Supplement: “Forest of Stone Steles”— Translation Within and Between Cultures

77 In a context of globalization and post-colonialism, ecrated. Okeke interpreted wisely to the spirits of Umuofia: The translation with and between cultures becomes more white man says he is happy you have come to him with your frequent and critical. Wenda Gu exhibited his thoughts grievances like friends. He will be happy if you leave the matter in his hands.1 on this issue in his installation work “Forest of Stone Steles.” Using a form of traditional Chinese documen- Translation, interpretation in this case, is not merely literally tation and calligraphy, Gu selected and re-interpreted linguistic transformation; rather, it is a mixture of different Chinese Tang poetry by means of three-stage trans- conventions—etiquette, custom, hierarchy, religion, and so lations—Chinese to English, English to Chinese, and on—in this transformation. finally Chinese back to English. When translation The artist himself can be seen as another good example became a crucial means of communication in today’s of how a diaspora artist lives in and communicates in a multi-culturalist world, which in turn became an issue translational world. Wenda Gu moved to and settled at New for contemporary culture and art. The work revealed York in the end of the 1980s, traveling from there to other that translation is a process of misunderstanding, or countries in the 1990s.2 Up to the twenty-first century, he re-interpretation based on a translator’s intention, has flied more frequently between China, North America, understanding and cultural heritage. Europe, and other continents. All travels and art making in his native country and the rest of the world have provided Wenda Gu (1955–), a Chinese artist who settled in New York him, a Chinese diaspora, with experience of communication, in 1988, and lives mainly in Shanghai now, made a visual confrontation, and negotiation within and between cultures. statement about translation within and between cultures in When discussing the concept of his “Forest of Stone Steles,” his work “Forest of Stone Steles: Retranslation and Rewrit- Wenda Gu said, ing of Tang Poetry” (1993–2005). This was a large project My “Forest of Stone Steles” project was created at the turning involving the translation and re-translation of China’s an- point of the twentieth century to the 21st century under the pres- cient poetry, in which the texts were inscribed on fifty large- ence of different political, social and scientific exchanges and scale stone steles, from which ink rubbings were made. Its clashes between cultures…. (It) reflects the changing world of cultural import and export, cultural assimilation and alienation purpose was to explore the relationship of the original and from each other, and consummation (should be “consumption” the interpretations of written text, poetry in this case, with- here.—Zhou) of one culture by another.3 in and between cultures, and to converse with the English world from the perspective of a native Chinese profoundly affected by Chinese history, literature, and art. 1 Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart, 1958, London: Heinemann, 1976 In a context of globalization and post-colonialism, trans- edition, p. 134. 2 lation with and between cultures becomes more frequent As for Wenda Gu’s art in his China and western periods, see main text Chapter 3, “The Discovery of the Centrality of Culture in Art: Wenda and critical. An example from the novel Things Fall Apart Gu. by Chinua Achebe, a notable Nigerian novelist, illustrated 3 Wenda Gu, “Forest of Stone Steles, Retranslation and Rewriting of the complicity of interpretation/translation in colonial/post- Tang Poetry, 1993–2005,” catalogue of the exhibition Translating Visu- colonial context. ality—Wenda Gu: Forest of Stone Steles, Retranslation and Rewriting of Tang Poetry, Guangzhou, China: Lingnan Fine Arts Publisher, 2005, Mr. Smith said to his interpreter: Tell them to go away from pp. 286–287. here. This is the house of God and I will not live to see it des-

Y. Zhou, Odyssey of Culture, Chinese Contemporary Art Series, 125 DOI 10.1007/978-3-662-45411-4, © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015 126 Supplement: “Forest of Stone Steles”—Translation Within and Between Cultures

While exchanges and clashes happened mostly on the level The idea of “Forest of Stone Steles: Retranslation and Re- of language, the cultural import, export, assimilation, alien- writing of Tang Poetry” grew from the artist’s reflections on ation, and consumption took place essentially in a concep- stone steles, an ancient type of Chinese historical documen- tual way; in other words, all these interactions within and tation and calligraphic art. Similar to the “Hammurabi Stele,” between cultures were, in a sense, ones of different lan- law code relief carved by Babylonian sculptors in the eigh- guages saturated with convention, heritage, and history of teenth century b.c., stone steles in China documented his- various civilizations. Translation, similar to the interface of torical events and also carried legislative texts. They differ, a computer system, became a platform where understand- however, in one respect—the Babylonian stele usually con- ing vs. misunderstanding, interpretation vs. re-interpretation, tained figurative images and textual inscriptions, but the his- and conflict vs. negotiation occur in a conceptual, sometimes torically numerous Chinese steles were predominantly text dramatic way. It is to me why the artist has been obsessed with few figurative decorations. During the Tang Dynasty, with the issue of translation for more than a decade. about thirteen hundred years ago, this type of historical doc- The text on the steles included the original Tang poems, umentation was supplemented by calligraphic art. Although English translations, a phonetic retranslation back to Chinese the steles were initially carved in an ancient mode of Chinese from English, and finally the artist’s own English transla- (seal script primarily with a few calligraphic elements), the tion from the phonetic Chinese “poems.” When inscribed on calligraphy-centered stele did not appear until the Tang Dy- the stone stele, an old Chinese type of documentation, with nasty, when the art of poetry, calligraphy, and stele inscription the phonetic English-Chinese text in the largest font size, the reached their peak of development in China. Gradually, the work very much resembled a “regular” stele that one would stone stele became a unique art, as its documentary function see at traditional royal cemeteries, temples, residences, and declined and literary references, mostly poetry, became the official buildings in China. However, the great difference primary texts. Accordingly, calligraphy played a more im- between the original poem and the final text of “translation” portant role in these inscriptions. The best known collection seems to suggest that misunderstanding or even distortion of stone steles was the “Forest of Stone Stele of Xi-an,” now is “natural” in such process, a reality a student of culture “Museum of Forest of Stone Steles of Xi-an,” built in the should never ignore. Song Dynasty in the eleventh century and located in Xi-an, That misunderstandings or even distortions were “natu- Shaanxi, the capital for more than ten dynasties. Combining ral” in cultural exchange was a new issue for Wenda Gu. documentation, literature, calligraphy, and seal inscription, Just as communication between people from different back- the stone stele was a unique carrier of Chinese cultural and grounds often led to confusion, misunderstanding, and frus- artistic discourse. The solemnity of its appearance suggests tration, the translation of a classic text from one language to its authority, and the durability and solidity of the medium another, each a cultural embodiment, would never be as easy implies venerability and authenticity. The ink rubbings from and smooth as the transformation of electricity from 110 V such steles became available after rice paper was invented in to 220 V via a transformer.4 As pointed out by Stephen Bann, the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368). The ink rubbings were valu- “…the search for meaning—the process that is commonly able because they were simply like modern Xerox copy that called ‘interpretation’—is a virtually limitless one, which were conveniently used as textbook of history and culture, can be terminated only by the atrophy of the individual and students copied them to learn and improve their callig- subject’s desire to know.”5 Readers/audiences’ continuous raphy. Therefore, inscribed stone steles, like bamboo slips, search for meaning of a text makes interpretation with mis- silk and paper, became a crucial conduit of Chinese culture, understanding a limitless process, so that the text will be en- especially before printing was invented. riched with unexpected meaning. It is this that has fascinated It is said that stone steles appeared first in the hometown the artist and motivated his exploration of translation in the of Confucius, Qufu, State of Lu, in today’s Shandong prov- past decade, which is, in a sense, not unlike Harold Bloom, ince. This allegation seems to suggest that from its very the scholar of Romantic poetry, who was fascinated with beginning the stone stele carried cultural significance be- misreading Freud in his notable book A Map of Misreading cause Confucius and his thoughts are usually considered as (1975).6 representative of Chinese culture and discourse. Wenda Gu was aware of the comprehensive role the stone steles and their ink rubbings had played in history. He wrote: 4 American tourists or businessmen who visit China need to bring a transformer for recharging batteries of their cell phone, digital camera, etc., as the Chinese use 220 V electricity for their electrical facilities, process by which we try to keep instinctual representations (memories and vice versa. and desires) unconscious, as a means/approach up onto the heights of 5 Stephen Bann, “Meaning/Interpretation,” Critical Terms for Art His- sublimity, the ego's exultation in its own operations, in his A Map of tory, Chicago & London: The University of Chicago Press, p. 87. Misreading (New York: Oxford University Press 1975). This intention- 6 Harold Bloom, a professor at Yale University since 1955 and at New al misreading is a typical interpretation of a text, which shows how far York University since 1988 as well, read Freud’s repression a defensive we could go in interpretation in terms of misreading/misunderstanding. Supplement: “Forest of Stone Steles”—Translation Within and Between Cultures 127

Through dynasties and generations, the Chinese have inherited stele does. This origination, however, added to the impres- and learned their history and culture from artistic ink rubbing sion of grandeur and monumentality because it required vast pieces and books. Although the most ancient and original cal- space in horizontal dimension. Accordingly, fifty ink rub- ligraphic hand-scripts have been lost, these fine engraved stones still exist. Therefore, they are extremely important for archae- bings, each 71 inches in length and 38 inches in width, were ologists, historians, artists, etc. to study in order to know China’s made from these steles, and usually were hung on the four history and culture.7 walls surrounding the exhibited steles. Each stele contained Based on this awareness, Gu chose the stone stele to address a poem by a famous poet Tang (618–906 a.d.), including 李 his understanding of cultural identity and the interaction of 白 (Li Bai, 701–762), 杜甫 (Du Fu, 712–770), 王维 (Wang cultures. It seemed that this medium was crystallized in Chi- Wei, 701–761), among others, an English translation by Wit- na’s culture, so it became a common and also unique vehicle ter Bynner, a phonic retranslation back into Chinese charac- of cultural identity. ters, and a poem by Wenda Gu, based on the third version of In his stone stele work, Gu attempted to reconsider the the poem. The poems, translations and retranslations were anti-traditional stance he took in the 1980s when he decon- inscribed on the steles by hand. And all steles were carved structed Chinese written language on rice paper in China. by professional stele inscribers under directions of art faculty Initially, Gu planned to create Chinese characters, mainly and museum experts, at Xi-an, Shaanxi province, China, the seal script type, plus English, Hindi, and Arabic characters city where the “Forest of Stone Steles of Xi-an,” the most carved in steles, not unlike those on the hair curtains of the comprehensive collection of thousand-year-old calligraphic “United Nations,” his ongoing project from the early 1990s stone steles, is located. to the present. Continuing his reconstruction of Chinese A good example of poems Gu selected for this work ap- characters, Gu had them carved on stone steles, the unique peared on the fifth stele. It was 泊秦淮 (“bo qing huai,” vehicle of Chinese culture, along with characters of the other Moor on the Qinhuai Canal, “A Mooring on the Chin-Huai three fake languages. With its appearance of solemnity and River” in Witter Bynner’s translation9), written by poet 杜牧 sense of authority, representing aspects of China’s Confu- (Du Mu, pp. 803–852). cianism, the stone stele became a natural trademark of Chi- neseness. However, in these steles, all four languages and 烟笼寒水月笼沙, their cultures became integrated. 夜泊秦淮近酒家。 To simplify or to clarify his intent, Gu reduced the lan- 商女不知亡国恨, guages to two, Chinese and English, the languages that have 隔江犹唱后庭花。 the most users in the world.8 He selected Tang poetry, one of the quintessential classics of Chinese literature, as the text or This is a poem that used what the poet saw and heard to object for his translation and retranslation. From the poems invoke a sense of a dynasty in crisis. The poem described he selected, Gu found their corresponding translations in that the poet moored at a tavern by moonlight on the bank Witter Bynner’s The Jade Mountain: A Chinese Anthology – of the Qinhuai Canal in Today’s Nanjing, Jiangsu province. Being Three Hundred Poems of the Tang Dynasty (New He heard a song from another side of the river and felt that York: A. A. Knopf 1929), and then “retranslated” them back people there were still enjoying their lives while the dynasty into Chinese phonetically. Finally, the artist “retranslated” approached its crisis. The song is titled, “A Song of Court- the phonetic Chinese version of Bynner’s translation into yard Flowers.” It is a sensual and alluring piece written by English based on the meaning of “nonsense-like” lines of Chen Shubao (known as Chen Houzhu, meaning “the second this phonetic Chinese version. emperor of Chen,” 553–604), who was the emperor of the The work consisted of 50 stone steles, each 75 inches weak Chen Dynasty (reign, 573–589). Although this song in length, 43½ inches in width, 8 inches in thickness, and celebrated the beauties of the royal court, his advisors sensed 1.3 tons in weight, dimensions similar to that of stone ste- the decadence and the impending destruction of the dynasty. les in front of royal cemeteries, Buddhist temples, or ancient The Sui Dynasty ended Chen Houzhu’s seven-year reign government office complexes. For safety reasons, these (582–589). The song, “A Song of Courtyard Flowers” by huge, heavy steles were usually displayed horizontally in Chen Houzhu, was understood by following generations as an exhibition space, instead of vertically as a regular stone the “sound of subjugation of a country.”10 Two and half cen-

9 Notice the difference of phonetics in characters 秦淮: qin huai vs. 7 Wenda Gu’s e-mail to Zhou Yan, Nov. 13, 1998. chin huai. The former is pinyin, used in mainland China since the 1950s, 8 While Mandarin speakers are nearly 1.12 billion, English speakers while the latter, Wade-Giles, a system produced by Thomas Wade in the are about 408 millions, followed by Spanish (320 million), Russian mid-nineteenth century, and reached settled form with Herbert Giles’s (285 million) and French (265 million), etc. see website http://www2. Chinese-English dictionary of 1912. ignatius.edu/faculty/turner/languages.htm, available on September 1, 10 There is music in ancient China, as “A Song of Courtyard Flowers,” 2005. that poets can fill with their own words, so when the melody remains, 128 Supplement: “Forest of Stone Steles”—Translation Within and Between Cultures turies later, Du Mu wrote his “Moor on the Qinhuai Canal” work 天演论 (“tian yan lun,” Evolution and Ethics, by Thom- when the Tang Dynasty was suffering from its own crisis. as Huxley in 1894) in 1896. 信 means faithful to the original When people sang “A Song of Courtyard Flowers,” Du Mu text; 达 requires clear, coherent, and fluent communication sensed that the Tang Dynasty was also on the eve of a crisis. of ideas; while 雅 refers to the usage of refined and exquisite In the ears of the poet, this song recalled the decadence and words, or literary elegance, in translation. Therefore, while 雅 destruction of a dynasty, causing anxiety and worry for the (ya) is basically a requirement for the translation, 信 (xin) and present. Interestingly, “A Song of Courtyard Flowers” was 达 (da) are requirements that define the relationship of the first “interpreted” by Tang singers, then Du Mu reinterpreted translation and the original text. Yan Fu’s criterion is about it in his poem. Now the ongoing “project” continues in the translation in general, but the translation of poetry is more twentieth century, although the means of interpretation here difficult than the translation of novel or scientific texts. is translation instead of appropriation.11 The poem is a 七绝 (qi jue), a four-line poem with seven Reinterpretation by means of citation of previous, mostly characters (thus seven syllables) to a line and the strict tonal ancient, poetry, songs, and other written text, even histori- pattern and rhyme scheme. All these requirements, except cal events and cultural convention is a very common prac- for lines (four of them in this case), were not met in Bynner’s tice in Chinese poetry. It is called 用典 (yong dian, literary translation, which to me are very difficult to achieve, as there quotation) in Chinese. In fifty poems Gu used in his “stone are no four-tones in English as in Chinese and there are one stele” work, we can find many similar quotations. For ex- or more than one syllable in an English word. However, the ample, Wang Wei’s “On the Mountain Holiday: Thinking translation is very good in coherence, fluency, and exquisite- of My Brothers in Shan-Tung” cited a holiday convention, ness, that is, it met two principles, 达 and 雅. The critical that is, carrying dogwood when climbing a mountain in part, its authenticity, needs further discussion. Double-Ninth Festival, to express the poet’s homesick feel- The English for the first line 烟笼寒水月笼沙 (yan long ing; Wang Zhihuan used the ancient song “Breaking off a han shui yue long sha) is “mist veils the cold stream, and Willow Branch” in his poem “Beyond the Border: A Song moonlight the sand,” which was translated “completely,” be- of Liang-chou” to convey his lamenting sentiment; Zhang cause each character had its English counterpart. Only one Hu’s “She Sings an Old Song” applied the old song “He thing needs to be mentioned: the character 烟 (yan) refers to Manzi” to express the mood of the lonely and mortified life mist and smoke, thus one may smell smoke of gunpowder of a court maid. This type of quotation became a practical from the original, although it is not absolutely necessary for interpretation of the existing text, and the text cited is always a reader. The word “mist” sounds indeed more romantic than injected with new meaning and significance, adding creative the character 烟. And, the verb “veil” is excellent because interpretation to the “translation.” In the case of “A Mooring the character 笼 means “shroud,” “hover over.” The word on the Chin-Huai River,” “A Song of Courtyard Flowers” of “veil” conveys a misty and somehow oppressed ambience about two hundred fifty years ago was sung and sounded like produced by air (mist and/or smoke here) and light (moon- a knell of a dynasty in the poet’s ears. light). In Witter Bynner’s translation, this poem reads, The second line 夜泊秦淮近酒家 (ye bo qin huai jin jiu Mist veils the cold stream, and moonlight the sand, jia) is translated into “as I moor in the shadow of a river-tav- As I moor in the shadow of a river-tavern, ern.” Only three characters, 泊 (“bo,” moor) and 酒家 (“jiu Where girls, with no thoughts of a perished kingdom, jia,” tavern) can be found in Bynner’s text. 夜 (“ye,” night), 12 Gaily echo “A Song of Courtyard Flowers.” 秦淮 (“qin huai,” Qin Huai Canal), 近 (“jin,” close, near) Translation of poetry is a very difficult, if not the most dif- were “ignored,” while “I” and “the shadow” were added ficult, work for a translator. In Chinese translation theory, to make the line more fluent in English. The phrase “in the 信 (xin), 达 (da), and 雅 (ya) are three criteria of translation, shadow” here was creative, as the Chinese 近酒家 means raised by 严复 (Yan Fu, 1854–1921), a famous translator, “being close to the tavern,” which made up to a degree for thinker, and educator, in the introduction of his translated the omission of the character 夜 (night). Interestingly, while the poem omitted the subject, as Tang poetry usually did, the English version needed a subject, “I,” to complete the whole contents may differ, although the mood is similar. The piece “A Song of Courtyard Flowers” filled by Chen Houzhu became well known be- poem. cause of his licentious and sensual lifestyle and short-term reign, so “Where girls, with no thoughts of a perished kingdom” is citation of the song with this title in later literature usually refers to the the translation of the third line 商女不知亡国恨 (shang nü bu one he filled if not specified. zhi wang guo hen). Basically, this was a “literal” translation 11 In fact, Wenda Gu “interpreted” this poem in his work of the 1980s, since every character was translated and the meaning of the and I’ll discuss it later. original was conveyed, although 商女 (shang nü) was inter- 12 Witter Bynner, translated, The Jade Mountain: A Chinese Antholo- gy—Being Three Hundred Poems of the T’ang Dynasty (618-906), New preted as “female singer” instead of simply “girl(s),” in gen- York: Alfred A Knopf, Inc. published, 1929, 8th printing, 1960, p. 176. eral. There is no specific quantity in the Chinese word “商女” Supplement: “Forest of Stone Steles”—Translation Within and Between Cultures 129

