SH Shanghai: the Mix of Modern and Tradition

Yuwen Shane Li:

This was the first time that I visited the Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair. To be honest, although I am a museum-goer and an art lover, I was never really into contemporary art. Especially after the 2008 Shanghai Biennale in which I was totally disgusted by the set of the statues (something along the lines of ' Chinese Dragon Marching into the New Milieu', I forgot the exact name), I became repulsive to contemporary art and delved into more traditional forms of art instead. However, when I saw the exhibition of Cai Guo-Qiang "Hanging Out in the Museum”, I was awed. It taught me that contemporary art is free of any boundary; it can be presented by any materials in any form. It changed my opinions on contemporary art.




So now I went to the SH Contemporary Art Fair. Other than the lecture on “how to invest in contemporary art”, the fair is quite amazing. Out of all the art works, "Phantom and Landscape" by Yang Yongliang surprised me the most. It was a set of medium art combined with the modern photography techniques, computer science with traditional Chinese ink painting, which I adored very much. Seen from the distance, his “video painting”(sorry I don’t know what to call it) resembles traditional landscape pictures in water and ink. However, when we take a closer look, the mountains, rivers and waterfalls in the picture are actually pictures of skyscrapers, shopping-malls (I saw the Pacific Department Store where I shop a lot!) and highways piled up together. I think Yang tries to convey the idea that we’re living in cities made of steel, but take a different perspective; life can also be beautiful.



I will forever search for such things, perfect blends of modern and tradition, which Yang's work is a superb example. I was even more astonished when I learned that Yang is born in 1980(!) and learned traditional Chinese ink painting and calligraphy for more than 10 years. Now he is a pioneer for "Neo-classism" in contemporary art in China and hosts show around the world! How I admire that!

by Mikael Larsson

To get to the propaganda and Poster museum you first have to walk down an ally,

turn a corner and head down an elevator into a seemingly normal

Shanghaines apartment building.

No signs lead the way to the collection of Chinese propaganda posters

found down below.

Although not illegal, the damp basement and the eclectic collection of

posters hung behind mostly

plastic covers only add to the feel of having snuck in on something

you ware not supposed to see,

at least on something that the government wants to keep hidden. It's

probably good this is not the case.

Being fortunate enough to meet the owner and director Mr. Yang Pei

Ming, who have collected over five thousand posters some for

sale and many on view in his museum, brings more insight into why the

museum is laid out the way it is.

None of the plaques are in Chinese, and according to him the National

History Museum in Beijing have not yet opened up

its Mao communist era wing. It seems the interest in this period of

Chinese art is saved by only a handful few,

except for Pei Ming, mostly foreign. I would gladly recommend anyone

visiting Shanghai to go see this exhibit

as it is truly one of a kind and a really great experience and a

fantastic way of looking into the reemerging of Chinese art during

the cultural revolution.

And if Yang Pei Ming have bet his cards right, and from seeing the

changing climate in China, very likely.

We might soon see his collection spread out among Chinas great museum

and collectors,

something I think this great salesman might have foreseen all along.

Visit to the Propaganda Museum

Visit to the Propaganda Museum
September 2, 2010
Shanghai, China

"Scatter the old world, build a new world",  "Produce more! Contribute more!",  "Sleep, do not disturb daddy while he is using his head". After hearing these, don't you feel like you are motivated and inspired to take up your hammer and scythe and start working out there in the fields? Perhaps if you hear and see those slogans everywhere for the entirety of your lifetime, they may become engraved into your brain and make you work harder better faster stronger, who knows.

When I saw the posters at the Propaganda Museum on last Thursday, it was quite interesting to see how the culture and lifestyle of the 20th century China were both reflected and created through those images. Considering that there was almost no other access to any other forms of art at the time, the only "art" an average Joe (or Wang in China) could appreciate were these images on the posters.

What has really got my attention though, was the fact that the political climates and the party's stances of the time that are reflected through the exaggerated socialistic propaganda art style. For example, during the Korean War, China's intervention was justified through the messages like "It's glorious to take part, to oppose America, support Korea." The changes in the relationship between China and the Soviet Union were also evident in these posters. Whereas in 1950's and early 60's posters would have messages like "Study the Soviet Union's advanced economy to build up our nation" with the Russians being portrayed as an older brother, the posters from late 60's and on shows China's split with the Russians.

The posters thus are not only the Socialist China's only outlet of art in the 20th century, but also the actual pieces of history that one can glimpse at to understand the modern Chinese history. Thousands of these posters were printed and mass relayed through out the country. However, many were lost in transition and time. So to see that someone was out there collecting and preserving these pieces of history brought a relief to me, and I came to appreciate them more.

It is said that Mao Zedong started his revolution with pen and paper.
The man himself was a great calligrapher, and found great power in
written word. During the Cultural Revolution, Mao recognized and
utilized the common man as his core source of authority. The
collection of posters at the Shanghai Propaganda Art Centre
illustrates just how Mao instilled new ideology in the Chinese people.
Mao aimed to brainwash all citizens into believing his power to be
supreme. There were only a few artists who were allowed to paint Mao's
portrait, and these few were severely limited in his depiction. Mao
was often paired with eternal, all-knowing imagery, such as the sun,
Christ like symbols, or with the great Communist heroes before him:
Lenin, Marx, and Engels. Feverous youth called the Red Guard enforced
the notion of Mao as a God like figure. The zeal of the Cultural
Revolution is brought to light in the collection of dazibao. Even
though I was unable to translate the words, the intense emotional
expression is undeniable. The ideals purveyed in propaganda, the
happy, smiling faces of Mao's utopia, meet stark contrast with the
dazibao which speak of the true pain, suffering, and chaos of the
period.

Meredith

Discreetly located on the basement level of an apartment complex in
Shanghai's French Concession sector, the Propaganda Poster Center is a
showcase of collector Yang Pei Ming's commitment to keeping a
controversial history alive. As the elevator took me from the
collection back to the residential setting of the first floor, I
thought about the posters I had just seen and their journey through
various exhibition spaces over the course of their lives. As I
understood from Yang Pei Ming's guided tour, these posters were
original products of the revolutionary era following the establishment
of the People's Republic in 1949. Artists had created these posters to
be mass-reproduced, shown on the street, and serving the purpose of
inspiring collective political feeling that corresponded with the
Communist Party's goals. Now displayed in the quiet refuge of Yang Pei
Ming's modest museum, the posters serve as historical documentation of
the interdependence between art and politics dur
ing the Maoist era.
During our time in the museum, we followed the chronological
placement of the posters, walking from the left side of the
entrance—the early period of the Communist Party—and circling through
to the right side of the entrance—the peak of Mao Zedong's cult of
personality. We observed the changing techniques of social realism
over time, noticing the transition from the colorful, varied
portrayals of idealized civilian life to the stylized images of Mao
and his supporters, depicted in bold black lines and aggressive shades
of red. Seeing the plastic covering each of the posters, I was kept
aware of the rarity of the artwork in the present day. Not only are
the posters valuable because they are tangible evidence of the ideas
pervading a bygone time, but also because they are now objects of
government apprehension, having survived the mass destruction of
propaganda art during the post-Mao period. As I left the apartment
complex and looked back at the indescript setting of the po
werful art I had just witnessed, I thought about Yang Pei Ming's
efforts to protect people's access to a controversial past.
Stephanie Hsu

Shanghai Propaganda Poster Art Centre

Cori Huang
September 7, 2010
Shanghai Propaganda Poster Art Centre

Last Thursday we visited the Shanghai Propaganda Poster Art Centre,
which is a small gallery exhibiting Chinese propaganda art from the
1940s onward. It was already an interesting trip before we entered the
gallery, since it is housed in the basement of a plain apartment
building. There were no signs outside to indicate the gallery's
existence, but as soon as we walked downstairs we saw every space on
every wall of the gallery was covered with art. The space was larger
than it seemed because of the way it was divided with many walls,
particularly the space in the back of the gallery, which was preceded
by a small hallway. With the posters displayed one after the other
though, it was easy to see the progression of political ideas that
spread in China, and with the director Yang Pei Ming to give us
historical information, we could really understand both the artistic
and political influences at work. What really struck me were the
Dazibao in the room furthest back. They were handwritten criticisms
by everyday Chinese people during the Cultural Revolution, and they
expressed the paranoia and fear that was rampant in the country at the
time. The words were written beautifully in black ink, but others had
drawn over them in bright red, denouncing the writers. I cannot begin
to imagine the emotions that these people felt writing the Dazibao,
but the posters are beautiful in a sort of scary way.

Noora Chadha

Situated in the basement of a completely nondescript residential
compound in Shanghai as to stay below the current government's radar,
the Shanghai Propaganda Poster Art Centre is one of the only venues in
Shanghai where these rare political posters are on display.
Winston Churchill once said, "The Empire of the future will be the
empire of the mind." The Chinese propaganda posters were serving the
purpose of building that future empire by instilling certain concepts
and images into the people's minds. China has always placed importance
in patriotism, controlling the image of the country, and keeping it's
people ideologically in line. In this moment of strong political
zeal, the propaganda posters served the role of CNN or Fox at the
time, communicating the incumbent regime's ideology to the masses
through text and art.
I personally was delighted to see all these rare posters, especially
the one's referring to other countries/foreign relations and the ones
depicting people other than Mao including his wife, the "dragon lady".
I was especially drawn to the "da zi bao", which aren't propaganda
posters but rather self-criticism posters for public viewing.

