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

Chinese Contemporary Art & the Economy:

Christina Xiong

Chinese Contemporary Art & the Economy:

the Emergence of a New Individual Thought

Coming back to Shanghai after my first visit 10 years ago feels
like both a reality check and a confirmation of my own instincts on
how the city "should" be like. Shanghai, now a city of lights, is no
longer one with hordes of bikes and family-owned stores. In place of
these traces of the past, are towering buildings, all of which stand
guard at the base of the city's tallest structure, the World Financial
Center. And yet, this symbol of urbanization, prevalent throughout
several developed Chinese cities, does not surprise me at all. China
is currently the world's fastest growing economy, and as expected, its
social patterns and structure of the local environment should
transform with respect to the new opportunities created. However, what
are the effects of this globalization on art? Is there no opposition
towards China's new market-driven economy and receptiveness towards
Western ideas?

Personally, I would've thought that artists, free thinkers who
use creativity to express thought, would stay true to their thoughts
and views. However, as a Hong Kong artist from the Guangzhou
Discussions pointed out, "Today, everything, including art forms, is
based on the image of society and that's a problem" (Yu Hsiao Hwei).
Certainly, no one can deny the fact that Chinese Contemporary art, in
recent years, has been "tailored to meet the needs of the investment
market" (Zhao Li). However, is this a bad thing? Does commercializing
art necessarily take away an artist's personal expression and
individualism? I believe that although China's rapid economic growth
has "restructured the relationships among artist, artwork, exhibition
space, and audience" (Erickson), the obsession with the conceptual
value of art and money has also inspired many new expressions of
emotions and values within Chinese Contemporary Art.

Like any other time frame throughout the history of Chinese
Contemporary Art, the artists of the 90s created pieces that were
responsive to the major events taking place in China at the time.
Unlike the avant-garde artists, who criticized the political regime
and questioned what it meant to be an individual artist, the artists
of this new modern art movement and their works were impacted by
strong economic reforms and the presence of Westerners (Yu Hsiao
Hwei). Although Deng Xiao Ping's reforms under the Four Modernizations
were launched early in the 80s, China's contemporary art market did
not expand much until foreigners coming into China started collecting.
As Britta Erickson, guest editor for Yishu, mentioned, galleries
representing Chinese contemporary artists but headed by foreigners,
started opening up both domestically and internationally in the 1990s
(Erickson).

ShanghART Gallery, for example, was one of these galleries. On
my visits to Moganshan Rd., I noticed that ShanghART's Main Gallery
featured group exhibitions where the works of featured artists shared
a common theme, such as the concept of a bed in the "All About the
Bed" Exhibition. Many of the represented artists held their private
studios in some of the spaces outside ShanghART's Main Gallery. As I
walked by, one of these spaces caught my eye, Zhao Bandi's Bandi-Panda
store. At first, I was surprised to see how actively involved the
artist was in selling and marketing his creations, to the point that
his Bandi-Panda designs are now an entire fashion line! Squared flyers
also advertised his upcoming 'couture' fashion show in Beijing. If
this isn't a sign of commercial art, I don't know what is!

The idea of artists' works being displayed at privately-funded
galleries, such as ShanghART Gallery, and museums was the first
commercial indication of the modern art movement. In the past, art was
created mainly either for "self-cultivation and self-expression"(Yu)
or for the enjoyment of the emperor and elite. However, ever since the
1992 Guangzhou Biennial, the first exhibition of its sort in China to
be privately-funded by businessmen, the purpose of art has become
redefined to encompass art collecting and international appreciation.
The use of galleries and museums became not only an official way to
get prospective buyers to see valuable works, but also a way for
artists to promote their art.

But how is the proliferation of galleries related to the nature
and subject of artists' works? And how come penetration of the Chinese
contemporary art market came so late? The fact that the Chinese
contemporary art market was relatively small during the 80s did not
prevent leading avant-garde artists from "producing substantial and
enduring works under the idealistic banner of 'art for art's sake'"
(Smith). In other words, a good economy is not necessary for art to be
meaningful. The key takeaway from the 90s modern art movement is that
through a developed economy, Chinese Contemporary art was given more
opportunities to become meaningful in a different, more commercial
manner that is "global, but particularly local"(Smith). What artists
before the 90s lacked were commercial outlets by which to build
foreign interest and support. Through the efforts of foreign
collectors, who spread the works at the international level, Chinese
contemporary art has been able to achieve recognition beyond the
boundaries of its own country. Currently, Chinese collectors and even
the government, who once showed interest in only "classical paintings,
ceramics, and furniture" (Erickson), now recognize the value of
contemporary art.

In the Guangzhou Discussions, Pi Dao Jian said, "Western art
critics used their vision to come to China and select works. These
works very quickly brought success to the artists, bringing a success
that they had never before imagined. This influenced many artists.
Economic power made a lot of weak-willed artists turn from trying to
produce true art to trying to please the market" (Yu Hsiao Hwei). But
what does Pi Dao Jian mean by "true" art? Is he implying that
individual artists themselves have become more materialistic, that the
actual quality of their work has become mediocre?

An actual connection between generating monetary value and
contemporary art is more apparent in the practice of art collecting.
Art collecting in China is not a completely foreign idea. During
imperial rule, the emperor and nobles commissioned artists, who
created works not only to hone the image and status of the royal
family, but also to entertain and satisfy educational pursuits (Yao).
As a result, "true" private art collecting has come to involve both
expertise and a sense of personal enjoyment, as each work served to
communicate with collectors, often provoking much thought within each
individual. However, unlike "true" art collectors, today's buyers tend
to treat contemporary art as liquefiable assets, ones that can be
bought and sold for a profit. Due to the extent of these transactions,
a secondary market, mainly dominated by auction houses, such as
Sotheby's, Christie's, and Poly-Auction House, has become prominent.
One of the more interesting aspects of the auction houses is their
role in furthering these exchanges. Because of these auction houses'
ability to put up collections for sale, the prices of several Chinese
contemporary art works have escalated, spurring the global demand for
more.

