Chinese artist Xu Bing spent two years creating his newest work, Phoenix, a pair of 12-ton phoenix sculptures made entirely from scrap Bing culled from construction sites in China, “including demolition debris, steel beams, tools, and remnants of the daily lives of migrant laborers.” The male phoenix, named Feng, is 90 feet long, while the female phoenix, Huang, is 100 feet from beak to tail. The pair are on display through October 27 at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, suspended from the ceiling inside the museum’s Building 5.
Here’s a fascinating video on the installation process, made by The Dark Sky Company, LLC, with music by Wilco:
[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/64902383 w=629&h=354]
And a series of images shot by Hideo Sakata (including the ones above):
[via My Modern Met]
8 thoughts on “Xu Bing Turns Construction Remnants into 12-Ton Phoenixes”
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What is “scrap Bing?” Is it a Chinese term for construction debris?
“a pair of 12-ton phoenix sculptures made entirely from scrap [that] Bing culled from construction sites in China”
Thanks Goli! We are Make magazine fans at MASS MoCA – unique and massive projects like these are our favorites. Would you credit our friends at Wilco for the music on the timelapse video? They love Xu Bing’s Phoenix as much as we do. Cheers
Done! My pleasure! We’re thrilled you are MAKE fans :)