Propaganda Poster Collection Visit

Nina Boys

Contemporary Art and New Media in China

Propaganda Poster Collection Visit

09.09.2010

When you hear the term "propaganda poster" in Shanghai, even
after being here only a couple of weeks, you are bound to envision the
countless kitschy tourist shops around the city selling merchandise
boasting old time images of Chairman Mao. With nothing other than
these as a point of reference, I assumed the propaganda poster
collection we were scheduled to visit would be along the same lines,
but I could not have been more wrong. Rather than the being met with
an ostentatious and touristy venue, we were not even sure we were at
the right location as we stood outside of a standard apartment
building tucked modestly between other identical buildings. But after
descending into the apartment's basement, it was clear that the
collector of this extensive poster collection had no interest in the
gaudy, but rather he was an underground historian that had
meticulously put together a collection of art depicting an
ill-recorded chapter in China's not-so-distant past. As we walked
through the collection, arranged in chronological order, it was
fascinating to see the evolution of both the artistic techniques of
the posters as well as the messages that they were portraying. I had
previously seen socialist art from the past in Berlin and I could draw
many parallels between them and the posters, especially in regards to
the depiction of the worker as a happy, noble and patriotic member of
society that was not only content to do his duty, but that it was his
purpose in life. This, of course, is what makes it propaganda art.
It completely ignores the horrors and poverty of these workers'
everyday life. I also drew a parallel between the poster's depiction
of the idealized city, and that portrayed in Leni Riefenstahl's Nazi
propaganda film "The Triumph of the Will." I was particularly
interested in the incorporation of other nation's people into the art
either to generate a sense of comraderie or to fuel animosity. The
tranisition into the depiction of Chairman Mao as a deity of sorts was
sudden and obvious, and is a theme that has resonated until modern
day. Overall, the collection had a sense of hidden importancy; one
had to know it existed in order to experience it, but having viewed
the collection as a whole, I feel as though I was given access to an
aspect of China's history of which I could not have been previously
aware.

On the propaganda art collection displays:

I was very surprised when I first walked inside the gallery, which
happens to be in the basement of a random apartment area. I guess it
would make sense since Chinese people probably aren't interested in
their country's propaganda posters of the past anyway. The display was
quite amazing, however, which was the reason for my surprise. The idea
that propaganda posters, which were abundant back in the day, can
become collectible art has opened my eyes. It's also very interesting
that the posters are arranged chronologically. Looking at the posters
this way, along with the gallery owner's narration, I was able to see
Chinese history in a very different light, and even picked up new
information. Apart from the underground nature of the gallery, this
field trip was great. The propaganda posters display is definitely a
unique art collection, and I wouldn't have referred to them as such
prior to last week's visit.

-Duy (Zach) Tran

flyingfish

CONFERENCES AT SHCONTEMPORARY

CONFERENCES AT SHCONTEMPORARY

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 9th- See you there from 1 PM onwards!

Collecting Asian Contemporary: What, When and How?
International museums and private collectors to meet at ShContemporary
2010 to discuss the future of Asian contemporary art collections.

Moderator: Hou Hanru, Critic and Curator based in Paris and San
Francisco. Director of Exhibitions and Public Program , San Francisco
Art Institute.

11.30 – 11.45 Introduction by Hou Hanru

11.45 – 12.30 Public collections: the Chinese context
speakers: Wang Huangsheng (Director CAFA Museum in Beijing); He Juxin
(Director Mingsheng Museum in Shanghai)

12.30 – 13 Public collections: the Asian Scene
speakers: Tan Boon Hui (Director Singapore Art Museum); Suhanya Raffel
(Deputy Director Curatorial & Collection Development Queensland Art
Gallery); Rajii Kuroda (Chief Curator of Fukuoka Asian Art Museum)

14 – 15.15 Public Collections: the Western context
speakers: Kathy Halbreich (Deputy Director MoMA NY); Alexandra Munroe
(Senior Curator on Asian art Solomon Guggenheim Museum New York);
Frances Morris (Head of collection international art Tate Modern
London)

15.30 – 16.15 Private collections and social engagement
speakers: Guan Yi (private collector – Beiing) and Uli Sigg (private
collector – Switzerland)

16.15 – 17.30 Public discussion

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 10th

Re-Value: The Construction and Consumption of Value in Contemporary is
split between two sessions, the seminar will first invite
representatives from museums, art journals, foundations, auction
houses and galleries to discuss the art system that constructs value
from art; and then invites collectors to discuss value from the other
side – those who recognize and consume the value in art.
The conference is co-hosted with UACC & ArtTactic.

Moderator: Philip Tinari, Chief Editor of LEAP Magazine

14 – 15.30 Part 1: Construction of Value
speakers: Anna Waldmann (The Sherman Foundation, Australia); Simon
Groom (Director of Modern & Contemporary Art, National Galleries of
Scotland), Shen Qibin (Director, Zendai Himalayas Museum of Art), Lu
Jie (Director, Long March Space & Foundation)

16 – 17.30 Part 2: Consumption of Value
speakers: Sylvain Levy (Collector from France, and the Founder of DSL
Collection), Deddy Kusuma (Collector from Indonesia Hallam Chow:
Collector from Hongkong, and the Founder of H2 Foundation for Art and
Education), Qiao Zhibin (Collector – Beijing), Gong Nana (Collector
from Beijing, and the Founder of UACC)

Established in 2007, ShContemporary has become an essential art fair
in Asia. Its leading position in China, focus on experimental ideas,
and commitment to developing new collectors in the region, has made it
an art fair with a clear vision for the future of the Asian market.
The fourth edition will be held from 9th to 12th September at the
amazing Shanghai Exhibition Centre. Preview and Vernissage on
September 8th.

For more information please visit: www.shcontemporary.info

Exhibition: THIS MODERN WORLD?

Please join us for the exhibition THIS MODERN WORLD? An art as billboard project at the Cool Docks

欢迎大家参与我们的展览〈这个现代社会？》老码头广告艺术

Artists 艺术家: Chitra Ganesh, Lawrence Weiner, Christoph Draeger, Olaf Breuning, Marc Lafia, Euan MacDonald, Yang Zhenzhong／杨振中, Hu Jieming 胡介鸣, Lore Vanelslande, Heidi Voet, Kenneth Tin-Kin Hung, Langsland & Bell ... 其他参与画册的人With additional entries by: MadeIn, Eva & Franco Mattes, Chen Hanfeng, James Carl, Jean-Christian Bourcart, Huang Xiaopeng, Zhou Xiaohu, and Lian Dongya

时间Time: 开幕式 Opening 2010.09.07 22:30 还有其他展览和晚会with additional events and party 2010.09.07 - 2010.10.31

地点Place: 老码头Cool Docks, 中山南路505号 和新码头路， 近复兴路 Zhongshan Dongyi Lu 505 @ Xin Matou Lu near Fuxing Lu

Mathieu Borysevicz, curator 马修，策展人

Exhibition: Useful Life2010: MadeIn, Yang Fudong, Yang Zhenzhong

Useful Life2010 -- MadeIn, Yang Fudong, Yang Zhenzhong

2010-07-25 18:12

ShanghART/Gallery/PressRelease

Opening
Sept. 10th, 2010, Friday (5pm-8pm)
Duration:
Sept. 11th, 2010 - Nov. 5th, 2010
ShanghART H-Space, 50 Moganshan Rd. Bldg.18

H-Space, bldg 18, 50 Moganshan Road, Shanghai

How long is the validity of an exhibition, 10 years or longer? 10 years ago, it was in the millennial 2000 that Chinese contemporary art reached its new start. In that autumn, three budding young artists, Yang Fudong, Yang Zhenzhong and Xu Zhen, launched their group exhibition in Shanghai, known as Useful Life 2000. The remarkable success of this exhibition brings them to the spotlight of the Chinese contemporary art, even the world stage.

Today, decade after the exhibition, they will “revalidate” it again, which is Useful Life 2010. In these years, three novas have evolved to the elite of Chinese contemporary art. Meanwhile, the contemporary art faces a different context in china from the former era. Now these three artists decide to make an extension of the useful life, and brand new works will be shown. All these works will indicate the maturity, the introspection and the track of their art, especially their firm attitude. ShanghART is looking forward to meet you in this autumn and see the beginning of the new useful life.

Related Exhibitions:

Mandatory: Co-launch of Materials of the Future in Shanghai, Sept 11, 4pm

Arthub Asia is the proud organizer of the co-launch of Materials of
the Future: Documenting Contemporary Chinese Art from 1980-1990and
Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents in co-operation with
Minsheng Art Museum in Shanghai on September 11, 4pm. Speakers include: Doryun Chong, Jane DeBevoise, Wu Shanzhuan (Artist), Shi Yong (Artist), Wu Hung and Yu Youhan (Artist)

Asia Art Archive (AAA) and The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) celebrate
the completion of two documentary projects that are essential to a
deeper understanding of the history of contemporary Chinese art: AAA's
Materials of the Future: Documenting Contemporary Chinese Art from
1980-1990 and MoMA's publication of Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary
Documents. The two organizations will co-launch both projects in major
cities in China and in New York in the fall of 2010 with a series of
public programs. These milestone projects focus on the dramatic
development and growth of Chinese contemporary art over the last three
decades by documenting, collecting and translating critical
discussions, primary materials and key texts.

Materials of the Future: Documenting Contemporary Chinese Art from 1980-1990

The 1980s was a seminal period in China's recent art history. During
this time, many of China's most celebrated artists attended art
academies, held their first exhibitions, and developed the
intellectual foundation for the art practices that have contributed to
their present success. In order to foster research into this
transformative moment in Chinese history, AAA has undertaken a four
year focused archiving project; collecting, indexing and preserving
rare documentary and primary source materials. As a result, AAA has
collected hundreds of texts published during the 1980s, completed 75
video-taped interviews, produced a documentary film, and digitized the
personal archives of renowned artists and curators, including Fei
Dawei, Zhang Xiaog ang, Zheng Shengtian, Lu Peng, Mao Xuhui and Wu
Shanzhuan, to name a few. With a total of over 70,000 digital
documents, AAA now maintains the world's largest and most
systematically organized archive of documentary material on the
period. This scholarly resource will be freely accessible and open to
the public from AAA's physical premises as well as through a dedicated
web portalwww.china1980s.org starting September 2010.

Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents

Despite the liveliness and creativity of avant-garde Chinese art in
the post-Mao era and its prominence in the world of international
contemporary art, a systematic introduction to this important work in
any Western language is still lacking. Contemporary Chinese Art:
Primary Documentsremedies this situation by bringing together
carefully selected primary texts in English translation. The documents
included range from the manifestos of avant-garde groups, prefaces to
important exhibitions, writings by representative artists, important
critical, and analytical essays andothers. Arranged in chronological
order, the texts guide readers through the development of avant-garde
Chinese art from 1976 until 2006. Edited by Wu Hung, Director of the
Center for the Art of East Asia and Consulting Curator at the Smart
Museum of Art at the University of Chicago, with the assistance of
Peggy Wang, Assistant Professor at Denison University, Contemporary
Chinese Art: Primary Documents is published by The Museum of Modern
Art and will be available at MoMA Stores and online at
www.MoMAStore.org in September 2010. It is distributed to the trade by
Duke University Press, www.dukeupress.edu.

Schedule of Public Program

The co-launch will be accompanied by a series of discussion forums
with artists, curators and scholars:

Hong Kong, 7th September, 6.30 – 8.30pm, Hong Kong Arts Centre
Speakers include: Chen Tong (Artist), Doryun Chong (Associate Curator
of Painting & Sculpture at MoMA), Jane DeBevoise (Chair of Board of
Directors of AAA), Wang Aihe (Associate Professor, School of Chinese,
The University of Hong Kong), Wu Hung (Director of the Center for the
Art of East Asia, and Consulting Curator at the Smart Museum of Art at
the University of Chicago) and Xu Tan (Artist)

Beijing, 9th September, 6.30 – 8.30pm, The Central Academy of Fine Arts

Speakers include: Doryun Chong, Jane DeBevoise, Song Dong (Artist),
Huang Rui (Artist), Wu Hung and Xu Bing (Artist)

Shanghai, 11th September, 4 – 6pm, Minsheng Art Museum in cooperation
with Arthub Asia

Speakers include: Doryun Chong, Jane DeBevoise, Wu Shanzhuan (Artist),
Shi Yong (Artist), Wu Hung and Yu Youhan (Artist)

New York, 15th October, 6:30pm, The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Speakers include: Huang Rui (Artist), Jane DeBevoise, Lin Tianmiao
(Artist), Sarah Suzuki (Assistant Curator of Prints & Illustrated
Books at MoMA), and Wu Hung, among other leading artists and critics
of Contemporary Chinese art. The event will be followed by a
reception, where the book will be available for purchase.

Organizers of co-launch: ArtHub Asia in co-operation with Minsheng Art
Museum (Shanghai), Asia Art Archive (Hong Kong), The Central Academy
of Fine Arts (Beijing), and The Museum of Modern Art (New York)

Organizers:

Asia Art Archive (Hong Kong)

Asia Art Archive is a young and dynamic organisation initiated in 2000
as a direct response to the increasing number of Asian contemporary
art exhibitions and events world wide. Based in Hong Kong, AAA, a
non-profit organisation and registered charity, is dedicated to
documenting the recent history of visual art from the region within an
international context.

The first art education centre and library of its kind, AAA boasts one
of the most comprehensive collections of primary and secondary source
material on contemporary Asian art in the world, with over 26,000
titles accessible to the public, free of charge, via its physical
space andsearchable from its website. From its inception, AAA has
acknowledged its position in the field as more than a static
collection of material waiting to be discovered. Through the regular
initiation of educational and public programs, AAA endeavours to be
pro-active in instigating dialogue and critical thinking, and in
introducing as wide an audience as possible to this rich resource. 11F
Hollywood Centre, 233 Hollywood Road, Hong Kong.www.aaa.org.hk

MoMA (New York)

Founded in 1929 as an educational institution, The Museum of Modern
Art is dedicated to being the foremost museum of modern art in the
world. Central to The Museum of Modern Art's mission is the
encouragement of an ever-deeper understanding and enjoyment of modern
and contemporary art by the diverse local, national, and international
audiences that it serves. www.moma.org

MoMA's International Program, established in 1952, builds and
maintains relationships between the Museum and a diverse network of
modern and contemporary art communities across the globe. Through a
series of international programs and publications, the department
fosters learning, critical discourse, and exchange on international
models of museological, curatorial, and artistic best practices.

The Central Academy of Fine Arts (Beijing)

The Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) is a leading institution for
modern art education in China, and has nurtured many pre-eminent
artists in the past ninety years. In the 1980s, CAFA was the breeding
ground for the first generation of contemporary art critics and
curators who contributed to the development of New Wave art in the
1980s that culimated in the organization of the legendary 1989
China/Avant-garde exhibition.www.cafa.edu.cn/

ArtHub Asia in co-operation with Minsheng Art Museum (Shanghai)
Founded in 2007, ArtHub Asia (link to www.arthubasia.org) is a
multi-disciplinary organization devoted to contemporary art creation
in China and rest of Asia. In collaboration with museums and other
public / private spaces and institutions, it initiates and delivers
ambitious art projects through a sustained dialogue with visual,
performance, and new media artists. Directors: Davide Quadrio, Defne
Ayas, Qiu Zhijie. ArtHub Asia is a Network Partner of the Prince Claus
Fund 2008-2010.

ArtHub Asia is working with Minsheng Art Museum (Shanghai) to organize
this event. Minsheng Art Museum is a non-profit arts organization
established by the China Minsheng Bank in 2008.

Materials of the Future: Documenting Contemporary Chinese Art from
1980-1990 is made possible by the generous support of The Robert H.N.
Ho Family Foundation, The W.L.S. Spencer Foundation, Ilyas and Mara
Khan, and Foundation for Arts Initiatives

Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents is made possible by lead
sponsor The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation. Generous support is
provided by The International Council of The Museum of Modern Art.
Additional funding is provided by Budi Tek, Byron A. Meyer, E. Rhodes
& Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, Jerry I. Speyer and Katherine G.
Farley, Blakemore Foundation, Guy and Myriam Ullens, LLWW Foundation,
OCT Contemporary Art Terminal of He Xiangning Art Museum (OCAT), Anne
H. Bass, Jo Carole Lauder, Larry Warsh and AW Asia, Robert Rosenkranz
Foundation, Vicki and Roger Sant, Agnes Gund, Robert E. Meyerhoff, The
Fran and Ray Stark Foundation, H.R.H. Duke Franz of Bavaria, Jack
Shear, Thierry Barbier-Mueller, Mr. Marc Besen AO and Mrs. Eva Besen
AO, Lyn and Jerry Grinstein in honor of Jay Levenson, Sophia Sheng,
Eleanor Ford Sullivan, Migs Wright, Constance Caplan, Uli Sigg, and
Lenore a nd Bernard Greenberg.

The co-launch events are made possible with the generous support of
The International Council of The Museum of Modern Art, The Robert H.
N. Ho Family Foundation, and additional support from Hong Kong Arts
Centre and JIA Boutique Hotels.

For more information about Materials of the Future: Documenting
Contemporary Chinese Art from 1980-1990, please Phoebe Wong
atphoebe@aaa.org.hk
For Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents, please contact
Hannah_Kim@moma.org

Exhibition: Dedicated to money makers

Dedicated to money makers | Li Ming, Lin Ke, Yang Junling

Opening: September 10th, 2010, Friday, 17:00

Exhibition dates: September 11th to 30th, Mon-Fri, 10:00-18:00

Venue: MadeIn Space

4/F, Bldg 7, 50 Moganshan Road, 200060 Shanghai

T: +86 21 62985696 / F: +86 21 62504562

“Dedicated to money makers” presents works by Li Ming, Lin Ke and Yang Junling. Three artists, three friends, who have been living and creating together, sharing their thoughts and ideas, since the first time they met in 2006 at the China Academy of Art.

Their works often focus on various aspects of their daily life, random objects and leisure games. Their videos, partly improvised, present them alternatively in the role of the artist or the subject (filming and being filmed), and reflect a tacit understanding, individual opinions and spontaneous attitudes.

In his videos, Li Ming (born in 1986) emphasizes basic, almost instinctive, human feelings and body-related details, or narrates semi-fictional stories taking place in a daily life environment. Lin Ke’s(b.1984) minimal installations propose new perspectives as well as insolite functions to common materials or objects, giving them a new definition. Videos and installations of Yang Junling (b.1983) present bewildering, unexpected scenes in an ordinary background.

This exhibition constituting MadeIn Space’s first exhibition will be held from September 10th to 30th, 2010.

MadeIn Space

MadeIn Space is a non-profit center for contemporary art established by MadeIn Company. Providing artists and art collectives with a venue for exhibitions and activities, MadeIn Space curates and organizes various art events in view of promoting young emerging artists, developing creativity and cultivating art knowledge.

MadeIn Company

MadeIn company was established in 2009 in Shanghai by Xu Zhen. This pluri-disciplinary cultural company is devoted to art creation, production, promotion, support and curation.

“We Will Always Be Loyal to Cinema:” Jia Zhangke Assesses the Sixth Generation

by Isabella Tianzi Cai

Wang Xiaoshuai introduces Jia Zhangke as Lou Ye looks on at the BC
MOMA in Beijing (photo: Dan Edwards)
On July 25, Chinese film auteur Jia Zhangke spoke at Beijing's BC MOMA
about his feelings concerning China's Sixth Generation filmmakers. The
occasion was the Beijing premiere of Sixth Generation director Wang
Xiaoshuai's new feature Chongqing Blues. An unsubtitled video of Jia's
address can be found on Youku.com.

An abridged version of his remarks, titled "I Don't Believe That You
Can Predict Our Ending (Wo bu xiang xin ni neng cai dao wo men jie
ju)" had been published a week earlier in the Chinese newspaper The
Southern Weekly. We have translated some excerpts of the article
below.

