New York’s Rent
Collection Courtyard
New York’s Rent Collection Courtyard (2008)—a new version of Cai Guo-Qiang’s Venice’s Rent Collection Courtyard (1999), which was in turn an appropriation of Rent Collection Courtyard (1965), an iconic Chinese social-realist sculptural ensemble made by members of the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute—is a series of approximately 70 life-size sculptures. The figures in the New York installation, which were created both at Geiger Mountmaking and Design studio in the Bronx and on site at the museum, are the work of a team of artisan sculptors: Wang Sishun, Hu Guangchao, Long Shu, Qu Dongqun, Song Jianshu, Yuan Weiqing, Bob Wu, Yue Zhongjie, Winston Mi, Xu Hang, Yu Min, and Long Xuli, the last of whom worked on the original 1965 ensemble and the 1999 Venice version of the work. This legacy is therefore connected with that of the work itself.
These images show the figures in various states of completion. First, steel and wooden armatures were constructed and set in a range of poses. Then clay was molded around the frames and the final details—the inclusion of glass balls for the eyes and the placement of props, such as a broom, for example—were added. The figures were intentionally left unfired, allowing them to slowly dry and disintegrate over the course of the exhibition. This ongoing process will be documented, and updated images will be posted here on a weekly basis. From the opening of the exhibition until March 2, the sculptors continued to refine a set of figures, allowing visitors a unique opportunity to watch the artists at work, thus replicating an artist’s studio. Several armatures will be left incomplete to show the process of making sculpture.
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Geiger Mountmaking and Design, Bronx, February 2–9, 2008
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At Geiger Mountmaking and Design in the Bronx, artists Song Jianshu (left)
and Wang Sishun (right) work together to weld the armature's steel bars to
create the sculpture's pose.
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