“Observations on and Predictions for ‘After Postcolonialism’” was a Gao Shiming’s curatorial essay printed in the catalog for the 2008 Third Guangzhou Triennial. It collects and builds upon the rejection of Postcolonial interpretive strategies that was put forth in Xu Jiang and Gao Shiming’s “Globalization,” (see a post on that article here) and provides the framework for Gao’s curatorial strategies in the 3rd Guangzhou Triennial. Almost an decade lies between the first article, and this consequent official “farewell” to Postcolonialism, or what is perceived as Postcolonialism as a factor influencing the production of art. How has a prominent critical discourse in the West, likewise a broad field that might be effectively put to work in China, come to be rejected here? Perhaps more importantly, what comes next?

Key Concepts: Globalization, Postcolonialism, Westernization
Key words: “After Postcolonialism,” “two-fold colonization,” “Self-Othering”

概念：全球化、后殖民主义、西化
关键词：“后殖民之后”、“双重殖民”、“自我他者化”

Anticipating the flurry of discussion surrounding the provacative exhibition title (“Farewell to Postcolonialism”), Gao rounds up a few key criticisms of his thesis in the introduction to his article: with no former colonization to speak of, why do the Chinese even need to bid farewell to postcolonialism? (From the Chinese side.) He nods to “multiculturalists,” who find the notion politically incorrect, reeking of a return to new forms of colonialism (with the colonizers being the Chinese), or who see the notion of rejecting Postcolonialism as a the rise of new forms of cultural superiority.

But Gao has no interest in debating Postcolonial theory or politics. His purpose here is to express his personal dissatisfaction with the politicization of art and the evident harm that this process (understand to be a by-product of Postcolonial) has done to art.

In his first footnote, Gao expounds on some interesting thoughts about “colonization” in China, stating that she has undergone a “two-fold colonization” (shuangchong zhimin): Westernization and then Anti-Westernization; a technological and then utopian colonization. “Social experiments eliminated “traditional” China, and the experience of the Cultural Revolution left deeper scars on the collective Chinese psychology than colonial memories ever could.” Thus, “Art in the 1980s was unrelated to the so-called Postcolonial experience, the Chinese were rising against the social system and the ‘new traditions’” created in this unique context that had been formulating over the past few decades.

To Gao, Postcolonial is a discourse that is available to everyone, but China’s local discourse is not based in a “Postcolonial reality” and neither does she have a historical experience with colonialism. (He says that China’s 20th century discourse is based in the battle of East-West cultures.) China is familiar with Postcolonialism through experiencing it as a framework, an ideology.

Postcolonialism in the visual arts is a “system for viewing” art (guankan zhidu), and it has its drawbacks: “As a mechanism, it is like a net, only catching that which it is able and willing to catch. Sometimes, it transforms into a productive mechanism, penetrating into the artist’s thoughts.” Later Gao states that his curatorial impetus is to collect the things that fall between the holes in the Postcolonial net, and outside of this “system for viewing.”

Here, in his second footnote, Gao makes some more important points: “China’s 20th Century context is the clash of Eastern and Western cultures. In the beginning of the 20th Century, Chinese intellectuals intermingled various “self-othering” terms into cultural discussions, such as Guocui, and New Confucianism. He asserts that  Mao’s “Theory of New Democracy” was extremely similar to Postcolonialism, which he equivocates as the theory of postcolonialism in actual terms as being present in mainstream China much earlier than in the West.

And why should Chinese artists care about Postcolonialism? In a global context––doesn’t matter if you’ve heard of it or not––once an artist participates in any international exhibition, he/she is thrust into this “system for viewing.” To some degree, all artists are caught up in it. (more…)

Gao Shiming and Xu Jiang’s “‘Globalization’ and Chinese Contemporary Art –– written on the occasion of the Kassel Documenta curators’ visit to China”

读许江与高士明的《“全 球概念”与中国当代艺术的境遇——写在卡塞尔文献展艺术策划人访华之际》 的一些感受

The following are some thoughts and some translations while reading Xu Jiang and Gao Shiming’s essay, “‘Globalization’ and Chinese Contemporary Art” (The Chinese title translates more literally as “the notion of Globalization” and the circumstances of Chinese contemporary art.”) I hope to outline the framework of their argument. This text was first published in 2000, and reprinted in the 2008 Third Guangzhou Triennial “Farewell to Post-Colonialism” reader No. 1 (读本一), a Chinese version can be found on the exhibition’s homepage. This text has been circulated widely on the Internet, and the question is, is this a work of “criticism,” or a manifesto of sorts?

Authors Gao Shiming was a curator of the Third Guangzhou Triennial: Farewell to Post-Colonialism” (2008) and is currently on the curatorial team of the 2010 Shanghai Biennial, “Rehearsal.” Xu Jiang is the Dean of the China National Academy of Fine Arts, and one very lively orator.

关键观念：全球化、后殖民主义、 身份、文化多元化、文化他者、“中国性”、“西化”关键词：非西方的西方化，反思着的现代性，沉默的声 音

Key Concepts: Globalization, modernization, Westernization, Post-Colonialism, Multicultural, Identity, Cultural Other, Chineseness.

Key Words: non-Western Westernization, introspective modernity, silent voices

For the sake of brevity, Postcolonalism has been abbreviated to Po Co. The general idea is that Po Co is not applicable in China, and Chinese artists need to creatively assert themselves on a multicultural stage.

“Globalization has caused the West to introspectively reflect on its modernity, especially the various universalisms that this includes.”

“But, amidst the multiculturalism promoted by ‘globalization,’ the strategic misinterpretation and use of Po Co cultural theory to interpret and Chinese contemporary culture and art still exists.”

“Chinese art is facing fortunate opportunities for development like never before, and is likewise experiencing cultural circumstances both of unprecedented complexity and full of paradoxes. In view of the present world’s cultural pluralism, Chinese artists must devote themselves to establishing a new Chinese art rich in imagination and creativity, and not the characteristic monotony of a cultural other.”

So Po Co theory is not applicable in China ( a sentiment that I’ve heard echoed from some students at CAFA, who have said, “why should we apply foreign theories to what’s happening in China?”), and likewise Chinese artists need to make new art that defines them on a multicultural stage.