Jia started by saying that he had not heard of the name "Sixth
Generation" until 1992. However, he was aware of the works by
directors such as Zhang Yuan, Wang Xiaoshuai, and Wu Wenguang.
Eventually these directors were deemed the pioneers of China's first
independent film movement.
A 21-year old at that time, Jia was filled with intense feelings when
he read a news article about Wang Xiaoshuai. In the article, Wang was
said to have climbed onto a freight train bound for Baoding in Hebei
Province to buy cheap black-and-white film stock. Jia was touched by
Wang's resourceful and audacious undertaking and deemed Wang one of
China's free-spirited dreamers who contributed a great deal to keeping
the Chinese culture of the 1990s alive.
Jia explained the significance of the works by the Sixth Generation
filmmakers as such:
"During the reform era, many people were marginalized because they
lacked power and money. Which of our films told the stories of these
people? Which, amongst them, induced society to acknowledge their
existence – helping the weak gain recognition? The Sixth Generation
filmmakers' films did. To me, their films are the gems of the Chinese
culture of the 1990s."
Jia averred that only films that could present the true stories of
China's reform were able to offer a strong foothold for people living
in today's volatile and materialistic world. He argued that in order
to produce this kind of story, filmmakers would need to withstand the
pressure of a market economy. He pointed out the irony that today,
"whenever a new independent film is out, the media like to mention the
box office results of similar independent productions in the past.
Before the film is even exhibited, they prognosticate its failure."
Yet, financial challenges aside, Jia still believed in something else
that was harder, but more rewarding, to overcome:
"Like any generation of film directions, we will get old, and we will
lose our creativity gradually but surely. The force that drags us
down, that instigates us to abandon our true selves, will continue to
grow. The fatigue that accompanies old age both physically and
mentally will invade us. Even selfishness has an increasing grasp on
us. However, for me, when I see those crowded streets, I feel inspired
all over again. They remind me why I wanted to make movies in the
first place."
Speaking of the future development of China's film industry, Jia was
realistic yet optimistic:
"We will continue to produce all kinds of good films, and will we
continue to produce all kinds of bad films. However, I believe that as
long as we are true to our selves, we will be able to keep our soul
alive. As long as we stay attuned to what's happening around us, our
creative energy will keep flowing."
Taking the French New Wave as a likely model and referent of the
future as well, Jia regarded the diverging paths taken by the Sixth
Generation filmmakers as a necessary offshoot. He also critiqued those
who did not want to embrace any changes in the future:
"After the French New Wave, Truffaut became a great commercial
director, with an outstanding box office; Godard became an auteur; but
most New Wave directors fell somewhere in between. Personal failures
and successes cannot speak for a generation. Conversely, the
accomplishments and failures of one's generation cannot be used to
gauge him or her. This, is out of date."
Tying the past with the future, Jia concluded by casting the Sixth
Generation filmmakers as the heroes and saviors of Chinese film
culture in the 90s and 00s:
"No matter what happens, we will always be loyal to cinema. If you are
willing to accept culture as an integral part of film, I will say to
you, for the past dozen years or so, all the best films that have
tried to embrace culture are by the Sixth Generation filmmakers."
Acknowledgements to Abel Chen and MCLC for bringing attention to Jia's
article and address

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Chinese Contemporary Artists--------------grow from single cultural
identity to multicultural identity

Catherine Qu

When we set the vertical timeline for Chinese art history into the
21st century, a lot of terms need to be newly explained, or you can
say, some of them have developed into further contents. Cultural
identity is exactly the one among them. With the increasing cultural
exchanges between the east and west, some of the Chinese artists come
to foreign countries to further their study while some of them, though
lived in China, come to develop a very good command of what happened
in the western art world.

Based on the above situation, we can start to talk about the
cultural identities of these artists. If we divide the dimension of
cultural identity into the following three kinds:

First of all, artists who based their lives and works in China can be
defined to live in the first dimension.

Secondly, artists who are foreigners who set their research branches
in China can be defined to live in the second dimension.

Thirdly, artists who have deep roots in China while migrate to foreign
countries come back to see China in a distance can be defined to live
in the third dimension.

Then we can apply the above divisions to contemporary Chinese art,
we can say that most artists are based on the third dimension. They
have both traditional Chinese and westernized education background and
switch their residences between foreign countries and China. So how do
they see China from switching themselves among being native Chinese,
foreigners, and overseas return group? And what happened during this
process?

Let's take individual examples to find the answer.

Xu Bing, who got his MA from China Fine Art Academy, migrated to the
U.S. in 1990, had a grand individual show through which he rewrote
some of the Chinese characters by English letters. This seems to be an
excellent example. As is known by all, calligraphy had long been a
cherished art form in Chinese art history before the contemporary art
period. Nowadays, with the emergence of electronics, more and more
Chinese people have got used to type characters and show characters by
slide. What's more, few contemporary art works are done by calligraphy
as Zhang Jianjun said:" To be sure, Chinese calligraphy is difficult
for Westerners to understand. However, the Chinese calligraphy world
is very traditional, and has not expanded its own work into
contemporary art. So it is not that contemporary art does not accept
calligraphy, but that the traditional calligraphy artists have not
gone into the contemporary art world." Thus, the calligraphy market
seems to be shrinking. However, there are a few contemporary artists
that use calligraphy as a tactic to translate into their art works
recently and one of them is Xu Bing. I think Xu Bing knew this
situation well, and he himself might be a good calligrapher. That is
because he stood on the first dimension, so he got to learn the
situation. After this, he started thinking the reason for this
shrinking market in the position of a foreigner. He was supposed to
ask himself what was the reason that lied behind this phenomenon. The
answer was easy to find. For the contemporary Chinese art, the biggest
market is the overseas market, and the foreigners cannot read the
characters nor can they get to know the deeper ideas behind them.
That's the information which can be learned from the second demotion.
So Xu Bing developed this new style---------using English letters to
rewrite Chinese characters. This process can be divided into two
parts. In the first place, foreigners did not see the characters as
Chinese, but a mass combination of English letters which they were
familiar with. On the second place, they reorganized them and tried to
make sense on their own interpretation. Through this process, the
English letters turned out to be one tiny part of a Chinese Character,
after this process was done; they were not English letters any more.
It is interesting to learn how Xu Bing developed such a good idea.
Actually, he expressed in one of his interviews that he knew most of
the westerners have a lot of interests in Chinese Calligraphy;
however, they lack access to learn the meaning and content of behind
every character. So he got the inspiration to introduce Chinese
calligraphy to western countries by repacking them. This was for sure
a good transition for the Chinese calligraphy to enter the
international art market.

Gu Wenda, anther calligraphy artist also shared the same skill as Xu
Bing, they both created installations which surrounded the viewer
with facsimiles of Chinese script. By doing so they became tricksters
playing a double conceptual game. They forced their audiences to move
from one culture to another. Their characters were unreadable for both
the Chinese and non-Chinese viewers; it is also unknowable whether the
texts were real or fake for both Chinese and non-Chinese
audiences."The concept of an unidentified Chinese language could have
been interpreted by Chinese viewers to support a myth of lost culture
or history; it could also have been interpreted by non-Chinese as
misunderstandings of exotic beauty."

Another two representative examples can be defined into a different
group as compared to Xu Bing and Gu Wenda, they were done by Qiu
Zhijie and Zhang Huan. Zhijie's work was called Lan Ting Xu. He wrote
a very famous Chinese essay from Jin Dynasty again and again in the
paper until all parts of the paper turned out to be total black. Zhang
Huan's work, which I think can be defined as a performance show, was
done by painting Chinese calligraphy on his head again and again until
his head was all covered. I put the two examples together because I
think they share much of the similarity. Based on the same situation
as Xu Bing, they linked calligraphy to be the material of their
performance show. They liberated art from specific working space like
desk and showed that calligraphy can be a modern material for doing
artwork. Their works were a good transformation of calligraphy art as
well.

Apart from calligraphy field, there are other fields where artists
stand on the third dimension and reflect they artwork on the content
of the first dimension.

For example, "the life of the peasants" is another long lasting
theme both in Cultural Revolution period and the contemporary art
period.

During the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution period,
peasants are always portrayed with PLA soldiers to show the harmony
between two parties as an illustration for Chairman Mao's so called
successful ideology.

In contemporary art field, the contents of peasants' life are
interpreted different. For example, Luo Zhongli's famous oil painting
"father" portrayed famers in such a realism and ugly way which was
attacked at that time for painting peasants into animal-like
appearance.

In the year 2010, Cai Guoqiang, another overseas Chinese
contemporary artist, hold an exhibition on the content of peasants'
life in the newly-built Rockbund Art Museum in Shanghai. This is such
an unconventional exhibition that I want to spare some time to talk
about. On the first floor, it is an exhibition hall where fifty kites
were audio-video installed. Within the exhibition hall, the wind from
a fan sways gently in the air, and projected onto each kite is the
story of a peasant invention.

What's more, Cai Guoqiang did a good job installing the room with
the simulation sound from the farm where locusts are singing in clear
voice. He multiplies the forms of this art work.

On the Second floor, there is a bunch of robots created by peasant
inventors. They are painting, walking, dancing and doing jobs
everywhere.

On third floor, a lot of planes rested on a fine grass where you are
supposed to find birds flying here and there. As Cai Guoqiang:" I want
to find the creativity of individual peasants in China, their
contributions to modernization, and the reality of their situation
today." These planes also correspond to the slogan outside the museum
which says:"What's important isn't whether you can fly."

The highlight of the exhibition is its theme, Cai Quangqiang showed
a unique insight into peasants life. He not only found the unusual
parts of the peasants and transformed them into such unconventional
and fantastic art forms. In this exhibition, Cai Guoqiang also gave
response to the Shanghai Expo by linking the slogan "Peasants-Making a
better city, a better life." The slogan was right outside the museum
and gives every visitor a shock, which comes with a really impressive
art show.

If we analyze the story, we can found that he interpreted the story
on the third dimension as well. Westerns have interests in Chinese
peasants' life, but again, they did not have enough access to learn.
By giving a eternalized title of this exhibition, and all the
high-tech installations, Cai Guoqiang did a good job in making his
artwork trans-nationalism.

