Guo-Qiang made this series of surface rubbings from selected sections of Nontransparent Monument, pictured above installed on the roof of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The original limestone sculpture, created in collaboration with Chinese stone carvers, depicts classicized forms based on mass media imagery of post-9/11 life, from airport security checkpoints, reality television, and tabloids to the US-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
To create these works, the artist rubbed ink onto the surface of the monument and copied its impressions onto large sheets of paper. This printmaking technique recalls the longstanding Chinese practice of stone rubbing, carried out to record information and retain cultural memory. The narratives transcribed on these sheets resonate with what the artist describes as “the uneasiness and fragility of our society at present.”
2024
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