It's also been used as the source for a new alien-looking sculpture by Chinese artist Wang Yuyang. Yujang's Identity is 20 feet tall and composed of folded layers of various materials including brass, copper, iron, fiberglass, concrete, marble, and steel—all interwoven as arcing contours that look both organic and like some otherwordly samurai armor. The piece is on show, along with 17 others, at the CASS Sculpture Foundation in Chichester, England as part of their A Beautiful Disorder exhibition showcasing contemporary Chinese sculpture.
"The shapes of the sculpture are the twisted rectangles or circles function in the program," explains Yuyang to The Creators Project. "The title of the work is also a selection by the computer (selected from a dictionary pack when we ‘save’ this file) and the color by reading the code again."The idea, says Yuyang, is to give the making over solely to the computer so it can objectively visualize the text. While Marx writes about how exploited labor underpins capitalism, Yuyang hands the labor of the creative process—outsources it—over to automation."It shows my curiosity with these texts," notes Yuyang. "Das Kapital has been grouped into different chapters when I was reading it in school. Different chapters are taught in primary, elementary, and high school, it's the topic of exams [in China]. The book was with my generation all the time when we were growing up. So I am deeply familiar with it and now I would like to see it differently. Turning it into a visual work is a different way to look at the text again."
ORIGINAL REPORTING ON EVERYTHING THAT MATTERS IN YOUR INBOX.
By signing up, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy & to receive electronic communications from Vice Media Group, which may include marketing promotions, advertisements and sponsored content.