Power

As the immortal Kanye West once said, “no one man should have all that power”.  It’s easy to notice the exorbitant wealth in this city.  In fact, Shanghai has more millionaires and billionaires than Chicago (link).  It’s a tale of two cities though.  Income inequality in China is significantly higher than the United States (link).  Forty percent of the population are migrant citizens without official residence, and are very poor.  This Saturday I visited the Power Station of Art for their biennial exposition.  The theme was Social Factory.  Most of the pieces highlighted inequality, change in social systems, and those that live life very unfamiliar to you and me.

There were beautiful but haunting images of people that make our clothes, mine our coal, work in factories, and take our outsourced work.

This piece was accompanied with a video on the people that wait for a decade or more to enter the United States in hopes of a different future.

These concrete bags spilled out onto the floor.  To me they looked like tombstones in tribute to what, and whom, it took to build this city practically overnight. 

Or maybe I’m reaching.  What if it’s just dirt?  I don’t know.   That’s the thing with contemporary art.  I don’t get a lot of it.  I could spend all day looking at the classics, impressionists, and photography.  I'm not saying there weren't some great pieces, but a lot of it didn't do much for me.  It just got weird, and often creepy.  Like Japanese clown mask creepy.  You’re welcome.