Urban Landscape, Zhan Wang, "The Section of Experimental Art at the 20th National Art Exhibition"

In the early 1990s, the rapid urban modernization of Chinese cities has made a great impact on the artist. He has observed that the recently completed new public buildings have used stainless steel extensively in their interiors, such as handrails, columns, because this industrial material was viewed as a material emblem of modernization. In the eyes of the people who have just experienced the social transition from an agricultural society to an industrial one, the stainless steels shine with luxury, although they were actually quite cheap. The artist has noticed the huge amount stainless utensils in every style, from ancient to modern, from the West to the East. Therefore, he has used the readymade concept of contemporary art, buying large amounts of stainless steel utensils to build a shining “urban city.”
This installation, however, is not a mere interpretation of the readymade concept. Construction of a modern city has always been the dream for an industrial civilization. The city in its shining, transparent and futuristic appearance is actually composed of utensils related to people’s eating and drink in everyday life. It is these mundane utensils that have grounded the floating futuristic urban structure deeply in reality.
All the materials are manifestations of cheap labor, mass production, and the knowledge and skills of the working class. To assemble these objects into the form of an urban city is to reassemble the labor. Although it is a virtual city made of cheap materials, the process of creation is pleasant and full of creativity. The ancient spirit of “morality of skills” has persisted in the metallic shell, and the artist, by diligently making a useless product, expresses his deep sympathy with the labor workers, as well as nostalgia for the old time motto that the spirit of labor is to make useful things.