Artist sells jar of fresh air for US$845
Print Edition
BEIJING artist Liang Kegang returned from a business trip in southern France with well-rested lungs and a small item of protest against his home city’s choking pollution: a jar of clean Provence air.
He put it up for auction before a group of about 100 local artists and collectors late last month, and it fetched 5,250 yuan (US$845).
“Air should be the most valueless commodity, free to breathe for any vagrant or beggar,” Liang said in an interview.
“This is my way to question China’s foul air and express my dissatisfaction.”
Many of China’s cities are clouded for days on end in harmful pollutants at levels far above what is considered safe by the World Health Organization. The chronic problem has spurred brisk markets for dust masks and air purifiers.
Liang’s contribution is a short, ordinary glass jar with a rubber seal and a flip top. It has three small, handwritten paper labels: one with the name and coordinates of the French village, Forcalquier, where he closed the jar; one saying “Air in Provence, France” in French; and one with his signature in Chinese and the date, March 29.
The auction closed on March 30, and Chengdu-based artist and entrepreneur Li Yongzheng was the highest bidder.
Liang is not the only one to make money from China’s air-pollution angst.
President Xi Jinping joked to Guizhou Province delegates during last month’s National People’s Congress that the scenic southwestern province could put its air up for sale. Days later, the local tourism bureau announced plans to sell cans of air as souvenirs.
“Canned air will force us to stay committed to environmental protection,” provincial tourism director Fu Yingchun said recently.
In central Henan province, tourism authorities promoting a resort scooped up mountain air and gave away bags of it in downtown Zhengzhou, the provincial capital. City dwellers greedily inhaled the air, and some said they planned to visit the mountain resort to get more than a lungful.
Chen Guangbiao, the recycling tycoon who briefly made headlines with his abortive plan to purchase The New York Times, has been selling cans of fresh air for US$3 apiece on Taobao.
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