Brick Made From Vacuumed Up Smog

There are many ways to make a statement where art is concerned, and here is one of the more creative and unconventional methods. Apparently, a Chinese artist decided to vacuum up smog in Beijing for more than three months – 100 days to be exact, using all of the dirt that he has collected to turn it into a brick. This meant a personal sacrifice of exposing himself to the toxic air for four hours each day.

Of course, the 34-year old performance artist known as “Nut Brother” does not hope or intend to improve the Air Quality Index after his 100 days of vacuuming, but rather, he is out to make a point concerning the capital’s heavy smog that has definitely caught the attention of many people over the years, especially when the Olympics was held in Beijing back in 2008.

Good thing that “Nut Brother” did wear a respirator mask as he walked around Beijing’s streets with his vacuum. All of the collected dust were mixed with clay, before being sent to a brick factory in order to fashion a somewhat completed brick. The final result will be done in a few days’ time after it has been dried and fired adequately.

Will this jolt the authorities into doing something? Not likely at all, but it is certainly one way of drawing attention to an already dire situation.

Edwin Kee
Categories: General
Tags: pollution, Social Hit