Para-Production, 2008

In his works Ni Haifeng undertakes a critical examination of “Made in China” mass production and its effects on contemporary man. Para-Production refers to the cyclical principles of capitalist commodity production – manufacturing process, labor, and capital gains – and turns them around conceptually. For reasons of cost efficiency, industrial nations often outsource the production of goods to Asia, whereas the final products are then transported back to the West for consumption. In Ni Haifeng’s installation, waste products from Chinese mass manufacturing instead of finished products were brought to Europe, where people engaging in unpaid, collective labor make these into a huge tapestry. Exhibition visitors are invited to take part in this process.
The result of the work is not economically useful – the goal is not the highest possible financial gain – but a socially valuable product, since it promotes the collective interaction of individuals. In contrast to the alienation of work and product, an alternative method of production so to say emerges in the exhibition space. This temporary paraproduction (para-: Greek for alongside, next to, beyond) takes up the issue of the mass consumption of commercial goods and their reprocessing while at the same time proposing a redefinition of labor as social interaction. (EA)