(shang nü), which may indicate that who sing(s) is more im- The work he made in 1986 was titled “我书写的唐诗— portant than how many people sing. Or it may leave room for 错字,漏字,反字,美术字,仿宋字,无义字,倒字,异字” (“wo readers’ imagination, as singing by one person or by a group shu xie de tang shi—cuo zi, lou zi, fan zi, mei shu zi, fang of persons would be very different in mood and effect. Per- song zi, wu yi zi, dao zi, yi zi,” Tang poetry in my callig- haps, Bynner used the plural to stress the ambience of peace raphy—wrongly written, missed, reversed, artistically calli- and prosperity. We can see the difference between Chinese graphic, Song-dynasty style typefaced, meaningless, upside- and English here: the former conveys ambiguity at a degree down, and homonymous characters, Figure 51). This long whereas the latter accuracy. While we can add an adjective to title actually describes most of the methods Gu applied in define quantity in Chinese as needed, English has no room the work. The destruction was three-fold. First, the charac- for such ambiguity. It might be why some people consider ters were destructed, reconstructed, or simply repositioned. English more scientific and Chinese more poetic. Still, there Second, the format of the calligraphy is subverted through is something that is very hard to transform, namely, the char- inconsistent types of characters and accidental ink blots. Fi- acter 恨. This is a highly emotional character and can be seen nally, the poetry becomes hardly readable—deconstructed— as the highlight of the poem. It means “eternal regret” and because of various treatments of the characters, as well as “mortification,” which is, in this case, a collective psycho- three intentionally omitted or missed characters (there are logical impact caused by the subjugation of the kingdom, and 28 characters in the original poem). this inherited impact can even be felt for generations. This An analysis of the mood in this poem revealed additional sentiment is hard to sense from the word “thoughts” in Byn- insights into Gu’s intention. Unlike his “Stone Steles,” which ner’s text. include fifty Tang poems, this piece selected Du Mu’s “Moor The last line, 隔江犹唱后庭花 (ge jiang you chang hou on the Qinhuai Canal” purposely. The selection Gu made is ting hua), was translated beautifully into “gaily echo ‘A Song significant because this poem carries references to a crisis of Courtyard Flowers’.” Again, only four characters, 唱 and warns of the immediate danger to a dynasty, or a culture (“chang,” sing) and 后庭花 (“hou ting hua,” A Song of Court- in general. Its implication could be read as a tocsin of cul- yard Flowers), were transformed here. The words “gaily” and tural crisis, while this artistic destruction of the character’s “echo” are “exquisite” translations, conveying effectively the calligraphic and poetic structures functioned as a “forecast of joyful atmosphere, although there are no literal counterparts destruction” and reinforced greatly the power of its critique in the original. What the translation omitted were three char- of culture. In the 1980s, when Chinese intellectuals were acters 隔江 (ge jiang) and 犹 (you). The former means an- rethinking and criticizing their native culture, Gu’s decon- other side of the river, whereas the latter means still. If we struction echoed the imperative of cultural revival through could say that the omission of the phrase “another side of the his black-humor-like sentiment and radical means. river” did not hurt much, the adverb “still” would be a word However, the selection of the same poem in his “Forest of that plays an important role in the poem, because “sing” and Stone Steles,” along with other forty nine poems, probably “still sing” convey a very different emotion and mindset. carried fewer sentimental implications than the first time. Having compared the original and the translation, we When Gu confronted at home in the 1980s the stubborn tradi- can see the obvious difference between the two versions. tion that to him needed to be shaken and deconstructed, he The most difficult part, the authenticity of translation, was injected his critique into art, as he did in this piece made in handled responsively, so the Bynner’s version transferred the 1986. In the 1990s, however, Gu faced and acted in a global basic description and message of the original. However, this context where his predicament was no longer caused by a con- effort still left disparities between two texts that are hardly vergence of historical elements from one single culture; rather, possible to erase. Technically, the formal beauty of the four it was like a chess play on a check-board, which consisted of seven-character lines, tonal pattern, and rhyme scheme of the different cultures and run synchronically and diachronically as original disappeared in the translation. The subtle elements, well. Translation became a critical means of communication, such as the sentiment of eternal regret and the anxiety ex- which in turn became an issue for today’s multi-culturalism. pressed through a few key characters, are not easy to feel in An analytic experiment, instead of antagonistic critique, could the translated text. be strategically feasible and effective. Therefore, his “Stone If Bynner’s translation had unwittingly lost something of Steles” piece functioned more like a formal element or subject the original, Wenda Gu intentionally gets rid of something to language transformation, rather than an object of the de- in his retranslation—from Bynner’s English version back to struction of written language, calligraphy, and poetry. Chinese. It was the second time Gu used this poem in his art. Let us see what happened when Gu “retranslated” Wit- In the 1980s, Gu used this poem in his destructive Chinese ter Bynner’s version back to Chinese phonetically ( pinyin in language work, underscoring the sad mood of the poem and parenthesis may work as a reference of sound). implying a relationship to the current cultural crisis through 密使蹄威,而是日可得十郡安,德猛来秃遮山。 his deconstruction and reconstruction of Chinese characters. (mi shi ti wei, er shi ri ke de shi jun an, de meng lai tu zhe shan.) 130 Supplement: “Forest of Stone Steles”—Translation Within and Between Cultures

恶杀魔林,志血夺阜,日赴塔汶。 shan), into English. It reads “Mr. Wales, virtue can make the (e sha mo lin, zhi xue duo fu, ri fu ta wen.) four gentlemen calm, and can seize Mt. Meng Lai De.” It 怀歌二士,挥师怒扫突伐北。瑞雪滌金盾, sounds even less “meaningful” than Gu’s text. (huai ge er shi, hui shi nu sao tu fa bei. rui xue di jin dun,) 戤劣寇.哦!上篝火,犒家得福楼寺. If a reader reads these seriously, he might have been mis- (gai lie kou. o! shang gou huo, kao jia de fu lou si.) led by this manipulation. It was not intended to be a poem regardless of what the reader might have thought. It simply Gu retranslated Bynner’s version by intentionally getting demonstrated how a language transformation could cause rid of its meaning, namely, the second Chinese version of such a dramatic distortion or misunderstanding. After three Du Mu’s poem was only the signifier, phonetic portion of transformations, a Tang poem with a sad mood and a hint of the English version. There were a variety of characters that crisis was metamorphosed into four-line “meaningful” “non- could be selected for each syllable in Bynner’s translation. sense!” When these nonsenses were inscribed seriously and Gu tended to choose those that might be able to make his delicately on a stone stele, a surface usually for classic po- retranslation meaningful, which I believe was intended to etry, government announcement, or historical document, and reveal the flexibility of such a play of the transformation of displayed solemnly in a museum gallery, audiences would be language, in spite of the fact that it now became a less beau- struck by the absurdity. tiful and refined poem. In a strict sense, this is not even a Translation for Wenda Gu is a process of misunderstand- classic Chinese poem because it lacks rhymes and has more ing that was reasonable and unavoidable, thus “natural.” Du than seven characters in each line. Mu’s original poem needs to be understood by tracing back We can find such flexibility in the first line of this “sig- to the context of “A Song of Courtyard Flowers.” Otherwise, nifier-transformation.” In Bynner, the first line reads, “Mist the sad mood could not be felt or would make little sense to veils the cold stream, and moonlight the sand.” Gu’s retrans- readers. To an educated Chinese, this reading is supposed to lation became “密使蹄威,而是日可得十郡安,德猛来秃遮 be “natural,” as they know the origin and implication of the 山。” (mi shi ti wei, er shi ri ke de shi jun an, de meng lai tu song. When translated into English, a footnote became nec- zhe shan). A retranslation might be very different: “密斯特 essary because English readers, even highly educated, might 威尔士,德可得四君安,得梦籁德山。” (mi si te wei er shi, not have the knowledge of the context. Therefore, with no de ke de si jun an, de meng lai de shan). On the one hand, footnotes, the proper reading of the poem in the stone stele both phonetic translations are far from the phonetics of the became very difficult. However, when Gu “retranslated” this English version, not unlike the Chinese words 豆腐 (dou English version back to “Chinese” (some of the characters fu) and 叩头 (ke tou) that are phonetically translated into had been reconstructed) phonetically, the text became much “Tofu” and “kotow” or “kowtow,” respectively in English. less readable, thus making much less sense to both Chinese On the other hand, this “signifier-transformation” essentially and English readers. When you read it in Chinese, a few lost the authenticity of the English version. It became a fake characters require guessing, thus it sounded extremely awk- version of the original Chinese poem; in other words, it cre- ward, although every English sound had its Chinese coun- ated an entirely “new” text, which has nothing to do with terpart. It seemed to be nothing but a joke. However, Gu put Du Mu’s “A Mooring on the Chin-Huai River,” and became this “joke” in the center of the stele and used the largest- unrecognized as a classic poem. size font and traditional Chinese characters13 to “confuse” Interestingly, Gu retransformed this Chinese version his audience that even further “complicated” the confusion. “back” into a “meaningful” English poem, namely, he at- Interestingly, readers could find an English end-product to tempted to transfer the phonetic-English Chinese text at the this process of transformation. Without previous reading, level of the signified, as a translator usually does. this four-line text might still make some sense to readers, Secret emissary De Meng, powered by horse’s hoof, is on his although it was by no means a beautiful verse. However, as way to Tu Zhe Mountain. Ten counties can be occupied within the final product of the transformation, it sounds weird, awk- days. ward, or even contradictory in terms of content, mood, and Horrifying killing in ghostly woods; bloody will to conquer style (if there was a “style” in that final product), compared Tawen under the sun. Two triumphant, brave warriors leading the troops suddenly with the original poem. attack and furiously sweep the north. Auspicious snow sparkles After the discussion of the technical or linguistic part of on golden shields. translation in Gu’s work, I would like to discuss the cultur- Oh! Reward the army with bounties and surround the campfire al significance of this work. Although China is not a post­ at the De Fu Lou Temple. colonial society, the communication between the Chinese To prove the flexibility of the retranslation, I would like to retranslate the version of my one-line of phonetic-English 13 Chinese “poem,” “密斯特威尔士,德可得四君安,得梦籁德 When a classic text comprises of traditional Chinese, a modern text is usually written/printed in simplified Chinese in mainland China, the 山” (mi si te wei er shi, de ke de si jun an, de meng lai de result of “reform of written Chinese” of the 1950s. Supplement: “Forest of Stone Steles”—Translation Within and Between Cultures 131 and Western cultures can be seen as a post-colonial episode. psychological space. In a merely oppositional circumstance, When translations of western texts in the humanities, sci- effective communication is unlikely to happen because of ences, and social sciences became a national endeavor be- lack of this space. Thus engagement and involvement are ginning in the mid-nineteenth century, these acts represented necessary because they create room “in-between” and the one-way driving.14 In other words, few Chinese texts have “inter” for hybridity. been translated into English except for those limited disci- The history of translations of Western learning into Chi- plines for limited readers, such as in literature, medicine, and nese was, in fact, a process of the introduction of Western philosophy. These were primarily ancient scholastic texts, in discourse into the Chinese discursive system. In general, it is contrast to the numerous modern and contemporary English- part of the proliferation of Western discourse and culture in to-Chinese translations. This imbalance might have affected the context of colonization. Like other colonies, it is true that Gu when he chose Chinese text as the original for his “trans- Western culture in this process acted as the superior power. lation” and “rewriting.” However, China has never been a totally colonized nation; According to Homi Bhabha, the major figure of postcolo- furthermore, China’s long history, living culture and ideol- nial theory, culture as a strategy of survival is both transna- ogy act both as an absorbent agent and a resistant. This is tional and translational.15 In the context of transnational and why there has been a debate and a seesaw battle since the translational culture, “The pact of interpretation is never sim- late nineteenth century between “whole-sale westernization” ply an act of communication between the I and the You des- and “revival of Chinese culture.” The translation of Western ignated in the statement. The production of meaning requires learning is just similar to the translation of Chinese classic that these two places be mobilized in the passage through a into modern Chinese, because both are considered cultural Third Space,…”16 The concept of the “Third Space” here processes by Chinese intellectuals. Therefore, the question is crucial for us to understand today’s translational culture. of what structure—Chinese, Western, or a new system—the This “Third Space” is a space that is between or crosses over translated text should be set has haunted the Chinese for “the I” and “the You,” “the Self” and “the Other,” referred more than a hundred years. No final answer has been pro- by Homi Bhabha to the “inter” and the “in-between.” “It is vided yet. This process of translation, absorption, resistance, in this space that we will find those words with which we debate, and seesaw battle is what Homi Bhabha called “the can speak of Ourselves and the Others. And by exploring process of the enunciation of culture as ‘knowledgeable,’ this hybridity, this ‘Third Space,’ we may elude the politics authoritative, adequate to the construction of systems of of polarity and emerge as the others of our selves.”17 What cultural identification.”18 It produced new meaning for texts interested me here is that the cultural exchange between from both cultures in this cultural translation. As a diaspora, China and the West is not unlike the communication what Wenda Gu settled in New York and has traveled frequently Bhabha called “transnational” and “translational” one. In the in the West, his native country, and rest of the world in more case of translation of texts from both cultures, the imbalance than a decade. When drifting in his native culture and cul- I mentioned above suggests the position of “the Self” and tures of the rest of the world, especially Western culture, he “the Other” that two cultures situate respectively. The “Third has experienced being “in-between” and living in a “Third Space” is to me not a physical or geographical rather than Space” that generated hybridity while enforcing his cultural identity. Roland Barthes pointed out the complexity of a text in his 14 严复 (Yan Fu, 1854—1921), the translator who set up three princi- ples of translation, 信 (xin), 达 (da), and 雅 (ya), was representative of famous essay “The Death of the Author,” these “one-way drivers” in China’s history of translation. Besides 天演 We know now that a text is not a line of words releasing a single 论 (“tian yan lun,” Evolution and Ethics, by Thomas Huxley in 1894), ‘theological’ meaning (the ‘message’ of the Author-God) but a translated in 1896, he also translated The Study of Sociology (1873) by multi-dimensional space in which a variety of writings, none of Herbert Spencer (1902, Chinese title 群学肄言, “qun xue yi yan”), The them original, blend and clash. The text is a tissue of quotations Wealth of Nations (1776) by Adam Smith (1902, 原富, “yuan fu”), On drawn from the innumerable centers of culture.19 Liberty (1859) by John Mill (1903, 群己权界论, “qun ji quan jie lun”), A History of Politics (1900) by Edward Jenks (1904, 社会通诠, “she When Barthes discussed the death of the author, he stressed hui tong quan”), A System of Logic (1836) by John Mill (1905, 穆勒名 the importance and significance of the interpretation of the 学, “mu le ming xue”), The Spirit of the Law (1748) by Montesquicu (1909, 法意, “fa yi”), and Primer of Logic (1870) by William Jevons text. Writing thus becomes a dynamic process and reading (1909, 名学浅说, “ming xue qian shuo”). the text starts a new life of the writing from the moment of 15 See Homi Bhabha, “Post-Colonial Criticism,” in Redrawing the the completion of writing. Translation, therefore, becomes Boundaries, edited by Stephen Greenblatt and Giles Gun, New York : Modern Language Association of America, 1992, pp. 437–465. 16 Homi Bhabha, “Cultural Diversity and Cultural Differences,” in The 18 Ibid. p. 206. Post-Colonial Studies Reader, edited by Bill Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths, 19 Roland Barthes, “The Death of the Author,” in The Death and Res- and Helen Tiffin, London & New York: Routledge, 1995, p. 208. urrection of the Author? edited by William Irwin, Westport, Connecti- 17 Ibid. p. 209. cut and London: Greenwood Press, 2002, p. 6. 132 Supplement: “Forest of Stone Steles”—Translation Within and Between Cultures a way of interpretations of the text. Thus not only a written revealing misreading/misunderstanding as a norm in cultural text but also a translation of the text becomes part of “multi- interaction. Because of the unique appearance of the stele dimensional space.” In Du Mu’s poem, an ancient song “A medium and construction, mainly Chinese characters, the Song of Courtyard Flowers” was cited and interpreted as a “translation and retranslation” of Gu’s work functioned as knell of the Tang Dynasty for him and his contemporaries. a continuation of the “Forest of Stone Stele of Xi-an,” and Wenda Gu implied a cultural crisis when he chose this poem a contemporary interpretation of the “Forest of Stone Stele to construct his destructive work in the 1980s. All transla- of Xi-an” in a greater, global context. Therefore, it seems to tions so far were executed within Chinese culture. Now in be posited as a visual statement of Chinese culture’s role and his “Forest of Stone Steles: Retranslation and Rewriting of position in the post-colonial world. Tang Poetry” of the 1990s, the phases of Chinese—Eng- lish—Chinese—English created this kind of space in a Written in 2006. broader context, namely between two cultures, in which “a variety of writings, none of them original, blend and clash.” When he chose a Chinese text as the original, his starting point was his native culture. While he selected classic po- etry as the text-to-be-translated, he was, in some degree, a Chinese culturalist because he believed that the classic Chi- nese literature text possessed the potentials for becoming a modern text in translation, a way of interpretation. Tensions and possibilities coexisted in this four-phase translation. Ac- cording to Barthes, however, none of the varieties of writing in this process is original; thus, they are equal in value. They blended and crashed, and when the author of the poem died, all translations became interpretation and added new mean- ing and significance to the writing. This addition was made of literal translation, phonetic translation, and again “literal” translation. The final product was a new fabrication of the text and its interpretation, “a tissue of quotations drawn from the innumerable centers of culture.” The work thus became, while drifting between cultures, the realization and confir- mation of Gu’s cultural identity. This realization and confor- mation was accomplished in the process of the transforma- tion and reinterpretation of the text of his native culture and literature, in addition to its interaction with the culture of the English language. Although not specifically referring to this work, Gu’s explanation of “cultural migration” seems to be a suitable alternative footnote to his “re-translation,” The classic definition of cultural migration is the transportation from one to the other. The future cultural migration is more com- plex. The formula is like this: one exports something to the other and then imports it back in a completely altered state. It never remains the same thing once it has been digested, interpreted, consumed, and used by the receiver.20