My reading of this statement sees art creation endowed with a mission to promote a “new Chinese art,” one free from the Western gaze, or free from the “West” as a determinant factor in establishing cultural value. This argument is not new, but here is placed within a framework of Po Co theory and globalization. One valid question that arises is whether or not the same terminology in translation is being interpreted or understood in the same ways across contexts. Po Co as an interpretive model has been looked upon with suspicion in Chinese academia, I believe that it falls outside what ever may be called the mainstream of critical literature, film, and cultural studies in China.

Their argument centers around Okwui Enwezor and the arrival of the Documenta 11 curatorial team in China, a now China-art-world-legendary encounter. Their first stop was the Hangzhou China Academy of Art, where they met with authors Xu Jiang and Gao Shiming, among others. Their question to them was: “What is the West?” The authors are shocked and seem insulted that upon arriving in China, their first question is West-centric (and we assume he should have asked what is ‘China’?) (more…)

 ［See also: part one of “Reading Gao Minglu,” 1997－2008
请参考：高名潞书目：第一部 （1997－2008年）］

2008 主编《’85美术运动》“The ’85 Movement” （上下卷）[Chinese]

高名潞的《’85美术运动》全面透视并呈现了中国当代艺术史上最令人激动、最富乌托邦色彩、最具青年造反气质，又最为广泛生发的 艺术运动。全书分两 卷：上卷“80年代的人文前卫”是高名潞与周彦、舒群、王小箭、王明贤、童滇等人所著《中国当代美术史：1985—1986》（上海人民，1991）的修 订版。下卷“历史资料汇编”则是高名潞将’85美术运动的原始资料按照时间和理念结构整理编辑而成的一部资料集。上下两卷逾千页，文字与图像交相辉映，浩 繁卷帙映衬出历史的重量。
　　高名潞是’85美术运动的积极参与者与理论旗手，他以“85”为美术新潮命名，意在呼应20世纪初的“五四”新文化运动。 因此，’85美术运动不仅仅是一次当代艺术运动，更是一次思想运动，文化运动。在高名潞看来，’85美术运动的成就不在造就出了哪几位大师，而在这个潮流 之发生发展的活生生的过程。

从编撰时间来看，上下两卷相隔近二十年。在亲历者的书写与历史家的回溯之间，一以贯之的是高名潞的理想主义情怀和平民意 识。理想主义赋予历史家以批判的视角，而平民意识则让历史家的眼光从“大师”转向“艺术平民”。高名潞强调新潮艺术的“群体”特性，而非代表性人物。所 以，在“历史资料汇编”中，才会保留那么多自今日视点看来无足轻重甚或转瞬即逝的艺术群体与艺术运动。然而，这便是历史的实况。“我们不以其泯灭而遗憾， 亦不以记录泯灭者而自愧自惭。”高名潞在80年代末写下的这番话，依然宣示着他二十年后的信念。
　　这套《’85美术运动》的出版，接踵于尤伦斯85新 潮艺术展和有关星星画会的“原点”展之后，其价值却超迈其上。艺术史家巫鸿评价说：这部著作丰富的原始资料将为未来的历史研究奠定根基。艺术家徐冰则认 为，这部书体现和倡导了一种我们逐渐失去的、真正的、作为中国知识分子的很完整的态度。

目录：
‘85美术运动 VOL 01

修订版序
高名潞
　初版序 高名潞
导论 作为一般历史学的当代美术史
第一节 历史的意义
第二节 历史学的标准
第一章 新时期美术概观(1976—1984)
第一节 人的觉醒
第二节 艺术——“真、善、美”的复归
第三节 “文革”后的理论批评(1979—1984)
第四节 一个创作时代的终结——“反精神污染”和“第六届全国美展”

第二章 面对’85前卫思潮的冲击：80年代的学院艺术和传统艺术
第一节 从“唯美”到“新学院主义”
第二节 观念更新：学院中的新一代艺术家
第三节 “中国画已到了穷途末日的时候”——李小山的《我见》
第四节 中国画的现代转型？
第五节 传统的应战

第三章 理性之潮
第一节 人文理性、本体理性和思维理性
第二节 北方艺术群体
第三节 从“江苏大型现代艺术展”到“红色·旅”
第四节 “’85新空间”展览与“池社”
第五节 非群体性的上海美术角
第六节 浙江“红黑白展览”与“红色幽默”
第七节 谷文达等个体美术家
第八节 其他具有理性倾向的群体

第四章 生命之流
第一节 生命本体、自然意识与宗教情感
第二节 从“云南、上海新具像”到“西南艺术研究群体”
第三节 “十一月画展”和京津新潮美术
第四节 江苏“新野性画派”、“徐州现代艺术展”及深圳“零展”
第五节 西北的群体与画家
第六节 西南的群体与画家
第七节 中原与各地的群体和画家

第五章 超越与回归——后’85的新潮美术
第一节 珠海会议——对’85美术运动的第一次检阅
第二节 “厦门达达”系列艺术活动
第三节 行为参与和作为文化活动的艺术
第四节 湖南“0艺术集团”与“湖南青年美术家集群展”
第五节 湖北青年美术节

第六章 80年代的建筑思潮
第一节 中国建筑的现代性理想
第二节 现代环境艺术观念的兴起
第三节后现代主义在中国
第四节 建筑民族形式的光环

第七章 现代美术与文化
第一节 中国现代美术运动之景观
第二节 新文化价值与现代中国美术的历史回顾
第三节 中国现代美术运动与新文化价值
第四节 文化选择与语言形态
第五节 80年代的美术报刊
中国当代美术编年纪事：1977—1 989
外国人译名对照表
初版跋
初版编后记

‘85美术运动 VOL 02

序 高名潞
第一章 “文革”后自发的画会和展览
新春画会
无名画会
星星画会
十二人画展
北京油画研究会

第二章 ’85美术运动的总结和检阅
全国油画艺术讨论会
’85青年美术思潮大型幻灯展暨学术研讨会(珠海会议)

第三章 理性之潮
北方艺术群体
江苏青年艺术周与“红色·旅”
“’85新空间”与“池社”
非群体的上海美术
吴山专与“红色幽默”
谷文达及其他个体艺术家
其他具有理性倾向的群体

第四章 生命之流
“新具像”到“西南艺术研究群体”
“十一月画展”与京津新潮艺术
“新野性主义”画派和“南京人”
徐州现代艺术展
深 圳“零展”
西北的群体
西南其他群体
中原各地的群体
湖南群体
湖北群体

第五章 观念与行为及“反艺术”活动
厦门达达
行为、观念和“反艺术”活动

第六章 《当代新潮美术》电视专题片剧本

(more…)

The following is a complete list of Gao Minglu’s publications in English and Chinese, with synopsis (when available) and table of contents in both English and Chinese, to reveal Chinese language information, click 中文 to your right.

