EACH year, the works presented at China’s top art college’s graduate exhibition raise a few eyebrows, and this year is no exception. One installation, ”Super Beehive,” crafted by a senior at the esteemed Central Academy of Fine Arts, has sparked widespread attention and controversy online.

The piece is a towering structure built from cut-up cardboard boxes positioned above a computer display, manipulated by a simple mechanical device enabling movement. The accompanying screen plays out videos depicting the lifecycle of these boxes — from being utilized as containers to being transported, discarded, recycled, shredded, and transformed into new cardboard sheets.

The student, identified as “Elder-sister Qiao,” elucidated in the artwork’s description that cardboard, viewed as a dispensable commodity in consumer culture, swiftly traverses its limited life cycle, symbolizing the fleeting essence of existence. She said that her grandmother’s practice of collecting cardboard boxes instigated the piece. Growing up in a humble working-class family, she witnessed her grandmother diligently collecting and trading delivery packages for small sums of money. This experience inspired her to create a work serving as a metaphor for the lives of manual laborers.

“Similar to cardboard boxes, people, too, can be considered expendable; my grandmother is a casualty of this rapidly evolving society, unbeknownst to her,” the student said.

Despite her commendable intentions, a considerable portion of Chinese netizens failed to grasp the essence of the artwork, dismissing it as mere “trash.”

“Isn’t this a mere heap of discarded paper boxes? It resembles something casually deposited at a recycling center,” one netizen said.

“If this constitutes art, then everyone qualifies as an artist,” said another.

Some also showcased their own parody works, including a construction worker displaying a stack of reinforcement bars and others showing sorted-out piles of trash.

The vehement criticism has prompted the student to make a formal apology.

“I’m sorry that my work sparked this huge discussion online,” she said in a video posted on social media. “There’s misunderstanding here, because this installation, despite its casual and shabby appearance, is carefully designed.”

She also revealed that each layer of the cardboard was meticulously crafted by hand, and the work cost nearly 20,000 yuan (US$2,760) to make.

Contemporary art trends towards political and societal commentary over pure aesthetics, leading to a growing disparity between the general audience and art professionals.

Although there are a few sympathizing souls who say that the student need not apologize to the public who couldn’t appreciate contemporary art, others say there is room for improvement with the piece, which can combine social criticism with visual appeal. (Tang Li)