Defence
Xia Hang
夏航
Production date
2014
Object Detail
Media
stainless steel
Measurements
200 x 140 cm
Notes
Inspired by a terrible news story of a robbery that went badly wrong, Xia Hang’s work is a meditation on human frailty and the ongoing battle between good and evil. A thief stole a car parked outside a store, little knowing that the young father it belonged to had left his two-month-old baby inside while he raced in to the supermarket he owned to quickly turn on a stove. When the thief realised, he panicked. He killed the baby and buried its body in the snow, which sparked a huge manhunt. The 48-year-old thief finally turned himself in and confessed to his crime. His confession prompted a wave of seething incredulity on the internet in China and a bout of soul-searching about parenting, capital punishment and media censorship. A court in Jilin's capital Changchun sentenced him to death in May, and a higher court rejected his appeal two months later. The Supreme Court then approved the execution, which took place in Changchun according to the People's Daily website said. Xia Hang is fascinated by mathematics and engineering, seeing in its purity a perfection that humanity with all its flaws sadly lacks. Every steel cog, wheel and part in this work was made by the artist and fitted carefully into place.
Accession number
2015.238