1991    主编《中国当代美术史》editor of “The History of Contemporary Chinese Art”  [Chinese only]

Not Available

1997《中国当代美术史（1985—1986）》“The History of Contemporary Chinese Art (1985-1986)” [Chinese only]

《中国当代美术史》是建国后第一部当代美术断代史。它从历史哲学的理论框架出发，对从“文革”结束到八十年代中期整个十年的中国 当代美术思潮、流派、风格、作品进行了概括、梳理和评析。

目录：
第一章短暂的回顾——新时期的美术概观
第二章运动的端绪
第三章理性之潮
第四章生命之流
第五章超越回归后85的新潮美术
第六章传统与现代的选择
第七章风格与多元
第八章现代美术。

“The History of Contemporary Chinese Art” is the first period history of contemporary art in China since the People’s Republic of China. It uses a historical and philosophical framework to summarize, sort out, and analyze Chinese art trends, movements, styles and works from the close of the “Cultural Revolution” through the entire decade in the 1980s. (translation mine)

TOC
1. A short retrospective––concepts of art in a new era
2. Clues on a movement
3. Tides of rationality
4. The current of life
5. The ’85 New Wave beyond return
6. The choice of traditional or modern
7. Style and plurality
8. Modern art
(translation mine)
高名潞作为1989年中国现代艺术大展的筹划人之一，对80年代现代艺术在中国的肇始及发展了熟于心。90年代，他一直在美国做 访问学者。回顾这本作者自85年至96年的文集，他的一些既定看法对于当今的前卫艺术仍然有着不可忽视的意义。他所提出的“理性绘画”在90年代已经终 结，而“论毛泽东的大众艺术模式”文中恰好点出了90年代风行的“政治波普”的内在渊源。

目录：
一、新、老传统：自我完善与集体乌托邦
中国画的历史与未来（上篇）
中国现代美术发展背景之展开
论毛泽东的大众艺术模式

二、后文革：形式唯美与伤感的人道主义
近年油画发展中的流派
乌托邦的幻灭
一个创作时代的终结
从唯美主义到新学院主义
风情与超风情

三、作为运动而非流派的中国前卫艺术：
反乌托邦的乌托邦
当代绘画中的群体和个体意识
三个层次的比较
’85美术运动
高名潞访谈录
新潮美术在中国当代美术格局中的地位及意义
关于理性绘画
前卫与人文――’85运动中的反乌托邦的乌托邦
从艺术的批判到批判的艺术
异域文化战场上的挑战与冲突
走向后现代主义的思考――致任戬信
中国艺术的战场在中国本土
媚俗・权力・共犯

四、前卫艺术与现代意识
新洋务与新国粹
现代意识与’85美术运动
’85美术运动的“文化前卫”意识
文化与美术・美术与文化艺术的边界
雕塑的空间功能及类型
当对话媚俗时，我们需要一种心境的大化
一切历史都是当代史：作为一般历史学的当代美术史

后记
《中国前卫艺术》篇目脱稿期及发表情况一览表

As one of the curators of the 1989 “China Avant-garde Exhibition,” Gao Minglu has a fervent interest in the onset and development of modern [sic] art in China during the 1980s. Gao was a visiting scholar in the United States throughout the 1990s. Looking back on his collected writings from ’85 to ’96, some of his established opinions on today’s avant-garde art still hold significance that cannot be ignored. The “Rational Painting” that he proposed already came to an end in the 1990s, and in his “Discussing Mao Zedong’s Model for Public Art” he accurately points out the intrinsic origins of the “political pop” style en vogue during the 1990s. (translation mine)

TOC
One: New, Old traditions: self-improvement and the collective Utopia
The history and future of Chinese painting (part one)
The background unfolds to Chinese modern art and its development
Discussing Mao Zedong’s Model for Public Art

Two: Post Cultural Revolution: The humanism of Aestheticism and Scars
Painting schools in recent oil painting development
The disillusionment of utopia
The end of a creative era
From Aestheticism to New Academicism
“Style” and “ultra-style”

Three: the Chinese avant-garde as a movement, not a school
Anti-utopian Utopia
Collective and Individual consciousness in contemporary painting
Comparison on three levels
The ’85 Movement
A discussion with Gao Minglu
The status and significance of New Wave art within the structure of Contemporary art in China
On Rational Painting
Avant-garde and humanities––Anti-Utopian Utopia in the ’85 Movement
From art criticism to critical art
The conflicts and challenges of an foreign culture battlefield
Moving towards postmodernism––a letter to Ren Jian
The Chinese cultural battlefield on native soil
Kitsch, Power, Complicity

Four: Avant-garde art and modern consciousness
New Yangwu and New “National Essence” (guocui)
Modern Consciousness and the ’85 Movement
Consciousness of the “cultural vanguard” and the ’85 Movement
Culture and Fine Art, on the margins of fine art and the cultural arts
The spatial function and forms of sculpture
When we are in dialogue, we need to broaden our hearts
All history is contemporary history: contemporary art history as general history

Postscript
“Chinese Avant-Garde Art” published list of articles and titles
(translation mine)

1998 “Inside Out: New Chinese Art”  [English only]

Inside Out is the catalog for a groundbreaking exhibition organized by the Asia Society in New York, with venues also in San Francisco, Seattle, and Monterrey, Mexico. It discusses the first major presentation in the West of contemporary Chinese art and is the most important critique of the field to date. As they pursue their personal visions, Chinese artists tread between two extremes: embracing or rejecting their classical tradition. It is not easy for a Chinese artist to break away from such a rich treasury. For example, many works in the show deal with the written word–that most valued of China’s art forms, with its dual connotations of calligraphic beauty and obsessive ritualistic copying. Song Dong writes on a flat stone with water that quickly evaporates; Xu Bing invents witty, new, but meaningless characters. Understanding a work may require acquaintance with the classics: a suspended boat impaled with arrows harks back to a third-century general who sent straw-filled boats down-river to attract hostile fire, retrieved the boats, and collected his enemies’ arrows to use against them. There is an implicit anti-West message here. Other works, including installation, video, and performance art, have universal connotations that owe nothing to Chinese conventions. Contemporary Chinese art has been around for less than 20 years, but the freshness and variety of the work described in this book indicate that an original new force has joined the global art community. (John Stevenson via amazon.com)

