An arts student from Germany disguises himself as a Terracotta Warrior
First time post, thought this was too unusual to pass up…
Article presented originally appeared on BBC News Website Monday, 18 September 2006.
New recruit joins Terracotta Army
The terracotta soldiers were created for an imperial Chinese tomb 2,200 years ago
A German art student briefly fooled police by posing as one of China’s terracotta warriors at the heritage site in the ancient capital, Xian.
Pablo Wendel, made up like an ancient warrior, jumped into a pit showcasing the 2,200-year-old pottery soldiers and stood motionless for several minutes.
The 26-year-old was eventually spotted by police and removed from the scene.
Unearthed in 1974, the statues are said to be one of the 20th Century’s greatest archaeological finds.
The ancient clay soldiers were created to protect the nearby tomb of the legendary Emperor Qinshihuang who united China over 2,200 years ago.
Police confiscated Mr Wendel’s costume and sent him home
Mr Wendel is reported to have entered the museum on Saturday where he changed into his outfit, jumped over a barrier and took up a position on a pedestal he had taken along.
“I got to the area where he was supposed to be, looked around and didn’t see him – he looked too much like a terracotta warrior,” Hong Kong newspapers quoted a security guard as saying.
As Mr Wendel’s “performance art” did not harm any of the ancient relics, he was not arrested or charged but given “serious criticism”, the reports said.
Mr Wendel had his costume confiscated and was sent back to the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou, where he is studying.
The original article can be found here alongside a picture of Mr Wendell being removed from his costume by police (but still retaining his original pose)…
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5355546.stm
So what gives with the reverse Pigmallion stunt? Some really obscure way of getting a charge or a ritual we don’t know about. Look at his face in the picture though…you can tell by his eyes he’s got one mean obsession going on.
Tricky. Could be a personomancy thing, maybe attempting to charge the suit up in a similar way to making a magical mask.
Channelling the Warrior or the Unknown Soldier?
Or just a very silly man?
Definitely the Unknown Soldier. Clay dudes aren’t warriors, they’re guards. You can tell they’re modeled on real individuals, but there’s know way we’ll ever know who they really were.
Too bad for him the Unknown Soldier is a sham Clergy position, “created” by a would-be Trickster.