This growing influx of Chinese Contemporary Art entering the
market is indicated by the reported "440% rise in prices of the field"
between the years, 2001 and 2007(Castets). As Zhang Xiao Ming
mentioned in one of our lectures, the prices of some big-name works,
such as Zhang Xiao Gang and Yue Minjun multiplied twice-fold,
triple-fold or even more within that period. She gave an example with
Zhang Xiao Gang's Blood Line: Three Comrades, which sold above
estimates for USD $2,112,000 at Sotheby's New York Contemporary Art
Asia (Castets). According to Simon Castets, writer of "Everyday
Miracles: National Pride and Chinese Collectors of Contemporary Art",
"in 2007, Yue Minjun's The Pope sold in London for USD $4.3 million",
which was well over the auction record for any contemporary Chinese
artist previously (Castets). With the art market's obsession over
facts and figures, there was a lot of concern over whether Chinese
artists, much like the average Chinese collectors, have surrendered to
the forces of commercialism.

Artist, Pi Dao Jian expressed disillusionment over the condition
of this new modern art movement. In the Guangzhou Discussions, he
said, ""In the past, each city had its own particular enchantment.
Such cultural enchantment is slowly being lost and this is a problem.
In addition, modernization has brought with it the desertification of
the soul, the drifting apart of human relations & separation of man
from nature" (Yu Hsiao Hwei). From these words, it seems that Pi Dao
Jian is referring to artists' abuse of this new phenomenon (the
emerging interest in Chinese Contemporary Art) to seek personal gain.
But is he entirely correct?

Certainly, the increased demand for Chinese contemporary art has
had a lasting and still-continuing impact on the nature of artistic
production. On the same visits to the ShanghART gallery, I walked into
one of the individual galleries, the Yard Gallery and immediately
identified one of the works we saw in class: Wang Guangyi's Great
Criticisms series, Pepsi edition. Although I didn't realize it at the
time, this piece was probably one of the many prints of the artist's
original series. By basic business rule, if buyers are willing to
offer money in exchange for all or as many of your products, then you
would be inclined to make more of them to meet demand. Such has been
the case for top artists, such as Wang Guangyi, who has produced many
editions of these series, each featuring a different name brand.
Individual galleries, such as the Yard Gallery, have become "eager to
stock quantities of less expensive works" (Erickson).

In order to feed this demand, many artists don't even do much of
their work themselves. Zhou Tie Hai, considered many to be a
mastermind of "emergence of Western modernism", is an excellent
example (Allen). I first came upon Zhou Tie Hai's works at his solo
exhibition, the Dessert Collection held at the Shanghai Contemporary
Art Museum. After doing some research on his notable digitalized
replicas, I realized that much of the process, such as creating and
altering the images, was actually done by his staff. Does this mean
that Zhou Tie Hai has not stayed true to his art? I would say that the
creativity in the concepts behind the art, all original ideas of his
own, must count for something. Even though the commercialization of
art has seen a lot of repetition in the works being displayed, I
believe that it serves as a constant reminder of the artist's ideals,
if not his work's popularity.

Perhaps one example that follows along the lines of Pi Dao
Jian's disillusionment is Feng Mengbo's Built to Order Series. In this
series, Feng accepts orders of customized oil paintings from buyers.
The interesting thing is that in addition to choosing between default
backgrounds of Chairman Mao and the artist's Quake-based Q4U, buyers
can add as many alterations as they would like (Erickson). By nature,
people are influenced by the cultural and external factors that they
were raised in or live with. Thus, it is hard to imagine the huge
economic developments occurring in the country not having an impact on
the works of artists. But to what extent have artists catered to the
expectations of this new movement? What kind of art is considered a
"hot commodity" and worth investing in? What makes Zhang Xiao Gang's
"A Big Family Series" worth as much as it was bought for?

This question of how art is being valued in the world of art
collecting has always been very irrational, especially in auction
houses. Today, it is quite common to see a similar work from the same
artist, maybe even produced around the same time period, being sold at
Sotheby's for a much larger sum than it is bought at an exhibition
gallery. While this can be attributed to the image and reputation
associated with being displayed at an international auction house, I
believe that much of this phenomenon also has to do with the trust or
belief that value does exist. In her lecture, Zhang Xiao Ming stated
that in determining value, what works in the USA may not work in China
because China's art world is influenced by a whole range of entities.
Thus, the value of a work can be very subjective because this group
consists of not only critics, curators, collectors, galleries,
archives, and auction houses but also the Ministry of Culture of the
P.R.C. or simply, the government.

According to Christie's Asian contemporary art specialist,
Ingrid Dudek, "It is a stereotype that only Westerners buy Chinese
contemporary art" (Castets). Because of this international
recognition, brought upon by commercial outlets that eventually led to
Western support, Chinese contemporary art has undergone 2 major
changes domestically. Firstly, it has gained the support of government
and Chinese collectors. Because Chinese Contemporary art was so
engrained in the Western perspective of China's identity, the
government saw it as an expression of national pride. Not only has the
government limited regulations on the business of art, but also
commissioned artists to produce works and sculptures. Examples include
Ai Wei Wei's involvement with the architectural planning of the Bird's
Nest for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and more recently, artists such as
Wang Guang Yi and Zhang Huan, who created sculptures for the Expo.
Another group of artists from Shenzhen's Dafen Oil Painting Village,
known for their local Chinese copy painters, were asked to paint the
largest-ever re-creation of the Mona Lisa at the Expo (Spiegler).

This use of both well-known and local artists in shaping China's
image at an international event serves the purpose of showing China's
prowess and capabilities through global and yet, local art. In the
end, the government has come to embrace Chinese Contemporary art as a
"culture vital to the credibility China wishes to attain as a holistic
nation amongst the leading global powers" (Smith).

Thus, is it possible for commercialized art to emerge as a
source of inspiration and new ideas for artists, and not what Pi Dao
Jian makes of it, a cultural loss? Upon exploring the future of
contemporary art, Karen Smith claims that people have come to place
more value in the "vibrant local scene", which boosts local confidence
and promotes "profound aesthetic engagement" (Smith) . In today's
investment-driven art market, artists are motivated to follow market
trends and produce works that sell. Following the same logic, is
Chinese contemporary art then really "constrained" by economic
currents if curators, government and are looking more into what
individual artists can offer in terms of personal expression and
aesthetics?

