| History is composed of individuals and their activities, without which it degrades into abstract concepts, data, and rigid rules. History can only liven up and establish a connection with reality based on realistic individuals and their activities, which give it a realistic sense of life. Of course, the development of history is colorful with various narratives of different characteristics and values. This is one of the reasons why history has recently become the favorite subject of writers in China. It is also an approach commonly seen in contemporary Chinese artists to combine historical and cultural resources with their life experiences and memories and transform them into works of art, who are particularly sensitive about the symbolic and metaphorical nature of historical objects. | 
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Feng Bo-Yi
Translated by Steven Huang
Mao Tong-Qiang, Reaping Hook, 2008. Courtesy of China Art Archives & Warehouse.
History is composed of individuals and their activities, without which it degrades into abstract concepts, data, and rigid rules. History can only liven up and establish a connection with reality based on realistic individuals and their activities, which give it a realistic sense of life. Of course, the development of history is colorful with various narratives of different characteristics and values. This is one of the reasons why history has recently become the favorite subject of writers in China. It is also an approach commonly seen in contemporary Chinese artists to combine historical and cultural resources with their life experiences and memories and transform them into works of art, who are particularly sensitive about the symbolic and metaphorical nature of historical objects.
The installation Tools (Gong Ju) by Mao Tong-Qiang consists of over 30,000 pieces used sickles and axes (and hammers) that the artist had collected across China in over two years. The most fundamental nature of these sickles and axes is working tools, the symbol of the farming civilization that had been dominant over thousands of years. If we look at these tools from a historical or sociological perspective, they were also the most primitive weapons in countless peasant revolts that marked the changes of dynasties in feudal China. In the modern history of Comintern (Communist International in Soviet Union) and the Communist Party of China, sickle represented peasants and ax (and hammers) workers. It’s the union of the two groups that led China into victory in the Communist Revolution in the 1940s, which also constituted the fundamental force of Socialist Construction afterward. So it’s not surprising that the flag of the Communist Party adopted a pattern of sickle and ax, which illustrates the symbol’s significance and value.
In the context of contemporary art, the installation is characterized by its “ready-made-ness.” No viewers can remain nonchalant when they see over 30,000 used sickles and axes (and hammers) packed neatly in an exhibition hall. These sweat-soaked tools have transcended their original function and become reflections of history and people’s lives. They carry traces of historical changes and can even be considered an indispensable part of massive transformations in Chinese society, witnessing our past revolutions and emotions. That’s why the medium of “ready-made sickles and axes” has such simple and direct visual power. Mao’s action—collecting these tools and placing them neatly in an art space—doesn’t mean that he intends to follow the footstep of a historian and recreate a certain historical or cultural scenario based on thorough analysis of historical materials and literary works. Instead, he chooses to present directly to viewers these visual details that have been consciously or unconsciously neglected in historical records. The effect of such a presentation is reinforced by its large quantity and scale. That’s why I consider it a pure and rare visual marvel. The way Mao presents these tools is different from the traditional manner in historical narratives. He chooses a specific entry point into historical facts, demonstrating his calm and objective insight and eloquence in a low-profile and artistic manner. Mao doesn’t present history in an ordinary way or just transform historical materials in a modern visual language. He uses history as the background of his work and focuses on the most common tools in people’s daily lives, recording their roughness and hardship in history, thus creating a simple sense of reality. This happens to be consistent with a commonly believed historical perspective: history is written by the winner.
There are countless failures and unknown losers behind every winner. But I believe these losers constitute the real history. These people usually never receive any attention or take part in any historical narratives. Even less attention is given to the primitive tools with which they make a living. So Mao’s efforts to discover the history of these unknown people by collecting their tools and to share with the public this “ready-made” installation is an important way to artistically present history, reconstruct lost memories, and exchange experiences.
Mao’s attention to reality has always been one of the reasons for his love of history and also the starting point for his historical presentation, illustrating his own position and opinion on modern society. Created in as early as the late 1990s, his Death Files (Si Wang Dang An) series depicts the creation and loss of lives with great visual tension and a sense of imminence and narrowness based on his personal life. This series also demonstrates a powerful sense of sorrow, redemption, and care. The recent installation Tools is consistent with his early works, but the sorrow in the new work is no longer presented through grand narratives of individual lives. Instead, it is hidden behind a sad fact that people are abandoning these tools. He discovers historical facts and reflects upon reality by studying “historical documents” of tools and objects. Through these tools and their symbolic nature, Mao reveals hidden conflicts and tragic lives in the modern history of China. Because of social advancements and increased productivity driven by technological breakthroughs, these primitive tools have been gradually replaced, abandoned, and thrown away. These 30,000 rusty sickles and axes (and hammers) in an art space have lost their original functionality as tools and have been removed from their ordinary physical setting, which vividly reflects the current misfortune of these tools and their doomed future. There is a more profound message. These tools are presented in a way that makes the exhibition hall look like an altar. Social reform and transformation, the widening gap between the rich and the poor, the difficult lives of workers and peasants are all part of historical cycles with a fated end. Pessimism or fatalism can be popular among people in their silence, soberness, and tolerance as they endure hardship and devote themselves to their land. The installation pays homage to these tools—the symbol of life—as the artist tries to find diachronic memories from a synchronic universe.
The installation demonstrates the artist’s attempt to raise questions on history and to criticize reality. From the functionality of sickles and axes and their historical roles, to their loss of popularity in contemporary society, this linear development carries obvious symbolic and metaphorical significance. Mao’s work is more than a simple way to present history. It represents him as an artist and as a man living in a modern world. Through Mao’s Tools, it is evident that historical traces reveal not only things and thoughts from the past, but memories and interpretations from the present.
