Recycling
Bai Yiluo
白宜洛
Production date
2008
Object Detail
Media
tricycle cart, fibreglass, waste paper, rope, plastic bottles and aluminium cans
Measurements
300 x 270 x 200 cm
Notes
Recycling (2008) represents a giant fibreglass replica human heart held down with ropes on the tray of a ‘san lun che’, a three-wheeled cycle often used in China to transport huge loads of recycled paper, cardboard, plastic and firewood. The enormous heart is surrounded by rubbish, stacks of newspaper, cardboard and plastic bags. Today, co-existing on the choked roads of Chinese cities with shiny new cars, these humble vehicles are considered an undesirable reminder of a much poorer nation. The artist suggests that our deepest, most human needs are disposable in the race to acquire material wealth. Is love obsolete in a world of constant acquisition and worldly success? More ominously, Recycling also evokes disturbing reports of the trade in organs for transplant operations, sometimes reputedly acquired by ‘harvesting’ them from executed prisoners.
Accession number
2009.002