Chinese artist wanted statue to show beauty-waste link

ZHENGZHOU, China – To some discerning eyes, the statue is a satire of classical aesthetics that judge beauty by Western standards.

To others, the use of natural, recyclable materials shows the artist’s commitment to the environment.

And then there was this observation, posted on the artist’s blog: “Disgusting, disgusting, disgusting!!!”

The artwork in question is a copy of the classical Greek statue Venus de Milo, made out of raw material supplied by China’s most beloved mammals.

In other words, panda excrement.

Lest anybody badmouth it as just another piece of, well, excrement, it should be noted that a retired Swiss diplomat who is one of the leading collectors of modern Chinese art paid $50,000 for the 2-foot-tall statue by Zhu Cheng, a sculptor from Chengdu, home to China’s main panda breeding reserve.

In a country where the panda is nearly as sacrosanct as Mao Tse-tung – not to mention one where artistic expression can land you in prison – it takes some courage to play around with the beloved animal’s image.

But unlike other artists who have used the panda as a prism through which to look at Chinese society, Zhu denies any political motive.

He said his inspiration came from the stark contrast between the preciousness of the panda and the prodigious amount of waste they produce. (An adult panda defecates about 40 times per day, producing nearly 45 pounds of waste.)

“Venus is a beautiful figure,” Zhu said. “But by creating the statue out of excrement, we set up an internal conflict between beauty and waste that makes for a magical work of art.”

He made the sculpture with the help of a dozen elementary school pupils in a Chengdu youth center who weren’t afraid to get their hands dirty for the sake of art.

They’re now considering something more ambitious: a life-size panda poo rendition of Michelangelo’s David.

Although the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, with 83 animals, had no shortage of panda dung, the management was initially suspicious of Zhu’s request.

“Now, why do you need this?” he recalled them asking him repeatedly.

Once convinced that Zhu was legitimate, the reserve allowed his team of students to collect buckets of fresh droppings. To make it the proper consistency for sculpting, they were mixed with plaster and glue.

Because the pandas eat a mostly vegetarian diet, Zhu said, their droppings did not have a distasteful odor: “I was surprised. It smelled more like tea.”

The Venus de Milo was shown with other panda excrement creations by Zhu and his volunteers at a Chengdu art gallery before moving last month to the Henan Provincial Art Museum in Zhengzhou as part of a larger exhibit exploring the theme of human interactions with pandas.

The Henan show was curated by Zhao Bandi, a flamboyant Beijing-based artist who calls himself the “panda man.” He is perhaps best known for an unsuccessful campaign in 2008 to boycott the film “Kung Fu Panda,” on the grounds that Hollywood was exploiting China’s national treasure.

He also gained some notoriety for a controversial fashion show in which models, dressed entirely in black and white like pandas, portrayed some of the less desirable elements of Chinese society, such as corrupt officials and prostitutes.

“I like to use the panda as a device to explore what China is really like,” said Zhao, who was dressed in his emblematic panda colors – black-and-white striped pants, a black turtleneck and a black wool cap pulled low over intensely knit eyebrows – and clutched a stuffed panda on his lap.

Among other works on display are a series of photographs of naked schoolboys with black grease paint under their eyes, like pandas, splashing in the Yellow River, and a panda sculpture made of discarded appliances. The head is an old television, the body a washing machine, and stereo speakers form the big black ears.

That assemblage was put together by a 12-year-old boy whose father is a garbage collector.

Visitors don’t realize how Zhu’s Venus de Milo fits in until they pause to read the explanation. Reactions run the gamut: amusement, appreciation, bewilderment and disgust.

“I think it’s very creative, the way the artist is using such environmentally friendly material,” said Li Chunyang, a hospital worker from Zhengzhou who had taken a day off to bring her 5-year-old daughter, Xiangxiang.

The girl was less impressed. “Yuck. I’m scared,” she said, refusing to approach the display case too closely.

Even Zhao had mixed feelings.

“I think it is a good piece from an artistic point of view, but personally I wouldn’t collect it,” he said. “I wouldn’t want poop in my home, even poop from a panda.”