Currrently on exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art is “Projects 90”, a solo exhibition featuring Beijing-born artist SONG DONG, and his installation piece titled “WASTE NOT”. This is a collaborative piece between Song Dong and his mother. The items in “Waste Not” are all everyday objects that have been collected from his mother’s life, such as legless dolls, soap, bottles, pans, plates, tubs, and so on. “Waste Not” – or wu jin qi gong in Chinese – is philosophical concept from China’s past, and security by means of collecting everyday objects was a requisite guideline for survival. In our modernized society – especially in the highly consumerist culture of America – this lifestyle is quite difficult to imagine, as it is rooted in an era when many were lacking in material possessions.
