JCE Biennale 2015 – 2017 (Danmark)

Exhibition Dates: 2016.04.10 – 06.05

Exhibition Venue: KUNSTBYGNINGEN Museum, Danmark

The JCE Biennale takes place every second year and is being shown in 7 different cities in 7 European countries. The aim of the biennale is to find the strongest emerging talents under 35 years from the 7 countries respectively. 8 artists from every country get picked out, and the all 56 artists will be shown on a touring exhibition which will be put up in seven important museums/art institutions around Europe. KUNSTBYGNINGEN museum is representing the whole Scandinavia during the biennale. The work 100 EUR by Yao Qingmei was selected to be shown in the Biennale.

About the Work

Notes in 100 EUR values are made of 100% cotton. Yao Qingmei uses notes as the raw material for her sculpture. The original meaning for “sculpture” is “eliminating materials”. So Yao Qingmei had constantly rubbed a piece of note until there was a tiny hole came out. Namely, a certain amount of material was removed, and in the meantime the current value of the note was eliminated. The act of rubbing the note can be regarded as the act of counting money. The artist conducted this performance in different places and finally had the sculpture sold in the auction house.