How Song Dong's "Waste Not" Elicited Much Sympathy Favorite 

Song Dong's Waste Not consisted of a single installation comprising over 10,000 commonplace, domestic items of daily life that had been used and amassed by the artist’s mother (Zhao Xiangyuan) over fifty years. The shabby and sometimes thread bare items were arranged throughout the curved space of the gallery along the lines of a Chinese traditional garden with serpentine pathways and changes in scale serving to draw in the viewer, whilst re-casting the collective memory of an entire generation under Mao Tse-tung’s reign. In 2005, Waste Not was exhibited at Beijing Tokyo Art projects, 798 Factory, Beijing. The work was divided into four major categories: something to wear, something to eat, somewhere to live and something to use. The installation allowed for a conversation around objects, memories and family ethics against the background of contemporary China.

Thrift is a common virtue of Chinese people and became a means of survival and a way of life for most Chinese families of that era. For many years, Zhao Xiangyuan stored a large number of daily necessities. The installation Waste Not is not only a physical document of Zhao’s life but also the portrait of a generation. During Song Dong’s childhood, Zhao always bought bits of cloth so that she could make clothes. Purchasing bits of fabric cost less then clothing coupons that were rationed by the government and the panic of material scarcity led her to save lots of material. As long as the object could still be used, it was not to be thrown away. This mindset and humble lifestyle has had a psychological impact on future generations. The contrast between Zhao’s generation and that of Song’s could not be more severe. The survival instincts of a generation that had learned to save and not waste have been lost to the present generation where opulence and obsolescence thrives. China’s economic rise in the global world and its shift in policy has unwittingly drawn a deep divide between two generations and the relationship between Song Dong and his parents was no exception to this.

From the time of the death of her husband, Zhao Xiangyuan began to keep obsolete objects and items. This grew to become a hoarding obsession. Inside the house, there was no space, and throwaway items were not discarded. Song Dong and his sister tried to organise all the items and even discarded some, which displeased their mother. With her husband gone, the empty room was unbearable. The items and detritus she collected formed new memories for her, filling the space around her as she hid in this cocooned private world, seeking an illusory safety and warmth.

The exhibition provided Zhao Xiangyuan a place to organize and recall her history and also became a reflection of today’s consumerist society. Zhao was pushed into becoming an artist and Song Dong played a role as her son and assistant to help her organize and decorate her house. The mother and son started a new life together through the intercession of art.

Through the continuous process of packing and unpacking, arranging and displaying, organizing and reviewing each and every item and scrap that had been saved and hoarded the bond between mother and son grew stronger. The cracked values between generations had healed and Zhao Xiangyuan found a second life. Sadly, during the installation of Waste Not in MoMA, New York, Zhao died from a fall whilst trying to save a wounded bird. Thus her children, Song Dong and Song Hui became the custodians of the items, which have come to be a continuation of their mother’s life and a tribute to her.

For those who had experienced the great change of China’s reform and opening period, Song Dong’s Waste Not elicited much sympathy. In the era of material scarcity, the Chinese planned economy was distributed equally in every Chinese family with each family owning the same items. The objects in the installation were familiar to everyone’s childhood. Not only was the piece about the love between a mother and son, it referred to something greater that was deeply rooted in the collective memory of China.

(from external sources provided below)