Dahe Daily trainee reporter Chen Tiantian The picture was provided by the interviewee
"We don't waste food, we only waste gold." On October 15, performance artist Yang Yeju threw 1,000 grains of "golden rice" made of gold into various corners of the Huangpu River and Shanghai on the hot search, which also triggered extensive discussion among netizens. Some questioned whether it was a show, while others argued that it was a satire of waste as "greater waste". For the questions of the majority of netizens, Yang Yeju responded to the matter to the Dahe Yu video reporter.
(Yang Yezhong holding a golden grain of rice)
After graduating from the Xi'an Academy of Fine Arts, Yang Yeqiu after the 70s entered the advertising industry, laughingly calling himself "half an advertiser, half an artist", combining contemporary art and advertising to form his own unique style.
October 16 marks the 41st World Food Day, and this year's theme is "Action for the Future." Better production, better nutrition, better environment, better life. A month ago, Yang Yeju suddenly had the idea of making gold into "rice grains", and then he spent about 230,000 yuan to buy 500 grams of gold to make 1,000 grains of "golden rice". The next scene that happened made everyone unexpected, he threw these "golden rice" grains into the Huangpu River and all corners of Shanghai, garbage cans, subway stations... Through this "extremely extravagant" behavior, people's waste of food is ridiculed.
(Yang Yezhong holding "golden rice grains" in his hand)
On the evening of October 15, Yang Yeqiu was interviewed by reporters. Here's a conversation between a Reporter from the Grand River Newspaper and a performance artist:
[A total of 230,000 yuan was spent, and a grain of golden rice was equivalent to 230 yuan]
Big River: Are these "grains of rice" really made of gold?
Yang Yezhong: I can use personality to ensure that these are real, made of thousand-foot gold. This golden rice is exactly the same size and size as the real rice, but the weight is different, and the weight is much heavier than ordinary rice, because it is solid golden rice.
(Photo courtesy of respondents)
Big River: Why make rice grains out of gold?
Yang Yezhong: Everyone thinks that gold is expensive, but I think rice grains are more valuable than gold.
From planting, germination, growth, to the farmer's harvest, and finally to the white rice on the table, the harvest of each grain of rice is not easy, so the grain of rice is gold.
Big River: So in your mind the value of a grain of rice far exceeds gold, isn't it?
Yang Yezhong: Yes, because gold is not worth much, and gold cannot be eaten as rice. Now China has entered a moderately prosperous society, but the situation of food waste by the people is very serious. At the same time, internationally, I understand that twenty-five countries and 800 million people are still hungry.
Big River: How much did it cost you this time? How much is each grain of rice worth?
Yang Yeju: A total of 500 grams of gold were used to make 1,000 golden rice, which cost a total of about 230,000 yuan. Each capsule is 0.5 grams, which is equivalent to about 230 yuan per capsule.
Big River: Someone asked if your move was a business move?
Yang Yezhong: It is a public welfare, all the expenses are my own, and there is no commercial sponsorship.
Big River: Where are these golden grains of rice thrown away?
Yang Yezhong: Most of them were thrown into the Huangpu River, as well as sewers, garbage cans, subway stations, and some of the streets and alleys I passed.
[I didn't throw them in the downtown area, I was afraid of people robbing them, I wanted to waste them really]
Big River: What was the purpose of choosing these places?
Yang Yezhong: I didn't throw it in a place like a big shopping mall where people are particularly dense, and I don't want this gold to be robbed by many people after it is thrown away, which goes against my original intention of doing this. In addition, I want to waste them truly and let the gold return to the earth. Because gold also comes from the earth, but there are many people who regard it as a treasure, and in my eyes gold is a dirt, so I let gold return to the soil.
Big River: Was there anyone next to you when you threw the golden grains of rice? What is their attitude towards your approach?
Yang Yezhong: The process of throwing golden rice is very short, I can't stand on the street and say come and see me, I'm going to throw gold. And the vast majority of people don't know that this is gold, you just throw it away, and others don't know what it is.
Because no one in this world thinks that someone is going to throw gold around, unless this person is a neurotic. In a normal world, no one thinks I'm throwing gold, so not many people actually watch it.
(Yang Yezhong holding gold rice grains in his hand on the streets of Shanghai)
Big River: Aren't you worried that someone will pick it up?