"National flags" is also a field which Chinese artists like to do
something on it. During the Mao Years, the national flag of American
was always portrayed as the enemy that PLA solders would like to
fight. During the first field trip of this class, we went to a
underground museum which was filled with the propaganda from Mao's
times. All the national flags painted in these propagandas showed
strong emotion of hatred.

This emotion was inherited into the contemporary art world. In one
of the exhibition called Supermarket Exhibition which was held in
Guangzhou, the nation flags of the U.S were made into towels. The
artist use this special form to demonstrate his political ideas for
transformation and communication in modern culture

The last field I want to mention is the "TV news program". The CCTV
news program started in the year 1978 under the control of the
communist party. According to this principle, all the news that
announce in the program, should served the party and the communist.
Even the news announcers are carefully selected. The faces of the two
announcers have become national symbols since then. They seem to
represent the governments' statement and orders. So when Li Jianhua
who is a video installation artist based in Shanghai came to our class
and showed us the installation of the CCTV news program. It was really
awesome. When the woman news announcer said:"good night" to the
audience., her voice was cut by the word "night"; the second time, she
voice was cut even shorter, by doing this again and again, Li Jianhua
made this serious news program becoming amusing and iconic. This
showed his rebellion of his original cultural identity and his unique
thinking to transfer Chinese traditional news program to a the world
art market.

To end this paper, I'd like to say that the progress the Chinese
artists made to the international world also made them reflect
themselves more and rebel or revise from their original cultural
identity, they can see their artwork and the process of doing artwork
from a third dimension and make new changes for Chinese contemporary
art. Thus, the Chinese contemporary successfully embodies the
combination of east and west, traditional and avant-guard.

Response to Lynn Pan’s “HaiPai Culture” talk and the Arthub Symposium

Melody Song

Response to Lynn Pan's "HaiPai Culture" talk and the Arthub Symposium

Lynn Pan discussed how Shanghai's visual culture was formed from a
hodgepodge of global influences. These influences came through
different, and often amazing, channels. For example, the work of
Shanghainese graphic designers during the 1920-30s were inspired by
the Berlin Dada movement and George Grosz. Magazines like Vanity Fair
and Vogue, which were published in New York, were one such influential
channels of information in Shanghai.

This idea that "Shanghai visual style" was formed via
interweaving strands of influences that trace into the depths of
history and across geography, is important. The Arthub Symposium also
echoed the idea that there is an "exchange" involved in the formation
of a local art culture --- that art does not suddenly spring out from
an isolated, confined venue, and that it can be seen in a global
context. A major discussion in the symposium was how to define and
view "Contemporary Chinese art." Several speakers stated that we
should remove ourselves from the dogma of the "West influencing
Chinese art" or of the dogma separating Chinese Contemporary art from
the rest of the world. Defne, for example, discussed parallel
histories and occurrences that affected China and Turkish art.

My response to this question of "how to view Chinese Contemporary
art" is similar in that we should take a more global/open approach. I
think exploring the various historical "channels of information" into
China (like the Vanity Fair Magazines that Lynn Pan mentioned) is
worthwhile. It would shed interesting light on the socio-political
situation of China in relation to other countries, and on the identity
of "elite" information seekers and information-proliferators in China
that contributed to the art scene. I also think that we should explore
how Chinese art developed in reaction to similar historical trends in
other countries (like communism, globalization, industrialization).
This would allow us to better contextualize, and ultimately better
understand, Contemporary Chinese art history.

Ai Wei Wei and Xu Zhen: Art in Opposition

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Melody Song

Contemporary Art in China

June 18, 2010
Ai Wei Wei and Xu Zhen: Art in Opposition

Introduction

This paper will look at how the artist Ai Wei Wei and Xu Zhen
have used "opposition" to shape their identities and bodies of
artwork. These two artists established themselves as challengers of
existing paradigms and power structures. By setting themselves apart
from establishments like the Chinese government, history, or from
conventional art practices, Ai Wei Wei and Xu Zhen formed their
artistic identity and thematic drive behind their works. The paper
will specifically explore how the artists' have shown resistance in
the art, what they are opposing, and how this opposition has
contributed to their art creation.

Ai Wei Wei and Xu Zhen are but two of many Contemporary Chinese
artists who have created an "other" or object of resistance in making
art. However, in this paper I chose to closely examine these two
artists because they both target different power structures, and adopt
different methods in opposing the "other." Ai Wei Wei and Xu Zhen are
also considered the most provocative Chinese contemporary artists; Ai
Wei Wei is known for his public stance and gestures against the
Chinese government, and Xu Zhen is noted for attacking idea paradigms
such as unspoken rules on how art should be exhibited or the supposed
veracity of documentary films. Finally, I chose these artists because
Ai Wei Wei are is of the older, pioneering generation of Chinese
contemporary artists, while Xu Zhen is of the newer generation. The
paper can thus cover a wide time span of Contemporary Chinese art
history.
Ai Wei Wei

Ai Wei Wei (1960 –) is viewed as one of China's most
controversial artists and well-respected social activist. Despite
being labeled "a dissident to be wary of" by the Chinese government
(or perhaps because he was), his blog attracts 17 million people and
has successfully mobilized popular action. Ai was awarded the
prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award at the Chinese Contemporary Art
Awards, founded in 1998 by Uli Sigg1 (Birmingham).

Ai Wei Wei's works have always been political and critical of
power structures. Ai Wei Wei first entered the Chinese Contemporary
art scene (and many would argue, help start it) with his involvement
in the Stars Group and 1979 Stars Exhibition. The Stars exhibit, hung
on a fence between the museum and a public park, dissented against
Museum standards of good or bad art, and opposed the authority of the
museum in being the sole space for art exhibitions ("Ai Wei Wei at
Haines"). After Ai Wei Wei's return to China from New York in 1993, he
continued creating militant and subversive works. His series of
1999-2003 "Study of Perspective" showing his middle finger raised to
the White House, Eiffel Tower, and Tiananmen Square blatantly showed
opposition to symbols of power and elitism (Barboza). In addition, in
2000, Ai Wei Wei curated the shocking "Fuck Off" exhibition in time
for the Third Shanghai Biennale. The exhibition, according to Britta
Erickson in On the Edge, was a reaction against the "structure of the
art world" and a system that follows the judgment of critics and
curators in valuing art. Ai Wei Wei's exhibition was a powerful
statement of defiance against institutions and art dealers, and showed
unconventional art such as a dog skeleton in a glass case supposedly
containing poisonous gas, or a chair filled with meat (Erickson 41).
Through these early works, Ai Wei Wei shaped for himself an identity
of militancy and, especially, of uncooperative attitude towards the
government and authorities.

However, increasingly Ai Wei Wei has focused on creating art
with a more timely and definitive political message, and on social
activism. Ai is very active in blogging (in Sin or Bulog.cn) or
Twittering (Colonello)2. In fact, Ai stated that he wanted to stop
doing art and focus on politics (Toy). His main ideological value, as
revealed in a 2008 interview with the Guardian, is the freedom of
choice. Ai Wei Wei's favorite target of criticism is the Chinese
government, which, according to the artist, has failed to represent
freedom but rather, corruption and autocracy. In the interview, Ai Wei
Wei explains his refusal to attend the Bird Nest Stadium Opening
Ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Olympics for precisely this reason. He
did not believe that China changed ("Ai Wei Wei: why"). Ai Wei Wei had
co-designed the Bird Nest Stadium with the Swiss architectural firm
Herzog & de Meuron, but pulled out his support (and name) from the
project in a blatant public gesture against the Chinese authorities.

One of Ai Wei Wei's recent political projects is the 2007
"Sichuan Earthquake Names Project." By using his popular blog as a
communication platform, Ai Wei Wei investigated how government
corruption contributed to the collapse of many school buildings3. In
addition, because the government refused to publish a list of the
names of killed students, Ai Wei Wei mobilized researchers and
volunteers to do this task. The Names Project discovered the names of
5,190 students. Ai Wei Wei's project shed a sharp, illuminating light
on corrupt government practices. He opposed the government's actions
on trying to veil the situation (Toy).

Another of Ai Wei Wei's social activist works is his auction of
a bag of Sanlu Milk Powder in cooperation with Vitamin Art Gallery4.
The money from the auction was used to buy coats and supplies for
people appealing grievances to the government. Ai remarked that he was
able to "turn a small [art] matter into a relief aid fund for rights
defending." (MacKinnon).

To Ai Wei Wei, "protect[ing] the right of expression is the
central part of an artist's activity." In order to do this, he
fiercely critiques the government and other power structures through
this art or social work (Colonello). Voicing himself and his opinions,
to him, is a responsibility as a human being. As stated in his
interview with The Guardian, "it is not a choice, [but] it's the way I
live" ("Ai Wei Wei: why"). Resisting repression is the driving force
and purpose behind Ai Wei Wei's identity and art. And in order to
achieve this mission, Ai Wei Wei has embraced means other than art
such as blogging and guerilla investigations5.

In addition, this higher social purpose imbues Ai Wei Wei's art
with deeper meaning. Ai's art holds a message beyond simply creating
something aesthetically beautiful. The art is imbued with power
because it refers to specific events and ideas6, and reacts against
specific injustices such as the Sichuan earthquake in his "Snake
Ceiling" work7. There is more concrete meaning behind the art that
viewers can reference to. Furthermore, Ai uses criticism against the
government as a platform for creation and contribution. Through
"destructive" or aggressive actions of criticizing the government, Ai
also "creates" and "builds up" the political arena. Ai has helped
pressure the Chinese government to become more transparent and
accountable. For example, after the "Sichuan Earthquake Names
Project," the government was pressured to change the official casualty
numbers. Another example is the Sanlu milk powder auction. The work
critiqued the government's corruption, and at the same time, made
concrete aid to those appealing to the government.

