He Xie

He Xie consists of 1 000 individual crabs hand-crafted in porcelain. He xie means “river crab,” a delicacy in China. The work celebrates the ironic banquet the artist organized after Chinese authorities gave demolition orders for his newly constructed studio in Shanghai in 2010. As hundreds of friends and supporters congregated at the studio in Shanghai to feast on river crabs, Ai was placed under house arrest and prevented from attending his own party. His studio was later demolished in early 2011 without advance warning. According to Ai, “In different dynasties, people used to make sculptures of crabs using jade, bamboo or onyx. When the Gang of Four was arrested, in 1976, many artists did paintings of crabs to celebrate.” The words he xie also sounds similar to the Chinese word for “harmony.” The phrase alludes to the political struggle between the Chinese government and society in the name of maintaining a “harmonious society.” Chinese citizens, especially those on the Internet, use the expression in reference to censorship.