I believe that this emergence of a rising group of artists who are
"turning into a more individually defined approach to style and
urbanity" is the second major domestic change to contemporary art in
China(Castets).

As a result of the nation's economic reforms and the opening of
the Chinese art market internationally, artists have gained
significant exposure to new ideas and conceptual ways of thinking.
This new modern art movement became the basis for explorations and
artistic responses to areas, such as mass consumerism, and "the value
of money and its relation to art". One of the more unique art
exhibitions was "Art for Sale", which was featured at a supermarket in
Shanghai. At "Art for Sale", customers were able to purchase
"minimally priced works of art", from T-shirts of famous pieces to Liu
Wei's Pigs' Trotters and Jewelry (Erickson). As we've seen in the
video in class, this direct way to reach out to viewers, as customers,
was an art itself in that it demonstrated the transaction between
buyer and seller in a world of consumerism.

The fact that "Art for Sale" was held at a supermarket also
indicates the trends taking place in the relationship between art and
public spaces. According to Beatrice Leanza, a participant of the
"Localism and Social Engagement in the City" panel discussion at
Double Infinity, "Shanghai art is being displayed more in places where
people go with commercial ideas". This is clearly seen in one other
art work that I found very interesting, Wang Jin's Ice, which took
place at a shopping mall. In order to demonstrate the "cooling of
consumerist heat", Wang Jin created an installation composed of blocks
of ice, each with a consumer good, such as music players, and jewelry,
inside (Erickson). However, within the opening hours, packs of
customers attempted to break the ice, hoping to acquire the product
inside (Erickson).

Ever since China's rise to a major economic power and tendency
towards consumerism, artists began to question the value of money and
art. However, just because these artists were interested in exploring
money and its relation to art does not mean that they do art solely
for money. The economic current became a source for more expression of
thought. In order to ridicule and poke fun at the importance placed on
'monetary value' and 'expected return' of an art piece in the world of
art collecting, Zhou Tie Hai actually issued himself out as a grade B
share (Erickson). This was meant to provoke the audience's thoughts on
the value of an artist. Even our professor, Jian-Jun Zhang, in an
"email interview" with me, stated that the destruction of homes,
especially the traditional shikumen houses in Shanghai, became the
inspiration for him to address "the issue of the fading away of the
old/traditional" in his "Vestiges of a Process: Water" project.

According to Britta Erickson, who wrote "Contemporary Chinese
Art: To Get Rich is Glorious", "money brings the various factors
involved in the art world - including artists, dealers, private
collectors and museums - together into a web where activity in one
arena exerts a push or pull in another"(Erickson). During the 90s,
this idea of a global interaction exposed artists to the "workings of
the financial infrastructure" and prompted many to explore the
relationship between money and art (Erickson). As a result, their
responses to commercialized art, reflected upon the many diverse forms
of expressions today, from video, audios to installations, have led to
a new formation of individual thought.

Works Cited
Allen, Daniel. "Asia Times Online :: China News - China's Contemporary
Art Goes Global." Asia Times Online :: Asian News Hub Providing the
Latest News and Analysis from Asia. Web. 13 June 2010.
<http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/IF14Ad02.html>.
Castets, Simon. "Everyday Miracles: National Pride and Chinese
Collectors of Contemporary Art."Yishu: Journal of Contemporary Chinese
Art 6.4 (2007): 51-57. Print.
Erickson, Britta. "Contemporary Chinese Art: To Get Rich Is Glorious."
Yishu: Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art 6.4 (2007): 8-16. Print.

Koppel-Yang, Martina. "The Surplus Value of Accumulation: Some
Thoughts." Yishu: Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art 6.4 (2007):
17-18. Print.

Li, Zhao. "Seeing Through the Macro Perspective: The Chinese Art
Market from 2006 to 2007."Yishu: Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art
6.4 (2007): 19-22. Print.
London, Barbara. "Views on Contemporary Chinese Art." The Reader, Print.

Smith, Karen. "The Future: In Whose Hands?." The Reader, Print.

Spiegler, Mark. "Re: Chinese Copy-painters Come to Zurich." Web log
comment. Artworld Salon. 16 July 2007. Web. 14 June 2010.
<http://www.artworldsalon.com/blog/2007/07/chinese-copy-painters-come-to-zurich/>.
Tinari, Philip. "Original Copies: Philip Tinari on the Dafen Oil
Painting Village. - Free Online Library."News, Magazines, Newspapers,
Journals, Reference Articles and Classic Books - Free Online Library.
Artforum International Magazine, Inc. Web. 14 June 2010.
<http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Original copies: Philip Tinari on the
Dafen Oil Painting Village.-a0169913085>.

Yu, Hsiao Hwei. "Guangzhou Discussions." The Reader, Print.

Yao, Pauline J. "Superfluous Things: The Search for "Real" Art
Collectors in China." Yishu: Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art 6.4
(2007): 58-61. Print.
Yu, Yu Christina. "Exhibition Culture and the Art Market." Yishu:
Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art 6.4 (2007): 23-28. Print.

Zhang, Jian-Jun. E-mail interview. 15 June 2010.

Contemporary Art History: According to the Internet in China

Amy Chou
17 June 2010
Contemporary Art History: According to the Internet in China

In an age where technology dominates most of our daily lives and
the Internet's knowledge seems to be ever bountiful, it's no wonder
that so many people never question the information found online. In
China especially, where the population's Internet users spend 70% of
their leisure time online and government censorship is still
prevalent, the information that people can find about the relatively
new contemporary art scene in China is limited. Also, the fact that
the history of contemporary art in China is still in the making,
people seeking information on the subject will settle for whatever
they can get their hands on. With China rising as an economic power,
the contemporary art market in China is suddenly booming. More and
more foreigners are turning their eyes towards Chinese contemporary
art and alongside this new trend is the trend for people to write,
academically or not, about it. What little information that there is
out there in the web is very precious, and because of that, many
people do not stop to wonder about the writer's credentials and
whether or not the information is accurate.