Therefore, the translation here was neither a smooth ex- change between two languages, nor an understandable trans- formation from one to another. Instead, it was an experiment of unequal reciprocity of two of the most popular languages,

20 Quoted from Jennifer Way, “Symposium Postscript—Transnation: Contemporary Art and China,” from Mark H.C. Bessire edited, Wenda Gu: Art from Middle Kingdom to Biological Millennium, Cambridge, MA: the MIT Press, 2003, p. 209. Afterword

As a comprehensive project, this book investigates Wenda completion of the dissertation; even Wenda Gu, the protago- Gu’s art from the late 1970s to the early 2000s. It consists nist of this book, has returned to China, his native country, mainly of my doctoral dissertation supplemented by an ar- and worked there mostly after his overseas art adventure of ticle entitled “‘Forest of Stone Steles’—Translation within nearly two decades. This part of his career, not covered in and between Cultures,” both completed in 2005. The sup- this book, will need further investigation in the future. plemental article was written by the suggestion of Professor Also, for the English readers of the early 2000s, I had Stephen Melville, my academic advisor. He encouraged me written a whole chapter, again suggested by Professor Ste- to expand the part of my dissertation, “‘Forest of Stone Ste- phen Melville, to discuss the Cultural Fever and the Avant- les’: Dialogue between Chinese and English Worlds,” into Garde Movement of the 1980s, to provide a substantial con- an independent article, so that I could deepen the issue of text for Gu’s life, thoughts, and art. It is necessary because “translation” that is significant, but was only briefly touched the majority of readers from the English world did not have on in the dissertation because it did not allow scrutiny into access to that context yet. To be faithful to the history, I left such a specific issue. the text intact. I am grateful to Springer Publishing for making this pub- lication possible. I would like to point out, though, that the Zhou Yan, August 2014. art and cultural scenarios have changed greatly since the

Y. Zhou, Odyssey of Culture, Chinese Contemporary Art Series, 133 DOI 10.1007/978-3-662-45411-4, © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015 Appendix A: Chronology of WENDA GU (谷文达)

1955 Born in Shanghai. The third child of the family, Featured in the New Ink Painting Invitational with sister 谷文娴 (Gu Wenxian) and brother 谷 of All China, Wuhan Exhibition Center, Wuhan, 文园 (Gu Wenyuan). Hubei province, China. 1969 Started painting revolutionary posters in middle Featured in the National Art Exhibition of Sports, school; learned painting from his art teacher, Du National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China. Chunlin; and studied waters painting of moun- Featured in Selected Contemporary Ink Painting tains, one of the special motifs of Chinese ink from China, Japan. painting, from Xu Genrong, Du’s friend. 1986 The article “非陈述的文字” (“fei chen shu de 1974 Studied at the Shanghai Arts and Crafts School, wen zi,” non-narrative/accountable Chinese a specialized secondary school, with specialty on characters), published in 美术思潮 (“mei shu woodcarving. si chao,” Art Trends, bimonthly), Wuhan, Hubei 1976 Graduated from the Shanghai Arts and Crafts province, 1986, issue 4, pp. 32–36. School, and was assigned to the Shanghai Wood- A solo show Wenda Gu’s Art was held at Xi’an carving Factory. In spare time, learned callig- Artists Gallery, Xi’an, Shaanxi province, China. raphy and seal carving from his colleague, Cao Selected for the Sixth National Art Exhibition of Jianlou. China, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, Gu Jianchen (谷剑尘), born in 1897, Wenda’s China. paternal grandfather, a well-known playwright in Participated in an avant-garde show, The Last the 1930s, passed away in Shaoxin county, Zhe- Show of 1986, Hangzhou Cultural Center, Hang- jiang province, without family members around zhou, Zhejiang province, China. after suffering from persecution during the Cul- Featured in National Calligraphy Exhibition of tural Revolution. China, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, 1979 Entered graduate program at the Zhejiang Acad- China. emy of Fine Arts, Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, 高名潞 (Gao Minglu) discussed Wenda Gu’s lan- with no bachelor’s degree, and studied traditional guage series in his“理性绘画”(“li xing hui hua,” Chinese ink painting, directed by the old master, the rationalist painting), 美术 (“mei shu,” Fine Lu Yanshao (1909–1993). Arts), Aug. 1986, pp. 41–47, Beijing, China. Featured in Shanghai Art Exhibition, Shanghai 张志扬 (Zhang Zhiyang), “神秘与拒斥—论谷 Art Museum, Shanghai, China. 文达的观众和评论家”(“shen mi yu ju chi—lun 1981 Attained M.F.A. degree, and joined the faculty in ge wend a de guan zhong he ping lun jia,” mystery the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts. and refusal—comments on Wenda Gu’s audience 1981–83 Studied oil painting. and critics), 美术思潮 (“mei shu si chao,” Art 1984 Featured in the Exhibition of Work by Mid-aged Trends), April, 1986, pp. 27–31, Wuhan, Hubei, and Young Faculty of the Zhejiang Academy of China. Fine Arts, Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China. 易英 (Yi Ying), “困惑与追求—论谷文达的 1985 The essay “艺术笔记” (“yi shu bi ji,” notes on 绘画” (“kun huo yu zhui qiu,” puzzlement and art), written on August 10, 1985, published in 画 pursuance—on Wenda Gu’s painting), 中国美术 廊 (“hua lang,” Art Corridor, quarterly), Chang- 报 (“zhong guo mei shu bao,” China Fine Arts, sha, Hunan province, 1987, issue 2. weekly), no. 17, 1986, Beijing, China.

Y. Zhou, Odyssey of Culture, Chinese Contemporary Art Series, 135 DOI 10.1007/978-3-662-45411-4, © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015 136 Appendix A: Chronology of WENDA GU (谷文达)

刘晓纯 (Liu Xiaochun), “关于谷文达西安 Gave a tour lecture at University of Minnesota, 展览”(“guan yu gu wend a xi an zhan lan,” Washington University, San Francisco Art Insti- report from Wenda Gu’s exhibition), 中国美术 tute, Ohio University, University of California at 报 (“zhong guo mei shu bao,” China Fine Arts, San Jose, Minneapolis College of Art and Design, weekly), no. 33, 1986, Beijing, China. Minneapolis Art Institute. 1987 彭德 (Peng De), “谷文达俗解” (“gu wend a su Worked as a visiting artist and associate profes- jie,” reading Gu Wenda), 美术思 sor at Department of Studio Arts, University of 潮 (“mei shu si chao,” art trends, bimonthly), Minnesota, Minneapolis. Wuhan, Hubei province, issue 3, 1987, p. 20. Granted as “Honorary Citizenship of the State of Left China for San Francisco, California, USA. Minnesota” by Minnesota governor Rudy Per- Received grant from the Canada Council for Vis- pich. iting Foreign Artists, and worked as a residential Jason Kuo, professor of Williams College artist at York University, Toronto. (University of Maryland currently), presented The Dangerous Chessboard Leaves the Ground, “Wenda Gu’s Art and His Time” at CAA (Col- solo installation exhibition, at University Art lege Art Association) Annual Conference in San Gallery, York University, Toronto, Canada. Francisco. Featured in Chinese Calligraphy Today, Japan. Solo exhibition, DP Fong Gallery, San Jose, Cali- “Wisdom Comes from Tranquility,” a large size fornia, USA. tapestry, selected for the exhibitions Contem- Solo exhibition, installation “Red Black White porary Tapestry of China, Shanghai Exhibition Desert,” as official program of Los Angeles Fes- Center, Shanghai, China, and the 13th Interna- tival 1990, at University Art Museum, California tional Biennial Tapestry, Musee Cantonal des State University, Long Beach, California, USA. Beaux-Arts, Lausanne, Switzerland. Started ongoing art project “Two Thousand The Second German National TV produced doc- Natural Deaths,” renamed as “Oedipus Refound umentary video “Wenda Gu’s Art.” #1: The Enigma of Blood” later, with materials 1988 Moved to and then settled at New York City, of used tampons, sanitary napkins and personal USA. stories of menstruation contributed by 60 women Xu Gan, Vanderbilt University student, com- from 16 countries. pleted his master’s degree thesis “Wenda Gu: His Solo exhibition, Two Thousand Natural Deaths, Art and His Time.” curated by Peter Selz and Catherine Cook, at 1989 Selected as an Asian participant for the interna- Hatley Martin Gallery, San Francisco, California, tional exhibition Neo-Tradition, at Neodenfjeld- USA; ske Kunstindstrimuseum, Norway; the participat- The project Two Thousand Natural Deaths was ing work Three and Three Others involved live declined by the Art Museum, California State mice suicide performance, the performance plan University, Long Beach, which led to a pro- canceled after protests from Norwegian Agricul- test letter, signed by critics and art historians ture Department and local animal rights groups Peter Selz, David Wright, Bill Berkson, Robert when the plan was revealed in Norwegian news- McDonald, and others, and published on the Los papers. Angeles Times, later on the Featured in Blackness, Hanart Gallery, Taipei, News Letter of IACA (International Art Critics Taiwan; Hanart T Z Gallery, Hong Kong. Association) American Branch. Featured in 9th Annual Birren, SAA Gallery, 1991 Featured in China Avant-Garde, Asian American Connecticut, USA. Art Center, New York, USA; The documentary photographs of “Three and Featured in the group exhibition New York Diary: Three Others” entered the first Almost 25 Different Things, PS1 Museum, New national avant-garde exhibition China Avant- York City, USA, with the installation work titled Garde, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, “Wet Green, Dry Yellow, Scorched Black.” China. “Vanishing 36 Pigmented Golden Sections,” a 1990 Featured in project De-, made a permanent burial permanent burial land work, as part of the group land art piece, Poitiers, France, sponsored by project Exceptional Passage, at Fukuoka, spon- French Cultural Ministry and Les Domaines de sored by Fukuoka Art Museum and Museum City L’Art, art organization. Project, Fukuoka, Japan. Appendix A: Chronology of WENDA GU (谷文达) 137

1992 Solo exhibition, included early deconstructed 1994 Solo installation exhibition, displayed “Oedipus written language work and “Oedipus Refound Refound #3: Enigma beyond the Joy and Sin,” at #1: The Enigma of Blood,” Hong Kong Arts Art Gallery, and gave a lecture at the Department Centre & Hanart of Art, the University of Rhode Island, Kingston, T Z Gallery, Hong Kong. Rhode Island, USA; same work at Berlin Shafire Solo exhibition Metaphysics, Enrico Gariboldi Gallery, New York City, USA. Arte Contemporanea, Milan, Italy; Exhibition “United Nations—Italian Division,” renamed and lecture at Wallace Anderson Gallery, Bridge- “United Nations—Italian Monument: God and water State College, Bridgewater, Massachusetts, Children” later, shown at Enrico Gariboldi Arte USA. Contemporanea, Milan, Italy; Monique Sartor Featured in two-person exhibition Desire for and Kim Levin contributed catalog essays. Words, Hong Kong Art Centre; “United Nations—Dutch Monument: V.O.C.- “Oedipus Refound #1: The Enigma of Blood” W.I.C.” and “Oedipus Refound #2: The Enigma of included in the exhibition Conversations, at the Birth” shown at the international exhibition Heart Artists’ Museum, Lodz, Poland. of Darkness, at the Kroller-Muller Museum, the Featured in Signals, at Gallery Korea, New York Netherlands; The article “On Defense of Using City. Body Materials in Art Creation” included in the 1993 Solo exhibition, Hanart T Z Gallery, Hong Kong; catalog Heart of Darkness; Steinbaum Krauss Gallery, New York, USA; Art Featured in Flesh and Ciphers, Here Foundation, Space, Ontario, Canada. New York, USA. Featured in Semblances, Ise Art Foundation, Featured in Site-Action, The Artists’ Project and New York, USA. The Artists’ Museum, Poland; Featured in Fragmented Memory: Chinese Featured in Art in China, Art Gallery of Western Avant-Garde in Exile, curated by Judy Andrews Australia, Perth, Australia. and Gao Minglu, displayed work “Oedipus #3: 1995 Wrote a thesis on the project “United Nations,” Enigma beyond Joy and Sin” with materials of titled “The Divine Comedy of Our Times: a the- human placenta and placenta powder, after the sis on the United Nations art project and its time original plan, “Oedipus Refound #1: The Enigma and environment” (see Appendix B) and a short- of Blood” was declined, at Wexner Center for the ened version of it was published in the Italian Arts, Columbus, Ohio, USA. magazine D’Arts. Featured in Silent Energy, featured the work The doctoral dissertation Shape of Ideas: Mini- “Oedipus #2: the Enigma of Birth,” after the malization as the Structural Device in Selective original plan, “Oedipus Refound #1: The Enigma Works of Samuel Beckett and Wenda Gu, by Xu of Blood” was declined, at the Modern Art Gan, completed at the Ohio University. Museum, Oxford, England. A Master’s thesis “Install the Global Culture: The work “Oedipus Refound #1: The Enigma of Wenda Gu’s Installation Project United Nations Blood” joined the exhibition China’s New Art, Transcends the East-West Culture,” by Jenny Post-1989, Hanart T Z Gallery & Hong Kong Arts Lee, completed at FIT in New York City. Centre, Hong Kong; then the work selected to the “Oedipus Refound #3: Enigma beyond Joy and exhibition Mao Goes Pop, toured from Museum Sin” shown at Alternative Museum, New York, of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Melbourne Inter- USA. national Festival 1993, Melbourne, to Art Gallery “Oedipus Refound #1: Enigma of Blood (The of Western Australia, Perth, Australia. Human Body Shop #1)” shown at In Khan Gal- Started ongoing global project “United Nations,” lery, New York City, USA. mainly used human hair as medium, designed “United Nations—American Monument: Post- with more than 20 divisions/monuments being Cmoellotniinaglpiiiostm” shown at the Space constructed in various nations around the world. Untitled, New York, USA; an interview was con- First “United Nations” monument “United ducted on site by the Associated Press, PBS, and Nations—Polish Monument: Hospitalized His- the Voice of America. tory Museum” joined the international biennial Featured in China’s New Art, Contemporary Art 4th Construction in Process, and was dismantled Center, Santa Monica, Barcelona, Spain. after the opening night, because of its “provoca- “United Nations—Israel Monument: Holy tive comment on the city’s history,” at The His- Land,” land art, as part of project 5th Construc- tory Museum of Lodz, Poland. tion in Process, Mitzpe Ramon Desert, Israel. 138 Appendix A: Chronology of WENDA GU (谷文达)