TOC
Towards a Transnational Modernity: An overview of Inside Out (Gao Minglu)
Across Trans-Chinese Landscapes: Reflections on Contemporary Chinese Cultures (Leo Ou-Fan Lee)
The Post-Ideological Avant-Garde (Norman Bryson)
Ruins, Fragmentation and the Chinese Modern/Postmodern (Wu Hung)
Beyond The Middle Kingdom: An Insider’s View (Chang Tsong-Zung)
From Elite to Small Man: The Many Faces of a Transitional Avant-Garde in Mainland China (Gao Minglu)
Striving for a Cultural Identity in the Maze of Power Struggles: A Brief Introduction to the development of contemporary art in Taiwan (Victoria Y. Lu)
Found in Transit: Hong Kong Art in a Time of Change (David Clarke)
Strategies of Survival in the Third Space: A Conversation on the Situation of Chinese Artists overseas in the 1990s (Hou Hanru and Gao Minglu)

2001《世纪乌托邦：大陸前衛藝術》（台湾） “Century Utopia: Avant-garde Art on the Mainland” (Taiwan) [Chinese only]

Not Available

2003《中国及多主义》”Chinese Maximalism” [Chinese only]中国的“抽象艺术”究竟发展如何？中国的艺术家们又是如何理解“抽象艺术”的呢？《中国极多主义》将“极多主义”作为中 国当代“抽象艺术”的一种基本方法论，并以此展开了对中国式的“抽象艺术”的审视分析。想要了解中国的“抽象艺术”，不妨翻开这本——《中国极多主义》。
《中国极多主义》从当代艺术的背景、中国传统的思维方式和与西方抽象艺术的差异等不同角度分析了这些中国“抽象艺术”的“极多主义”特点。作者从艺术家的 具体观念和作品出发，从作品本身与创作背景之间的语境关系的角度去剖析这一独特的艺术现象及其发生的“意义”。作者指出，中国“极多主义”艺术既不是一种 自我表现，也不是一种对外部世界的“抽象”再现，而是这些艺术家的艺术哲学和生活哲学的不可分的一部分。它是传统和当代经验的融合，是建树具有“中国性” 的艺术方法论的探索结晶。“极多主义”以其极端的“重复”、“过程”、“数量”等语言形式对当代文化艺术中至今仍然充斥着的庸俗语义学时尚进行了消解性的 批判。同时，“极多主义”艺术也启发我们去思考建立当代新的艺术本位意识和艺术家人格意识的重要性和迫切性。

目录：
中国“极多主义”——一种另类“形而上”艺术
前言：中国“极多主义”的定义及其发生背景
中国“极多主义”的方法论批判
结论：“极多主义”是一种可以共享的方法论
插图目录
彩色图版
彩色图版目录
艺术家简历
后记

To what extent has Chinese “abstract art” developed? How do Chinese artists understand “abstract art”? “Chinese Maximalism” takes “maximalism” as a basic foundational methodology of “abstract art,” and uses it to develop a survey analysis of Chinese “abstraction” in art. Those who want to understand “abstract art” in China would do well to read this book––“Chinese Maximalism.”

“Chinese Maximalism” analyzes the characteristics of these “Chinese” “maximalists” through the different angles of contemporary background, Chinese traditional thought and its differences from Western abstract art. The author takes off from specific theories and works, and from the angles of the contextual relationship between the works themselves and their creative contexts, analyze this unique artistic phenomenon and its “significance.” The author points out, Chinese “Maximalist” art is not a personal expression, and neither is it an “abstract” representation of the exterior world, but is an inseparable part of these artists’ artistic philosophy and life philosophy. It is an exploration of the crystallization of an an artistic method that contributes to the fusion of the traditional and contemporary. Until today, “Chinese Maximalism” and extreme repetition, process, quantity and other linguistic forms filled with dismissive criticisms of a semantic fashion. At the same time, art inspired us to think about the establishment of a new contemporary art and the importance of and sense of urgency in artists’ personal awareness. (translation mine)

TOC:
Chinese Maximalism: An Alternative “Metaphysical Art”
An Introduction: The Definition of Maximalism and its Artistic Context
Critiques on the Methodology of Chinese Maximalism
Conclusion: Maximalism is a Methodology to be Shared
Postscripts

Apologies, friends, for the very sporadic posting on my part. Of late, most of my blogging energies have gone into a new project for me, the Chinese version of artforum.com.cn.

Maintaining this already wonderful site is now one of my responsibilities, and finally getting off the AWW manuscript to MIT Press, and the new year hibernation, etc…. The 2010 spring thaw will bring wonderful things, and happily, with most of my editorial energies pouring into the artforum.com.cn site, sinopop can become become more personalized, more suibian, and a place for stories and ideas that don’t fit the scope of the other site.

Please look for us in the future, as we hope to start adding some new Chinese language columns to the artforum site, attempting to add some thoughtful content and commentary to a crowded cybersphere of art news from China, of various qualities.

朋友们、亲爱的读者， 非常抱歉！最近忙一堆事没有更新博客。今年要开始投入美国artforum杂志网站的中文版，担任一些编辑的工作。 如果你还不熟悉，应该过来看，网站上有大量的杂志译文，也有亚洲地区的展评。

随着我的在官方网站的参与，之后sinopop的内容就更加自由， 更随便和主观一些， 我会尽量把“严肃艺术编辑”的精神集中在artforum.com.cn了。（如果您，读者还没有看到此精神，请不要急––之后有人赞助我就好说！哈！）

I haven’t seen the biopic on Confucius, Kongzi yet, but I can already tell it’s going to be a doozy. Chow Yun-fat’s omniscient face looming in the heavens on the film poster, and his self-bemused, wizened sage smirk on the film stills is one hint, and recent dogged attempts at drumming up nationalism through culture and the arts is another.

