Waste Not, Want Not at MOMA

July 6th, 2009

IMG_2214Saw a fascinating art project at New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) last weekend, which chimed with themes we’re exploring on lakelandbelvedere.com/ The Waste Not installation is the work of Beijing artist Song Dong who’s gathered together around a shed all the artifacts – shoes and stools, bottles and buckets, wood, wire, kettles, gramophones, packaging etc – which his mother saved over the years for future use and repurposing. They make a telling story at many different levels, one that’s both personal and political.

They flashed up images for me of our cellar with timber I’ve kept (and part used) for 40 years; and of the Ethiopian woman last year – when we trekked through the Simien Mountains – who squatted for an hour, so she could take away my emptied plastic water bottle.

room_viewRecycling and reuse makes sense to save resources, but here’s the conundrum. As economies develop, the incentive to conserve is lowered and more and more gets thrown away. Waste Not has a message for all of us, not least for the people of New York and Beijing, whose countries produce over 50% of all CO² emissions. There’s an intriguing video of the installation being assembled.

Share:
  • Print
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Google Bookmarks
  • StumbleUpon
  • TwitThis

4 Responses to “Waste Not, Want Not at MOMA”

  • Lakeland Belvedere» Recycling the showman’s way on July 26th, 2010 2:55 pm

    [...] did with old gear. (See photo of field opposite they have recently acquired.) It reminded me of the MOMA Waste not installation we saw in New York last [...]

  • Meiling Cheng on July 16th, 2011 7:28 pm

    Hi, I wrote about Waste Not in my book on Chinese time-based art and I am hoping to include an image of Waste Not at MoMA. Could you kindly write me back to let me know if you own the beautiful image posted here?

    Thanks so much, meiling

  • ian on July 23rd, 2011 5:45 pm

    Hi Meiling, yes I own this image from the MOMA exhibition and others too. I’ll be happy to help you.

  • Meiling Cheng on July 23rd, 2011 6:58 pm

    Dear Ian,

    Thanks a lot. May I propose to my publisher to include your overall shot of Waste Not at MoMA in my book, Beijing Xingwei: Contemporary Chinese Time-Based Art? I found another overall shot by the Russian photographer Gleb Simonov, who would let me use his image for free, but wanted me to confirm with MoMA if we might publish an image about its interior. I wrote to MoMA, which hasn’t responded yet. I don’t think one needs the permission to publish an image about a museum show as long as one owns the image, right?

    Thanks again for your response. I appreciate it. Best, meiling

Got something to say?