Featured in China’s New Art 1989–1994, Van- Featured in Second Johannesburg Biennale, couver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada. South Africa. Featured in 46th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy. Auto-Portrait: the Power of Calligraphy, Exit Featured in Twentieth Century Chinese Painting, Art, New York City, USA. Hong Kong Art Museum, Hong Kong. Featured in Tradition & Innovation—Twenti- Featured in New Art in China, University Art eth Century Chinese Painting, Koln Asian Art Museum, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, Museum, Germany. USA. Featured in China Turns, Ida Gallery, York Uni- 1996 United Nations—USA Monument #2: Dreamer- versity, Toronto, Canada. ica,” Steinbaum Krauss Gallery, New York City, Featured in China New Art, Salina Art Center, USA. Kansas, USA; San Jose Museum of Art, Cali- “United Nations—Britain Monument #2: the fornia, USA; Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, Maze,” Angel Row Gallery, Nottingham, Cam- USA. erawork, London, England. Featured in Diversity, Artopia Gallery, New York “The Mythos of Lost Dynasties,” Binet Gallery, City, USA. Tel-Aviv, Israel. Featured in In Between Limits, Sonje Museum of “United Nations—Swedish and Russian Con- Contemporary Art, Korea. frontational Division: Interpol” (subtitle changed Scarlet Cheng, “Wenda Gu’s ‘United Nations— to “Swedish and Russian Monument: Interpol” Hong Kong Monument: the Historical Clash’,¨ later), in the exhibition Interpol—A Global Net- Art News, October, p.173, 1997, New York, work from Stockholm and Moscow, the work USA. was destroyed by Alexandr Brener, a Russian art- Pamela Kember, “Hair Looms,¨ Asian Art News, ist in the opening, Center of Contemporary Art Sep/Oct, 1997, pp.66–69, Hong Kong.Kim and Architecture, Stockholm, Sweden. Levin, “Splitting Hairs: Wenda Gu’s Primal Proj- Featured in Twentieth Century Chinese ects and Material Misunderstandings,” Art life, Painting—Tradition & Innovation, the Brit- Jan/Feb. 1997, pp. 22–35, China. ish Museum, London, England; National Art Johnson Chang, “Temples of Mass Power,¨ cata- Museum, Singapore. log of the Mythos of Lost Dynasties, Hanart Gal- Featured in China New Art, Kemper Museum, lery, Taiwan. Kansas City, USA; University Art Museum, Uni- 1998 “United Nations—Vancouver Monument: the versity of Oregon, USA. Metamorphosis,” Morris and Helen Belkin Art Featured in First Shanghai Biennale, Shanghai Gallery, the University of British Columbia, Van- Art Museum, China. couver, Canada. Featured in China New Art, Fort Wayne Museum, ”Confucius Diary,” an art performance, down- Indiana, USA. town Vancouver, Canada; Lecture given at Royal Academy of Art, Stock- Featured in First Shenzhen Ink Painting Bien- holm, Sweden. nale, Guan Shanyue Art Museum, Shenzhen, Panelist, presentation titled “Morals in Contem- Guangdong, China. porary Cultural & Artistic Reality: Controversial Featured in Asian-American Artists: Cross-cul- Experience of My Art Creation,” international art tural Voices, University Art Gallery, Staller Cen- conference, Object vs. Pixels, Amsterdam, the ter for the Arts, State University of New York, Netherlands. Stony Brook, New York, USA. Kim Levin, “Wenda Gu,” the Village Voice, Jan. Featured in Global Roots: Chinese Artists Work- 2, New York City, USA; ing in New York, Purdue University Galleries, Wenda Gu, “The Cultural War,” Flash Art, Sum- West Lafayette, Indiana, USA. mer 1996, pp. 102–103. Featured in Inside-out—New Chinese Art, Asia 1997 “United Nations—Hong Kong Monument: the society and PS1 Museum, New York City, USA. Historical Clash,” made for Hong Kong hando- Featured in Beyond the Form, Cork Gallery, ver 1997, Hanart Gallery, Hong Kong. Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, New York “United Nations—Taiwan Monument: the City, USA. Mythos of Lost Dynasties,” with “Blackness,” Featured in Contemporary Art from China, Art a solo performance, Hanart Gallery, Taipei, Tai- Beatus Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia, wan. Canada. Appendix A: Chronology of WENDA GU (谷文达) 139

Featured in Second Shanghai Biennale, Shanghai Featured in Man & Space, 3rd Kwangju Bein- Art Museum, Shanghai, China. nale, Kwangju, South Korea; 1999 “United Nations—Babel of the Millennium,” Featured in Sharing Exoticisms, 5th Lyon Bein- installation, San Francisco nale, Lyon, France. Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, Califor- Featured in Future, Contemporary Art Center of nia, USA. Macau, Macau, China. “Wenda Gu’s Wedding,” an art performance, Featured in The Big Apple Ink Painting, Kai- Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, China. kodo, New York City, USA. “Wenda Gu’s Wedding Life—America,” an art Featured in Words vs. Meaning, Arts Center, New performance, Asian Art Museum of San Fran- York State University at Buffalo, Buffalo, New cisco, San Francisco, California, USA. York, USA. Featured in Biennale of Asian Contemporary Art, Featured in Power & Tenderness, Taipei Fine Art Museum of Contemporary Art, Genova, Italy. Museum, Taipei, Taiwan. Featured in Power of Word, Taiwan Museum of Featured in Conceptual Calligraphy, Ethan Art, Taizhong, Taiwan. Cohen Fine Arts, New York City, USA. Featured in Conceptualist Art: Points of Origin 2001 Solo show Translation & Intersection—Wenda 1950s-1980s, Queens Museum of Arts, New Gu’s New Installations, National York City, USA; Walker Art Center, Minneapo- Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia. lis, Minnesota, USA. Featured in Tug of War, Utsunomiya Museum of Featured in travel show “Inside Out—New Chi- Art, Utsunomiya, Japan. nese Art,” Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, “Wenda Gu’s Wedding Life—Hong Kong,” an USA; Museum of Contemporary Art, Monterrey, art performance, Hong Kong Mexico; Henry Art Gallery, Washington Univer- Museum of Art, Hong Kong, China. sity, Seattle, USA; Smart Museum of Art, Uni- 2003 Exhibition catalog Wenda Gu: from Middle versity of Chicago, USA. Kingdom to Biological Millennium, edited by 2000 “United Nations—The Temple of Exoticisms,” Mark Bessire, published by The MIT Press, Lyon, France. Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Lufty, Carol, “Brush with the Past: Wenda Gu “United Nations—United 7561 Kilometers,” the has infused the genre of Chinese ink painting University of North Texas with unexpected characters and materials,” Art Art Gallery, Denton, Texas; H&R Block Artspace News, Sept. 2000; at the Kansas City Art Britta Erickson, “Beyond the Confines of the Institute, Kansas City, Missouri. Market,” publication of National Gallery of Aus- 2004 “United Nations—United 7561 Kilometers,” tralia, Canberra, Australia. Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College Featured in Wall, Taiwan Museum of History, of Art, Portland, Maine, USA; Art Museum, Taipei, Taiwan. Bates College, Lewiston, Maine, USA. Chien-hui Kao, “Notes on This Exhibition,” “Wenda Gu’s Wedding Life #6,” an art perfor- Zone of Myth—Between Tenderness and Ten- mance, Art Museum, Bates College, Lewiston, sion, United Nations, catalog of exhibition Wall, Maine, USA. National Museum of History, Taiwan. Solo show Forest of Stone Steles—Retransla- Kuiyi Shen, “Playing the Game of Word, Icon, tion & Rewriting Tang Poetry, Hong Kong Per- and Meaning,” Art Gallery, State University of forming Arts Center, Asia Cultural Co-operation New York at Buffalo, March, 2000, USA. Forum, Hong Kong, China. Featured in Power of the Word, Faulconer Gal- Phrase neon project “Fu Lai Jia Mo,” Salvatore lery, Grinnell College, Iowa, USA; Ferragamo, New York, USA; Featured in Conceptualist Art: Points of Ori- Featured in Chinese Calligraphy, National Gal- gin, 1950s−1980s, Miami Art Museum, Florida, lery of Malaysia. USA. Featured in Contemporary Chinese Painting, Art Featured in Contemporary Art Collection of Museum, College of Wooster, Wooster, Ohio, Shanghai Art Museum, grand opening of Shang- USA; Bowling Green State University, Bowling hai Art Museum, Shanghai, China. Green, Ohio. Featured in Neo-Chinese Painting, Liu Haisu Art Featured in Transience, Hood Museum of Art, Museum, Shanghai, China;Jiangsu Art Museum, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China. USA. Appendix B: The Divine Comedy of Our Times

7. The global environment A thesis on UNITED NATIONS art project & its time and referential thoughts to UNITED NATIONS art project environment Wenda Gu Introduction An ongoing worldwide art project: UNITED New York City 1995 NATIONS (1993–2000) UNITED NATIONS is an ongo- (Wenda Gu distributed this essay among critics, artists, ing worldwide art project initiated in the beginning of and friends in 1995. When published, in the title “face the 1992. From that point until late 1993, I developed the origi- millennium: the divine comedy of our times—a thesis on nal concept and its executive plan involving a complex strat- United Nations art project and its time and environment,” egy and methodology. During this long meditative period, in the exhibition catalog, Wenda Gu: Art from Middle King- I had immense doubts concerning my personal abilities to dom to Biological Millennium, edited by Mark H. C. Bes- successfully develop and execute this conceptually, physi- sire, in 2003, the text was revised and shortened. To better cally, timely, politically, racially difficult art project. How- understand Gu’s art and thoughts, I have copied this 1995 ever, I firmly held onto my vision as I clearly foresaw the version as appendix to my dissertation. The layout, font (ital- profound nature and challenge of this project for me and for ics, etc.), format, endnotes, and punctuation, including single related races and their civilizations. I also felt that as a result and double quotation marks, of the essay and usage of capital of the inordinate risks that I would be taking that UNITED and lower-case letters remain the same as the original text.— NATIONS project could provide an extraordinary opportu- Zhou Yan) nity for me as an individual artist. During its more than 10year duration, UNITED NATIONS art project will travel throughout five continents, in approxi- Contents mately 20 different countries, which I have selected due to their historical, civilizational, and political importance. By 1. Introduction utilizing the real hair of the local living population, I’m An ongoing worldwide art project: UNITED NATIONS strongly relating to their historical and cultural contexts, (1993–2000) to create monumental installations and land arts to capture 2. The concept, the strategy, the methodology each country’s identity, building on profound events in each otherness/alienation/difference, bio/geo/cultural confron- country’s history. These individual installations are national tation monuments to the whole art project of UNITED NATIONS. 3. “Subject represents subject” On the first day of the twenty-first century, a giant wall human body as battleground, human body material as will be composed solely from the pure human hair from the conviction integration of the national monument events. A great “Uto- 4. “Hair-itage”—vast human hair ocean pia” of the unification of mankind probably can never exist merges universal identity for UNITED NATIONS project in our reality but it is going to be fully realized in the art 5. Delving into diverse cultures, capturing national identi- world. ties Paradoxically, each hair brick will maintain its own iden- profoundness at the final ceremony of UNITED NA- tity on the hair wall. From China’s Great Wall to the Berlin TIONS wall, the wall itself is a metaphor of separation. The implica- 6. Brave mankind—brave new world tions of overlapping human hair bricks of all races are con- UNITED NATIONS art project is brought to the histori- frontations, conflicts, battles, and finally integration on this cal moment human hair-brick-wall of UNITED NATIONS.

Y. Zhou, Odyssey of Culture, Chinese Contemporary Art Series, 141 DOI 10.1007/978-3-662-45411-4, © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015 142 Appendix B: The Divine Comedy of Our Times

