I found Ju Duoqi through Flavor Wire, or more accurately found Flavor Wire through her. What she does is recreate famous works of art using vegetables. Each work is careful created using what she finds at her local market and then she photographs the arrangement. I cannot imagine the process of deciding the best way to represent Van Gogh’s face or what a piece of celery is trying to be.

The Kiss of the Radishes from Galerie Paris-Beijing

Yes her work represents other artists work, but to see the Mona Lisa while you are in your grocery isle is an inspiring concept. The Chinese artist talks about her role as that of a director, giving each vegetable their role to play in the total piece. This is quote about the potatoes used in Liberty Leading the Vegetables from Galerie Paris-Beijing

“The yam soldiers, with their bewildering little round eyes raise a cabbage banner. Having figured out what moving forward means, have they lost their momentum? Each of the potato-head soldiers has a different expression, not sure of their bearing, perhaps surprised, but that is definitely a completely unadorned potato. You wouldn’t know them any better if they were chopped into French fries and covered in ketchup, but when placed in the picture, they all appear unfamiliar and rich in facial expression. On the ground lies the body of a winter melon soldier, with rotting ketchup flowing out of his body like blood. The battleground is strewn with rotting vegetable leaves. This great story of history, this world-famous painting, here becomes completely absurd. How do you approach this famous painting, do you really know its historical background? Do you know what meaning the painter wished to convey? I believe that the world is the world as I understand it, and none other.”

Not all of the materials are in their raw state, in some images Ju has cooked the vegetables, she has used tofu and even let some of the items rot to get the look she wants. One of the interesting things that she has talked about in relation to her art is that not only does she no longer need to work with models, but that she can still be at home.

Other Links to Ju Duoqi

• YouTube Video Interview

I was searching for information for my paper which is due next week and stumbled across this artist – wow. I had to include his work here, it is… I don’t know I cannot really say. It is one part performance art, which I am not typically drawn to. Just check out his images – Liu Bolin.

This is what happens far too often lately – I am flipping through the web and find this

Portable City: Jia Yu Guan, 2009, Yin Xiuzhen

All I can think is wow – how did someone even think to create this?

The idea came to he artist, Yin, while traveling. She uses clothing she finds in the cities to create the model city inside a suitcase. Nothing about the clothes  seem to signify the country or city, and in all truthfulness they were probably made hundreds of miles from the city they are representing. Aside from the ideas of urbanization and the globalization she is expressing, what I find interesting is what represents a place. I find the physical landmarks that Yin depicts and that we have come to recognize as symbols something to think about.

Links:

• Mental Floss Blog Posting
• Walker Art