With the condition of few publications on the topic of
contemporary art in China and the condition of government censorship
of things deemed threatening to the government, what kind of
contemporary art history can someone in China gather using only the
internet? What kind of timeline can they build if they do not use a
virtual private network or a proxy? Their knowledge of the subject
will clearly be fragmented and the chances that they will run into
false information are also very likely.
Through Google, I searched "Chinese contemporary art history." I
looked through the results to see what the sites had to say about the
subject. The first thing I noticed was the difference in birth dates
of contemporary art in China. Surprisingly, according to
Wikipedia.org, it gave a general statement saying that the birth of
Chinese contemporary art was during the 1980s, instead of giving an
exact year as the site is usually known to do. According to both
Melissa Chiu on bigthink.com and Julia Coleman on findarticles.com,
they site the birth of Chinese contemporary art to be 1976, after the
death of Mao Zedong. According to an article on cnn.com, the
contemporary art began after Deng Xiaoping opened China to the world
in 1978. The other numbers I found all gave the general number of the
1980s.

A person who has no background in the subject of contemporary
art or art in general would most likely not wonder about the
credibility of each article's author. In fact, that person might take
the first date he/she sees and accept that date as the true birth of
contemporary art in China without question. After looking into the
backgrounds of the author's of each article, I found that the most
credible people were Melissa Chiu and Julia Coleman. Melissa Chiu is
the museum director of Asia Society and Julia Coleman is an art
historian and co owner of Chinese Contemporary Gallery in London.
Although many people may assume that anything from CNN is credible
since it is a famous news station in America, those people are wrong.
The author of the CNN article is Cathryn Meurer, and according to her
work experience on linkedin.com, her expertise lies solely in the
medical field, not in the art field.
By searching "Chinese contemporary art history" in Google, the
results I got were all missing key information in the history of
contemporary Chinese art. The most obvious information missing was on
the Star Star Exhibition, or the Xingxing Exhibition. I tried looking
up "Star Star Exhibition," "Xingxing Exhibition," and other
combinations of the words with different spacing, but nothing related
came up in the search results. It was only when I was searching for
pictures of Wang Keping's works did I stumble upon an article on
zeestone.com talking about the Star Star group because Wang Keping was
part of it. Through my class on contemporary art in China, I have
direction in my search. For someone who has no background and no
direction, that person would most likely never find out about the Star
Star Exhibition that took place in 1979 and its phenomenal impact on
setting the stage for the development of contemporary art in China.

The article on zeestone.com is written by Hilary Binks, who,
according to Google search results, has edited and written many
articles on Asian art, which makes her a credible source. Her article
on the Star Star group is extremely detailed, but unfortunately, the
only way to find this article is to know of the particular topic or to
accidentally stumble upon it. Binks states that the Stars group was
denied official art space in the China Art Gallery in Beijing, so on
September 27, 1979, the Stars group hung their works on the railings
outside of the gallery. Their daring exhibition was closed by police
on the 28th and declared illegal on the 29th. On October 1st, the 30th
anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the
Stars group marched in protest under a banner stating "We Demand
Democracy and Artistic Freedom". They were granted official gallery
space in Huafang Studio, Beijing from November 23rd to December 2nd,
1979. The group members listed are Huang Rui, Ma Desheng, Yan Li, Wang
Keping, Yang Yiping, Qu Leilei, Mao Lizi, Bo Yun, Zhong Ahcheng, Shao
Fei, Li Shuang and Ai Weiwei.

The last campaign from the Communist Party of China, known as
the "Anti-Spiritual Pollution Campaign", according to Wikipedia.org,
lasted from October 1983 to February 1984. It was the state
government's attempt to stop the spread of Western influences and
their liberal ideology among the Chinese populace. During that period,
artist once again felt the scare of the Cultural Revolution and either
went into hiding until the campaign was over or left the country
altogether. For the Stars group, Binks states that the group disbanded
due to political pressure in 1983 and most of the artists began to
leave the country then.
After the sad lack of results about the Star Star group and
mediocre results for the Anti-Spiritual Pollution Campaign, the
results for the "85 New Wave Movement" are surprisingly abundant. One
result on bookrags.com, a site which claims to be an online
encyclopedia, states that the 85 New Wave Movement was a time when
over 2000 of the nations avant-garde artists organized themselves into
groups—Pond Society, Xiamen Dada, Northern Art Group, Red Humor—and
began holding their own exhibitions, holding conferences, and writing
articles about their own work. The site states that the peak of the
movement was in 1989 with the China Avant-Garde exhibition. The
movement also ended in that year. Not mentioned on the site is that
the China Avant-Garde exhibition was also known as the "No U-Turn"
exhibition stating the artists desire that contemporary art in China
progress forward with the exhibition.
In the article Memories of 1989, on artzinechina.com, Maggie Ma
wrote that the "No U-Turn" exhibition was monumental in that it
included 297 pieces from 186 artists from around the country and it
was the first exhibition to show performance art. Artists whose works
did not make it into the exhibition still showed up and performed
their performance art works. Zhang Nian performed his "floating egg"
piece on the second floor of the National Gallery and Wang Deren
performed his piece by throwing condoms into the air. The most
memorable performance art piece was Xiao Lu's using a revolver to
shoot into her installation "Dialogue." The news of the exhibition
spread to the West and an article of the exhibition came out in Time
magazine titled "Eggs, Gunshots, and Condoms".

Zhang Nian and his "floating eggs" performance piece.

Tiananmen Square June 4th movement, ppl leaving 1989
While scanning the articles from my "Chinese contemporary art"
search results, my eye often caught the phrases "cynical realism" and
"political pop." Those two were the only two movements sited in my
results to take place during the 1990s. Other movements such as the
new generation realism and experimental/apartment art are ignored.
According to the article Move over Mao: Do China's artists serve a new
master? by Meuer on cnn.com, cynical realism and political pop came
about from the "collision of capitalist and communist ideologies". The
article Cynical Realism on artrealization.com states that the West
attributes the rise of cynical realism to the "disheartenment and
post-1989 gloom among the avant-garde that resulted from a dearth of
an arts community." It stated that the closings of landmark
exhibitions such as the China Avante-Garde exhibition at the National
Gallery of 1989 and the frustrating political climate left artists
bitter. The article also gives the Chinese view on how cynical realism
came about by saying that the artists were depicting the views of
China from a Western perspective. The most well known artists in the
category of cynical realism are Fang Lijun and Yue Minjun. Both of the
artists would use their own faces in their works displaying
exaggerated laughing and smiling expressions. The faces in their
paintings all look like they're mocking what's going on in the
paintings.