At the final realization of UNITED NATIONS project, made up of many individual countries, Confucius wanted to there will be thousands and thousands of different living publicize his doctrine throughout the land. So, he traveled races’ presence on the hair wall, supported by so many cul- around these various countries spreading his idea of how tural institutions and local barbershops around the world. to govern until his beliefs were advocated. This strategy “This new issue leads to new artistic issues, provoked by was repeated by Mao in his Red Army’s infamous military the expansion of a transcultural reality in our world. Once milestone known as, “The twenty-five thousand kilometers again, mankind is entering a new age, a new historical time, (should be ‘li,’ a Chinese measurement approximately equals which now can be actually defined as ‘planetary.’ And Wenda to a half of kilometer.—Zhou) Long March,” through end- Gu’s project UNITED NATIONS is clearly symptomatic, less grasslands attempting to escape the pursuit of the for- maybe in a temporary anticipation, of the entering of this mal party’ army. Along the way, he convinced thousands and new conception and elaboration of culture and cultural dif- thousands of peasants to believe and support his revolution. ferences, that he punctually defines as ‘transculturalism.’”21 Thus he explained, “The Long March is a propaganda team; “Is this another dawning of the age of Acquarius? A mul- it is like a seeder…” These two historical references serve as ticultural update on the altruistic impulse that over decades an even more important metaphoric methodology for today’s has spawned such artistic events as ‘The family of the man’ bio/geo/cultural environment. and ‘We are the world?’ Or is it a reexamination of the late With UNITED NATIONS project and its many divisional twentieth century’s intensified and rapidly mutating concept monumental works, I want to push to the opposite extremes: of ethnicity and nationalism?”22 the personal and the political, local and global issues, timeli- ness and timelessness. The concept, the strategy, the methodology otherness/alien- Based on the rapid global bio/geo/cultural transitions fast ation/difference, bio/geo/cultural confrontation UNITED approaching our new millennium, the conception, strategy, NATIONS is an art project well aware of many cultural and and methodology of UNITED NATIONS art project sets up artistic issues of our times which are of growing intensity several formulas. #1– the entire project is divided into two in our global reality. From the beginning, the project has parts: national monuments and UNITED NATIONS final attempted to be a threedimensional mirror reflecting global monument. #2– each national monument is divided into bio/geo/culturally shifting environments on the whole. From two parts: local people’s hair (sole material for the project) the long developmental process of the project’s globaliza- and local historical context (concept). #3– it provides direct tion, its aim is to sum up all of the possible phenomenon physical contact, interaction, integration, and confrontation resulting from the divisional works and unite them, and with the local population (collecting hair) and their cultural bring the united phenomenon to our common destiny based histories (conceptual reference). Instead of imagining or upon our modern humanity. reading about cultures and then work from that information Throughout my cultural, political, ethnic, and artistic ex- in the private studio, I strongly believe that actual, physi- periences, more than 10 years in China, and 8 years in the cal experiences are far more authentic and important than rest of the world as an individual artist, from a red guard who literary interpretations. Formula #4 is “I” as the initiator and painted revolutionary posters during Mao’s Cultural Revolu- executor. My bio/geo/cultural identity becomes the device tion to create this worldwide art project, UNITED NATIONS that shapes the cultural dialogs, confrontations, and possible is such a special journey to go through. Encountering diverse battles. This position constantly creates “who I am” to “who races and world cultures while reshaping their monuments, I am not” whenever I am buried in a divisional work (with this path has given me a chance to confront what I have al- the exception of UNITED NATIONS project China monu- ways been fascinated by: the Egyptian pyramids, the African ment) and provides an international “expatriate” for every- myth, the Roman Empire, the American Adventure, the Ber- one to relate to in every corner of our planet. lin Wall, China’s Silk Road, and the Great Wall. Their spirits All four formulas have invented an absolutely authentic have always been the sources of my inspiration. situation that precisely fits our bio/geo/cultural transition This concept has brought about several intense dramas that goes beyond “otherization,” “regionalization,” “trans- along the journey of UNITED NATIONS project in different culturalization” and so on. Under this conceptual working countries. I like to equate some of my experiences to two fa- process, the identity of the local race and its culture is being mous Chinese historical references. Once, when China was “otherized” by me as the “stranger.” At the same time, my own identity is being “otherized” and in doing so, merges with the “strangers” and their culture: a double “otherness.” 21 Monique Sartor, “United Nations,” United Nations—Italian Divi- One of the striking challenges of UNITED NATIONS sion, catalogue, Milan, Italy, 1994. project is that it uniquely delivers an intense historical and 22 Kim Levin, “Splitting Hairs: Wenda Gu’s Primal Project and Mate- cultural psychological paradox for the local audience and rial Misunderstandings,” United Nations—Italian Division, catalogue, Milan, Italy, 1994. myself. When the local audience is before the monument Appendix B: The Divine Comedy of Our Times 143 composed of their hair in their historical context, on one two factors have been generating new human perspectives side is a deep sense of national pride, and yet, at the same and subverting our traditional practices. In reaching the end time, they feel that they and their culture are being “invaded” of our modern society, facing the new millennium, we are and “occupied” by a “stranger.” This brings about a deep, committed not only to cultural conflicts such as west ver- contradictory, and paradoxical dialog and a redefinition of sus east in bio/geo/cultural transitions, but even more sig- the “self” between the local viewers and I as the creator that nificantly, we become increasingly amazed and frightened is very significant and intriguing. An unusual interaction by our bio-science and genetic research, which now has the is unveiled. Thus, as one art critic wrote in a positive tone, potential to confront us with an artificially generated new “UNITED NATIONS project is parodying the role of the cul- species, including an “artificial human.” We are driven by tural colonialist.” our nature even as we call into question the ethical and moral As the whole working process with its extremely diverse characteristics of that nature. races and cultural environments charts its 7year course, the Sixty years ago, Aldous Huxley published his shocking intellectual and physical working situations will be defined book, Brave New World in 1932, and in 1993 Andrew Kim- as “in” and “out,” “inwards,” and “outwards,” “integration” brell wrote, The Human Body Shop; they both open up the and “separation,” “identity” and “otherness,” “respect” and brilliant and dark sides of “modern existence to the full light “attack,” “paradox” and “harmony.” of public scrutiny. Today, Huxley’s vision is fast becoming In one particular instance, a UNITED NATIONS audience commonplace. Engineering principles and mass production member said, “It is our people’s hair, it should be done by techniques are rushing head-long into the interior regions our hands.” These simple words clearly present both sides, of the biological kingdom, invading the once sacred texts the local culture and I are “otherized,” just like being in a of life. The genetic code has been broken and scientists are pure “oxygen box”; both sides become identitiless on the rearranging the very blueprints of life. They are inserting, psychological level through the creation of the new. It also deleting, recombining, editing and programming genetic leaves a very strong desire to redefine identities—a won- sequences within and between species, laying the founda- derful and exciting paradox. There is the contrast between tion for a second creation—an artificial evolution designed this single body material, “hair” and plural races “identities” with market forces and commercial objectives in mind. We throughout the whole project; and yet, this single body ma- have traded away our very souls for the going price of our terial will be transformed into “multi-cultured hair.” I call own parts in the global marketplace. Global corporations are this a “great simplicity,” which will transcend to a “universal swarming over the human body, expropriating every avail- identity.” It is “great” because of its diverse richness; it is able organ, tissue, and gene. It is now up to us to perform “simple” because it uses the single material of human hair. the exorcism, to free ourselves from the grip of the fast ap- Moreover, UNITED NATIONS national divisional monu- proaching brave new world.”23 ments are not totally separate entities. They are like a “chain,” The first instance of this cross-species organ transplanta- with each successive monument building upon the previous tion was in 1984, with the celebrated case of Baby Fae, who ones. Each becomes more complex, diverse, and later on received the heart of a baboon in a futile attempt to save reaches a finalization that unites all of the national monu- her life. Six years later, immunologist Dr. J. Michael Mc- ments. Occasionally, I “link” two or three of the divisional Cune began a series of successful experiments in which he works together to heighten the disparities concerning certain transplanted human fetal tissues and organs such as the thy- world issues. For instance, the combined Swedish and Rus- mus, liver, and lymph nodes into mice born without immune sian monument will address the building confrontation be- systems. In only a few days, the organ subparts and tissues tween eastern and western Europe in the Post-Cold War era grew in the mice, engendering them with cells of the human as part of Stockholm’s international exhibition, Interpol, in immune system. Called “humanized mice,” they were then January 1996. A triple-focused Egyptian—Chinese—Italian infected with diseases such as leukemia or acquired immu- monument could make strong reference to three distinct reli- nodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) so that the resulting viruses gious and cultural milestones of civilizations. And a mighty could be carefully studied. Transplantation within our own China—US coupling could broach the paramount ideo- species has reached new questionable depths with 2 cases in logical and sociological structural oppositions between two which women desired to use their own fetal tissue for medi- world powers. Ultimately, however, all of these divisional cal purposes. In one case, a woman proposed being artificial- monuments and their respective concerns will blend together ly inseminated by her father so the genetically identical cells in the Americanbased finale of UNITED NATIONS project. could be used to treat his Alzheimer’s disease. In a related instance, a woman wanted to abort her own fetus to use the “Subject represents subject” human body as battleground, pancreas cells to treat her severe diabetic condition. human body material as conviction UNITED NATIONS art project has been challenged by two conceptual sources: the 23 Jeremy Rifkin, the foreword of Andrew Kimbrell’s book, The human body myth and multi-civilization. I believe that these Human Body Shop, Harper Collins, San Francisco, 1993. 144 Appendix B: The Divine Comedy of Our Times

History tells us especially from Western civilization that gories about our being, nature, and knowledge. These pieces we as humans are the center of the universe. From this stand- intend to define us: we are the modern Oedipus, caught in point, human research and knowledge is directed outward; the chaos of the modern enigma. From our blind indulgence we manipulate, even mistreat everything from our centric since ancient times, we are still looking, our knowledge is human position. Lately, our outward intention has gener- still extending, and the chaotic enigma of the modern Oedi- ated crisis besides benefits; looking inward became a trend, pus still continues. reaching back to our body as a great unknown myth. The Since 1989, the concept of this series utilizes special material and substantial world is authenticity and priority; human body materials as the subject basis. Pure human body human knowledge is always secondary to it. materials have no element of visual or linguistic illusion in Since 1988, I turned my artistic focus on the human body themselves. They are the antithesis of art as object exhibited and its primal substance. The first series of artwork is under in the museums and galleries. They are as real as the people the title of “Oedipus Refound.” Within this series, I’ve cho- who look at them and therefore can penetrate us with a deep sen particular human body materials with highly charged sense of spiritual presence. Therefore I call them, “silent- cultural and political taboos. While I understand that any selves.” Each type of human body material that I use in the kind of artistic medium has no unique identity today, by el- work passes an unusual deconstruction process; because of evating the human body material, it has been my intent to this, I also call it, “post-life.” transcend it to an extreme global level. “Oedipus Refound The concept of the “thinking body” as opposed to the #1: the Enigma of Blood” was a collaboration involving “thinking mind” deconstructs and abstracts the human body 60 women from 16 countries. Each woman contributed her material from the normal system of the body. This has pro- used sanitary tampons and napkins from 1 month’s cycle found implications on the notion of “essence of body” and with her deeply personal writings in terms of her issues re- “essence of spirituality” as well as challenging our ideas re- garding menstruation. This piece has generated astonishing garding birth and death. My working methods invade and and thought-provoking controversies; it also crosses civili- transcend the “silent selves” and “post-life” beyond conven- zational borders, as people have described it as “hitting the tion, morality, mortality, religion, and civilization on the core of human existence.”24 Following #1 is “Oedipus Re- whole. found #2, Enigma of Birth and Oedipus Refound #3, Enigma Aside from social, political, sexual, and religious con- beyond Joy and Sin.”25 Using whole human placenta as well siderations, the art historical significance lies in my elimi- as the placenta ground as powder (collected through a friend nation of representation in art. Art history has traditionally working in a maternity hospital in China), I categorized them been about an object represented through a medium, whereas into normal, abnormal, aborted, and stillborn placenta and in my investigations of this concept, the only materials that pure placenta powders. These pieces narrate a polarized mul- escape the notion of the art historical object are the human ticultural concern; the use of this material addresses highly bodies. Human nature is the ultimate and only “subject” in charged issues in the west, but in china, its significance be- the universe. comes elevated as the placenta is a precious, medicinal tonic. “To speak of Gu’s work strictly as a metaphor for body “Unlike the use of other impersonal materials, human sub- politics would be telling only half of the story. For him—as stance in itself is rich cultural and symbolic connotations. for Kiki Smith, Lorna Simpson, Robert Gober—the body As such, not only does it refer to the work as signifier but is is certainly a battleground. Yet, in his work, the combatant itself the signified.” 26 strategy is concealed from us. For all its emphasis on con- I wrote about the “Oedipus Refound series” in 1991. temporary debates, this art retains a rich, non-polemical am- These works are dedicated to her, him, us, and our times. The biguity. Gu uses body material both as subject and medium, Oedipus myth is one of the most representative ancient alle- whereas Kiki Smith whose art has often been mentioned in relation to his, works with non-body materials to evoke human forms…however, by selecting actual bodily growth, 24 The original title of this work was “Two Thousand Natural Deaths” Gu escapes the traditional artistic practice of using a medium at Hatley Martin Gallery, San Francisco, 1990, curated by Dr. Peter solely as a vehicle to convey representation.”27 Selz and Ms. Katherine Cook. It has been exhibited at Hong Kong Arts “It is tempting to relate Gu’s projects in this vein to those Centre, Hanart Gallery in Hong Kong, Museum of Contemporary Art at Sydney, Melbourne International Festival 1992, Western Art Gallery of of the many other contemporary artists who have chosen the Australia, the Artists, Lodz, Poland, Vancouver Art Gallery. human body as the focus of their work. Yet the artist sees 25 It has been exhibited at Modern Art Museum Oxford, England; Main significant differences between what he called his ‘materi- Gallery of University of Rhode Island, Ise Art Foundation Gallery, Al- ternative Museum, New York City, Wexner Center for the Arts, US; Kroller-Muller Museum, the Netherlands. 27 Danielle Chang, “United Nations—American Division,” United Na- 26 Johnson Chang, “The Other Face,” Asian Art News, July/August, tions—American Division, catalogue, Space Untitled, New York City, 1995, pp. 41–43, Hong Kong. 1995. Appendix B: The Divine Comedy of Our Times 145 al-analysis’ and the approach of Kiki Smith, for example, temporary center for art and architecture will use a local fac- who has replicated body parts in inanimate materials such tory’s facilities to produce human hair products. Imagine the as bronze or porcelain and made reference to body fluids process: living people’s outgrowth goes through inanimate without using the fluids themselves. Gu’s work, however, is machines to be “pressed,” “toasted,” and “cut” into hair composed of real physical substances that almost retain the bricks and carpets forms. I feel the concept goes beyond our warmth of the human body,… relates an individual’s story language’s capacity to define its precise meanings. It is far in his or her own way. When the viewers enter the carefully deeper than simply “body recycling or casting” the human arranged and situated spaces of Gu’s installations, they can “soul” into “hair bricks or hair carpets.” This strange com- perhaps hear the call of each animate individual and become bination of real human substances processed by manmade involved with him or her psychologically, and even physi- machines makes the traditional art mediums such as wood, cally. The separation and opposition between subject and ob- metal, stone, and so on. seem much less expressive to say the ject melts in the shared experience of viewers and those who least. I call it, “absolute body obsession.” contributed the original material, and in the shared identity The human body myth is as equally infinite as the univer- of the physical and psychological, and spiritual.”28 sal myth. Hence, the priority of human body material itself Els van der Plas explained, “Five cradles were lined on is a signifier that does not necessarily need language’s assis- the bottom with different kinds of placenta powder. A glass tance to convey certain meanings as most inhuman materials plate protected the inside of the cradle from curious fingers. do. When human body materials are reincarnated as an art The middle cradle, which contains no powder, displayed a creation, the significance comes from the inside of the body sign with the message that this baby was aborted; a rather materials. The difference between using human body materi- shocking statement. With the empty cradle, symbolizing als and inhuman objects creates opposing definitions: “inter- death, and with the placenta powder, Wenda confronted the nal” versus “external.” The human body materials’ “internal visitor with the conflicts between nature and artificial soci- definition” parallels the viewers’ psychological and physi- ety. cal conditions. When viewers behold the works with human The placenta powder as well as the hair are in a way ex- body materials, they are literally encountering themselves. crement, in the sense that they come from the body. The vul- On the contrary, inhuman objective materials are inherently nerability of these human substances and at the same time distanced from viewers. This psychological and physical the association with violence (showing hair without a body) gap therefore needs linguistic assistance to bridge the gap harassed the visitors and made them recognise their own na- between the object and subject, between inhuman objective kedness. material and the viewing audience. Wenda applied the medicine which is made from ‘giving From this point of view, we could clarify and reexamine birth.’ The concept of the ‘cycles of life’ was also presented some definitions of minimal and conceptual art. Minimal- by symbols of giving birth, dying and burying.” 29 ism’s objective materialism is often described as a kind of As every national monument in UNITED NATIONS “transcendence,” because of its distance from the human project is a large scale architectural work constructed by being. But why should a piece of wood or metal be given the pure local human hair, each work requires huge amounts linguistic label of “transcendence?” Historically, the defini- of shorn hair. A long period of time is needed to collect the tion of transcendence is applied to certain human activities local hair; the process usually involves the participation of and states of psychological being. The use of objective mate- about 2040 barbershops over a 3- to 4month duration. This rial that is other than human should not therefore necessarily specific working process provides a concept: the mountains imply “transcendence.” of human waste are transformed into local cultural monu- We clearly see that conceptual art created a linguistic ments. When the local audience and I are before the “hair” chaos over the objective material self, “internal definition.” monuments, it is as if the waste material is reincarnated with It is too easy to say (as we often hear from artists) that I use human spirituality. this material to represent this or that. Suddenly, one single There is a fascinating effect that creates a psychological material becomes everything. The fact is when a viewer and physical impact when amounts of human hair become looks at a conceptual piece without reading the inventor’s solid hair bricks, hair curtain walls, and hair carpets, and so explanation, he/she probably cannot readily grasp the inven- on. It is an absolute process of reincarnation: from “body tor’s manipulated idea. The problem is the mismatch of ma- waste” to “bio/cultural monument.” In Stockholm, the con- terials’ “internal definition” and “external definition” (given meaning). There is a metaphysical story in ancient China: Two 28 Zhou Yan, “Wenda Gu’s Oedipus,” the catalogue of the exhibition young Buddhist monks were arguing about a moving flag. Fragmented Memory, Wexner Center for the Arts, Ohio, US, 1993. One of them said: “The flag is moving by the wind.” The 29 Els van der Plas, “Heart of Darkness,” Art and Asia Pacific, Vol. 2, No. 3, 1995, pp. 118–119, Australia. other disagreed and said: “I don’t think so. The flag is mov- 146 Appendix B: The Divine Comedy of Our Times ing by itself.” They couldn’t come to a conclusion. There edge and insightfully able to express human existence, ‘mis- came an old monk who listened to their arguments and said: understanding’ and ‘blindness,’ while representing human “Both of you are wrong. Because your mind are moving, ‘cruelty’ as a natural and structural element in life.”30 therefore the flag is moving!” The conclusion is that it does The human body material contains enormous meanings not matter how many reasons explain the flags movement and myth. The metaphor concerns birth, death, and all the and which one is correct. The essence is that these three par- enigmatic, unsolved questions in life. The discovery of using ties all agree that “the flag is moving.” human body material in art unveiled the edges between our This meaningful story tells us: the Minimalist is close to shocking reality and conventional knowledge, which have these two little monks, which is materialism; the conceptual- created a particular “reality” we believe in, the illusionistic ist is similar to the old monk with idealism. But they both ig- readymade values and faiths. nored the essence that is not “the flag” but the “moving.” The As a striking result of the Oedipus Refound series’ deep conceptualist tries to “move” the “flag” (object) by his or involvement with human body materials, I have found my- her own perception, which the “flag” (object) doesn’t have self in the position of being a strong defendant of our real- itself. The Minimalist tries to eliminate people’s perception ity, without believing in illusionistic values and transposed (movement) from the object (flag) he/she uses, but the object faiths. It has often been rejected by current political correct- (flag) itself does not have its own “move” to qualify what ness. The responses the works receive are usually ones of the Minimalist wants which is “transcendence.” Hence, we great extremes such as “hate” or “love”; either the audience clearly see that the Minimalist and conceptualist are right in leaves with exceptional inner impressions or difficult con- the unsolvable predicaments in terms of materials and their flicts. We can clearly see that an audience may rediscov- perceptions either from the inside or outside. er many issues and pose many questions; I too ask many The human body material stands out as privileged. It questions that remain unanswered enigmatically by me and (flag) is itself the signifier (move). As it is human, it has my viewing audience. A challenge can provoke a “shock- no predicament of being in between audience perception ing” response if it contains intelligence and deliberation; (movement from outside), and its own perception (its own this “shocking” phenomenon evolves from various sources, movement). which is the “shocking’s” essence, while “shocking” is actu- In addition as to how I have already stated the concept of ally only the phenomenon. using the human body material, I feel it is privileged in yet The confrontation of enormous enigmatic connotations another way. I constantly have a battle with our “ready made in the human body material itself (the “internal definition”) knowledge,” our “convention.” I discussed this controversy and the intense reactions, elaborations, and misunderstand- in a letter regarding my installation, “Oedipus Refound #3: ings from the viewing public (“external definition”) give rise Enigma beyond Joy and Sin.” The following is an excerpt: to an enigmatic complex between consciousness and uncon- “Talking about the cruelty of the work, I certainly disagree sciousness, which almost becomes an unsolvable predica- with you. The placenta has been used and continue to be used ment. Because of the human body products’ beauty, sensitiv- in the West for commercial products such as make-up. ‘Cru- ity, fearful relation to the viewer, the call of birth and death, elty and warmth’ are mere expressions of the artistic value of the fright of being waste material, the overall reactions to a work and of human existence. Nobody criticizes the Greek this work ranges from severe “repulsion” and “disgust” to writer Sophocles as a cruel person because he created the puzzling queries, then ultimately, “it is us.” tragedy Oedipus the King. Nowadays, no well cultured per- The appreciation, interpretation of a piece of art from son would criticize or react against Shakespeare for having the centric human being, from looking out from the objec- written tragedies like Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, Othello, tive universe to looking in on “ourselves” brings about deep as ‘cruelty’ is a structural part of human nature, before and misunderstandings, which is what mankind’s knowledge is beyond any moralistic judgment. I suppose you well know all about….there is battle….there is conviction…..which we that there is no evil without good. Such a kind of intellectual apply to ourselves. or emotional separation is artificial, it is just an illusion. Try- ing to avoid, not to see, not to recognize it, becomes struc- “Hair-itage”—vast human hair ocean merges universal turally a sort of deviation from the understanding of human identity for UNITED NATIONS project UNITED NATIONS beings’ natural process of life, and it is, in the end, a kind of art project is committed to a single human body material- expression of spiritual weakness and cowardice, as well as of pure human hair. Hair is a signifier and metaphor extremely a one-sided and restricted approach to life. This attitude be- rich in history, civilization, science, ethnicity, timing, even comes also a denial of the relativity of any so called ‘truth’ or economics. Along the project’s diverse journey, it brings one ‘value,’ and it is in itself unnatural, that is to say contradict- single nation’s identity (one national monumental work) to ing nature in itself…Sophocles and Shakespeare are actually rightly respected as passionate persons loving life, knowl- 30 Wenda Gu, “A Letter to Wexner Center for the Arts,” 1993. Appendix B: The Divine Comedy of Our Times 147 multi-nation’s identities (as many as twenty national monu- earth’s creative power. Therefore, this purely organic ele- ments works) to human universal identity (unified national ment becomes a metaphor of the spirit, able to embody the monuments for the final ceremony of UNITED NATIONS spirit in itself. project). Its flowing length, above all in some cultures labeled as This human body outgrowth or “waste” throughout primitive and uncivilized, is once again, expression of spiri- UNITED NATIONS project becomes the great human “hair- tual freedom, assertion of subjective and cultural identity itage.”31 It becomes a geo/national/cultural identity “melting (for instance, in the case of the native American), of human pot.” vital force. Hair was and still is someway considered as ‘the Following are excerpts from various articles on UNITED location of the soul.’ NATIONS project about hair in different historical, cultural, Saint’s locks are considered as holy relics, they are wor- ethnic, and religious contexts: shiped and accurately preserved by the Catholic Church. “…from Samson to Freud has known. Power is inher- If the hair is shorn or cut it implies renunciation and sacri- ent in those slender outgrowths of the epidermis, those pig- fice, its free growth historically had the significance of asser- mented filaments that are among the most animalistic and tion of power and superiority, of royalty, as well as, in other intimate elements of the human body. Not all hair is pubic, cultures and other historical ages, that of refusal of social but as psychoanalysts well know, the most innocuous remark limits and laws constituting the state organization (American about beard, mustache, or hairstyle is a loaded and coded Hippies and Beatniks). comment from which can be deciphered all manner of infor- …it can be an allusion to the power of the main question mation about libido, superego, and sexuality. Hair can be a concerning the enigma of birth and death, probably shared signifier not only of virility and femininity but of race, eth- by the same mankind with a universe ‘created’ by the explo- nicity and age. And as history can attest—from the pigtail sion known as the ‘big bang’ and destined to die, according of China¹s final dynasty to the powdered wig in monarchist to the law of entropy.” 34 France, from the military crew-cut to the rebellious hippie The real power of UNITED NATIONS art project is that mane or the militant afro, from the punk Mohawk to skin- it is not only an artistic representation, it embodies living head hairlessness—how we style our scalps has since time people’s presence through this hair wall. immemorial singled allegiances and complicities in the po- litical and spiritual realms.”32 Delving into diverse cultures, capturing national iden- “Like teeth and nails, hair remains intact after it is sepa- tities profoundness at the final ceremony of UNITED rated from the human body. Alone, each hair strand contains NATIONS Once upon a time there was an old man who enough DNA to unlock our individual genetic makeup. Like desired to remove a high mountain. He told this to his wife a fingerprint, it can be held as evidence at the scene of a and children. They laughed at him and said, “How could this crime.”33 be possible? Are you crazy?!” The old man said, “It is pos- “Hair is symbolically and metaphorically representative sible. We shovel one piece after one piece, day by day…year of a multiplicity of significances. It can tell about the subjec- by year we will continue to shovel. After awhile, the moun- tive dimension of the individual, but it is also a decipherable tain will become smaller and smaller. If we can’t finish, our expression of his or her role, position, and function in the grandchildren will continue… generation after generation. interconnected historical, social, ideological, religious and No matter how high the mountain is, it must be removed…” cultural, as well as ethnic or nationalist, modernist-revolu- This is an ancient fable from Chinese folklore. tionary or traditional-conformist contexts. In the beginning of 1993, I decided to act upon my ideas Hairs most ancient (and at the same time current) signifi- concerning this UNITED NATIONS art project. I felt its re- cant symbolic value lies maybe in its peculiar representative alization could be a profound symbol of our new global bio/ nature of the individual vital force and spirituality, according geo culture in our present historical moment. I would not to a very ancient psycho-physical maxim. Not accidentally, be satisfied to simply collect hair from different parts of the it has often been connected to the grass, its growth, and the world and then complete the project. I unconsciously knew there were greater depths to explore. In the spring of that year, an intriguing idea came to me; I would make national 31 James Servin, “Global Hairballs: Sculptures Celebrate Culture of divisional monuments in many strategic countries around the Nations,” The Associated Press, April 1995, New York City. world and then unify them in a final ceremony of UNITED 32 Kim Levin, “Splitting Hairs: Wenda Gu’s Primal Projects and Mate- NATIONS project. rial Misunderstandings,” United Nations—Italian Division catalogue, Enrico Gariboldi Arte Contemporanea, Milan, Italy, 1994. 33 Danielle Chang, “United Nations—American Division,” United Na- tions—American Division, catalogue, Space Untitled, New York City, 34 Monique Sartor, “United Nations,” United Nations—Italy Division, 1995. catalog, Enrico Gariboldi Arte Contemporanea, Milan, Italy, 1994. 148 Appendix B: The Divine Comedy of Our Times