Since I am not a Chinese, and non-Chinese are simply not allowed to mock things Chinese (especially Kongzi) even in good spirit, I figure I’ll do like other bloggers and just rip off Han Han’s brilliant post this morning, entitled, “Watching Kongzi.” Read the Chinese here: 韩寒： 《看孔子》

“…To tell you the truth, I’ve never thought there was a need to turn these classic stories into films. From a film perspective, the moment such films are born, they become the antithesis filmmaking, strangling creativity. But if you say that China’s movies with classical-historical themes show no creativity, that’s not right either, because those scriptwriters are often writing incredibly counter-historical scenes, the situation is tangled. And thus the reason why a vast majority of big-budget Chinese films are borrowing classical themes and historical figures is because their investors have lack a sense of security, they hesitate to invest such a great amount of money on some plotline dreamed up by some dubious director. Occasionally, there comes along a director who has an enormous investment, and the freedom to write their own screenplay––the resulting films are even worse. And such is China’s tragic history of film. According to Chou Yun-fat, people who watch this movie and don’t cry cannot be human, I can believe this is his delusion, and I’m sure that during the in-house screenings, all of the producers cried. They cried thinking about how many elementary school students and governmental organizations they will have to drag to the theaters just to break even.
Let’s forget about all political reasons and look at the film itself, it is a failure of a film. The sermonizing in the film isn’t infective at all, when Kongzi is talking about propriety and benevolence in the film, the guy next to me was having a ten-minute long conversation on his cell phone. …
…
Finally, I want to say that the film Kongzi, no matter if it’s from the point of view of the significance of film, profits, artistic pursuits, film exploration, educational enlightenment, warning or admonishing the public, audio-visual experience, entertainment, or documentation of history, there is no need for this film to exist. This film could be erased completely from film history.”

Despite all this, I’m still happy that Avatar was pulled from the theaters just to make room for this film.
The illusion of global culture has been shattered by recent events with Google.cn, and Hillary’s speech on the “freedom to connect.” China’s official response to “so-called Internet freedom” makes me shudder, are we truly entering a virtual cold war? At the very least, films like this should prove the national agenda is still filtered through culture, remember Founding a Nation? At the least, its one more attempt by China’s film industry to harmonize ticket sales and pleasing the film censors. Yes, I will see Kongzi, because who can’t appreciate the wry irony of watching the former “God of Gambling” play the sagely man of morals Confucius? It’s like a national face lift. Well, I’ll see in on DVD anyways…

Perhaps artists like to think of themselves as harbingers of social change, at least think they like to imagine themselves on the vanguard of something. In China, they seem more like backseat drivers. However, the world’s fasting urbanizing nation is heaving forward in myriad expressions, and relentlessly posing challenges to the entire globe with a host of issues that will shape the next decade.Urban China is a magazine that has hovered on the fringes of the art world since it was founded four years, it examines various urban issues in themed monthly issues, featuring intellectuals, artists and social scientists writing on topics such as Chinese creativity, education, migration, or Chinatowns. URBAN CHINA: Work in Progress (Timezone8, 2009), is a new publication co-edited by magazine founder Jiang Jun and Brendan McGetrick that seems to reiterate the supremacy of the urban machine over the artist’s ego, as the book itself grew out of a series of questions that emerged from UC’s participation in Documenta 12 (2007). (more…)

Sometimes, in the spirit of preserving our mental health (and also following the sound example of many Chinese citizens) we block out the droves of nincompoopery political advertising that  inundates Beijing’s population during political festivals. However, China’s 60th anniversary recently passed, and left behind a rich trail of propaganda and harmonious good-tidings that begs to be deciphered by the twisted minds who are so inclined to pay interest to such mass messages from the state.

Thus it follows, a Chinese lesson for all souls who wish to join the“family,” as delivered to you by the creamy voices of Jackie Chan and favored Party chanteuse Liu Yuanyuan. The first video below was the National Day ‘debut’ of the patriotic song, written especially for the 60th anniversary and sung in The Square complemented by hundreds of jubilant dancers.

Please note the harmonious joy of China’s minorities as they dance happily in unison in The Square, this is very likely the favored past time of all the 56 minorities. This joyous display (which later incorporates Hu Jintao, Wen Jiabao, etc.) of course also indicates that even though we may be wearing different satin costumes, or of economic classes, our common ground is here: dancing below the benevolent face of the great leader.

Which brings us to our lesson, where we focus on three words:
国    GUO    (kingdom––the simplified character is a composite of characters for “jade”surrounded by a “mouth”）
家    JIA     (family, home––literally a “pig” covered with a “roof tile”)
国家     GUOJIA    (nation, country, state––the combination of the above two characters)

The Chinese for “China” is 中国 ZHONGGUO  (中=middle, inside) All of this word dissection is vital to understanding the first two lines of the song. Pay attention!

Now, due to the ingenious word play in this clever song, the appropriate words will be substituted below: GUO, JIA & GUOJIA.

Note that each time “JIA” is sung, one or both singers makes the sign language signal  for “home.” Special note for Cai Guo-Qiang fans, he was the “General Director” of the fireworks display you see at the end of the video.

(China based readers can see it on Sina here)

一玉口中国    Jade inside a mouth––ZHONGGUO
一瓦顶成家    Add a roof tile for a JIA

都说国很大    everyone says the GUO is large
其实一个家    but actually, it’s a JIA

一心装满国    A heart laden with GUO
一手撑起家    a hand props up JIA

家是最小国    JIA is the smallest GUO
国是千万家    a GUO is ten million JIAs

在世界的国    In the World’s GUO
在天地的家    and the JIA of heaven and earth,

有了强的国    having a strong GUO
才有富的家    makes for a wealthy JIA

国的家住在心里    The JIA of the GUO lives in your heart
家的国以和矗立    the GUO of the JIA stands upright with harmony

国是荣誉的毅力    GUO is the perseverance of glory
家是幸福的洋溢    JIA is brimming with prosperity

国的每一寸土地    every inch of the GUO’s soil
家的每一个足迹    every footprint in the JIA

国与家连在一起    GUO and JIA are joined together
创造地球的奇迹    to bring about a planetary marvel
[repeat…]

国是我的国    This GUO is my GUO
家是我的家    This JIA is my JIA
我爱我的国     I love my GUO
我爱我的家     I love my JIA

我爱我国家    I love my GUOJIA!!!

