Liu Wei 刘韡 

born 1972 in Beijing

In 1996, Liu Wei graduated from the National Academy of Fine Arts in Hangzhou and began his artistic career in a movement called the Post-Sense Sensibility.  This movement emerged out of the intense urban development of China and often provoked adverse reactions from the Chinese government and Western media. Liu made a comment on the contradicting rapid urbanization and the modern Chinese society.  He raises questions on the way Chinese are living their lives in an impersonal world marked by rapid urbanization.  

Liu is a versatile artist and uses media such as photography, sculpting, painting, performance, and installations. The Post-Sense Sensibility values are often reflected in his work today including: Indigestion II and Mao Missiles. 

 

Indigestion II

Liu Wei has said "The idea behind the work originates from a picture of a giant that has gobbled up everything that crossed his path and who has excreted it all again just before the visitor passes by. If you take a good look at the excrement, it turns out that not everything he so greedily swallowed was digestible. The indigestible leftovers compose a miniature war scene."

 

      At first I was repulsed at looking at this artwork but it left an imprint in my mind and I eventually gave the artwork a second chance.  On further inspection, I noticed little army men, guns, tires, remnants of trucks and realized this giant human feces is a comment of the inability to digest or understand the impacts of the war before quickly using technology and rapid industrialization as a means of quickly moving on.  Instead, Liu comments on repercussions or war or problems in general cannot be “digested faster” by means of rapid urbanization and advancements in technology, but rather creates excretion of larger problems that Chinese society would rather not look at. Although this is a weird statement, I enjoyed the lasting imprint of this artwork and made me reflect on my own life living in the booming technological advancements.  

       

      Liu makes sure to use thoughtful materials to incorporate into his artwork to make a comment on the meaning of the artwork derived from the materials.  I would like to incorporate this idea into my own artwork. Liu’s artwork links to the units: Urban development and Industries in my Human Geography Class and also to Mao's Zedong’s Great Leap Forward.