Huang Yong Ping

Trousers with Firecrackers

Xiamen 1987 (boxed in Paris 1999)

Trousers, firecrackers, black-and-white photograph and tape in cardboard box, in two parts

Not on view

Fireworks have been made in China for more than a thousand years. In 1987, Huang lined a pair of pants with a hundred small firecrackers, donned the garment, and then ignited the explosives with a cigarette. The charred trousers are now displayed inside out in a cardboard box alongside a photograph of the original performance. Huang was a founder of the Chinese art group Xiamen Dada, which blended Chinese Buddhist philosophy with the irreverent performances and disruptive strategies of the European art movement known as Dada. After participating in a 1986 exhibition, Xiamen Dada’s members burned their artworks as an act of liberation. As the group wrote: “Until art is destroyed, life is never peaceful.”

Gallery label from

2019

Medium Trousers, firecrackers, black-and-white photograph and tape in cardboard box, in two parts
Dimensions 31 1/2 x 41 x 2" (80 x 104.1 x 5.1 cm)
Credit Committee on Painting and Sculpture Funds, and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Fund (by exchange)
Object number 732.2018.a-b
Department Painting & Sculpture

Explore more

All works by Huang Yong Ping →

From MoMA Design Store

Installation views

We have identified this work in the following photos from our exhibition history.

How we identified these works
In 2018–19, MoMA collaborated with Google Arts & Culture Lab on a project using machine learning to identify artworks in installation photos. That project has concluded, and works are now being identified by MoMA staff.

If you notice an error, please contact us at [email protected].
Licensing
To reproduce installation views, please contact Art Resource (publication in North America) or Scala Archives (publication in all other geographic locations). You will need to include the object identification number found in the caption.
Feedback
This record is a work in progress. If you have additional information or spotted an error, please send feedback to [email protected].

Licensing

Artwork or archival images

If you would like to reproduce an image of a work of art in MoMA's collection, or an image of a MoMA publication or archival material (including installation views, checklists, and press releases), please contact Art Resource (publication in North America) or Scala Archives (publication in all other geographic locations).

Audio and film clips

MoMA licenses archival audio and select out of copyright film clips from our film collection. At this time, MoMA produced video cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. All requests to license archival audio or out of copyright film clips should be addressed to Scala Archives at [email protected]. Motion picture film stills cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. For access to motion picture film stills for research purposes, please contact the Film Study Center at [email protected]. For more information about film loans and our Circulating Film and Video Library, please visit Circulating Film and Video Library.

Text from a publication or the archives

If you would like to reproduce text from a MoMA publication, please email [email protected]. If you would like to publish text from MoMA's archival materials, please fill out this permission form and send to [email protected].

Feedback

This record is a work in progress. If you have additional information or spotted an error, please fill out this feedback form.