What an incredible illustration of someone’s existence that would speak for millions of people in China xx
Charlie, it’s like a snapshot in time, in many ways. I think China now is a very disposable society like our own, but there was a time when even soap was a precious commodity! x
Wow that’s incredible. I don’t see the harm in keeping a few things ‘just in case.’ We could probably all learn a little from this wise old woman.
Claire, I think we need to be a little bit careful, or our houses might implode with all the stuff we could buy! :)
At first I thought it WAS a garage sale but I like this much better. It’s a story we should all embrace. We’ve grown up with plenty and have no perception of what it’s like to do without. I’ll never be a hoarder because I can’t bear to clean around clutter but I can understand the artist’s mother’s reasoning. I’d love to see this.
Maureen, I’ve been thinking about this – I’m not sure stockpiling is the lesson I want to take from this, but I have found myself regarding every day items with more respect. And hopefully that will result in less waste! :)
Unbelievable, Celia! Song Dong could have written about his mother but it would not have had near the impact. This display shows both triumph and hardship in the same glance. Truly remarkable and most thought-provoking. Thank you for sharing it with us.
John, one of the nicest thing about the blog is being able to share things that I find exciting with like-minded friends. Thanks for being one of them! :) xx
Wow – what a remarkable installation. If it wasn’t for you posting this I may never have known of it – thanks Celia!
Glad you enjoyed it, Amanda! xx
A sad but absolutely triumphal exhibition of spirit! Each and every one of those pieces after all has a story . . . of how it became part of one woman’s spirituous collection, of her reaching for life in the future and showing what lay in her past! As a small child I saw often enough everything my family owned gone in a minute or a day, time after time after time . . . that cup or saucer you found or someone gave you DID matter . . . God bless the memorial . . . .
It’s a great work, and it changes each time it’s laid out, as each display is arranged slightly differently!
This is incredible Celia, thank you for sharing it with us. As Amanda said, I otherwise would not have known about it.
Cheers Jane, I’m glad you found it interesting! :)
Amazing! I read everything and found it very interesting. The story behind the soap is very touching. I still can’t believe that all that stuff had room in the house. I can only imagine how it all fit in there. I think the houses are fairly small, or am I wrong?
Manuela, I’m not sure if that was their house, or a part of their house, or an early house they lived in? I can’t imagine how everything would fit in there either. It did make me wonder – if we did the same exercise with our houses – how much stuff would we all have?
Reading this post Celia, makes me understand more and more why my father-in-law who was a POW for 3 years had spares, doubles and triplicates of just about everything. He always wrote his initials on everything! Thank you for taking the time to put it all together for us to read.
:-) Mandy xo
Mandy, just your comment alone has made the time it took to write up this post worthwhile. If it helped you to understand a loved one a bit better, then I reckon the artist would be delighted. I thought something similar about my dad, who was a young child during WWII – I now have a better understanding of why he can never, ever bring himself to waste things… xx
It’s incredibly how what happens to us moulds us! xo
I hope this exhibit makes it to NYC. After viewing the exhibit, I think many of us will take stock of our lifestyle, be less wasteful, recycle more and complain less. This is surely a powerful exhibit.
Norma, I believe it was at the MoMA in NYC in 2006, so I’m not sure if it will go back there again. You’re right, it is a very powerful and thought provoking piece of work…
Too bad I missed it. Need to check the museums web site more frequently to see what’s exhibiting.
That is indeed profoundly moving; a piece for contemplation and self reflection – what a wise and loving son – and mother was right, it did all become useful in the end!
Jan, can you imagine how happy she would have been? :)
Absolutely fascinating Celia.
Glad you enjoyed it, Sally! :)
Very interesting, dear Celia! Thanks for sharing with us all! :)
Thanks Sophie! :)
My mom grew up during the great depression in the thirties and has a hard time getting rid of things. She’s not a hoarder though. When the boy was in Cub Scouts we volunteered to paint a neighbor’s house who was a hoarder. She was crazy. She doesn’t have running water in her house and wouldn’t let anyone in to fix it, even though we arranged people to do it for free. The boys had a blast painting in spite of everything. Thanks for sharing,C.
Big hugs, Maz.
Maz, it’s an interesting distinction between being frugal and hoarding, and I think the definition wavers in times of extreme privation. I’ve known of crazy first world hoarders as well, and it’s a tough existence…
I hate this as an art work, but love it as a story and insight into the life this family lived and the hardships and political climate of the times. So very fascinating Celia, this is an amazing indeed, thanks for sharing xox
Becca, it’s really interesting, isn’t it? But only with the backstory, otherwise it’s hard to really appreciate it, I think..
A fantastic exhibit Celia! We’re off to enjoy some of the Sydney Festival tonight :D
Enjoy!
Thank you for this post Celia. It really is beautiful and sad. Can you imagine the mother’s stress of finding places to keep everything?!
I can’t imagine the stress of living in a house that cluttered!
We are paradoxical beings and this installation is a beautiful illustration of so much of what it means to be human. Our values as individuals are inextricably linked to our history and environment, it is almost impossible to stand outside and look in impartially, though interesting to try.
Wise words! We are all so much a product of the distinctly unique influences on our lives, and for some people, this installation would simply make no sense at all..
This fills me with pain and joy. I imagine my mother’s life was a refusal to do this- she left everything behind- always striving forward. And I became a small hoarder as I saw my past being thrown out, piece by piece. I agree with Joanna’s comment- it is hard to stand outside.
I’m glad you have your treasures from the past, Heidi! I’ve always admired the ones you’ve shared with us! xx