Fragments, 2005
Iron wood (tieli wood) table, chairs, parts of beams and pillars from dismantled temples of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)
One of Ai's most ambitious sculptures, Fragments is an amalgamation of his Furniture and Map series. Created using architectural salvage from four temples and items of furniture from the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the work at first appears to be a random construction made from unrelated objects. As Ai says: 'Everything is misfit and connected wrongly.' Yet when it is seen from above - a physical impossibility within the gallery - the timber frame is revealed as a map of China including Taiwan (represented by the conjoined stools).
The sculpture can be traversed, allowing the visitor obliviously to permeate the borders of China and cross the country freely, much as tourists do when they visit, in a way that the Chinese citizens cannot. The different geographic and ethnographic identities of the country are rendered immaterial and China is presented as a skeleton. Despite its robust construction, this skeletal form suggests an inherent fragility that can be seen as a commentary on the concept of 'One China', the state-sponsored policy aimed at protecting and promoting China's sovereignty and territorial intergrity.
Offcuts of the salvaged timbers used to make Fragments were kept and used to create Kippe.
Fragments, 2005
Iron wood (tieli wood) table, chairs, parts of beams and pillars from dismantled temples of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)
One of Ai's most ambitious sculptures, Fragments is an amalgamation of his Furniture and Map series. Created using architectural salvage from four temples and items of furniture from the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the work at first appears to be a random construction made from unrelated objects. As Ai says: 'Everything is misfit and connected wrongly.' Yet when it is seen from above - a physical impossibility within the gallery - the timber frame is revealed as a map of China including Taiwan (represented by the conjoined stools).
The sculpture can be traversed, allowing the visitor obliviously to permeate the borders of China and cross the country freely, much as tourists do when they visit, in a way that the Chinese citizens cannot. The different geographic and ethnographic identities of the country are rendered immaterial and China is presented as a skeleton. Despite its robust construction, this skeletal form suggests an inherent fragility that can be seen as a commentary on the concept of 'One China', the state-sponsored policy aimed at protecting and promoting China's sovereignty and territorial intergrity.
Offcuts of the salvaged timbers used to make Fragments were kept and used to create Kippe.