Does life imitate art or does art imitate life? One Chinese artist has found an interesting way to show that it is actually a two-way street. Wang Renzheng, also known as Nut Brother, made a brick created from pollution collected in his home city.
Industrial Chinese cities are infamous for their pollution. Wang decided to collect the smog from Beijing using an industrial vacuum cleaner from July 24 to November 29 or 100 days. Wang was meticulous in his process and documented dates, areas where he vacuumed, and photos of him creating his artwork, Digital Trends noted.
His patient collection of the air that he and millions of others breathe daily yielded him 100 grams of dust, grime, smog, and many other pollutants that are smaller than human hair. He then mixed the dirt with clay and baked the mixture into a brick this past November.
Wang’s protest comes at the worst time as global focus has been on Chinese air quality in recent times. In fact, Beijing’s air quality just dipped into the red. This red status means that pollution levels are already considered dangerously unhealthy for humans.
The report says that the situation is so bad that it can cause “increased aggravation of heart or lung disease and premature mortality in persons with cardiopulmonary disease and the elderly.”
China’s first red status was raised in December 7. Conditions are expected to remain the same until Thursday when a cold front is expected to reduce pollution in the air. This would mean closed schools, driving restrictions, and flexible working schedules for people who work outdoors.
As for Wang, he says that his brick is a solid representation of the problem. “I want to show this absurdity to more people,” Wang told the Guardian. “I want people to see that we cannot avoid or ignore this problem.” The smog brick project started in 2013 when China had to first close airports and roads due to extremely bad pollution.