Execution, painting by Yue Minjun.

The political pop movement is not mentioned as much and as in
detail as the cynical realism movement, so someone would have to
specifically type "political pop" into the Google search engine in
order to get more specific information. A brief description of
political pop art on artandculture.com, the anonymous author states
that the works of famous political pop artist Wang Guangyi are both
celebrating and mocking Mao, the Red Guards, and capitalism. Wang puts
Cultural Revolution propaganda with capitalist company names such as
Coca-Cola and HP.

Wang Guangyi's painting Great Castigation Series: Coca-Cola, 1993.
Approaching the 21st Century, the art scene in China began to
change. Slowly, but steadily, galleries and exhibitions were opening.
Some were still forced to shut down, but many were staying open.
Information on important art exhibits that took place in the 21st
Century can only be found by specifically searching the names of the
exhibitions. Simply looking for "contemporary Chinese art history"
will find you nothing.

One historically significant exhibition was held in 2000 called
the Fuck Off Exhibition by Eastlink Gallery in a warehouse in
Shanghai. The literal translation of the Chinese title to English was
"Uncooperative Approach," but the organizers preferred a blunter
sentiment. The information on aapmag.com states that the exhibition
was curated by Feng Boyi and Ai Weiwei, and the purpose of the exhibit
was to counter the Shanghai Biennale. The Shanghai Biennale was
organized by the government and it wanted to show the world its
openness to the West with its display of contemporary art and the
first time official display of video. The artists that participated in
the Fuck Off Exhibition believed that the government did not push the
limits of openness far enough. A famous example from the Fuck Off
exhibit is of Ai Weiwei's series of photographs documenting his middle
finger pointing at Tiananmen or the White House. Several of the works
were deemed inappropriate by the Shanghai police. Most notorious was
Zhu Yu's "Eating People," where Zhu photographed himself eating a
cooked fetus. The work caused an international stir. The exhibition,
which opened on November 1, 2001, was shut down on November 7th.

Ai Weiwei's Study of Perspective – Tiananmen.

Another important exhibition called Post-Sense and Sensibility:
Spree was organized by Qiu Zhijie. Luckily, Qiu has his own website
and elaborates on the meaning of Post-Sense and Sensibility and what
the exhibitions were about. Qiu collaborated with many different
artists to create an interlocked performance piece where one artist's
work standing alone would be incomplete and could not be reproduced.
The exhibition was held in Beijing Film Academy in 2001 and its
purpose was to oppose the idea of exhibitions. Qiu stated that the
idea of exhibitions links back to colonialism and it results in
artists focusing on how to compete with other artists rather than
creating works for the sake of art. Instead of seeing a typical
exhibition, what the audience saw was the process of installing the
exhibition. The installation process involved the audience and it
focused more on the on-the-spot experience rather than the concept
behind each work.

The more recent trends of video and other computer technology in
contemporary art can be found documented on www.bjartlab.com/ and
www.wangjianwei.com/. The only problem is how to find these sites
through Google without knowing the author's of the sites.
The situation of the lack of available information on the
Internet already leaves contemporary art enthusiasts destitute, let
alone the people who are just curious. Adding on the layer of
censorship only worsens the situation. Yishujournal.com, an important
site with reliable sources and detailed information solely focused on
art in Greater China is blocked. Findarticles.com and even an American
news site cnn.com are all blocked. The only available article online
about the Star Star Exhibition is also blocked. The only information
about the Lost Generation of China is on knowledgerush.com, a simple
online encyclopedia, is blocked.
Without being in the art scene, taking a class, or talking to
professionals in the field, I do not think an everyday person would be
able to build a fairly solid timeline of contemporary art in China.
There would be many key events and people missing. The information
available online often only focuses on one aspect of contemporary art
in China, rather than having one cohesive Wikipedia page with every
single aspect included.

On Photography- Christina Xiong

I'm intrigued by the use of photography as a medium for "imagining the
future". As Chang Tsong-Zung suggests, Chinese contemporary
photography cannot be interpreted in a single way; it can be read in
many different contexts because people, with their distinct
backgrounds and perspectives, all bring a different narrative to this
visual art. Throughout my own life, photography existed as a way to
make, preserve and recollect memories. From taking pictures for our
class yearbook to creating snapshots of scenery in Yunnan,
photography, to me, served the purpose of reminding myself of youth,
of places I've been to and what I've experienced as a human being.
During my visit to the Expo, I waited "in line" to take pictures, only
to be cut by the local Chinese, who would take photo after photo,
until they were all satisfied with each smiling figure holding a peace
sign in the image. This marks the Chinese obsession with not just
creating memories, but creating ones that only highlight beauty, which
is, in this manner, often unnatural and forced. Yet, is this act of
creating or "forcing" a beautiful memory an attempt at false identity?
On another aspect, can it also represent a sincere desire to progress?
It is this optimism that characterizes the Chinese's imagination of
the future.

According to Chang Tsong-Zung, the use of digital photography to
alter and distort "reality" has made it harder for all of us to reach
a consensus on the intentions of certain photographic images. In other
words, the role of Chinese contemporary photography is constantly
evolving, from an information provider to one that expresses the
ideals of the aspiring Chinese. But even though it is constantly
changing, there is still some "reality" in these images. While an
outsider, like myself, may think of them as deceiving at first, the
images are not fake in any manner, because the intentions of the
Chinese to "progress" and "modernize" is real. I believe that Chang's
aim is to reinforce the idea that we must not judge by first
impressions. Photography, like many any other art forms, is influenced
by historic events that are taking place, the human experience. This
"imagining the future" as concept of the continuing process of
improvement is not much different.