Although I mostly dwelled on Ai Wei Wei's opposition to the
Chinese government, it is important to note that he has other targets
of resistance as well. Ai Wei Wei is a complex and nuanced artist. For
example, Ai Wei Wei's 1990s series of painting and smashing ancient
urns with a Coca Cola logo or with bright pop-like colors critiqued
how society has no place for valuable history: no museums were willing
to accept the vases which dated back to the 3000-5000 B.C.; the
priceless urns were considered trash. Ai Wei Wei also dealt with the
divorce between reality and fantasy in his "Fairytale 1001" (2007)
project by making something fantastical into reality8. He does not
only engage in political opposition, but looks at the contradictions
we hold in life itself and our daily experiences. This sense of
humanity and maturity in Ai Wei Wei's work has evolved over time. At
first Ai took more crude means to provoke (such as raising his middle
finger to the White House or smashing urns), but it seems Ai is now
more nuanced and subtle in his art (his "Map of China" (2004) does not
scream controversial commentary on China and Taiwan).

One may ask, if Ai Wei Wei is solely motivated by social
activism and resistance to autocracy, why does he not give up art
completely as blogging and social media have proved more effective
than art in moving the masses9? However, I believe that despite all of
Ai Wei Wei's hype on how he does not believe in art for arts sake, he
also knows that there is value in beauty. I personally respect how the
political content of his pieces do not compromise the aesthetics of
his creations. The Chandelier (2002), which supposedly satirizes the
Chinese government taste in aesthetics, is beautiful. So is Ai Wei
Wei's Snake Ceiling (2009) work. The black and white colors of the
backpacks give a solemn, funereal impression. This, in conjunction to
the snake-like coil of the work, powerfully evokes the monster-like
Sichuan earthquake that devoured school children. It is true that
social media is more effective in mobilizing people. However, I feel
that there is still something that can be embodied in art and
transferred to the viewer – something more gutteral and resonant in
the soul – that can't be done through other means. Art can be
powerful, and I believe that Ai Wei Wei realizes this.

As I have argued, militancy and resistance have largely shaped
and motivated Ai Wei Wei's works. However, Ai is also a very complex
and nuanced artist. The lens of opposition is only one way (and
ideally it should be used with other lenses of examination for greater
honesty) in studying this controversial figure.

Xu Zhen

Xu Zhen (1977 –) engages in video, performance, installation,
and photography works. Unlike Ai Wei Wei, he is less politically
driven, and challenges cultural taboos (such as sex) and paradigms in
the art world. His target of resistance is simply, the "norm" or what
is considered socially orthodox. According to his 2006 interview with
Lu Leiping, Xu Zhen's mentality in making art "was the same as a
hooligan going out for a fight. Hooligans have attitude! Hooliganism
is a way of life, an attitude towards life" (Leiping). Xu Zhen engages
in art with a fighting attitude.

Xu Zhen's works "1.86 Meters" (2005) and "Starving of Sudan"
(2007) challenge the foundations behind documentary works. It is an
attack on the accepted practices of the art world. The "1.86 Meters"
piece is a documentary film that shows Xu Zhen climbing to the summit
of Mt. Everest and sawing off 1.86 meters (also Xu Zhen's physical
height) of the mountaintop. The supposed tip of the mountain was
"moved" to the gallery space, where the displaced chunk of ice was
supplemented with drawings, texts, and related materials. However, the
whole event was fictitious and shot in Xu Zhen's studio. Thus, this
work challenges the unassuming trust viewers give to documentaries.
The audience was falsely led to believe that Xu Zhen had really
climbed the mountain. According to art historian Lu Leiping, the piece
"overturn[ed]" and "disrupt[ed]" accepted social and historical
principles. Because the event of Xu Zhen climbing the mountain was
fictitious, audience members also began to challenge Xu Zhen's
published 8848.13 meter height of Mount Everest (Leiping). The
audience did not know what to believe and what to listen to with a
grain of salt.

Xu Zhen's "Starving of Sudan" (2007) challenged the autonomy and
objective "non-presence" of a documentary photographer when he is
photographing his surroundings. Xu Zhen recreated the famous 1993
photograph of a Sudanese child about to be preyed on by a vulture by
Kevin Carter. As soon as the photographer clicked the shutter, the
vulture carried the child away. This photo challenged the ethical
responsibility of the photographer. Xu Zhen highlighted this moral
tension, as well as the nonchalance of the audience in viewing such a
situation, by placing an African American child (watched by his
mother) next to a stuffed vulture. According to Lee Ambrozy, audience
members in high heels would grin "how cute" to the child, and leave
(Ambrozy).

Xu Zhen also challenged the art world paradigm by curating
controversial exhibits. Xu Zhen was co-founder of BizArt, a non-profit
artist support group, which pioneered new art forms and art
experimentation in China. The "Art for Sale" exhibit (2007) recreated
a supermarket of altered or invented consumer products that people
could purchase cheaply (Bepler). The exhibit challenged the
traditional view of art as removed from daily life. It also challenged
the image of art showed in galleries as priceless or unattainable to
the average person. Xu Zhen's experimental "Twin" exhibition or "Fang
Mingzhen & Fang Mingzhu" (2002) challenged the art world rule that no
two same pieces or similar works can be displayed in the same gallery.
The gallery was composed of two mirror-image spaces that showed
similar, very slightly altered, works. Xu Zhen's performance piece
"March 6" also upturned the exhibition dynamics of audience and art
piece. 200 students and workers were each employed to follow one
person, at two meters distance, throughout the entire exhibit. The
audience members were "watched" by the art (the performance artists),
reversing their role from being the viewer to the viewed (Leiping).

Xu Zhen not only challenges the institutional practices and
norms in the art world, he challenges basic assumptions in daily life.
A key example is "In Just a Blink of an Eye" (2007) which challenges
gravity itself. An performer would remain frozen mid-way in a fall.
This was achieved through the support of hidden iron rods. The piece
"Never Falls" (2006), a larger-than-life coin, never stops spinning
and therefore, never falls ("Xu").

What does opposition and "hooliganism" do for Xu Zhen? Like Ai
Wei Wei, Xu Zhen's militancy against the status quo is a major driving
force behind his works. Overturning the norm is a major source of
inspiration for him, often moving Xu Zhen to experiment with unusual
art media (e.g. performance) and subject matter (e.g. sex). I
mentioned how Ai Wei Wei engages in creation through destruction; by
critiquing the government, Ai sometimes impacts the government's
actions for the better or he creates social projects that make
concrete change. Xu Zhen also "builds up" through his opposition. Xu
Zhen stretched the boundaries of the art world with regards to subject
matter, philosophy, and media through his experimentations. Xu Zhen
also forces the audience to open their minds to new kinds of art and
ideas, just as his "March 6" work allowed the audience can become the
art themselves.

One major difference between Xu Zhen and Ai Wei Wei's objectives
in "resisting something" is who they are making art for. I feel that
Xu Zhen's art is very self-absorbed. He makes a project if he feels
"it is interesting." In fact, in an interview Xu Zhen says that is the
sole reason why he made a video bashing a cat on the floor (Xiaoyun).
Xu Zhen makes art for himself, and is controversial for his personal
satisfaction. Ai Wei Wei, on the other hand, is increasingly motivated
to make art for the people. He quotes "there is no art for arts sake"
(Colonello). Ai Wei Wei believes that, if he is to continue art, it
must be political so that it will help society and people. This may be
why Ai Wei Wei's recent artworks like the "Snake Ceiling" are very
specific in reference and meaning, connecting back to critique on the
Chinese government. Xu Zhen's art, unlike Ai Wei Wei, explores his
personal interests such as "sex" (a provoking topic in itself).

Conclusion

Ai Wei Wei and Xu Zhen are both driven by militancy in their art
creations and identity. Ai Wei Wei is more politically focused; his
predominant "enemy" is the Chinese government. He opposes power
structures that restrict freedom of expression. Xu Zhen mostly
challenges idea paradigms and unspoken rules in the art world and in
daily life. Opposition has been the thematic link, source of
inspiration, and motivator throughout both Xu Zhen and Ai Wei Wei's
pieces, be it video, performance, or installation. Opposition in the
form of art has also allowed the artists to "contribute" to their very
target of resistance. Ai Wei Wei is contributing to the increased
accountability and transparency of the Chinese government through his
social critiques and political art. Xu Zhen widened the field of art
and exhibition by questioning its boundaries. He also tipped over idea
paradigms, even if just for a moment, like that of gravity via his
art.

I understand that analyzing both artists solely through the lens
of "dissidence" and "resistance" is too simplifying. Ai Wei Wei, for
one, is motivated to do art not only for political action. He cares
for aesthetics as well. Simplifying the artists' very target of
resistance, such as the government for Ai Wei Wei, would also be
incorrect. However, looking at how defiance and opposition have
shaped the identities and works of these artists is important. This is
because, I believe, our identities are to a considerable extent formed
from setting ourselves apart from our surroundings10. "Not being
something" can define one's identity just as "being something" is. In
addition, I believe that opposition against something – the very
mentality of "fighting" – can serve as powerful drivers of action and
fuel for art creation. As it has been for Ai Wei Wei and Xu Zhen, it
may serve as a purpose in life or role as an artist. In order to
deeply understand Xu Zhen and Ai Wei Wei, looking at how they have set
themselves apart from the norm and power structures is integral.

Works Cited
"Ai Weiwei at Haines Gallery." Happenstand. 15 Apr. 2010. Web. 17 June
2010. <http://www.happenstand.com/sanfrancisco/events/3484-ai-weiwei>.

"Ai Weiwei: Why I'll Stay Away from the Olympics' Opening Ceremony."
The Guardian. The Guardian, 7 Aug. 2008. Web. 17 June 2010.
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/aug/07/olympics2008.china>.

Ambrozy, Lee. "Xu Zhen: Impossible Is Nothing." Artreview.com. Web. 18
June 2010. <http://www.artreview.com/forum/topic/show?id=1474022:Topic:576706>.

