Xu Bing
Sculptures at
St. John the Divine

At St. John the Divine, in Morningside Heights, artist Xu Bing has installed two phoenix sculptures made from what the New York Times describes as, ”unexpected materials: feathers fashioned from impeccably layered shovels; crowns made of weathered hard hats; heads created from jackhammers; and birds’ bodies sculpted from other salvaged construction debris.”

Having been asked to create sculptures for the World Financial Center in Bejing, Mr. Xu was moved by the poor conditions for the migrant laborers building the center that he decided to make his pieces out of the debris from the site.  The video below, created for the 2013 CFW Humanizing Work Conference tells the story of Xu Bing and his phoenixes which are set to be on display in New York City for almost a year.

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