Cai Guo-Qiang’s Peasant da Vincis

Cai Guo-Qiang's Peasant da Vincis

By Amy Chou

The little introduction by Zhang Yiwu in the brochure states, "They
are humble, yet hold incredibly lofty aspirations. Their inventions
are crude and simple, the product of individual stubbornness and
focus, but they have an incredible appeal." Zhang's statement along
with Cai Guo-Qiang's title of the exhibition, Peasant da Vincis,
perfectly sets the stage for the creations put on display in the
Rockbund Art Museum. The purpose of the exhibition is to focus on the
creative minds of nine individual Chinese peasants. Cai spent years
collecting inventions from the peasants and now displays several from
his collection in hopes that his exhibition will encourage discussion
about the "social transformation of hundreds of millions of peasants
in the modernization process in China and their huge contributions to
urban development." In sync with the Shanghai Expo's theme of "Better
City, Better Life", the exhibits theme is "Peasants-Making a better
city, a better life."

In order to enter the buildings, I had to walk into an open plaza
where the surrounding buildings were either dilapidated or under
construction. On the facades of one of the buildings was painted in
large orange calligraphy of an almost Mao-era-like slogan
"Peasants-Making a better city, a better life." Across the plaza was a
blue retaining wall painted with large white calligraphy saying
"What's important isn't whether you can fly." Those slogans painted in
bright colors on dark backgrounds caught my attention immediately. The
large bold characters had a huge impact on me in that they felt like a
heavy weight that could not be ignored.

After buying my ticket in the main Rockbund Art Museum building, I
entered the exhibit. In contrast with the light feeling lobby that is
painted white, the first floor exhibition room is painted black. The
mood changed quickly as my eyes were met with mechanical scraps
suspended in the air in a fishlike design: an engine for the head and
strips of bent wire for the body and the tail. Those mechanical parts
were salvaged from Tan Chengnian's deadly plane crash in 2007. I felt
very somber seeing Tan's wrecked plane, but the way those parts were
suspended in the air also added a light touch. It felt as though the
plane was now a fish flying in the air. To me, it felt as though Tan
was flying freely.

On the second floor, my eyes were met with white walls covered in
black Chinese calligraphy written in different sizes with no
particular page format. Cai had painted each peasant da Vinci's name,
his hometown, and his inventions. The second room contained 55
handmade white bamboo silk kites, each with a projection of the
stories of the inventors. It looked like the kites were really flying
in perfect synchronization. Looking at them and the stories projected
made me feel like I was flying with them through time.

The third floor was a little less dreamlike in that the room looked
like a bit of a mess. However, the room was still very dreamlike in
that interesting looking robots were scattered all across the room.
Since I had just missed the demonstration period, the robots were all
turned off and looked like they were frozen in mid-action.

The fourth, fifth, and sixth floor consisted of one lofty room with
inventions suspended at different levels in the air that could be
viewed differently from each floor. The fourth floor's floor was
covered for the most part with real grass and flower seeds were
planted, too. The only music playing was the natural sound of chirping
from live birds fluttering about in the room. Cai had intended to
create a "lyrical and fairytale-like environment" to express the
"frame of mind behind the peasant inventions."

Each invention was very unique. The inventions displayed were either
aircrafts or submarines. The concept of the largest submarine by Li
Yuming called Twilight No.1 is of a giant fish. My favorite is also by
Li Yuming called Twilight No.6, but this one is a very small submarine
that is beautifully designed with patterns made from nails.

The second part of Cai's exhibition is in the lobby of the National
Industrial Bank building. The moment you enter, you are met with a
20m-long model of an aircraft carrier with small planes on deck. Cai
commissioned Tao Xiangli to construct it from scrap metal on site. The
inside of the carrier is outfitted to look like a small village
theater screening the movie Our Century directed by Artavazd
Peleshian, which is about all of the unknown sacrifices and failures
behind the famous Soviet space expedition. Off to the side in shadow
next to the old bank vault is Tao's submarine frozen in ice. Inside
the bank's vault is a video screening of Out of the Present directed
by Andrei Ujica tells the story of astronauts trapped in space, while
on earth, the Soviet Union collapsed. On the opposite end of the main
lobby is a video screening of Cai's journey from the very beginning to
the realization of his project: Peasant da Vincis.

Cai Guo-Qiang’s Peasant da Vincis

Cai Guo-Qiang’s Peasant da Vincis

By Amy Chou

The little introduction by Zhang Yiwu in the brochure states, “They are humble, yet hold incredibly lofty aspirations. Their inventions are crude and simple, the product of individual stubbornness and focus, but they have an incredible appeal.” Zhang’s statement along with Cai Guo-Qiang’s title of the exhibition, Peasant da Vincis, perfectly sets the stage for the creations put on display in the Rockbund Art Museum. The purpose of the exhibition is to focus on the creative minds of nine individual Chinese peasants. Cai spent years collecting inventions from the peasants and now displays several from his collection in hopes that his exhibition will encourage discussion about the “social transformation of hundreds of millions of peasants in the modernization process in China and their huge contributions to urban development.” In sync with the Shanghai Expo’s theme of “Better City, Better Life”, the exhibits theme is “Peasants-Making a better city, a better life.”

In order to enter the buildings, I had to walk into an open plaza where the surrounding buildings were either dilapidated or under construction. On the facades of one of the buildings was painted in large orange calligraphy of an almost Mao-era-like slogan “Peasants-Making a better city, a better life.” Across the plaza was a blue retaining wall painted with large white calligraphy saying “What’s important isn’t whether you can fly.” Those slogans painted in bright colors on dark backgrounds caught my attention immediately. The large bold characters had a huge impact on me in that they felt like a heavy weight that could not be ignored.

After buying my ticket in the main Rockbund Art Museum building, I entered the exhibit. In contrast with the light feeling lobby that is painted white, the first floor exhibition room is painted black. The mood changed quickly as my eyes were met with mechanical scraps suspended in the air in a fishlike design: an engine for the head and strips of bent wire for the body and the tail. Those mechanical parts were salvaged from Tan Chengnian’s deadly plane crash in 2007. I felt very somber seeing Tan’s wrecked plane, but the way those parts were suspended in the air also added a light touch. It felt as though the plane was now a fish flying in the air. To me, it felt as though Tan was flying freely.

On the second floor, my eyes were met with white walls covered in black Chinese calligraphy written in different sizes with no particular page format. Cai had painted each peasant da Vinci’s name, his hometown, and his inventions. The second room contained 55 handmade white bamboo silk kites, each with a projection of the stories of the inventors. It looked like the kites were really flying in perfect synchronization. Looking at them and the stories projected made me feel like I was flying with them through time.

