Polit-Sheer-Form Office, or PSFO, was an art collective founded in 2005 by artists Hong Hao, Xiao Yu, Song Dong, Liu Jianhua, and Leng Lin. The group originally formed for the abstract purpose of seeking “collective form” and purifying politics, culture, the economy, and everyday life. Their first projects were discussions about these subjects held in famous, historical sites: Chinese civil war battlegrounds, factories, farms, schools, and recreational centers. There was a humorous edge to these undertakings—indeed the name “Polit-Sheer-Form Office” was meant to sound like an absurd government bureau. Over the course of their six-year run, they crafted an insignia, composite portraits, propaganda posters, and their own fake library with 10,000 carefully numbered books painted in blue but without content.
Polit-Sheer-Form Office, or PSFO, was an art collective founded in 2005 by artists Hong Hao, Xiao Yu, Song Dong, Liu Jianhua, and Leng Lin. The group originally formed for the abstract purpose of seeking “collective form” and purifying politics, culture, the economy, and everyday life. Their first projects were discussions about these subjects held in famous, historical sites: Chinese civil war battlegrounds, factories, farms, schools, and recreational centers. There was a humorous edge to these undertakings—indeed the name “Polit-Sheer-Form Office” was meant to sound like an absurd government bureau. Over the course of their six-year run, they crafted an insignia, composite portraits, propaganda posters, and their own fake library with 10,000 carefully numbered books painted in blue but without content.