This deliberation brought about a conceptual strategic the massive hair display. Due to the enormous associations method; I believe that a strong methodology is a binding which the work conjured, however, this installation lasted hinge to any project. From this framework, I have a clear less than 24 hours and had to be dismantled immediately working structure allowing me to build national divisional after the opening night. In retrospect, it was a pivotal piece. monuments throughout this 7-year process. These individual Ms. Kim Levin explained, “The director of the museum, monuments are the bio/geo/historical culture signifiers to which was once a Jewish mill owner’s home, interpreted UNITED NATIONS project. This concept constantly pres- Gu’s installation too provocative as a comment on the city’s ents confrontations with diverse local people and their psy- history…” cho/physical histories and cultures. With the national events’ “UNITED NATIONS—Italian Division: God and Chil- intense multiplicity in terms of phenomenological issues, it dren” is hardly a conceivable contingency with bio/geo culture in This show of a pure Italian hair temple took place in the the making. That is why I use this Chinese fable; the chal- fall of 1994 after more than 6 months of hair collection from lenge and the inspiration are the elevations of my ability. The many parts of Italy including Milan’s hair fashion school and contingent difficulties are integral parts of the conception. At Italian military bases in Venice. It required an entire summer times, I am breathless thinking about how I will shape these to construct the temple in Venice and then it was exhibited national monuments in such diverse civilizations, which in Milan. Curated by Italian art and cultural critic, Monique have inspired me since the beginning of my artistic career. Sartor, and supported by Enrico Gariboldi Arte Comtem- This work relies heavily on the assistance of uncountable poranea, it was the first official national monument created local barbershops, government authorities, local art and cul- under the title of UNITED NATIONS. tural institutions, and “local hands.” “Because of the non- This will remain one of the most important national mon- commercial nature of this project, politicking and cutting uments not only because it was the beginning of UNITED through red tape is integral to Gu’ arduous working process. NATIONS project, but also, from an historical and cultural Administration, planning and collecting are fundamental to point of view, all Caucasian civilization can probably be the project’s significance—as in the work of Christo or Ann traced back to Roman roots. Moreover, as the center of the Hamilton.” (There is no source information for this quota- dominant Catholic church, the creation of a temple here be- tion in the original text.—Zhou Yan) comes all the more poignant. “UNITED NATIONS—Polish Division: Hospitalized The hair is a rich multi-signifier in this giant hair temple. History Museum” In the center place of the installation, I constructed a meta- The Polish Division was not officially under the title of morphic Roman column, which was hollow on the inside, of UNITED NATIONS project; it was my first attempt at realiz- pure Italian hair. On the floor inside of the column, I scattered ing the concept. It was part of an international art exhibition hair taken from the heads of the inhabitants of the Vatican. entitled, IVth Construction in Process, which took place in In front of the column, I created a large “Italian hair garden” 1993 in Lodz. This division was sponsored by The Artists’ using solid hair bricks, carpets, and hair rocks dominating Museum and The History Museum of Lodz. This installation this central space. The architectural hair temple conveyed a questioned our manmade history. It was my interpretation sense of a holy, sacrificial altar. Under the lights, the whole that the artificial history should be “hospitalized,” with its installation became translucent. A symmetrical composition “mental” significance being called into question. As hair can is always my approach, as it suggests a kind of presence of be thought of as a kind of metaphor for the human “brain,” infinity, eternity, and tranquility. So, on one hand, the mas- its use in this regard seemed very appropriate. It wasn’t until sive pure hair structure created a fearful feeling in the audi- after I had developed this concept that I discovered that Lodz ence, while on the other, these enlightened, translucent hair has the largest Jewish cemetery in the world, being a city walls and curtains, as they roamed and hovered, elicited a that had Nazi concentration camps. This immediately com- sense of human spirituality. Some Italian viewers said that pounded the project’s gravity. Italian people should kneel down in front of this Italian hair I blanketed the museum’s beautiful giant lobby and grand monument, which was a wonderful and authentic represen- staircases full of antiques, books, and classical statues with tation. The responses from the Milan audience brought to white blankets from the beds of local mental hospitals. And my attention a significant point of view. Although I am the I placed four actual beds, two in the main lobby and two on creator of this local monument, at the same time, I remain a the staircase landings, covered with white blankets; then I constant stranger to all the local races and their histories and scattered snippets of human hair collected from local bar- cultures. This brings up a unique psychological complex: bershops all over the white blankets. This image provoked when the local audience is proud of my efforts regarding such an intense visual and conceptual impact. Some of the their race and its legacy, I receive absolute admiration and women in the audience almost cried as they stood before the praise. At the same time, however, they see me as a foreign work. The entire interior was completely transformed with intruder, which automatically distances me from them, there- Appendix B: The Divine Comedy of Our Times 149 by setting up my efforts as an attack upon something that is “UNITED NATIONS—Israel Division: The Jews” their own. Thus, this psychological complex puts the local In April 1995, in the desert of Mitzpe Ramon, Israel, I audience, my work, and I in a very strange alienated triad completed the Israeli monument. The project led to a nation- in which all three parties become unidentifiable “otherness.” al controversy throughout the whole of Israel. It is a perma- This “alienated otherness” is indefinable, and definitely dif- nent land art piece, which joined an international art event ferent than the “otherness” from hierarchical, new interna- entitled, V Construction in Process. tionalism, which put all kinds of internationalized regional As human hair is associated with so many historical ref- cultural phenomenon under the category of “otherness” and erences, the use of Jewish hair for the project was the most treats it otherwise. This unidentifiable “alienated otherness” difficult one of all. I knew I would face tremendous prob- is stimulated solely by the national divisional monuments. lems as using the Jews’ hair would conjure the tragic and First of all, athough every national monument is built on the unforgettable memories of the unparalleled Nazi atrocities of basis of the pure hair of one race within its historical and the Second World War. And as it just so happened, the fiftieth cultural context, it is constructed by an “outsider,” the work anniversary of the end of the war brought these miserable becomes something else which is neither my own nor of the memories to the forefront of the nations’ consciousness at local audience. Because of this, the work distances itself this point in time. from its own local audience and of course although I created The great contributions and achievements by the Jews it, it is not my own. This significant unidentifiable “alien- have influenced the entire world from the Old Testament to ated otherness” is not only the bio/geo/cultural “otherness,” this century’s most influential figures like Marx, Freud, and it is more a psychological space over the so-called bio/geo/ Einstein. In doing this project, it was my intent to contrast cultural alienation and otherness. This unique psychological the negative historical associations and convince the people space made from the national monuments is exactly what I and event organizers of the more encompassing notions of predicted and hoped to create. It symbolizes our multiplicity hair (in this case as signifier of intelligence), and thereby in a bio/geo/cultural psychological space rather than a physi- lessen their concentration on the hair in reference only to cal one. this historical tragedy. Although this event would be prob- “UNITED NATIONS—Dutch Division: V.O.C.-W.I.C.” lematic, I felt that UNITED NATIONS project could not be The Dutch Division was completed under special circum- completely realized without addressing the Jewish nation’s stances. It was part of an important international exhibition heritage. Heart of Darkness organized by KrollerMuller Museum in The controversy happened right after I sent the proposal the Netherlands at the end of 1994. The aim of this show was to the art event organizer in Tel Aviv. My proposal imme- to focus on artists who are geographical and cultural “expa- diately appeared in many national newspapers. A group of triates.” Thus UNITED NATIONS Dutch monument took on local people banded together and protested against me doing double meaning. the piece. I was co-interviewed over the phone by a journal- As the Netherlands is the first colonizing country in the ist from Haifa City even before I left to do the work. Also in- world, I took its colonial history as the point of reference terviewed were various important museum directors, poets. for the project. The subject matter was also the title of the and the art event organizer. The article made front page head- Dutch monument: V.O.C.-W. I.C. These are the initials of lines and four pages of coverage in a national newspaper. As two historically known Dutch overseas shipping companies: a result, when I arrived at Tel Aviv airport, I was told that my United West-Indian Company & United East-Indian Com- project had been brought before the Israeli Parliament. What pany. Placed in a long hallway that bridged the museum’s a shock for me! On one side, I was facing a serious burden; contemporary collection with its Impressionist collection, on the other side, I needed to hold to my belief that human this site-specific installation was constructed using the boat hair is the closest material to the presence of mankind in art. as a metaphor. I created pure Dutch hair walls, hair sails, and The first several days were uneasy for me. After a half a hair carpet, which was mixed with torn pages of Dutch co- hour discussion on the most popular radio station between lonial history books and represented the bottom of the boat. the chairperson of the Israeli Parliament and the art event In the center of this hallway “boat,” two hair rooms on either director, the project got the full support from the people and side could be seen. Resembling aerial views of the natural the Parliament. It was a great emotional moment for me. Dutch landscape, these rooms became human hair maps of From then on, people gave me their support when I walked the human landscape. It was a little disconcerting for local in the streets and in the airport. audience to walk on the hair carpet. Satisfying one’s curi- The desert of Mitzpe Ramon has the largest crater in the osity required “stepping on” a work of art as well as their world. I was amazed and inspired by the desert myth and its own historical heritage. And existing between a Seurat and a spirit just being there. The mysterious lights in the morning Robert Ryman, its context was bold and strange creating an and late evening, the endless desert and its horizon elevated overall radical impression. my spirit. 150 Appendix B: The Divine Comedy of Our Times