And here, one more time, you have Jackie’s MV version. It features more happy minorities, students reciting their lesson (“GUO, JIA, GUOJIA”), and even some thoughtful calligraphers demonstrating how to write the characters. Later, superstar pianist Lang Lang makes an appearance for a solo played in the Great Hall of the People. (more…)

一凡新作展的名称《看不完》与展览本身十分契合：大量的录像、装置作品让观众目不暇接，同时，每一件作品都包含着过多的文本，恐怕没有哪个观众可以真正地将某一件作品“看完”。王一凡在创作中始终关注着时间维度，并对其进行挑战。《监视时间：王一凡的钟表》是他的代表作之一。在这件装置作品中，王一凡利用中国家庭中常见的石英钟作为道具，采取机械的方式记录下石英钟24小时的状态，通过对24小时的钟表的纪录，王一凡在石英钟上以隐晦的方式将自己的名字演变为产品logo，试图在其中建立一种崭新的秩序，以期实现对时间的掌控。纵观王一凡的作品，他似乎总是在关注生活中稀松平常、微不足道，但却真实存在的细小变化。不管是记录空间状态的录像作品，还是密密麻麻誊写下来的小说，经过王一凡的聚焦与放大，这些不引人注意的细微末节突然从默默无闻的角落被抛向聚光灯的中心。随着微小平常的生活点滴成为作品的主体，看与被看的角色也随之错位。时间由隐形的控制者转变为被窥视的角色，话语权转移到观众手中。观看与否，观看的完整与否，都取决于观众自己。同时，观众与艺术家二元对立的角色设置也产生了微妙的变化；王一凡的作品提供了一条纽带，让观众和艺术家联手，正视并解构时间。Author: 景晓萌 2009.08.08-2009.09.07 星空间艺术中心|Star Gallery谢谢artforum.cn, 访问原文

In a CCTV documentary titled “798″, photographer Zhu Yan made the comment: “The factory workers displaced the farmers, the artists displaced the workers, and now…” but the director left out what should have followed, “… the tourists displaced the artists.”

Of course, the myth that 798 is a “cultural production zone” is perpetuated by the mainland media, and almost obsolete industrial patches across China look to the success of 798 as a model of “cultural industry”, a revival area preserving the remnants of an industrial past, but where creativity and commerce can meet to copulate and produce healthy economic offspring.

While that may be a lovely image, the fact is, there is some truth to it. The documentary is a rather sobering look at the quickly vanishing former life of “798″––Factory 718. In the 1950s it was a state of the art center of production, a place of national pride, and a household name that symbolized a better future. Workers were hand-picked for their class background, plucked from the fields and clad in blue to make radio electronics, among other classified military gear; they worked with some of the most “avant-garde” technologies of the day. Military components aside, none of this sounds unfamiliar with the tourist “cultural production zone” we know as 798.

Fifty years later, the changes are incredible. In the five-part documentary we meet laid-off former workers who are now janitorial staff, and the dwindling industrial staff (once more than 10,000, now less than 3000) tells stories of the past: homes of the newly-wed were furnished with a bed, a desk and a cabinet (many had never had their own bed), 8 hour shifts were followed by night school, and infants were picked up from an parking-lot sized nursery, while not-yet school aged children were locked in the one-room apartments while their parents “struggled” to build a strong China. “None of this was looked at as strange,” comments Ms. Gao, who still works in th ecomplex. Her last student, Ding Ding, a young worker and his very dour wife are filmed in their run-down apartment; his 700 RMB monthly salary is barely enough to feed them. I don’t think I can stomach buying a substandard 35 RMB coffee there ever again.

With nary a mention of contemporary art, the series is a historical and grimly patriotic portrait of a very different 798; it was filmed in late 2007/early 2008.  The CCTV site has photos and some historical background here. I thought of an article translated last year for the Timezone8 book “Beijing 798 Now” on the former incarnation of Factory 718. It is especially interesting to read how earthquake standards in construction had to be enforced by the East German engineering team. Its a long article, but has some interesting facts. For Chinese, switch languages on upper right.

从718到798

李洋

北京东北部的大山子
地区在半个世纪内已经历了两次命运的转折：50年前，平地而起的718联合厂让它闻名全中国；现在，798艺术区的崛起则让这片土地带着“复兴”的荣耀蜚声海外。
718有着显赫的身世和近乎传奇的经历。“一五”期间，在原德意志民主共和国专家的援助下，来自五湖四海的年轻人建起了国营华北无线电器材联合厂（718 联合厂）——我国电子工业的摇篮。当初，798只是联合厂的第三分厂，而现在这里已成为北京市、朝阳区首批文化创意产业集聚区之一和中关村电子城创意产业 基地之一。
现在，798内标志性的包豪斯建筑群依然耸立，它们保留着一个城市的工业记忆，而从718到798的变迁，则记录了城市产业调整的轨迹。

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Recently re-reading Yin Jinan’s two critical responses to the Chinese art world, “Knocking on the door alone” (1993) and “Step-motherism” (2000), two books that should be noted for their critical response and theoretical interpretations on the world of Chinese contemporary art. Both books are published by Sanlian Bookstore, are in their 4th and 2nd printing respectively, and have received much attention from the Chinese-reading world.

Yin Jinan wrote “Knocking on the door alone” as a response to the urgings of many who thought that his position as chair of the Central Academy of Fine Art’s art history department and as a “close-up” observer, warranted a publication.  The second book “Post-motherism” (will follow in separate review) is a compilation of years of art criticism published in his column in duzhe magazine 《读者》also entitled “knocking”, duzikoumen “独自叩门”. The implied meaning of this title is: when we look at art we are always seeking a personal interpretation, and our individual experiences inform our reading.

The essays range from 1988, in an essay on the joint exhibition of Lu Shengzhong and Xu Bing at the National Museum of Art, “新潮美术的转折点” (The turning point of the New Wave), to 1992 (in dialogue with Sui Jianguo). Yin’s connections with art are very influenced by his proximity to the art academy, and to many artists who were making important names, such as Liu Xiaodong and Yu Hong, Wang Guangyi, Huang Yongping,  Sun Xinping and a host of other young painters whom he calls the “New Generation Painters.” These were the emerging generation of artists who were establishing a new POV, moving away from the collectivism of the 1970s and 1980s and depicting personal experiences. Yin’s style is clear and dry, funny at times but aggressively confident when critical.

