The Display of Decay: Gu Dexin’s Chair and the Challenge of Uncollectible Art

In a provocative gesture, Gu Dexin’s chair invites viewers to confront the unsettling realities of life’s transience while challenging traditional notions of art and collectability.

As you enter the room, your eyes are drawn to a striking scene. A red sofa chair sits at the end of a long red carpet, facing a red rectangle encased in a gilded frame on the wall. At first glance, it promises a serene atmosphere for reflection, inviting you to settle in. You lower yourself onto a cushion filled not with plush padding, but with meat. The texture is unsettling, and a faint odour hangs in the air. The illusion of tranquillity fades, revealing an unexpected truth lurking beneath the surface—the harsh reality of decomposition and decay.

This installation, conceived by the pioneering artist Gu Dexin, has only been realised twice. The first iteration, titled 11/4/2000, was made for the exhibition Fuck Off at Eastlink Gallery in 2000. The second rendition, retitled 2021-11-12, is currently featured in the show M+ Sigg Collection: Another Story at M+.

Gu Dexin is a pivotal figure in Chinese contemporary art, known for his groundbreaking exhibitions and conceptual practices that challenge conventional notions of beauty, permanence, and the definition of art itself. Born in Beijing in 1962, Gu had an unconventional artistic journey, as he received no formal art education. Despite this, he was active in the ’85 New Wave movement, a revolutionary period in art history when Chinese artists embraced cultural reinvention, breaking free from the shackles of Socialist Realism to explore radical experimentation.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Gu Dexin continually pushed artistic boundaries, exploring themes of decay, sensuality, and material transformation through profoundly visceral experiences. Gu employed unconventional materials, like plastic, toys, fruit, and even meat. Notably, he embraced impermanence, allowing his works to decompose or disintegrate over the course of an exhibition. Renowned art historian and curator Karen Smith characterized Gu’s oeuvre as ‘elusive, non-collectible, and self-destructing’.^[1] The year 1994 in particular marked a significant turning point, when Gu introduced raw meat, fat, and other animal parts into his material repertoire.

Gu Dexin’s participation in the exhibition Fuck Off during the 2000 Shanghai Biennale was another landmark moment in his career. The biennial, with the theme ‘Shanghai Spirit’, aimed to elevate China’s presence in global contemporary art by inviting international artists and curators to participate. However, reception was mixed, with critics noting the conservative selection of Chinese art, especially compared to the other, more avant-garde practices of the time. This contrast was heightened by the parallel exhibitions, such as Fuck Off. Organized by Ai Weiwei and Feng Boyi at Eastlink Gallery, Fuck Off was a platform for artists to challenge societal norms and express dissent.

Gu’s installation 11/4/2000 epitomised his thematic preoccupations with material transformation, ephemerality, and the human condition. Visitors were encouraged to sit on Gu’s chair, which was upholstered with fat extracted from a pig’s internal organs. The experience was one of sensorial discomfort, the decomposing flesh a visceral reminder of life’s transience. Meanwhile, the red carpet and gilded frame served as symbols of reverence for splendour, power, and material goods, sharply contrasting with the decaying meat. This juxtaposition between grandeur and putrefaction created a powerful dichotomy, emphasising the ephemerality of life and art.

The legacy of Gu Dexin’s work endures in its reinstallation for the exhibition M+ Sigg Collection: Another Story, retitled 2021-11-12 to align with M+’s grand opening (Gu’s works are often left untitled or named for the date of creation to leave interpretation open to the viewer). At first glance, the installation appears unchanged, yet this iteration has undergone some adjustments. Most notably, the original meat cushion has been replaced with a synthetic substitute to preserve the display. Visitors can no longer sit on the chair, a significant change to the experience of the work.

The reinstallation of Gu Dexin’s piece prompts a significant inquiry into the role of museums when handling uncollectible art. Apart from the material challenges, the situation was made more complex by the trajectory of the artist’s career. In 2009, amid China’s booming art market and growing international interest, Gu retreated from the art world entirely. He rejected the increasing commercialisation and instrumentalisation of art. Since then, he has been notoriously reclusive, refusing to take part in any art activities. When M+ wanted to restage his work, the artist declined to offer guidance, and there were no existing instructions.

To address this challenge, M+ curators held meetings with individuals closely connected to the Fuck Off exhibition. These included Uli Sigg, the collector of the work; Hou Hanru, an art critic, curator, and frequent collaborator with Gu; and Zhu Ming, an artist who assisted Gu with the 11/4/2000 installation. With their firsthand experiences, these witnesses provided invaluable insights into the artwork’s creation, presentation, and significance within the context of the exhibition.

When Uli Sigg collected 11/4/2000, he obtained everything from the gilded frame to the carpet and the exterior structure of the chair. However, he could not aquire the impermanent (and fundamentally uncollectible) meat cushion. Most importantly, Sigg also purchased the idea and the staging of the piece. This challenges traditional notions of ownership and acquisition, emphasising the intangible aspects of an artistic creation. At M+, it is the idea itself that is presented and reinstalled, rather than the physical manifestation alone.

There have been special occasions when M+ has reactivated the chair by reupholstering the meat cushion, inviting visitors to sit and experience the decomposition firsthand. This allows audiences to engage with the piece in its original form, or at least as close as possible to it. The meat chair was reactivated from 22 to 24 September 2023, for the opening of M+ Sigg Collection: Another Story, and again from 27 to 30 March 2024, during Art Basel Hong Kong.

Museums and institutions face unique challenges when engaging with artworks that defy traditional notions of collectability, like Gu Dexin’s chair. These works push museums to rethink their role, especially when an artist withdraws from the art world and leaves no clear instructions for future installations. In such cases, museums must find innovative ways to honour the artist’s vision. Ultimately, Gu’s work encapsulates a broader shift in how we approach contemporary art collections, emphasising the preservation of ideas and experiences over objects.