Hong Kong’s M+ Museum to Exhibit ‘5,000 Pieces of Rubbish’
The work by Hong Hao is being presented as part of the museum's second survey from the M+ Sigg Collection of Chinese contemporary art.
Hong Hao, My things No. 5 - 5,000 Pieces of Rubbish in 2002 (2001–2002). Chromogenic print. 120 × 209.9 cm. M+ Sigg Collection, Hong Kong. By donation. © Hong Hao. Courtesy M+, Hong Kong.
Aluminium cans, cotton buds, cigarette butts, fish bones and mushrooms are just a small fraction of the items that appear in Hong Hao's photo montage My things No. 5 - 5000 Pieces of Rubbish in 2002 (2001–2002).
Hong, who graduated from the Printmaking Department of Beijing's Central Academy of Art in 1989, chronicled the material of his life in the 'My Things' series, including his books, his tickets and receipts, his groceries, and more.
Among the most inspired of his works are montages of the undersides of plastic appliances and the page-sandwiches of books, both of which obscure the items' functionality in favour of pattern, colour, and form.
5,000 Pieces of Rubbish is one of over 120 works that will feature in the forthcoming exhibition M+ Sigg Collection: Another Story at Hong Kong's M+ museum from 22 September.
The exhibition follows the earlier survey show M+ Sigg Collection: From Revolution to Globalisation, which opened in November 2021.
Another Story draws on 1,510 works created by Chinese artists from 1972 to 2012 that were collected by Dr Uli Sigg and later donated to M+.
It is divided into four sections: 'Facing Uncertainty', 'Sensory Overload', 'Ambivalent States', and 'Hidden Disruption'.
Other artists who feature include Sun Yuan and Peng Yu, Zhao Bandi, and Li Binyuan.
'China's rapid transformation into a more open and international society during the 1990s offered Chinese artists unprecedented exposure to the contemporary artistic ideas and trends from outside as well as the challenges and uncertainties associated with them,' said Doryun Chong, Deputy Director, Curatorial and Chief Curator at M+.
'M+ Sigg Collection: Another Story offers a glimpse into the transformation Chinese art underwent within the period, highlighting the multifaceted and intertwined relationships between art and history, and their influence on creative individuals,' Chong said. —[O]
