Red -- Beijing-Kowloon 红 -- 北京-九龙

Creator(s)

Jin WANG 王晋

Preview

Date

4-9-1994

Format

Photograph

Location of Exhibition Event

Railroad of Beijing-Kowloon (Hong Kong)

Materials

Medicines, beverages, toothpaste, pigments, and more

Description

On April 9, 1994, artist Wang and his group went to a part of the railroad between Beijing and Hong Kong (Kowloon). After arrival, the artist then used a variety of prepared materials (including medicine, toothpaste, beer, coke, and much more) to blend a desired shade of red. In his artwork statement, Wang explained the usage of the different ingredients for the blending in details. Tooth paste, for example, eliminates the reflectivity of the color surface, and some medicine powders gave an uneven finish to the final blend. The artist then applied the customized red onto the railroad, for a total length of 200 meters. The artwork occured before China reclaimed the territory of Hong Kong, and it might play into an artist's political comment for decolonization. (Translated by He, 王晋“娶头骡子”的灵感, 2007, FT Chinese.com, available on http://www.ftchinese.com/story/001011102?full=y&archive; see also Wang, Artist Note "Red -- Beijing-Kowloon", available on Zhou Document). (Jerry Wu'23).