Barboza, David, and Lynn Zhang. "The Clown Scholar: Ai Weiwei."
ArtZineChina.com. ArtZineChina.com. Web. 18 June 2010.
<http://www.artzinechina.com/display_vol_aid180_en.html>.

Bepler, Sine. "ShanghART Supermarket." ShanghART Gallery Shanghai. 26
Nov. 2007. Web. 18 June 2010.
<http://www.shanghartgallery.com/galleryarchive/texts/id/794>.

Birmingham, Lucy. "Who Is Ai Weiwei?" ARTINFO. ArtInfo, 10 Aug. 2009.
Web. 17 June 2010.
<http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/32223/who-is-ai-weiwei/?page=1>.

Colonello, Nataline. "An Interview with Ai Weiwei." ArtZineChina.com.
ArtZine China, 10 Aug. 2008. Web. 17 June 2010.
<http://www.artzinechina.com/display.php?a=499>.

Leiping, Lu. "Xu Zhen: Provoked and Provoking Art." ShanghArt Gallery.
ShanghArt Gallery, June 2006. Web. 18 June 2010.
<http://china.shanghartgallery.com/galleryarchive/texts/id/786>.

Ma, Wendy. "Picasso of China or Voice of Dissent: Who Is Ai Wei Wei?
Profile « Art Radar Asia." Art Radar Asia. 22 Sept. 2009. Web. 17 June
2010. <http://artradarasia.wordpress.com/2009/09/22/picasso-of-china-or-voice-of-dissent-who-is-ai-wei-wei-profile/>.

MacKinnon, Rebecca. "Ai Weiwei: On Taking Individual Responsibility."
RConversation. 22 Jan. 2009. Web. 17 June 2010.
<http://rconversation.blogs.com/rconversation/2009/01/conversation-with-ai-weiwei.html>.

Ng, David. "Artist Ai Weiwei Makes Rare U.S. Appearance to Talk about
Digital Activism." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 15 Mar. 2010.
Web. 17 June 2010.
<http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2010/03/artist-ai-weiwei-makes-rare-us-appearance-to-talk-about-digital-activism.html>.

Toy, Mary Anne. "The Artist as an Angry Man." The Age. The Age, 19
Jan. 2008. Web. 17 June 2010.
<http://www.theage.com.au/news/in-depth/the-artist-as-an-angry-man/2008/01/18/1200620207518.html?page=fullpage>.

Xiaoyun, Chen. "An Interview with Xu Zhen." ShanghART Gallery
Shanghai. 2001. Web. 18 June 2010.
<http://www.shanghartgallery.com/galleryarchive/texts/id/588;jsessionid=3791e639e82b1079977bac0a05c1>.

"Xu Zhen - Selected Works." James Cohan Gallery. Web. 17 June 2010.
<http://www.jamescohan.com/artists/xu-zhen/>.

want my soul to come out of my mouth

A conversation between Alexa Haas and Lisa Lim

>早上好！
～早上好。

>Haha are you nervous? Don't be nervous.

~Haha I am nervous. I don't know what I will say. I think ever since I
started getting serious about a film career I've been scared of that
one day where I would be interviewed and what I say really matters.
>No, you shouldn't think of it like that. This is really casual, don't think of it as an interview, I mean an interview is really just a conversation. I just want to know about your experience and thoughts this semester.
~But in relation to art, right?
>Well, this is for your art class.

~Yea, but I think what I am scared of going into this is that I think
I have to talk about everything at once in order to express anything I
am thinking.
>I know, I know, that's why we decided it would be better for you to record this conversation than write an essay…So where should we start?

~I guess…we could start from the first exhibit we went to. The
Propaganda Poster exhibit. Because looking back now, it seems like I
didn't really know anything then. I mean, that is day one, so. Well,
it was called "Art is History," which I personally had always believed
too. Once when I was taking psychology, which I failed, my professor ~
Professor Coons ~ wrote this one thing in the course reader. We never
talked about it in class or anything, but when I read that line, it
seriously altered they way I looked at society and people and film and
art especially. Ugh, I wish film and art were seen as the same thing,
but they are such different businesses. But they are so…!! They are
recording the same history!!! If you look at film in China after the
Cultural Revolution, it tells exactly the same story.

>Wait, tell me first about what your professor said? Or wrote I mean.

~Oh sorry sorry, it was something like…wait, I want to say it exactly
how it was: Myths and…legends….oh, "Myths, legends and fairytales
allow us to glimpse into those hidden concerns that are shared by
whole cultural groups." I mean, I've been reciting this sentence to
people for years, for three years since I took that class. It's like
on my facebook haha. Sometimes I say it and it feels like it loses
it's meaning. Like I just said it, and I'm like no wait, that's dumb
because that doesn't really have to do with anything.

>No, no, it makes sense. It is true. Do you think we can just reword it and say, "Art allows us to look at concerns shared by a peoples?" I mean who is telling today's myths and fairytales if not art? Like, is it politics…or…?
~Like maybe its newspapers too.

>Haha yea, I mean, well...actually, that's true. Actually, it is newspapers too. I think the media is telling its own myth too, maybe the myth the authorities want you to believe.

~God that sounds so ridiculous when you put it that way, for someone
to want to force you into believing a myth a certain way. But the myth
of the authorities doesn't express the hidden concerns of the people.
So it is really the art that does. Like the hidden concerns are in
reaction to the authorities' myth. The propaganda art museum is an
interesting place to begin, because no one was saying what they were
actually thinking. But it still expresses so much about that mindset
of that time.

>Mm, definitely, "the boundless power of people!" 努力努力！

~No that's that exactly it. Its like all about The People. Like, ughh,
I wish I could say it so simply! I am quite obsessed with the concept
of 'man and nature.' Like I seriously dig the concept of A Harmonious
Society of today's China. But listen, listen.

>I'm listening!!
~haha I know I just want to fully convey this thought to you: okay
so…Okay…Alright, so traditional Chinese paintings. Let's start there
and then go to now, okay?
>Haha okay, I'm with you, chillax~*

~So! Chinese traditional paintings. In the beginning of this semester,
the way people looked in the paintings quite bothered me. They weren't
particularly, I don't know, beautiful I guess? But then one day when I
was in the Forbidden City this guy asked me and my friend to come into
his studio, which was right inside the Forbidden City, to look at some
artwork that him and his art classmates made. They were studying
conventional form like traditional Chinese paintings. He said to me,
"look, look you see, the person is so small in the scene. It
represents the harmony between man and nature…" and I was like,
"ohhh!" that was a big realization for me. That is a concept that
doesn't exist anymore. The person is always emphasized.

>mmm…Lynn Pann showed us a painting during the HaiPai time, of a man etched in with full detail but his clothes are painted broadly in traditional smooth one-lines. She said that it was a painting in light of the Western model because of all the detail paid attention to the human figure. HaiPai.
~Ughhh everything is in light of the western model, it is so
frustrating!!! The western model suuuuucks.
>Don't you think it is necessary though to dissect the human before realizing themselves in accord with nature?

~mmm…that's quite a beautiful thought. Like exploring the oceans
before going to space. I think maybe that step is necessary, actually.
But I hope we are getting out of it and focusing on other things now.
Doesn't it seem like Chinese artists focus more on nature than the
authorities do? I think it is possible for a people to move forward
without their government. Wait…this is what I wanted to say. Tradish
Chinese paintings to propaganda art. they are complete opposites from
each other. And I think that mindset still exists today in today's
advertisements. Like for the expo especially. Like people perfectly
lit up by the sun, perfect conditions for people. Big smiling faces so
featured.

>Mm, I'd agree, it is an interesting connection. It makes it seem like maybe people in China haven't really changed in what they want. Because they are still advertising that big smiling face. Do you think that is what Yue Min Jun is poking fun at with his signiture smiling face.

~Ugh, you know I used to really like him. I mean, when I was signing
up for this class, I just typed in 'Contemporary Chinese Art' into
Google Images, because I actually had no idea what that would
entail…and I saw him. Or his work, I mean lol. I really loved him at
first seeing him, I felt like I understood the work on first viewing,
I felt like it made sense that it was Chinese Contemporary Art. Even
though then I was SO naïve, haha, it's ridiculous. I like didn't even
really know what happened at Tiananmen Square at that point,
god…that's so sad. I mean I had a general idea! Ah! Don't judge
me!...Anyway, when I first saw his work I thought it was a comment on
Chinese culture. I saw it quite positively. About real happiness, and
gay outings, and a comfort with the body ~ because I think the first
painting I saw was a painting of men in their slinky bodies laughing
with each other in their underwear. Now I see his paintings like
everywhere, like lots of fakes actually. Like in the fake market, they
have a lot of re-do's of his paintings. Isn't that interesting?
>I mean, he's been painting that face for more than a decade now. Like that's sort of absurd, don't you think? You think he would have had some like, life changing experience since then or something, that would make him look upon things differently. Even his compositions are pretty much consistent.
~Barbara said we could see it that he figured out a marketable icon,
and has just been making money off of it since then. And then JJ asked
us if we would want it hanging in our house, and we said yes, because
it is really happy. But I don't think I think that anymore.

>Propaganda Museum. Chinese Paintings.

~Mmm, I know, I think that really what lasts from each era is the art.
I mean maybe the newspapers will be kept on record, but I don't know,
I don't think it is taken as seriously as the art of a time. What is a
<<collective memory>>? You know, it is the images and songs of a
time.

>But you know, just because traditional Chinese paintings expressed harmony between man and nature, doesn't mean people in that time lived in that principle. So art can't really represent time.

