Eating the City

photo thru Selfridge's window by tipster Bonnie

We have read and written about concerns regarding the rapid development of China and loss of its older housing and buildings in the face of relentless expansion. Beijing artist Song Dong "explores questions of transience, perception and the ephemeral nature of existence. Or, in plainer terms, he builds model towns out of biscuits. Cities of McVities, so to speak." It takes him about 10 days to build a city, zoned into business, cultural and traditional Asian areas, and then the public is invited to nibble away. "The purpose of my work is for the city I build to be destroyed," Dong says. "I don't have a particular city to copy from, nor a particular architectural style. I am merely following the town planning of the present day." What a delicious expression of a serious issue.. ::Guardian Feb15-Feb 22 at ::Selfridges, Oxford Street, London thanks, tipster bonnie