Past · Present · Future, composed of three sculpture-like group images, chooses rural migrant workers in the city as subjects. In the two or three years before this work was done, Wang went to Tiananmen Square every National Day to take photos. In the square and in front of Chairman Mao Memorial Hall were lots of people, not only Chinese but also foreigners, laughing and joking around, mimicking the heroes in the sculpture. Wang’s work took inspiration from the two group sculptures in front of Chairman Mao Memorial Hall. In memory of the revolutionary war and the building of the country, the sculptures used to fill people with awe, but what we see now are all kinds of people, while watching these sculptures, gesticulating, laughing, speaking, even joyfully mimicking and taking photo with the figures in the sculpture. That part of history is gone, and the once solemn sculptures have been reduced to landscape, a prop for photo-taking. In this age of rare idealism, have people lost their confidence in heroes and ideals they used to value? The artist was wondering. Wang, doubtful, therefore, had the models play and mimic the figures in the revolutionary and construction periods in Chinese history. The “past” figures were earth-colored, those “present” silver, and the “future” ones golden. In this work, he himself played the role of an observer, tourist and participant in the contemporary age.

(Edited by Su Wenxiang, Xu Chongbao, Huang Si, 2015)