~But what about "the Garden as the setting for a good life" ~ it was
more embedded in the everyday life of people in that time. Wasn't the
garden a necessary part of a family's house. I feel like that
represented an accordance with nature. Like right now, cities are so
gray and removed from nature. Mm but I guess I actually don't know
enough about how people actually acted in their everyday during that
traditional Chinese painting period, but like, I think it became like
a practice. I mean, like those students in Beijing are still painting
Chinese paintings in the same way right now, but maybe without fully
understanding the principles. Or I mean, they must. But those
propaganda posters encapsulate it all about that time. Even the lies,
and especially the fantasy of the time.
>Did you see Zhang Dali's: A Second History ? That book is in Defne's library in the student lounge…?

~Mmm, I've looked at it. When Gu Zheng, the photographer/Fudon U.
professor came to visit he showed us some pictures from that book. Mao
digging a hole with a fellow comrade, whom he later denounced, so the
picture was modified to be just Mao digging alone. So crazy…

>Ya, I know. That book is like, incredible.

~Gu Zheng introduced to me the idea of reality vs. 'posed reality.'
Like he personally really enjoyed going into the street to take
pictures, in response to propaganda photos. People look at a
photograph to confirm something about reality. And he thought that the
street is a stage for the truth of everyday life. He found the work he
was producing to be very political because he was showing real daily
life in a way that the authorities try to hide.

>Yea China did that again in order to prepare for the expo. It's like cleaning your room before the maids come, because you don't want to be thought of messy. They want to appear a certain way.

~Yea but you can't pose people in real life the way you want them to
be. So taking pictures of real daily life is really the opposition of
a <<forced image>>. Naturally, I started thinking about film, because
it is so often all posed. But that is not all true, because right now
there is a strong movement of shooting on location, heavily
improvised, low-budget, independent films – all around the world
including China. But it is always true of Hollywood. Hollywood's
representation of life is as fantastical as propaganda art. I thought
about how China Film Bureau only imports twenty foreign films a year.
Most of which are Hollywood movies. So this is how the Chinese people
view American society really. This semester, I got with a Chinese guy,
BinBin. And he like completely misinterpreted what people are like in
America. I think he thought we were like out of a Hollywood movie. It
was like, ridiculous. He told me he liked me then immediately went in
for a passionate-ass kiss. Like it could be so simple! I asked my
Chinese friends if this was normal Chinese behavior, and they said,
"no it means he is a bad person." Haha. But we had sex later in the
year, he put like the craziest cheesy song ridden with electric violin
on repeat, and it must have played like 90 times that night. It
reminds me of a quote from this Brazilian movie, Eu Sei Que Vou Te
Amar : "Do you think love has always existed? No…there was no love in
Babylon…Love was invented by American movies to make money."

>Mmm…I think the Chinese are rather fond of the Hollywood mindset, but I think that is because Chinese itself is just a very sentimental culture. Especially the language. I think the Chinese, culturally, perceive that fantastical happy world as something that is attainable. Like look at "harmonious society."
~Defne put it like, "a perversion of emotions."

>mmm…but there is another thing about Hollywood's influence on China. I mean, just that American mindset. In the 90s, mimicking consumer culture, mimicking the way American movies look even, let's think about China in the 80s. How would you describe the way art of the 80s looked in like, let's say, three words:
~mmm…Earthy – like I think of a lot of black and brown,
mmm…oil…annnd…idealistic. Mmm but it is defiantely a backlash to all
the propoganda art like Gu Zheng. And now I'm thinking about JJ's
symbols of nature, the moon and rocks and soil.

>Yes, yes, yes. And you were talking about man's relationship to nature before. I think the artists of the 80s in their idealism thought they understood how to get to a utopia. There was this fallback onto nature. A reemphasis of the elements and of spirituality. But then came the anti-spiritual pollution campaign and then the June 4th incident. And then started the economic reforms, the mimicking of western culture.
~mm, mm. and why is Chinese sentimentality so funny in English, I
think has to do something with the spirit as well. That the Chinese
language has such a beautiful emphasis on the heart, the body and the
mind, and the harmony between them. This is where the American mindset
fails. Spirituality and like even the word, 'meditation' is funny in
English. It conjures up images of like guru hippie, drugged-up…I don't
know. I think people find it quite insincere.

>And if you look at the composition of the Hollywood movie, where is the emphasis? On the people.
~Why are people always the subject?

>It is just what interests people.

~Well like in the 90s, all of political pop art and everything. People
became so like self-involved. It was just a very cynical time, where
like irony was emphasized. Does the environment ever become the
character?

>Do you think right now is the least spiritual generation for China because of these 'Hollywood' influences?

~mmm….no. no no no. I am really liking the direction of Chinese art
today. I think, a lot of Chinese artists have had this same
realization subconsciously. I think people see where human
civilization is heading in all this urbanization, and they are scared.
So I think maybe in reaction to the economic reform of the 90s, and
human self-obsession there was a move from the body as a landscape
(like Xu Zhen's Rainbow 1998) and then now there is a fallback on
nature again.
>At the very beginning of 2000s, Yang Fudong has this picture called, "The First Intellectual" and it says that on this photo of a bloody man in a torn up suit standing in the middle of the road holding a brick. It is a funny picture. But I think it is about a guy who has a realization that there is something fundamentally wrong with human society. It is like a reawakening, as though we had become monkeys in a society again and people are realizing it doesn't have to be this way.

~Yea, I think there are a lot of artists going back to promoting
reverence for nature. I think that is one of the key things askew with
modern human society. Even my art is heavily reflecting this emphasis
on nature, because I am also concerned. My favorite artists I have
seen is a couple: Ji Wenyu and Zhu Weibing. They have a few pieces, do
you know them? ahh I love them. They have this one piece called "Enjoy
Flowers" (2006) where they have these cloth sculpture men with their
hands folded in front of them looking at a tree with pink flowers on
it. It is so sweet and warm. I really feel good looking at it. They
also have another piece where all these businessmen in suits are
holding this big giant pink flowers. And both pieces have no specific
arrangement, they are like dolls of a set.
>mmm, yes I think we are in an idealistic stage right now. ~Harmonious Society~ 大同世界 ～It is a Confucian idea – "big same world." I think a lot of Foreigners think the concept of a harmonious society is funny but, I don't think the Chinese do. Like "Happy Street," the Dutch pavilion at the expo, is supposed to poke fun at the idea of a Harmonious society. But harmony to the Chinese "refers to harmony at every level, from the cosmic world of the two ultimate forces, to the social, interpersonal, and individual biological level of the human body." (57, Dragons of Tiananmen, Jeffrey F. Meyer) It is the idea of utopia. China is trying to figure out how to get there.
~Mm, maybe it is those happy advertisements that people find funny. Or
they find China to be really fucked up. I think people have bad
connotations with the word: "communism" because of the way it is
taught in school. It has such a bad history tied to it. So a
"harmonious communist society," is a funny idea to foreigners. But, I
agree, 'harmony' is not a funny idea. Wait, I think also the reworking
of museology and exhibitioning is part of this idealism. It is really
quite beautiful. Like The Long March, which is, literally a long
walking march of an exhibit, retaking Mao's steps on the Long March.
It is the idea of realizing looking at art doesn't have to be
concentrated into a room, and be a one-way transaction.
>Wait I actually have the curator's notes on that exhibit right here in my folder.
~Oh good, good.
>"The Long March looks to integrate the production, consumption, and interpretation of art in a single scene, three issues which have traditionally remained separate. It looks to overcome the traditional distance between viewer and creator, to close the gap between "host" and "guest," and to seek a new understanding of space. In this way, The Long March will merge exhibition with creation and allow consumption and production to interact."

~Mm mm, also like at Double Infinity they wanted to encourage you to
play with a museum collection, in order to backlash against that
"usually untouchable" feeling at museums. But it's weird because when
I went back to Double Infinity a few weeks later, that parking rug
that they said we could walk over was off limits. And the security
guard would point to the floor and be like, "do you see what you just
did?"

>People are still so used to the conventional model. So..if we were to look at right now like a story, what point would be at right now?

~I don't know, I think I might be a little too optimistic. I think
this time represents an ideological shift. People are rerealizing
themselves as nature again. I hope I hope anyway. I think the expo, to
my very pleasant surprise is trying to show to the world this
classically Chinese concept of harmony between man and nature. There
is a statue in front of the Chinese Pavilion called "Never Ending
Life" bye Yang Jian Ping. JJ is friends with her he said, and he told
us to note the sizes of the animals and the leaves and humans. They
are all the same. I think this is so important! I hope it is important
anyway!! It makes me happy!
>Do you think it is only represented in art or is it moving to the mainstream? How will people get this concept if it is only in the art?

~Mmm, again I think I am quite optimistic. Even if it was just the
West looking upon Chinese Contemporary Art, then the West will learn
this concept, and that is where it is especially lacking. Also, I mean
Avatar did extremely well worldwide, especially in China. This idea is
the main feature of the movie: reverence for nature and the human
body, harmony. And doesn't that mean that this idea is starting to
move into the mainstream? I think it is, I think it is, I hope it is!!

>Haha, that would be quite wonderful, indeed.

~Wait…before we part, I just want to tell you a dream I had about Ai
Weiwei. It is funny: The first thing I remember is that he lifts this
smashed automobile with panda pictures onto a tow truck with his bear
hands and shear strength. I looked over at him and he had dyed his
beard bright red. He was looking back at this old man, who he had
appeared to be helping. The truck drove away and the pieces he just
threw on began tilting off the tow truck, so I started running after
it yelling back to Ai Wei Wei, ahh look!! Ahh!! Ai Wei Wei started
running after it too, looking back at the old man laughing. I
understood that this is what they wanted, to destroy these pieces. I
stopped running and a dog came toward me and I started giving it
kisses, and Ai Wei Wei with his red beard told me "Don't eat him!"
haha that's the end of the dream.

Self-interview by Alexa Haas.

Lisa Lim is an alter-ego whose name is formed by: Alexa>Lessa> Lisa
(this is what my martial arts teacher called me) and Lim, her mother's
maiden name

Inspired by
Transexperiences

A conversation between

Chen Zhen and Zhu Xian

Ishmael, David Quinn