Top of Mt. Everest Sawed Off

A Chinese artist, Xu Zhen, claims to have climbed to the top of Mt. Everest, sawed off the top of it, and brought it back to China where he now has it on display in an art gallery. From the gallery's press release:
8848 is the publicly recognized height of the world’s tallest mountain, Mt. Everest. Artist Xu Zhen has sawed off 1.86 meters (his height) from the peak of Mt. Everest, and transported the piece to participate in this exhibition. Audiences may not believe that this is real, which is similar to how people rarely question whether the height of Everest truly is 8848 meters. This relationship between belief and doubt has to deal with questions of standard, height, reality, and borders, that the Long March - Chinatown is interested in examining. The work points to the ridiculousness of people’s belief in "facts" and "universal truths". The work "ridicules" humankind’s quest for "height" to overturn and disrupt the preconceived social and historical values.
Along with the top of Mt. Everest, gallery visitors can view a video of Xu Zhen's team sawing off the peak. 3. I wonder if they "explain" exactly how they "transported" it back down once they "sawed it off." (via kottke.org)

Art

Posted on Fri Sep 21, 2007


Comments

Isn't the top few feet of any mountain just ice? How did they keep it from melting once they had down off the mountain?
Posted by Luke  on  Fri Sep 21, 2007  at  05:11 PM
Not only how did they keep it from melting, but how did they avoid police action? Mt. Everst is in China, right? Can anyone believe the Chinese government would stand for this? Or if it's in Nepal instead, would that govefrnment stand for this? Any group going up to the top has to have Sherpa guides, would a Sherpa allow this, or would the Sherpa act to prevent it?
Posted by Christopher Cole  on  Fri Sep 21, 2007  at  08:39 PM
Too cool, if there is a RELIABLE photo to compare the "chopped top" to... (give it a rest, it's just ice, and will look (Everest) the same next winter...
Posted by Christopher  on  Sat Sep 22, 2007  at  12:40 AM
Oh please, people in the best of condition can barely drag their sorry butts up there and get back alive. They can't even retrieve bodies from the mountain without putting the teams at great risk. This is just an art installation. I thought for sure someone here would comment on the statement "The work points to the ridiculousness of people
Posted by kristen55  on  Mon Sep 24, 2007  at  12:06 AM
Hm, I'm usually among the first to defend weird art projects on these pages, but jeeeez, this is... crap.
Posted by outeast  on  Tue Sep 25, 2007  at  02:22 AM
Duh!
Luke in Montana, Chris AZ (Everst is in China right?), Chris in Joplin,
Can you Americans even read? Or recognise that this website is the gallery of hoaxes?
IT'S A HOAX!

America - home of the brave and quite a few dummies.
Posted by Paul S  on  Sat Sep 29, 2007  at  04:39 AM
Paul S in Australia, re-read my comment. You MIGHT notice that I am presenting evidence to support the idea that it is a hoax. The same with Luke, he is also pointing out a reason it is a hoax. The evidence you present supports the premise that Australians can't read more than it supports the premise that Americans can't read.
Posted by Christopher Cole  on  Sat Sep 29, 2007  at  09:18 AM
First of all its stupid thing to think that Mt. Everest is in China. Historically, it belong to Nepal. During then Prime Minsiter BP Koirala's visit to China, Chinese leader Mao had put forward a proposal to open the door for Mt. Everest from north face but he didn't accept the proposal.Later King Mahendra played china-card againt India and let lose the hold in the Nepal-
China border. So, now, Nepal is paying his mistake by 17,000 hectre of Nepalese land in the northern side of China. Now, China has incroached half of the Mt. Everest and wnat whole. So, now advertizing through medias. But the most stupid thing is the chinese artist chopping the head of Everest and putting it in the shoulder girdle of Beijing to show the world, "Look Mt. Everst belongs to China, because it's head is in Beijing."
Posted by Kamal Sen  on  Wed Mar 18, 2009  at  06:46 AM
It doesn't really matter what they claimed to have removed, heck they could've put a stone block in there and claimed it was part of Mt Rushmore. It's something that questions our belief in facts and conventions quite effectively.
Posted by Samuel  on  Sat Nov 07, 2009  at  07:09 PM
i am confused that mt everest is belong to nepal or china. it should be belong to nepal, isn't it? because nepal gave permission to china to clime everest from their side, but taking advantage of the permission, now china says everest is belongs to them as well. nepal had took wrong decision before isn't it?
Posted by sanam lopez  on  Fri Jan 01, 2010  at  11:57 PM
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