The third floor was a little less dreamlike in that the room looked like a bit of a mess. However, the room was still very dreamlike in that interesting looking robots were scattered all across the room. Since I had just missed the demonstration period, the robots were all turned off and looked like they were frozen in mid-action.

The fourth, fifth, and sixth floor consisted of one lofty room with inventions suspended at different levels in the air that could be viewed differently from each floor. The fourth floor’s floor was covered for the most part with real grass and flower seeds were planted, too. The only music playing was the natural sound of chirping from live birds fluttering about in the room. Cai had intended to create a “lyrical and fairytale-like environment” to express the “frame of mind behind the peasant inventions.”

Each invention was very unique. The inventions displayed were either aircrafts or submarines. The concept of the largest submarine by Li Yuming called Twilight No.1 is of a giant fish. My favorite is also by Li Yuming called Twilight No.6, but this one is a very small submarine that is beautifully designed with patterns made from nails.

The second part of Cai’s exhibition is in the lobby of the National Industrial Bank building. The moment you enter, you are met with a 20m-long model of an aircraft carrier with small planes on deck. Cai commissioned Tao Xiangli to construct it from scrap metal on site. The inside of the carrier is outfitted to look like a small village theater screening the movie Our Century directed by Artavazd Peleshian, which is about all of the unknown sacrifices and failures behind the famous Soviet space expedition. Off to the side in shadow next to the old bank vault is Tao’s submarine frozen in ice. Inside the bank’s vault is a video screening of Out of the Present directed by Andrei Ujica tells the story of astronauts trapped in space, while on earth, the Soviet Union collapsed. On the opposite end of the main lobby is a video screening of Cai’s journey from the very beginning to the realization of his project: Peasant da Vincis.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Information taken from the Rockbund Art Museum brochure:

Location:

Rockbund Art Museum

20 Huqiu Road, near North Beijing Road, Huangpu District, Shanghai

上海市黄浦区虎丘路20号，近北京东路

Hours:

10:00am-6:00pm, Tuesday-Sunday (last ticketing 5:30pm)

Closed Mondays

Tickets:

Regular: 15RMB

Student: 10RMB

Getting there:

Subway: ten minutes on foot from Exit #2 of East Nanjing Road Station on Line 2

Bus: Lines 20, 21, 25, 939, 928, 65, 61, 220, 19, 167, and Tunnel Line 9

Note: No pictures allowed.

Reflection for Transexperiences: A conversation between Chen Zhen and Zhu Xian

Christina Xiong
Reflection for Transexperiences: A conversation between Chen Zhen and Zhu Xian

Chen Zhen says in his 'self-interview', "That is the beauty of
being a <<migrating creature>> like me, who could examine my own
country and Asia through a polygonal prism". Although at first it was
hard to connect Chen's points, from his definition of a
trans-experience and "short-circuit" to the role of multiculturalism
and art in 'Westernization', I found it easier to understand by
relating his experience to my own. By coming to China, I've not only
gained a different perspective of the country of my supposed "identity
gene", where my family heritage traces back, but also learned more
about America. In the U.S., we focus on our nation's potential, what
lies ahead for us. But by 'zou-ing' and leaving my home in New York,
I've been able to see the other side, what the U.S. represents in the
eyes of the Chinese. Most importantly, I realized that while adapting
to Shanghai's environment, I've been unconsciously comparing the two
cultures. This, according to my interpretation of Chen Zhen's
interview, is 'trans-experience". From taking in communist China's
thoughts on American democracy and comparing it to our own pride in
the ideals of freedom, I've had to "connect the preceding with the
following". From being frustrated over crowded buses and frequent
line-cutters, I've grown to accept Shanghai's distinct social
behavior. The only difference between my own attempt to find a healthy
balance and that of Chen's is 'context'. China, unlike the U.S., which
is filled with 'multiculturalism', is constantly changing.

One of these constantly changing 'context' factors is China's
modernization. Chen believes that many outsiders mistake
modernization, China's social, economic and political transformations,
for "Westernization". Of course economic development, the need to
prove one's existence among Western superpowers, has an impact on the
culture of the people. But its influence does not mean that
modernization controls mass culture. According to Chen, "even though
the concept of multiculturalism was developed in the West, especially
in the United States, you can nonetheless set your own <<rules of the
game>> to shape that space". Therefore, through art, he is not only
trying to express what cannot be said in words, but also taking a part
in shaping this new China. Instead of allowing Chinese culture to be
defined by the many influences of the <<Others>>, he envisions China
as an initiator of a "second tradition" in multiculturalism.

Amy Chou
A Little History of 798 Dashanzi Art District

798 Dashanzi Art District in Beijing's Chaoyang District, compared
to many other creative centers, such as M50 in Shanghai, has a unique
history of its own. 798 was originally built by the East German
government as reparations for World War II. The strange thing is that
those reparations were meant for the Soviet Union. The factory
buildings were built as an example of a "harmonious collaboration
between Socialist countries" and the efforts were led by the Soviet
Union. The complex, built during the 1960s, was built in the Bauhaus
style. The style, known for its simplicity and functionality,
symbolized Mao's ideals of "an advanced Socialist state founded on
heavy industry and Communist ideology." Eventually in the 1990s, the
spacious military electronics factories were abandoned when the
government began to decrease its subsidies for state-run factories.

The first group of artists to use the abandoned complex as art
studios was from the Central Academy of Fine Arts. The large spaces
with many windows for natural light and cheap rent seemed perfect for
the school's sculpture department. Around the same time, an artists'
village near the Old Summer Palace was shutdown by the government.
Contemporary artists, who were evicted from their run-down houses in
1993 and seeking new refuge, discovered 798 and began moving in. While
converting the factories into gallery spaces, many of the artists
requested that the construction workers preserve the high-sweeping
arches of the ceilings and the Communist slogans. The simple factory
facades, red bricks, and old slogans act as echoes from the past.

798 Dashanzi Art District seems to be disconnected from the rest of
Beijing. Compared to the hustle and bustle of the city, 798's serene,
tree-lined roads create the perfect haven for artists and visitors
alike. Due to government restrictions on where foreigners could live
in the 1990s, Chaoyang District became a central location for foreign
embassies and institutions. The galleries in 798 received much foreign
exposure when they first started up and now rely solely on 798's name
to attract visitors from all around the globe.