The book also includes ample writing on Xu Bing,  the outrageously well-attended first nude oil painting exhibition in early 1989, and writings on the China / Avantgarde exhibition in 1989, on Chinese modernism and more. Posted below is an essay from this book on “New Generation Artists”, it was translated for a forthcoming publication on Chinese contemporary art from the Museum of Modern Art.  To read Chinese version, please switch languages on the upper right hand.

新生代与近距离

文／尹吉男

90年代初的中国现代艺术具有特殊的时间意义。当记忆情境与现实景观碰撞在一起的时刻，任何人都能直观地比较出属于艺术史范畴的基本素材。文学界的”散文时期”恰好与美术界的没有艺术宣言的写实时期相对应，平静的生活沉入与此前火爆躁动的观念迷狂构成巨大文化反差。对传统艺术观和新潮艺术观的反省与质疑，首先不是来自理论界，而是来自创作界。90、91两年的一些引人瞩目的艺术个展和联展无声地表达了非常肯定的艺术态度，一批60年代出生的年轻艺术家应运而生。主创者们在年龄上的特点也成为我们定性近期艺术现实的一个重要方面。当我开始控制性地使用”新生代”和”近距离”这两个概念时, 我考虑到它们具有随时空发生微妙变易的活性蕴含。

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Yang Fan’s <Spring>
until April 6 @ Star Gallery

In a drastic departure from her works on canvas, Yang Fan has produced a carpet of colorful poof-balls that she culled from the storerooms of clothing and toy factories in her native Guangdong. Yang Fan is formerly known for her series of paintings of young women in fashion plate style, the series, ever popular with Asian collectors, did not resonate with Western audiences.

When she began working on the project last year, she mentioned that the idea came to her while visiting clothing factories in China’s south. In what might have evolved from more “crafty” origins, this work culminates in her scouring of southern factories for unwanted bits and bobs, a new representation of the stories behind the cast-offs, and timely with the massive layoffs in the south.

An essay accompanying the catalogue is presented below. I translated it, but also enjoyed it for some valuable insights on her early works. (more…)

李占洋   ‘租’——收租院｜ 麦勒画廊
2008.04.26 至 2008.08.24

李占洋的个展是今年夏天不要错过的机会。 他重复文革时期重要的一组雕塑作品“‘租’——收租院” 但是地主、农民、等等身份是被当代艺术圈替代。展览又幽默又有想法，你要是对好艺术不感兴趣，您可以去考验您对有名艺术世界的角色的认识。下面的文章是艾老师写的， 也在展览的画册出现的。

你看着办吧

和李占洋还不认识的时候，就记住了他的那些早期的雕塑，尺寸不大，大都是些有人物、有情节和场景的附着重彩的作品。后来的作品中出现了看热闹不怕事儿闹大的宏伟场面，着色和质感也时尚鲜亮起来。

这些作品与现实之间有一种半推半就的关系，有力的手法和明快处理所表现的趣味倾向，浓艳的作风，入微的细节与市井场面，那些故事的表情，事件的假设，传说中的情节，设定了人们所寻找的快乐，遭遇的不测和梦幻的英雄情节……

在大多数情形下，作为旁观者，我们知道眼前所见仅仅是一堆泥胎附上颜色的玩意，尽管我们可以用上帝的眼光来审视，用有训练有素的涵养来挑剔。这些人 物和情景，和谐与不和谐的光影变化，适宜和不适宜观赏的，刺激或装饰的色彩和形体，确是实实在在地影响了我们的脑神经皮层。作者设下的圈套将观者勾引进入 一个尴尬的境域。诱惑者在诱惑他人时是否亦被诱惑。不祥的快感触发了迷恋贪婪的血腥本性。

李占洋致力于很黄很暴力的败坏世风之举，旗帜鲜明地张扬性色和权力的声色犬马，像是一个长久的风俗败坏之地的景观导游者，操着浓重的市场化了的地方口音，有板有眼地重复着煞有介事的术语。无知中总是掺伴着邪恶，愚蠢里总是依偎着奢华。他一本正经地讲着，讲得认真投入。

这是一些重复了千百遍的历史故事和演绎，听上去显得平凡和陈腐。可是作品的现实力量常常令人难以相信，现实的真实性的侵伤发生了蜕变，它们已经不再是可以抹去的幻象，伴随着潜意识，像是一句无法删除的不停地在脑中反复的曲调，尤其是在你比谁都清醒的时刻。

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（北京, 2008 年 5 月 19 日）自那次安迪不经意地离开他所熟悉的人和城市，离开那些声音颜色和温度，已经20年了。在他离开的那一刻，这个世界就变成了另外一个样子。不是弓射出了箭，而是弓和它所系的那一端的世界离开了箭，从一瞬间起无限的分裂开来。

在安迪的一生中，一切都显得煞有介事 ，五色缤纷光怪陆离。远在那个时代真正的到来之前，像一个真正能够洞穿时间壁垒的先知，在他目光所及之处，一切都被一次次的放大，一遍遍复制，情感和含义被反复的夸张断裂和抽离。时间与人物都卓越不凡同时又是无关轻重。

安迪依恋那个充满了疑惑的世界，尽管这个世界同样不信任他，他们有着自始至终的难以确定的恩怨情节。它们暂时在一起，又永远的离开，像是一句脱口而出石破天惊的句子却咽了回去，留下的只是愕然。 

荒诞的是，在一九八二年十一月的某一天，安地偶然的来到一个陌生的国家。这里的人们还在红色政权的法术下昏昏欲睡，每一个人的面孔上带着同样淳朴和羞涩。在这一段经纬线上，没有人对这个艺术家表现出兴趣，没有人认得出那张家喻户晓的面具般的面孔。尽管在安迪的不计其数的名人肖像画中，最著名的是关于这个国度的领袖被画了几百遍的标准肖像。这个无处不在的标准像使毛泽东被视为神，在安迪的笔下，毛的肖像所寓意的力量是传统的，巨大尺寸和重复的次数，使他成为抽象的中性的日常用品，抹去了道德价值甚至美学表达的企图。 (more…)

卓越艺术，北京市朝阳区酒仙桥路4号798艺术D区
2008.4.19-2008.5.30

策展人文字介绍 / 刘鼎

隋建国长期以来通过雕塑实践来对雕塑的观念和形态进行思考和拓展，也同时运用录象、装置、行为等其他的媒介对社会生活形态的变迁和塑造社会生活形态 的力量和机制进行反思和讨论。卓越的第二个项目“公共化的个人痕迹”是隋建国通过抽离和呈现雕塑创作中翻制和放大泥稿的过程而对个人意志被转化成公共意志 的社会现实所展开的研究。