The Jewish hair and the Jerusalem pink limestone consti- American hair. There were four pure-race hair carpets from tuted this piece. The pink limestone is a symbol of the spirit the central “hair melting pot” toward each of the four doors of this land; the entire city is built on it. The project is com- on the hair circle wall; these carpets were compromised of posed of pure Jewish hair, which covered 30 pink limestones Caucasian, Black, Latino, and Asian hair. (4 tons each) lined up on top of the desert hill. It seems an One cultural critic described the American monument as apt metaphor for the people who live on this land. Close-up, “American ‘hair-itage.’” Many from the viewing audience it clearly represents the fragility of human life as the delicate said the hair wall was an “American ethnical map” and sev- wisps of hair contrast the massive strength of the steadfast eral viewers cut their hair to this “hair melting pot” during stones. Seen from afar, from the foot of the desert hill, it this exhibition. I could see therefore that the audience not takes on the character as an ancient historical site. only appreciated it but became actively involved with the Psychologically and emotionally, the Israeli monument installation. Afterward, I earned a lively nickname; some has been the most complicated of the national monuments people called me the “hair man” when they saw me walking so far. It not only involved the issues of being “regional” in the streets. and “other” to the local culture as an outsider; it also brought Collecting American hair brought about a rare situation about great sympathy, sensibility, and tragic memory. quite different from the haircollecting process in other coun- “UNITED NATIONS—American Division: Post-cmoel- tries. It provided a firsthand experience to the highly litigious letniinaglpiostm” nature that is particular to the US. My efforts were rejected The American divisional monument is the most diverse several times as I attempted to collect hair in a provincial one in terms of multiplicity of history, culture ethnicity, town in Connecticut during the summer of 1994 while I was and society. It reflects a half-year period of hair collection a resident in the Art Omi program. The barbers looked at throughout New York City, Minnesota, San Francisco, and me and my assistants very curiously and then said that they Rhode Island to cover all of the major ethnic groups. were not supposed to give hair to me for the use of an art The title, Post-cmoelletniinaglpiostm, is synthesized from project. They said that the hair was their customers’ privacy, two words: “melting pot” and “colonialism.” It represents and if they knew it was being given away they felt that they the two faces of America: the diversity of its culture and eth- could be held legally accountable. There have been so many nicity and its imperialistic nature. The monument combined barbershops that I have approached in different countries “pure” American hair into a giant flag: The National Flag around the world and these people have been very enthusi- of Post-America. This ideal future American national flag is astic about the project I am creating. I immediately perceive composed of equal quantities of pure hair from Native, Cau- this attitude as a social phenomenon in the US that goes way casian, Black, Latino, and Asian Americans. These American beyond normality. It is a little incident, but I feel it offers a ethnic hairs are equally distributed in five horizontal stripes clear glimpse of the society as a whole. and one big star with hair of each race comprising one of the ”UNITED NATIONS—the realization of other national five angles. This huge “National Flag of Post-America” is monuments” designed from a rectangular proportion of the Golden Sec- As the whole project moves on with five completed na- tion from ancient Greece, the most historically recognized tional monuments, it has gained wide coverage on interna- harmonious and aesthetic rectangle. This is how I perceive tional and national TV and radio stations, newspapers and the future of America—a rebirth of a nation and a new civi- magazines. It becomes more and more significant through lization which has never before existed in world history. Let the completion of each national monument in different coun- us say this Post-American flag is not a prediction but rather a tries. I gratefully thank the many cultural institutions and predetermination by a reality with a unique history, culture, barbershops around the world that have given their enor- and people. Cultural intermixing is, of course, not a new phe- mous support, as well as individuals like Monique Sartor and nomenon; it has been taking place for centuries. But we can Danielle Chang, who organized and curated the Italian and foresee a brave new race and an unprecedented civilization American monuments. being generated by this multiplicity of intermixing races, The following are the national monuments that are being which is revolutionizing mankind’s origins. I discuss this developed: the Swedish, Russian, British, Chinese, and issue further in the next chapter. Spanish monuments. The rest of the monuments that I hope The American monument again reflects a massive multi- to realize before the year 2000 are: Egypt, Greece, Mexico, plicity as a “biological sacrificial altar” made up by an exten- Australia, South Africa, India, Germany, and France. sive circular hair wall. Its interior and central floor area was a “melting pot” constructed by solid hair bricks. The inside of Brave mankind—brave new world UNITED NATIONS art the hair brick circle was brightly enlightened by mixed races’ project is brought to the historical moment The location of shorn hair under a high, hollow hair column, like imaginary the final ceremony for UNITED NATIONS art project “hair fire.” It was surrounded by a small area of only native Appendix B: The Divine Comedy of Our Times 151

In 1993, Time magazine's cover story proclaimed that, “Our tion of “American History.” Every single person who immi- colors are changing.” In 1994, Time once again predicted, grated to America brought his or her own history with them. “A rebirth of a nation,” with a female portrait on the cover The American history includes all the regional histories of generated from a mix of several races: Middle Eastern, this world; it is based on time/geo/bio pluralism. Italian, African, Vietnamese, Anglo-Saxon, Chinese and “American Civilization” Hispanic, telling the story of “How immigrants are shap- The other critical word I have also often heard is that ing the world’s first multicultural society: The new race of “Americans are not civilized because they simply have no America.” history and civilization.” As a matter of fact, when an Italian From a California Buddhist temple to New York’s Statue says this it means that he or she ignores millions of Ameri- of Liberty; from Chinatown to Disneyland; from Harlem to can Italians who have been living in America. If a Chinese Miami … the multi-bio/geo/cultural integration has been says this to me, I will strongly defend that the Chinese have created and is creating a new brave race in the world, in man- brought to American civilization 6000 years of civilization. kind’s history. I am a Chinese who is living in New York City; what I think New York City is conceptually the ideal location where and what I do eventually reveals my own cultural legacy. I hope to finalize the ceremony of this art project UNITED After all, the history of American immigration has NATIONS. The following is the analysis of UNITED NA- changed and continues to change the classical definition of TIONS project final ceremony’s location. “America” from the dictionary. In fact, despite what prob- Rewriting the definition of “America” lems America is facing on the domestic front and abroad “American” without precedent in world history, and despite its imperial- Migration has shaped America. Six thousand years ago, istic penchant, all races are intensely experiencing bio/geo/ native Americans migrated to this wilderness from Asia cultural interaction, integration, separation, and conflict as across Siberia. Christopher Columbus brought Euro-Cauca- no other people have experienced on this planet. As an in- sian settlements to this wonderland. The African slaves have stallation artist, I have traveled through many parts of the influenced American culture—American black culture. The world. Wherever I go with my art creations, I clearly sense Chinese built American railroads etc… This legendary land that I have been an outsider in the locale; whatever I do and has become a dream full of hope, chance, and bio/geo/cul- exhibit, it is “otherness” in the national locale. But in Amer- tural conflicts, a dream without precedent in mankind’s his- ica, I find a part of me is connected to it, because for a long tory. Following are two astonishing numbers: the American historical period of time, the Chinese have established their Norwegian population is larger than the population in Nor- roots in this wonderland; therefore I do not feel that I am a way and the population in the Netherlands is smaller than total outsider. Plus the reality in America is all about outsid- the American Dutch. Biological intermixing is far more au- ers relating to one another. Let us say it is still a Euro-white- thentic and essential than multi-cultural exchange. The defi- dominant society. But the history, and the future perspectives nition of “American” in the future will not be a singleraced tell us that a brave new bio/geo culture will gradually be born identity. Being an American in the future will be a brave new under the new definition of a word, “America.” racial identity. This will be an astonishing future reality that requires multi-centered, gradual, bio-intermixing time. But The global environment and referential thoughts to UNITED it becomes more and more predictable. The “otherness,” NATIONS art project With the collapse of Communism, the races will eventually be melted into a “bio” pot of fu- capitalism’s global success, and the booming of the Asian- ture America. To be an American will be a mirror of all the Pacific rim’s economy, the globe has been in the midst of world’s races, civilizations, and histories. When I was creat- a great transition. Once again, we have learned a universal ing the American monument of the UNITED NATIONS, I truth: whichever economical, political and social theory, clearly heard a call of the harmony, conflicts, territories, and structure and system is most advanced, will take over the boundaries among races. This was a unique touching feel- leadership of the world. Marxism as a theory presented to us ing that I did not have with other national hair monuments. a beautiful and seductive Utopia, followed by Leninism and Because it is so dense in ethnicity, so intense in cultural dia- Maoism that revisionized Marxism into the practice of real- logs, I feel it is the epitome of the whole UNITED NATIONS ity. Its outcome was dictatorship and economical chaos. On project. the contrary, capitalism’s global success has been based on “American History” economic objective laws, and overall, follows human nature I have often been told, “America has no history” wherev- which desires a better life. Capitalism’s universal success er I was in Italy, China, France, and so on. The classical defi- was predictable and is inevitable. In the Cold War and Post- nition of the word “history” is a geographical region and its Cold War era, capitalism has been developed to its imperial- living species within a given time length. This definition of istic peaks led by the United States of America. “history” from the dictionary is inappropriate for the defini- 152 Appendix B: The Divine Comedy of Our Times

On the other side of the world, in the Asia Pacific region, in the post-modern era, the cultural institutions and theoreti- there is China with its economy drastically reforming while cal systems in the West are utilizing unprecedented openness still acknowledging 6000 years of ancient civilization. With in their attempts to include all that has happened as a result these regional cultures building on their own history and of the Western colonizing ideology. Using “self-criticism” learning from the West with absolute confidence and remark- as a device to benefit and underline its new progression and able economic progression, is it possible to discover a new aggression, the new internationalism has gradually accepted social structure that will be better and more advanced than “otherness” and is ready for “identity” and “ethnicity” to be capitalism? Much to the chagrin of the West, there is current- the next blockbusters. “From Magiciens de la Terre (1989) to ly a potential economic/social/cultural/religious marriage on the Whitney Biennale (1992), curators in major Western art the horizon between Islam and Confucianism. Could this institutions have self-consciously positioned themselves as union bring about a new social structure that would radically agents of change within an ascendant discourse; their goal, alter business as we know it? ostensibly, to intervene in the politics of representation and In the post-modernist and post-colonialist era, both the thereby challenge the precepts of Modernism.”35 Magiciens West and the East have been questioning, doubting, and re- de la Terre was heavily criticized for its curators miscom- vising their past and present to adapt to the changing world, prehending and misselecting regional artists according to to challenge white hierarchical internationalism, and rees- their Western points of view of “exoticism.” At present, the tablish regional cultural identity. Queens Museum of Art is organizing an exhibition focus- In the West, Post-Modernism guided theoretical crisis by ing on third world conceptual art. Curators, however, will doubting fundamental values and faith such as nation, his- be selected from all world regions to choose artists of their tory, and humanity since the Enlightenment. For a long pe- own countries to prevent a biased selection of regional artists riod of time, people believed science was a broad discipline from a single-minded, white perspective. offering the only way to search for the truth; history could On the contrary, the imperialistic shadow over third world be traced back according to these principles. Now, the fun- countries that follows capitalism’s global success induced a damental truth is that science and philosophy find solutions generation of scholars both from the West but mainly from to support our desires; the theory of Relativity has brought the third world such as Edward Said, Jurgen Habermas, Pau- pluralism. In social practice, capitalism drives people by en- line Hontoudji, and Gayatri C. Spivak with “oppositional couraging human desire and ego. The society in the West criticism” toward Post-Colonialism and capitalism’s impe- is facing enormous problems: AIDS, the environment, abor- rialistic dark side. This has greatly influenced the current tion, homosexuality, racism, feminism, unclear definitions of trends of regionalism and all “otherisms.” masculinity, etc. Hence, there is a growing global criticism “The global success of capitalism in a way leads to global toward capitalism’s imperialistic invasion of other regions post-colonization. Or it can be said Post-Colonialism leads and cultures in the world. to global capitalism.”36 “The reality is to say that the modern In the cultural field, there is growing selfawareness of re- West is not a geographical space rather it is more a psycho- gionalism and “otherness.” Well aware that by not including logical space; the modern West is in the West but its pres- regionalism, you admit your weakness, the once complacent ence and ideology exist in the minds of the East.”37 We could white mainstream rushes to embrace a more inclusive strat- illustrate this by one example out of thousands. China has egy promoting this new internationalism and “otherness.” been building many new “Suzhou Gardens,” precisely imi- Thus, it has provided an extraordinary position for every- tating the traditional style. But besides its traditional look, one. The classical term of cultural interaction and integration the new “Suzhou Garden” is a capitalized idea no different that is based upon clearly identical cultures is over. What we than American Disneyland whose aim is to make money are now facing is a contemporary paradox: on the one hand, from entertaining the pop culture instead of the traditional we are in a more accessible environment that means that reason, which was to provide a beautiful, contemplative our world is getting smaller and so are our regions. On the garden park for the emperor and his royal family. (In fact, other hand, none of our existing cultures are singularly pure Suzhou Gardens were built by and for wealthy merchants after centuries of cultural exchange. Instead of exchanging instead of emperors and royal families.—Zhou Yan) the more obvious elements such as language and style, ours is now one of a more psychological condition in which the more complex racial, gender, political, and social parameters 35 Barbara Hunt and Susy Kerr, “I am not What I am,” New Observa- are in the bargaining. tions 107, 1995, p. 14, New York. However, in the West, there is a clear awareness and at- 36 Gayatri C. Spivak, “the Politics of Subaltern,” Socialist Review, tention to this great shift of cultural identities and its region- vol. 23, 1990, p. 94. alism; it has been an inevitable reality. By responding to the 37 Ashis Nandy, The Intimate Enemy: Loss and Recovery of Self Under limitations of traditional Euro-hierarchical internationalism Colonialism, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1983, p. xii. (As footnote 17,this note has been moved from the text to the footnote sec- tion.—Zhou Yan) Appendix B: The Divine Comedy of Our Times 153

The above example could also apply to what has been nationalism, and drawing social attention to the existence of happening in cultural and artistic events particularly in the “otherness.” Even if we think this is only the first stage of the Asia-Pacific region. After a long period of looking to the “looking inwards” trend, we have to question its motivations modern West for goals to help establish global recognition, and intentions; there is a potential danger. The hidden desires the realization of unsatisfied (national) self-desires coupled are to try to adopt to the white mainstream and its market, with the loss of cultural self-identities became apparent. So, fitting the concept of exoticism and the double standard art with “westernized minds,” these regional events began the criticism of the West to get fast recognition abroad. However, attempt of looking inward. The situation, however, is that no it is more complex and even more dangerous than “looking matter how many schools of theories or how many artistic to the West” as in the past. It is an opportunistic attitude and styles arise, they still become localized western Modernism. strategy still reflecting the old colonial mindset rather than a These phenomena are the mixture of either local traditional genuine desire for regional cultural growth. And of course, formats combined with modern western ideology or regional it “insightfully” fits current political correctness in terms of classical concepts mixed with western modern style. Even its own region and abroad. But in the long run, this kind of more critical is that the local audience’s art appreciation is recognition will be limited by this expedient concern. It is a now also westernized. way to continue the support of the white dominant hierarchy These regional cultural and artistic events on one side and it may create a “non-self” regional culture. Therefore, have drawn attention from being “different” based on bio/geo we could call it “pseudo-regionalism,” or “pseudo identity.” identity. But the predicament here is obvious: the dislocation “We need to recall that the interpretation of art is often the between bio/geo tradition and the westernized mind is a kind product of cultural assumptions.”41 Let’s say it is even more of twisted chaotic trend of going back to the regional tradi- essentially the result of the power game of economics and tion directed by western ideology. The “language system” politics. If the economic and political structures develop (cultural and artistic representations) does not grow from in- to a certain level, which would equalize those in the West, side of the “self.” This so called “difference” is developed then perhaps these dangers could be eliminated. A brave new through “non-self” processes. It is exactly as Edward Said cultural identity cannot be established by opportunistic and analyzed how western ideology systematically constructed ethnic ideology; it cannot be established without advanced the “orient” in keeping with the aspirations of the West.38 “difference” (of course, we could argue about the definition There is also a similar example of how western ideology and of “advanced,” but when it applies to the practice within a language rebuilt “African philosophy”; as a result, African specific time, it is there). philosophy lost its own narration. By putting African philos- Politically, we have brought about another predicament: ophers in a certain position, the African philosophical mind many third world countries were liberated to independence has already been westernized; they have created the “African only to become an autocracy. Again, in the cultural and ar- myth,” which absolutely does not belong to original Africa.39 tistic world, this political predicament could serve as a clear In our reality, “we can even conceive of a new regional model for future developments. Where is regionalism going focus eventually developing from looking outward to look- besides just showing “difference?” And how is it possible to ing inwards—a new perspective from the extraregional to reconstruct a real regional and, at the same time, “advanced,” the intraregional.”40 If these currently intensified trends such contemporary identity after the regional identity based upon as “Orientalism,” “regionalism” and all kinds of “otherness,” western ideology falls apart? This is a critical burden that the only show “difference” by the contrast to white-centric in- regional cultures need to transcend. By simply creating the ternationalism, they may actually serve to narrow that which “exotic difference” without paying attention to what kind of is genuinely regional. In effect, the regional cultures would “difference,” all future developments in these regions could probably lose their goal, which is to elevate and empower be severely jeopardized. themselves to the same or even higher levels of Western ide- “After all, ‘Asia-Pacific’ is an idea rather than a ology, by simply exaggerating the “difference.” Thus, ironi- location.”42 This offers a very important connotation about cally, in many cases, traditionalism and conservatism are regionalism; it is also a very insightful cultural strategy. As shouting on deaf ears. a matter of fact, it could bring about a wide field of vision Nevertheless, “otherness” has continually introduced di- without limitation. This concept of “region” should encom- versity into the culture, influencing white hierarchical inter- pass a cultural identity but not necessarily a geographic one.

