The Art of Sculpture in Public Space in China: The Wasteland Art Project

Abstract

With the development of public art in China, artists have been experimenting with the artistic form and means of expression of public sculpture. Previously marginalised by public sculpture, wild non-urban areas have also begun to attract the attention of Chinese artists. The Wasteland art project, implemented in Guazhou, Gansu province, is very indicative in this regard. Sculptor Dong Shubin, a professor at Tsinghua University Academy of Fine Arts, is the initiator of this project and an experimental artist who aims to create a sustainable artistic community in the Gobi Desert in the northwest of the country. He believes that an artist should draw inspiration from a natural environment that is familiar to them, rather than simply imitate others or emphatically separate themselves from the general mass of people. After creating works such as Children of the Earth, Infinity, and Wind Talkers, Dong Shubin and his colleagues are gradually creating a Wasteland Art complex in the Gobi Desert.