In front of us is an army, not one out of terracotta, as we know them from the Terracotta Army Museum in Shanxi Province but actors in theatre costumes. The similarity is intentional. Chen Nong spent over sixteen months making the costumes. Here and there between the actors you will also find people in regular clothes who as the center of attention are making a symbolic reference to the present. The Three Gorges Dam stretches and towers in the background through the landscape. The parallels between the gigantic mania of the early dynasties and the present XXL mentality in China refer to the enormous historical and traditional strength of this nation. At the same time, Chen Nong builds further parallels between the tailor-made paper costumes and the handmade original photo. We are already familiar with the Asian artful paper crafts of origami, paper flowers and other artfully crafted works of paper. In this case, the photographed paper costume is connected to the hand-colored black/white silver gelatin print. The original is a real experience in this exhibition.
