Files of used batteries, rusty gears, empty bottles and tin cans are being displayed on Wangfujing, the busiest shopping street in downtown Beijing.

Assembled, twisted into contorted shapes and painted by sculptors, these piles have been catching the attention of a lot of shoppers there.

Many have their photos taken beside them. Children run through the sculpture arcade shouting happily and beg to have their picture taken beside the works.

The sculptures, 28 in number, make up the on-going open sculpture exhibition on environmental protection, which has been organized by seven institutions and companies in Beijing.

"The works collected have a common theme - enjoy nature, share space and sculpt life," said Yu Huayun, director of the City Sculpture Administration Office of Beijing, one of the organizers of the exhibition.

The sculptures, made from discarded tin cans, bottles, pieces of metal and even batteries, have generated different responses from the passers-by.

The expressions of the shoppers vary. Some are shocked or puzzled, others laugh or are plunged into thought. Spectators can feel clearly the opposing attitudes expressed by the sculptures in the exhibition. Some of them use pleasing images to extol the positive role of environmental protection, while others make use of odd or even ugly images to reveal and denounce the negative aspects of environmental degradation.

Among the works, those about SARS were the most arresting.

"I was shocked when I first glanced at it," said Guo Shumin, a middle-aged woman, pointing at the sculpture entitled "SARS," the main body of which was a huge red sphere symbolizing the SARS virus.

Standing in front of the sculpture "Wedding in May" and taking photographs of it from every angle, Zuo Yaoli, a Beijing-based painter, said, "I appreciate this piece of work very much."

Two hands in white gloves are set vertically, with one hand putting a wedding ring onto the ring finger of the other, indicating the delayed weddings of some medical workers fighting on the front line in the battle against SARS.

Zuo, who just graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, said he took to this particular work because it carries on the great tradition of realism.

"It is great to exhibit these works in the open air. Some of them should be permanently displayed."

"They are different from the works I have seen in Canada, in their modes of execution," said Dino Bogard, a Canadian tourist, taking shots around the sculpture named "No Title" with his digital video camera. "Canadian artists are unlikely to use chopsticks to make sculptures like this one."

In the sculpture "No Title," a large number of disposable chopsticks are stuck to a cross-section of the trunk of a chopped-down tree.

"I can understand what the sculptor wants to say: in order to save the forests, wood should not be used to make chopsticks," Bogard said.

Not all passers-by applaud the show, however.

"I don't think this kind of sculpture show will have a great impact upon us," said Hua, a college student who declined to give his full name. "People stop to look at them simply because they are unusual."

Wei Xiaoming, a professor of the Academy of Arts and Design in Tsinghua University, expressed his understanding of the mixed public response to the show.

"Some artistic works may not be understood or accepted by people in the beginning," Wei said. "Yet as the Chinese economy develops, we should further promote this style of public art."

Wei is working on "Angel in the World," a huge sculpture which will be about 8 meters tall. The sculpture on show on Wangfujing Street is only a small model of the actual work.

He said he started his project in late April and will finish the work before in August.

There is an angel, a sword and a snake waiting to be chopped to pieces in the sculpture. While the angel symbolizes the heroic medical workers at the forefront of the SARS battle, the sword and snake are transfigured from the emblem of the World Health Organization, indicating that the battle against SARS needs international co-operation.

He said that it is important that public places - parks or street corners - become the location of works of art so people do not have to go to galleries and museums to see such works.

These works of art in public places can be considered symposiums, where people are welcomed to actually participate and express their opinions.

Actually, the current sculpture exhibition is the third that Wangfujing has hosted in the past few years. The exhibition will continue until next Sunday.

When Wei finishes his monumental sculpture next month, it will be put on permanent display in Tsinghua University.

The organizers of the exhibition are planning to show the sculptures to other cities around the country.

(China Daily July 26, 2003)