Song Dong & Yin Xiuzhen in "Beijing"

Song Dong and Yin Xiuzhen, two Beijing natives, reflect on three decades of deeply personal artmaking and the shared experience of living in Beijing through its unprecedented transformation. This film follows the pair as they install the latest iteration of their collaborative project, The Way of the Chopsticks. In their sculptures and installations, both artists work with readily accessible materials, like clothing, roofing tiles, window frames, and household objects, using art to come to terms with their personal grief, memories, and anxiety about the future. Song takes viewers on a tour of an old hutong (a traditional Beijing residential community composed of buildings, courtyards, and alleyways), pointing out the architectural details that he uses in his sculptures and installations. Meanwhile, Yin reflects on the use of clothing in her work. At the opening of their Chopsticks exhibition, Yin and Song’s teenage daughter and old friends join them for a family-style dinner, a moment symbolic of two artists whose careers have been dedicated to exploring the emotional complexities of their lives and communities. “I don’t think art is about making objects. It’s more about the process,” says Yin. “It’s an attitude toward life.”

Featured artists

About the artists