Society

I really have no idea how Li Wei managed to capture these photos of himself. The closest thing that comes to my mind is Johan Lorbeer. Dangling horizontally out of a skyscraper, his hovering figure looks set to fall to his doom, but this artist ‘jumper’ hasn’t just lost it all on a game of chance – this is performance art with a difference. Li Wei has previously produced series of self-portraits involving faces reflected in mirrors, and photographs of himself crashing into walls and sidewalks. His current work is a mixture of performance art and photography that creates illusions of a sometimes dangerous reality. I would really love if we could brainstorm on this “installation“, and maybe come to a decent conclusion.

Terracotta warriors and horses stand in rows at the excavation site located on the outskirts of the Chinese city of Xi'an October 14, 2009.

update: Terracotta army has 'Teenage warriors'

Update: New terracotta warriors found in China

Beardless warriors had been discovered among China's terracotta army, providing evidence of the youthful ages of some soldiers when the army was created more than 2,000 years ago.

"Some warriors have no beards, but for ancient Chinese, facial hair was part of the culture, so those warriors could be considered to represent soldiers under 17 years old," said Yuan Zhongyi, honorary curator of the Museum of the Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses of Qin Shihuang, in northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

At the time of Qin Shihuang (259 BC-210 BC), first emperor of a united China from 221 BC, beards were signs of status, and adults without beards were considered to be social outcasts, Yuan said.

Fake Chinese money siezed by the police is seen at a workshop in Chenzhou, in central China's Hunan province, October 7, 2009. The police arrested seven suspects and confiscated fake money that has a face value of 90 million yuan (US$13 million).