Yang Yeqiu: This gold is very small, as big as a grain of rice. When it is thrown on the ground, it may not be conspicuous than rice. Because the rice is white, it is still more eye-catching when thrown on the ground. But gold is a metal thing, and when it is thrown to the ground, you are actually difficult to find, unless you crouch on the ground and look for half a day to find it.
[Turning money into works is valuable]
Big River News: This gold is also very valuable, don't you feel sorry to throw it away?
Yang Yezhong: In the art world, in fact, spending more than 200,000 yuan to do some works abounds. For an artist, only by turning money into a work is valuable, and this work is priceless.
I think that I spend more than 200,000 yuan to do such a thing, which can cause the Chinese people to reflect on the waste of grain, curb their own waste of food, and have a certain social effect and value on it, I think the significance of this is far more than spending 2 million or 20 million to do those large-scale works of art.
【Response to netizens' questions】
"Stop waste with greater waste?" ”】
(Screenshot of some netizen comments)
Big River: Someone asked, why not use 500 grams of gold to do more meaningful things?
Yang Yezhong: For example, if I donate this money to a non-profit organization, then it affects a non-profit organization, but if you use it to make a social idea and turn it into an influential thing through this performance art, then it may affect more people.
I've seen at least two-thirds of the people in the comments express understanding and support, so I think it's far more valuable than donating money to a nonprofit, and it's more socially meaningful and more contributing to society.
Dahe News: Netizens think that you are using "greater waste to stop waste", denying that your behavior is a waste?
Yang Yezhong: Because netizens love gold and think that I wasted gold, they are very distressed, so they run out to criticize me, but if I waste rice, they will not be sad at all.
But for me, gold is like dirt, not a waste. On the contrary, it is the real waste of food, and the grain is more valuable.
Big River: Is this done to hype yourself or boom?
Yang Yezhong: I think every work needs to be hyped, but there is no need to hype for good works. As a creator, whether it is an art creator, an advertising creator, or a creator from all walks of life, I hope that my works will achieve some effects in society and bring social impact, depending on whether the content you provide is valuable to this society. If the content you're offering is socially valuable, he doesn't need hype, and someone will watch it. But if you're offering worthless content, it's no use hyping you up.
(Yang Yezhong holding a golden grain of rice on the subway)
[I challenged the chinese people's worship of gold]
Big River News: Why do you think this performance art will lead to netizens frying pans?
Yang Yezhong: Because I challenged the gold worship psychology of Chinese, everyone loves money and gold too much, but I am not a person who loves gold, so it has caused a conflict and contradiction in everyone's psychology.
In addition, now it is a relatively pluralistic society, and everyone's opinions and positions are different, so I think people's different understandings are an integral part of social creativity and this performance art. Any good, any great work of art can remain in the hearts of the people after continuous discussion and argumentation.
Reporter: Do you care what other people think?
Yang Yezhong: I don't care about anyone's opinion, what I care about is my own motivation and original intention, that is, I do a thing, what is its motivation, what is its original intention, as long as the motivation and initial intention are pure, then I think even if it is not understood by people for the time being, there are some disputes and opinions, I think they can be calmly faced.
Big River: What does your work focus on expressing more?
Yang Yezhong: I hope to make some positive advocacy and change for the world, and help the world become better through my own professional and artistic ways. My style of work is to take society as the canvas, take social problems as the starting point, and take social insight as the basis, through the creation of art, to reveal these problems, or to provide a solution, or to provide an interactive space, and then cause everyone to discuss this issue and change.
Finally, Mr. Yang Yeju told reporters that the 1,000 grains of golden rice were not thrown away for the first time, and he would continue to throw away all the remaining golden rice grains on October 16, World Food Day, as a way to call on everyone to cherish the grain.
At 8:00 a.m. on October 16, he posted a video of golden rice thrown on a taxi in his circle of friends, with the caption saying "We don't waste food, we only waste gold."
(Screenshot of Mr. Yang Yeqiu's circle of friends)
According to CCTV news reports: According to the previous estimates of the Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the total loss rate of China's grain industry chain is about 12%, and in all aspects of sowing, harvesting, storage, transportation, processing, etc., there are different degrees of loss due to equipment and technical limitations. On this basis, as much as 34-36 billion kilograms of food are wasted in urban catering every year, which does not include the diet of residents' families. Therefore, the problem of food waste cannot be ignored.