Xia Che Dan (Bullshit), 2015
Color digital video with sound, Foam, Wood, Steel
71 x 60 x 226 inches  7 min., 4 sec.


One of my Italian friends is learning Chinese. One day he told me that he didn’t understand why “bullshit” in Chinese is called “Xia Che Dan (The shrimp pulling penis)”. I told him that it was a word spoof that Chinese Netizens made, using the phrase ‘Shrimp pulling penis’ to ridicule the word ‘bullshit’ since they have the same pronunciation in Mandarin. Talking bullshit is a cultural disease of contemporary society. Rich people are talking bullshit. Poor people are talking bullshit. Celebrities are talking bullshit. Politicians are talking bullshit. Intellectuals are talking bullshit. The law is talking bullshit. Newspapers are talking bullshit. The word itself is provocative. I transformed the provocative nature of the word into a visual piece. The work is like a fun house in which I put a variety of cultural experience.

Chapter   IV  Absurd Theory
 
The discussion ended in front of the work Xia Che Dan(Bullshit). Talking bullshit is a cultural disease in contemporary society.
I forged a human figure and filled it up with mouths. The narrative is very simple: his penis has been ripped off while he is still
trying to talk bullshit.
 
Wurm:Ziyang, what does Xia Che Dan mean?
Ziyang Wu:Xia means “blind” and Che Dan means “pulling penis,” while Xia Che Dan means “talking bullshit.” By talking
bullshit we can pull the penis off, which means with our discussion we can pull some penis off.
Lefebvre:Is our discussion today bullshit, or pulling the penis off?
Bakhtin:In Ziyang’s eye, our discussion has no difference from bullshit.
Wurm:And dark humor.
Camus:Denying all of us……ha ha!
Ziyang Wu:You guys are all correct. Everybody is talking bullshit in this globalized world. Hey Mr. Lefebvre, can you deny
that you are talking bullshit in your writings?
Lefebvre:I talk bullshit, very seriously. Is your work or thesis talking bullshit too?
Ziyang Wu:I’m just celebrating, celebrating the bullshit.
Lefebvre:You can't deny everything.
Ziyang Wu:What do you want me to affirm? I’m very skeptical of everything that is “affirmed.” I’m not denying everything.
At least, I’m not denying the bullshitting figure. He is just standing there quietly and looking at us – You, me, Mr. Bakhtin,
Mr. Camus and Mr. Wu – looking at us talking bullshit.
Lefebvre:How about the rational value?
Ziyang Wu:Those are the thinkers and philosophers’ tasks – your tasks. I am an artist.
Lefebvre:What image do you offer the audience as an artist?
Ziyang Wu:The visual image that the artist creates. This absurdity, this carnival, keeps on asking questions. You also ask
the intellectuals to keep on questioning the axiom,1 don’t you?
Bakhtin:Ha ha! Finally we agree with each other!
Lefebvre:Ha ha. From an individual form of discourse to the social function of art, this is really good.
Bakhtin:Ha. Talking bullshit is great.
Ziyang Wu:It's great, ha ha ha ha.

 

1.Foucault, Michel, The Eye of Power – An Interview with Foucault, Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1997. Page 147.