Coca-Cola in process of materialisation: a new materialist perspective on He Xiangyu’s Cola Project

Abstract

This paper adopts a new materialist lens to analyze how He Xiangyu's Cola Project (2008–2012) enacts its discursive materialities. It focuses on one of the installation pieces A Barrel of Dregs of Coca-Cola (2009), which features an earthy, bitumen-like black crystalline residue, created by the artist and a number of workers by boiling down thousands of liters of Coca-Cola for a year. Existing studies primarily examine the work through symbolic and metaphorical readings that interpret the work as a critique of Western culture and consumerism's influence on China, and regard the artist as the sole protagonist of the production and meaning-making of the piece. This study focuses on the underexplored power of collective labor engagements with materials; on the materialities of the artwork; and on the artwork's potential to evoke broader critical responses. Building upon new materialist, including of Karen Barad and Amelia Jones, this paper understands the materialities of He's work in terms of material-discursive phenomena that are formed through continuous entanglements between the artist, workers, and the Coca-Cola substance. By examining the labor-intensive process manifested in the artwork's traces or marks, this study highlights how discursive materialities enacted during production processes can generate new spaces for meaning.