Bibliothèque Musicale
2000
Metal, chinese chamber pots, sound system, electronic material
Sculpture: 240 x 118 x 70 cm (94 1/2 x 46 7/16 x 27 9/16 in.) Sound: 30min. 13sec.
With a mix of derision and respect for his native culture, Chinese artist Chen Zhen has created a “musical library” (bibliothèque musicale) composed of different elements of traditional Chinese furniture, including four rows of wooden chamber pots that serve as loudspeakers.
Trained at the Shanghai Theatre Academy and the Paris National School of Fine Arts, Chen Zhen explored throughout his prolific career the links between Chinese and European cultures, traditional know-hows and technological modernity, without ever taking sides. On the contrary, most of his works, as shown in Bibliothèque musicale, blend the two with wit and ingenuity in what the artist qualifies as a “transexperience”.
Among the artist's last artworks and now held in the Pinault Collection, Bibliothèque musicale was presented in the group show À Triple tour. Collection Pinault (“triple locked”) at the Paris Conciergerie, in 2013.
Trained at the Shanghai Theatre Academy and the Paris National School of Fine Arts, Chen Zhen explored throughout his prolific career the links between Chinese and European cultures, traditional know-hows and technological modernity, without ever taking sides. On the contrary, most of his works, as shown in Bibliothèque musicale, blend the two with wit and ingenuity in what the artist qualifies as a “transexperience”.
Among the artist's last artworks and now held in the Pinault Collection, Bibliothèque musicale was presented in the group show À Triple tour. Collection Pinault (“triple locked”) at the Paris Conciergerie, in 2013.
Exhibitions
Chen Zhen © Adagp, Paris.
Courtesy: Galleria Continua, San Gimignano / Beijing / Les Moulins / Habana
Photo: Attilio Maranzano
Exhibition view, Field of Synergy, Galleria Continua, San Gimignano, Italy, October 21 2000 - March 21 2001.