在一般的雕塑创作中，雕塑家通常是先制作一个完整的小稿，再请工人放大到雕塑家要求的尺寸，然后翻制成不同材料的作品。在“公共化的个人痕迹”的项 目中，隋建国自己动手制作了三个不同形态的泥塑小稿，并有意地让自己的手印布满这三个泥塑小稿的表面。根据雕塑翻制和放大的一般程序，隋建国请工人先将他 制作的泥塑手稿翻制成硅胶模具，再从硅胶模中翻制出石膏稿；接着在石膏稿上用激光定位仪进行打格定位，把石膏稿上的定位格放大十多倍，并做成定位系统，即 所谓“圈套（套圈）放大”的坐标圈。根据放大所需要的尺寸制作钢架及木架栅，然后将放大十多倍后的木制圈子套在木架栅上，并根据此木制圈，将雕塑泥架加在 其上，完成放大稿的基本造型。工人根据放大的坐标圈进一步塑造成型，精确地表现艺术家原手稿的手迹。最终，艺术家的泥塑手稿被精确放大数十倍，成为一个巨 大的具有纪念碑性质的雕塑。

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——王迪与毛泽东时代的建筑物
文 / 尹吉男

建筑总是以它自身的历史存在构成了现实景观。建筑的“客观性”还不仅仅体现在其实用功能上。它作为一种历史存在本身就已成为所有观察者的客观对象，即使是一个善于悬想的人，建筑对他而言仍是一个悬想的现实起点。
我经常想，一个社会学家或历史学家用照相机把建筑当作历史存在来拍摄会是什么结果？无疑，照相机似乎比其它记录手段更具“客观性”，而客观性也是社会学家或历史学家所追寻的，尽管他们都不可能做到。
王迪拍了一些北京的建筑物。这些建筑物自然也有它们自身的历史，它们建于毛泽东时代。毛泽东时代的政治与文化精神包含在其中。由此我们可以从视觉上感知毛 泽东时代的人民与阶级概念与这些建筑物的历史关系。王迪拍摄这些旧建筑的动力来自个人的成长经验与特殊情感，他在拍摄过程中逐渐融入社会学的视角和方法。 这些以物质形态承载毛泽东时代文化观念的历史建筑正在消亡，淹没在突飞猛进的现代化的发展浪潮中。实际上，正在离去的不仅是历代帝王的北京，同时还有毛泽 东时代的北京。这无疑是从文化遗产和历史的角度所做的宏观判断。
我想，毛泽东时代的北京背景是王迪个人成长史中无法选择的，这个条件是必然的，给定的，更不能在日后删除。因此，这个背景中的社会主义的集体性与历史性非 常明确。这些苏联式的中国建筑曾经和社会主义的初期实践紧密的结合在一起。它们体现了上个世纪50年代和60年代最经典的中国意识形态模式。
到了20世纪80年代，许多青年人都有强烈地摆脱这个文化背景的欲望。中国社会处在急剧所谓变革当中。首先，否定的力量来自文化空间的差异，当时最容易做 的是从异域文化中寻找自由精神。进而超越政治惯性的集体性。王迪和崔健一样，在那个时期热衷于摇滚音乐。80年代的中国摇滚实际上不是音乐，而是自由与反 叛的运动。它的形式是群体，但他的目标是走向个人。自由与反叛的结果则是创造了一种精英文化（实际上有很强的政治性），而不是大众文化，更不是商业。
90年代中国商业主义中本身具有不断成熟的自由因素。新的文化与新的建筑在不断改写毛泽东时代以及更早的历史帝王时代的北京。北京已经不是一个永恒的背 景，而是一个不断变动的背景。在变动的过程中，不仅老的文化伴随着物质遗产一起消失，更新近的文化也在部分消失（其中包括80年代和90年代的某些非物质 文化遗产）。王迪正是在90年代成为职业音乐人的，他的那些音乐也汇入了改写北京乃至中国的文化潮流中。 (more…)

文 / 阿城

简单描述一下我们的脑的一部分。我们看到图像，由视网膜将图像传达到丘脑，再由丘脑将其转成脑语言（类似图象被转成零和一的电脑语言），储存到海马 迴（这个部分象个海马）。同时，杏仁核（这个部分象个杏仁），储存了相应的情绪记忆，诸如恐惧、喜悦。因此例如我们看到狼会感到恐惧。如果将某人的杏仁核 部分切除或者它损伤了，某人和我们同时看到狼，某人却不会产生恐惧，只知道它是一匹狼。我们会逃走，某人却不会。我们通常会将情绪反应与我们不同的人称为 “傻瓜”。
我们脑中和图像联系在一起的，还有诸多记忆被相应储存，例如气味，质感，触感，声音，温度等等。
正常的情况下，图像判断和情绪判断是联系在一起的，问题只是你脑中的图像是和什么情绪记忆联系在一起。我们常常说到的童年记忆或者经验，会影响人的一辈子，就是由此而来的。“从小看大，三岁看老”。童年，正是你初存图像和诸类联系记忆的黄金时期。
于是所谓乡愁，就是多年后你的童年诸类记忆在心中翻滚。浓愁如酒。
以文化为题旨，近十多年的不少摄影，勾沉、寻找中国的生活方式的存在、毁弃和遗迹，例如老街老胡同老房子。而王迪显示给我们不同于近一百年前北京东、西交民巷的西化，而是上个世纪五十年代的全盘苏联化，其实也是一种西化造成的存在。
王迪很恰当地称它们为红色建筑。
不过这些红色建筑，当时并非由苏联专家设计建造，而是新中国的建筑师按照苏联的设计规范，例如人均面积空间等等而设计建造的。从意识形态来说，它们等同苏 联的新建筑。它们也确实是为国务院各部委的机关设计的宿舍楼，用的是苏联的住宅小区的概念。它们不可能在共和国，起码在北京地区推广，是因为它们超出庶民 的消费水平。
它们未必有当时内城大量的精致四合院奢侈舒服，但它们簇新，由现代建筑材料构成，它们是新中国的权力标志，是红色建筑。它们是新北京。 (more…)