Phoenix 5

I heard an interview with the curator on the radio. He said that Xu Bing had been commissioned to make some sculptural pieces for a new, luxury building being built in China. Xu Bing went to the building site, and saw the deplorable living conditions of the construction workers -- they had built a shanty town from construction debris at the base of the building. So, Xu Bing got the idea to make his sculptures from debris. When he showed them to the owners of the building, they asked that he cover them in gold leaf. He refused and they fired him. His idea then grew into the two enormous phoenixes.