Minsheng Art Museum (民生现代美术馆) opened on April 18th, 2010 with the
exhibition titled Thirty Years of Chinese Contemporary Art. The
exhibition boasts an impressive collection of 100 original works from
the past 30 years. The works are from 80 different artists including
famous artists such as Xu Bing, Zhao Bandi, Qiu Zhijie, Din Yi, Fang
Lijun, Cai Guoqiang, Zhou Tiehai, and Yang Pei Ming. He Juxing, the
president of the Museum stated that the purpose was "to let audience
review the historic development process of China's contemporary art".

The exhibition space consists of five main rooms and two floors. No.1
and No.2 are on the first floor and No.3-5 are on the second floor.
No.1, No. 3, No. 4, and No. 5 are all a single room, whereas, No.2 is
divided into sections. The walls and ceilings are all painted white
and the floors are painted grey. There is a security guard for each
room and they will follow you around from a distance.

Most of the works are quite large and are usually oil on canvas works.
The works displayed in No.1 have an apparent motif of common people
and laborers. When you first enter No.2, the motif seems to be about
Christianity, but as you move on into the next section, the motif
begins to blur. By the time I was finished looking at the works in
No.2, I had no idea what the common theme was that strung those pieces
together. No.3's works mainly consisted of portraits, but the
portraits made me feel a little uneasy. No.4 and No.5's motifs are
also unclear.

There is an entrance fee. A regular ticket is 20RMB and a student
ticket is 5RMB. You have to check-in your bags, but you can bring in a
camera.

Bldg F, 570 Huaihai Xi Lu,
near Kaixuan Lu

淮海西路570号F座，
近凯旋路

Amy Chou

Amy Chou

The Women on Women Exhibit is set in the beautiful Taoist Hong Miao,
literally meaning 'Red Temple,' built in the Ming Dynasty. Renovated
and reopened as a gallery in 2006, the Hong Miao Gallery's ancient
interior design, high ceilings, and windows allows outer light to
stream in adding an ambience that other galleries are unable to
achieve. Complimenting the female Buddha, Guan Yin, who is situated in
the temple, the exhibit displays works from eight women artists all
striving to show their thoughts about the society around them. Ann Yen
(Chinese), Barbara Edelstein (US), Chen Xiao Dan (Chinese), Christin
Kalweit (Germany), Gao Qian (Chinese), Lige Ye (Chinese), Virginie
Lerouge Knight (French). The works are created from a range of media
from a sculpture made of sponges to traditional paintings. One
particular piece that I liked was by Lige Ye. Her hanging scrolls of
traditional rice paper had paintings of floating faceless people. The
fact that there was no face made it difficult to connect with the
people in the paintings, but at the same time, it felt like there was
a connection to all people. Most of the other Chinese artists' works
were done traditionally and seemed to be more about looking beautiful
than carrying a political message.

MinSheng Bank Art Museum Reviews for this week by Christina Xiong

Title of Exhibition: 30 Years of Chinese Contemporary Art at the
MinSheng Art Museum, Shanghai

Artists (more than 80 artists) Include:  Shi Chong, Wang Chuan, Zhou
Chunya, Cheng Conglin, Chen Danqing, Fei Dawei, Shao Dazhen, Peng De,
Fan Dian, Jia Fangzhou, Yang Feiyun, Chao Ge, WEI Guangqing, Wang
Guangyi, Hou Hanru, Lu Hong, Yu Hong, Wang Huangsheng, Wu Hung, Xu
Jiang, Geng Jianyi, Yin Jinan, Zhao Li, Fang Lijun, Wang Lin, Meng
Luding, Zhong Ming, Gao Minglu, Yue Minjun, Lv Peng, Wen Pulin, Zhu
Qingsheng, Shu Qun, Li Shan, Jin Shangyi, Gao Shiming, Yin Shuangxi,
Liao Wen, Li Xianting, Liu Xiaochun, Liu Xiaodong, Zhang Xiaogang, Li
Xiaoshan, Ai Xuan, Mao Xuhui, Ding Yi, Yi Ying, YU Youhan, Yin
Zhaoyang, Luo Zhongli, Huang Zhuan

The name of this exhibition seems to speak for itself, featuring a
collection and "coming together" of various Chinese Contemporary Art
ever since 1979. Before visiting the exhibition, I had just returned
from a trip to the YunNan province, known for its diversity and
presence of over 25 ethnic minorities. During our stay in Shangri-La,
we had our first encounter with a predominant Tibetan population, an
experience that certainly resonates with Chen Danqing's Tibetan
series. As a leading realist painter, Chen is known for contributing
largely to breaking away from authority. Despite the general Han
Chinese perception of ethnic minorities as inferior, Chen portrayed
them as a "dignified" group, determined to follow their own values and
principles. This is very typical of what I saw in Shangri-La. Many of
these Tibetans still led pastoral lives, farming and herding yak and
yet, they were perfectly satisfied with their conditions. Moreover, as
our Tibetan driver put it, they desired and demanded every hint of
respect, a sign of equality and offer of friendship. Thus, the truth,
often hidden and difficult to attain, is very much apparent in Chen's
works, from two men in town to a couple carrying a child and striding
(Tibet 1982) forward.  In reality, this concept of expressing the
feelings of the common people, whether it be depression during
political strife, excitement over a new age or uncertainty over
materialism, correlates with the museum's aim of showing China's
history through different perspectives.

Another piece that I liked at the MinSheng Art Museum was Fang Lijun's
1998 work, 98.10.1, which once again included the same bald men with
ambiguous expressions. Fang Lijun is a cynical realist and often, his
works consist of an underlying satire and mockery. However, I'm used
to seeing more scrunched up faces and more surprised by his use of
vibrant colors and falling flowers. As you can see in the picture I
took, the faces, looking up into the sky, express more amazement,
sudden realization and thought. It reminds me of rural farmers who,
having not felt a drop of rain in years, is ironically taken aback by
the fortunate turn of events. Once again, this painting is also very
"timely" in that it symbolizes wonder, and the surprising optimism
towards China's future at the turn of the century.