public sculpture — Mengda Zhang

Living Ruins

Living Ruins

青山依旧

Year: 2014-2015

Location: Ludian, China 云南鲁甸

Materials: concrete, selected objects, plants

Dimension (LxWxH): 20 x 10 x 8 ft

Facebook public page: https://www.facebook.com/livingruins/

This public sculpture Living Ruins was a group work by three artists, Mengda Zhang, Wenli Liu and Bin Tu for Ludian Earthquake on August 3, 2014 in China. At the end of 2014, the artists visited Ludian for research. The disaster affected Ludian across-the-board. Though the collapsed town was rebuilt, mental health of local residents was ignored by local authorities. The artists intend to deliver a positive message that nature could heal everything through time. They fundraised to make a public sculpture in Ludian County and a documentary of its making. The large concrete sculpture in this project combined objects chosen from local abandoned buildings, and mimicked the form of local mountains. At first, it appeared to be three separated reinforced concrete structures. Afterwards, the artists invited local residents to plant grass into the cracks with them, which reunited all parts of the sculpture. This process included many different types of people and shows the possibility for union in a multicultural society.