Gu Xiong: The Sickle and the Cell Phone
September 19 to November 03, 2002
Gu
Xiong is an internationally recognized multi-media artist originally from
Chongqing, Sichuan Province, China. Xiong
described his exhibition The Sickle and the Cell Phone:
"My
installation attempts to comment on the shaking and shrinking of Chinese
agriculture under globalization. During
the Cultural Revolution, I was sent to a rural village as a labourer along with
millions of other youth. The state
of the village in my own past will be juxtaposed with the conditions of China in
the present, flooded with images of globalization.
Chairman Mao and the Communist Party taught people to revere and learn
from the peasants, who comprised ninety percent of the Chinese population. In Chinese Society, to be a farmer and to work the land was a
way to purify the self of reactionary elements, therefore, it was
‘honourable’ punishment.
However,
after the economic reforms of the early 1980s, China is now the largest market,
and thus target, for multinational corporations.
People hunger for consumer goods, creating a powerful mutual attraction.
Agriculture has lost its respect in the minds of ordinary Chinese.
Urban centres are expanding, while rural areas shrink both in size and
wealth. At the same time, past
social currents, and traditions are shaken from their foundations.
Coming to Canada, my own past and ideals have also been shattered, then
rebuilt. Thus, I believe that it is
only through this kind of painful death and rebirth that a better life is
possible."
This exhibition was presented with the financial support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council. The Art Centre published an artist’s book with essays by Judith Nasby, Exhibition Curator and Dr. Ann Oaks, Plant Biologist.
Gu Xiong also created a bronze sculpture titled The Sickle and the Cell Phone, the 24th installation in the Art Centre’s Sculpture Park. The sculpture which stands 1.5 metres high by 2 metres long was unveiled on September 19, 2002 at 7:30 p.m. The Sickle and the Cell Phone was commissioned by the Art Centre with funds donated by Ann Oaks and with the financial support of the Canada Council for the Arts Acquisition Assistance Program.