LIFE IS BUT A SONG: Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche is looking at objects in a different way for an upcoming exhibition.
The famed Paris department store will host Chinese conceptual artist Song Dong as the headlining talent for its upcoming art exhibition “Objets divers et variés,” opening Jan. 10.
The show will center on themes of memory, consumption and everyday objects, and is asking customers to contribute.
The artist is a leading figure in the Chinese contemporary scene, known for using reclaimed materials and intimate personal artifacts to reflect on urban change, familial memory, and socio-cultural transformation.
His 2009 solo show, “Projects 90: Song Dong,” at the Museum of Modern Art in New York featured “Waste Not,” an installation composed entirely of more than 10,000 pieces from his late mother’s lifelong collection of household items, including bottle caps, shoes, blankets, toothpaste tubes, metal pots and toys, seen as a meditation on post-Mao frugality that gained critical praise.
Song also created the “Eating the City” series, which used edible tabletop models of cities made up of cookies and cakes, which audience members could consume. That exhibit traveled from Beijing to London, Barcelona, Brasilia and Shanghai.
At Le Bon Marché, Song will transform the store’s display cases into a participatory installation featuring personal objects submitted by both customers and staff. Submissions will be curated by the artist, each selected piece serving as a micro-narrative within the broader theme of collective memory.
Customers are invited to submit their meaningful, personal objects purchased at Le Bon Marché by sending a photo, dimensions and a short story about the significance of the object. Entry details will be available via a QR code available in the store. Song will make his selections selections mid-December, for the opening in January.
The artist will curate the objects, and two large-scale installations will anchor the exhibition beneath the store’s central glass roofs. A third immersive piece will take over the second floor.
Song’s invitation marks the 11th for the Parisian department store’s annual artistic program, following exhibits from renowned international art figures such as Argentine artist Leandro Erlich, Japanese artist Chiharu Shiot and Brazilian artist Ernesto Neto.
The exhibit will run through Feb. 22.