38 Edward Said, Orientalism, New York: Random House, 1979. 39 Pauline Hontoudji, African Philosophy: Myth and Reality, London: 41 Ibid. Hutchinson, 1983, pp. 38 and 44. 42 40 Apinan Poshyananda, “The Future: Post-Cold War, PostModern- Caroline Turner, “Internationalism and Regionalism: Paradoxes of ism, Postmarginalia (Playing with Slippery Lubricants),” Tradition and Identity,” Tradition and Change, University of Queensland Press, Aus- Change, University of Queensland Press, Australia. tralia. 154 Appendix B: The Divine Comedy of Our Times

There have been many significant art events that have ism realizes and accepts “otherness” and “pluralism.” This provided intriguing and interesting points of view on this is a very interesting period of time in mankind’s history. We subject. Queensland Art Gallery in Australia founded the are called upon to face our common brave new world. We Asia-Pacific Triennial art exhibition and held the first trien- can establish “oppositional criticism” and apply it not only to nial in 1993. The artists included were nonexpatriates. For “worldliness,” but to the most basic responsibility of human the 1996 Triennial, they have revised their policy to include knowledge as well.45 expatriates as well as nonexpatriates. In the United King- dom, there were be a series of solo and group exhibitions through the first half of 1996 focusing on South Asian and Southeast Asian artists who are “expatriates” as first, second, and third generations. From bio/geo/cultural perspectives, they all represent many sides of the multi-cultural trend. From the end of 1994 to the spring of 1995, the Kroller- Muller Museum in the Netherlands organized a largescale international art exhibition entitled, Heart of Darkness; the exhibition name was taken from Joseph Conrad’s novel writ- ten in 1902. The book describes how colonization and impe- rialism deprive people of their roots. The show consisted of two parts: installation and video art; approximately 50 artists from around the world participated. According to the cura- tor, Marianne Brouwer, the concept and title of the show, and all of the artists selected, especially in the installation category were subjected to the “expatriate” parameter. Here, we can see the significance of her concept of ”expatriate”: all of the artists were “expatriate” either in that they were away from their homeland, or they (the Caucasian artists) became conceptually “expatriate” to their own culture. The title of the show, Heart of Darkness, can be comprehended as “un- known myth.” The conception and the artists’ selection pro- vided a kind of middle ground to a varied “otherness,” “the unknown myth,” the cultural paradox in which we are living. “Twenty years later the strategies of the diasporised and colonised have become a major focus of end of this century’s practice. The shift between the Black art movement of the seventies and eighties and the new internationalism of the nineties is the apparent mainstream recognition of the ‘other’ artist and ‘other’ identities….artists of color are newly seg- regated through the theoretical repositioning of postcolonial discourse.”43 Referring to 1995’s Venice Biennial’s central exhibition, Identity and Otherness, curator and director Jean Clair states, “The problem involved in representing the self can be traced back to the point at which modern society be- came engaged in the search for the civil identities that un- derpin any individual and distinguishes that individual from others. An identity that refers not only to the person but also to a social group, class, nation and, in the end, ethnic origin.”44 Overall, once again, we are in a new cultural era based on fastgrowing regional cultures and the new international-

43 Barbara Hunt & Susy Kerr, Ibid, p. 15. 44 Jean Clair, “Identity and Otherness, Venice Biennial 1995,” Flash 45 Edward Said, World, the Text, and the Critic, Cambridge, MA, Har- Art, Dec. 1994. vard University Press, 1983, pp. 28, 29–30. References

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New York: Independent Curators Incorporated (Phila- objection to the article “I can’t understand”), 美术 (“mei shu,” Fine delphia: Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies). Arts, monthly), May 1988, 25–26. Morgan, Robert. 1992. The Formal Conceptualism of Wenda Gu, in Zhang, Xudong. 1997. Chinese modernism in the era of reforms: the catalogue Wenda Gu: Refound Oedipus Complex, 20–25. Milan: Cultural Fever, avant-garde fiction, and the new Chinese cinema. Sigma Arte S.R.L. Durham: Duke University Press. Murfin, Ross, and Ray, Supryia M. 1997.The bedford glossary of criti- 周彦 (Zhou Yan), “解释学与现代艺术” (“jie shi xue yu xian dai yi cal & literary terms. Boston: Bedford Books. shu,” hermeneutics and modern art), 美术 (“mei shu,” Fine Arts, Nakane, Kazuko. 1990. “A Poem,” quoted from Wenda Gu’s “Record: monthly), Beijing, China, 1987, 9. the Preactions of Materials for the Participatory Installation 2000 Zhou, Yan. 1993. “Gu Wenda’s Oedipus,” in exhibition catalogue, Natural Deaths,” catalogue Wenda Gu: 2000 Natural Deaths, Fragmented memory—The Chinese avant-garde in exile. Hatley Martin Gallery, San Francisco, California. Columbus: Wexner Center for the Arts, the Ohio State Owens, Craig. 1992. The allegorical impulse: Towards a theory of University. postmodernism. In Art in theory 1900–1990: An anthropology of changing ideas, ed. Charles Harrison and Paul Wood, 1056. Oxford: Blackwell. 彭德 (Peng De), “谷文达俗解” (“gu wen da su jie,” reading Gu Wenda), 美术思潮 (“mei shu si chao,” Art Trends, bimonthly), Wuhan, Hubei, issue 3, 1987, 20–21. Index

85 New Space 35, 68 Anti-art-history 26 industrialization 35 Anti-formalism 24, 30, 37 Zhang Peili 35 Anti-Nazism 110 85 Art movement 19, 21, 45, 46 Anti-political-authority 22 Anti-self-expression 24 Anti-subject 30 A Anti-theology 22 A Concise History of Modern Painting (1959) 20 Anti-tradition 19, 22, 48, 71, 117 A Day in the Year 1968 27 Anti-traditionalists 48 A History of Chinese Aesthetics 78 Anti-writing 69 A History of Contemporary Chinese Art Appropriation 22, 25, 29, 75, 81, 103 1985–1986 19 Architecture 1, 6, 20, 111 A History of Western Aesthetics 78 Arnason 20 A History of Western Philosophy 70 Arnheim 20, 21, 23, 78 Abstract-Expressionism 68 Art as Experience 78 Abstraction 30, 48, 61, 73, 75, 84 Art in America 2 Action 17 Art market 48 Adorno, Theodor Art media 23, 32, 43, 47, 48, 50, 51, 69, 93 Zur Metakritik der Erkenntnistheorie (Against Epistemology, a Art News 2 Meta-critique) 17, 18 Art Trends 48, 50 Aesthetic as Science of Expression and General Linguistic 78 Arthur 60 Aesthetic expression 114 Artistically 93, 107 Aesthetics Asceticism 23, 30 expression 114 Asian culture 11 of monumentality 97 Asian-type modernity 17 Alexandr 1, 3, 4 Ästhetik und allgemeine Kunstwissenschaft Alexandr Brener 1, 3, 4 (aesthetics and theory of art) 78 Alienation 21, 22, 35, 46, 60, 103 Avant-garde 3, 11, 18–24, 26, 27, 29–32, 34, 41–46, Along with Rocks 42 48–50, 53, 61, 68, 69, 71, 76, 85, 88, 101, 102 Alvin 17 Avant-Garde Movement 11 Amateurism 29, 83 Awareness of life 23 Amelia 94 Awareness of nature 24 Analysis Awareness or consciousness of crisis 13 artistic analysis 90, 91 Analytic philosophy 60, 90 Ancient and foreign civilizations 64 B Andy 41 Bacon 71 Animal side of human beings 24 Barme 12 Animals rights 88 Barth 71 Antagonism 6, 24, 68, 89, 110 Baselitz 39 antagonist attitude 20, 89 Beckett 8 Anthology of Aesthetics 78 Ben 107 Anti-art Benedetto 78 action art 24 Bergson 22, 60 anti-aesthetic-art 24 Berlin Wall 2 anti-art-history 25 Bertrand 13, 60 anti-formalism 24, 30, 37 Bessire 8

Y. Zhou, Odyssey of Culture, Chinese Contemporary Art Series, 157 DOI 10.1007/978-3-662-45411-4, © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015 158 Index

Beuys 25, 94 Conceptual 21, 22, 24, 32, 46, 50, 68, 91, 103, 106, 112, 114 Beuys, Joseph 25, 94 Conceptual expression 114 Bhabha 7, 104, 111 Conceptualism 90, 102 Big-character poster 80, 81, 83 Conditions 17, 18, 66, 104, 105 Bio/geo/cultural fusion 103 Confucianist culture 13 Biological substance 93 Confucianist heritage 17 Black 35, 69, 91 Confucianist ideology 13, 23 Black 25 % 35, 69 Confucianist moral code 23 Brener 1, 2, 4–7 Confucianist norms 23 Brunelleschi 64 Confucius 15, 102, 103, 116 Bynner 117, 118 Construction 12, 16, 17, 23, 49, 59, 69, 72, 80, 89, 119 Contemporary culture 46, 64, 104 Context 4, 7, 9, 11, 22, 23, 36, 37, 46, 53, 70, 78, 86, 97, 103, 105, C 107, 110, 115, 117, 118, 122–124 C. P. 15 Contextual reading 110 Cage, John 25, 80 Craig 89 Cai Guoqiang 92 Critical Realism 27, 28 Cao Jianlou 57 Critique 1, 15, 17, 18, 21, 23, 24, 26, 29, 31, 36, 37, 53, 66, 68–73, Capitalism 2, 3, 44, 56, 83 75, 79, 80, 84, 85, 88–92, 101, 114, 115, 121–124 Capra 64 Critique of art history 26 Casper 34 Critique of culture 24, 26, 29, 31, 36, 37, 53, 68, 71, 73, 80, 84, 85, Cateforis 9 88–91, 101, 114, 121, 123 Catholicism 95, 110 Critique of language 37, 90 Central Academy of Fine Arts 17, 31, 50 Critique of politics 29 Cezanne 30 Critique of reality 29, 31 Chan Buddhism 22, 37 Critique of value 18, 31, 53 Chang 93, 105 Croce 78 Charles 35 Cufer 7 Chen Duxiu 13 Cultural 1, 3–9, 11–19, 22, 23, 25, 26, 33, 38, 41, 43, 45–50, 53–55, Chen Guofu 55 57, 58, 61, 64, 66, 68–73, 75, 79, 80, 85, 86, 88, 89, 91, 93–97, Chen Huiying 96 100–108, 111, 112, 114–119, 121–124 Chen Weihe 21, 46 Cultural atmosphere 85 Chen Yungang 50 Cultural barriers 89, 102 Chen Zhen 22 Cultural battle 1, 112 Cheng Zhidi 84, 85 Cultural concern 11, 71, 86 China Artists Association 48, 79 Cultural conflict 3 China Fine Arts 46–49 Cultural connotation 91, 97, 105 China/Avant-Garde 88 Cultural context 11, 23, 25, 46, 49, 66, 68, 88, 91, 93, 101, 102, 121, Chinese civilization 14, 33, 69, 72 123 Chinese contemporary art 1, 21, 49, 59, 88 Cultural convention 85 Chinese culture 13, 14, 16–19, 21, 23, 26, 35, 49, 54, 57, 66, 68, 72, Cultural discourse 19, 46 76, 102, 106, 107, 115–117, 119, 122 Cultural entity 16 Chinese identity 102, 106–108, 115–117, 122 Cultural escapism 33, 66, 68 Chinese Institute of Art Research 21, 46, 49 Cultural exchange 102, 112, 115, 121 Chinese intellectuals 11, 13, 15, 19, 55, 60, 70 Cultural heritage 13, 55, 64, 66, 71, 89, 104, 117 Chinese modern drama 54 Cultural hybrid 106 Chinese written language 36, 37, 53, 69, 71, 72, 75, 76, 78, Cultural identity 103, 106, 117, 122 91, 106, 115 Cultural interaction 119, 121, 123 Chineseness 48, 102, 107, 115–117, 119, 122, 123 Cultural issues 11, 15, 19, 43, 50, 53, 68, 86, 101, 124 Chinese-type socialism 57 Cultural legacy 57, 58 Chirico 68 Cultural life 12, 50 Christianity 36, 95 Cultural migration 119 Chuck 30 Cultural movement 45, 48, 50 Chun, Lin 42 Cultural perspective 50, 124 Civilization 11–13, 15, 22, 34, 55, 61, 72, 90, 93, 105, 107, 110 Cultural reconstruction 11 Clash of civilizations 107 Cultural Revolution 12, 13, 17–19, 27–30, 36, 45, 48, 55–57, 66, 71, Classic notion of cultural identity 106 80, 83, 85, 92 Claude 122 Cultural significance 94, 106, 116 Close 30 Cultural structure 124 Cole 64 Cultural suffocation 43 Collectivism 69 Cultural symbol 114 Collingwood 20, 78 Cultural taboo, 75 Communist ideology 12 Cultural temporalities 104 Concept of modernity 13 Cultural tension 8 Concept of ugliness 84 Index 159

Cultural tradition 4, 13, 14, 46, 47, 88, 89, 102 E Cultural transformation 14 Eastern cultures 11, 96 Cultural war 4, 111, 112, 116 Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 21 Cultural worker 12 Eda 7 Culture 1, 5, 7–9, 11–26, 32, 34, 35, 37, 41, 45–47, 49, 53, 54, 60, Editorial Committee for Twentieth-Century 14, 17, 20, 71 61, 64, 66, 68, 70–73, 83, 85, 86, 88–93, 95, 96, 101, 102, 104, Editorial Committee for Twentieth-Century Western Scholarly 106–109, 111, 112, 114–117, 121–123 Classics, 20, 71 Culture Movement 12, 13 Edward 8 Culture of bourgeoisie 20 Enlightenment 19, 22, 23, 32 Culture-mania 15 Epiphany 23, 24, 76, 78, 123 Cultures 1, 6, 7, 11, 12, 15, 61, 64, 68, 88, 89, 95–97, 100–103, Ernst 20 106–108, 111, 112, 114, 117, 121–123 Eros and Civilization Current of Life 22–24, 26, 37, 39, 48, 68 A Philosophical Inquiry into Freud 17 Erwin 20 Escher 64 D Essays on Aesthetics 78 Dada 7, 24, 25, 40, 71 Essence of culture 101, 106 Dali 61 Eternity 24, 37, 66, 106 Danielle 93 Ethical imperative 7, 15 Dante 102 Euro-America’s 14 Daoism 36, 90 Euro-American culture 11 Darwin 61, 68 Euro-American-central narratives 14 David 9, 32 European mode of modernization 13 De, Li 15 European Union 1, 5 Death of the intelligentsia 4 Exhibition of International Youth Year 23, 30, 31, 45 Deconstruction 12, 53, 71, 75, 76, 78, 86, 91, 100, 106 Existentialism 70 Deconstruction of language systems 53 Expression 5, 19, 25, 30, 32, 37, 39, 45, 46, 66, 68, 75, 84, 112, 114 Deconstruction of written language 78, 86 Expressionism 39, 61, 66, 68, 84 De-ideologization 21 Deng Pingxiang 50 Deng Xiaoping 15 F Derrida 17, 21, 122, 123 Fan Bo 69 Desire, 37, 38 Fan Jingzhong 49, 61, 64, 66 Dessoir 78 Fan Zhongyan 15 Dewey 13, 78 Fei Dawei 48 Ding Fang 22, 33, 49 First nature 70, 90, 106, 123 Ding Yi 42 Flash Art 2 Ding, Yi 42 Folk art 27, 30, 39, 42, 57, 64 Discourse communities, 70 Forest of Stone Stele of Xi-an 116 Discursive 14–16, 21–23, 25, 26, 31, 32, 35–37, 43, 46, 47, 49–51, Formalism 23, 30, 66 53, 69–71, 79, 83–85, 100, 104, 122 Foucault 17, 21 Discursive catalyst 50 Four qualifications 58 Discursive construction 22 Fragmented Memory Discursive context 35 The Chinese Avant-Garde in Exile 97, 99 Discursive core of art, 49 Francis 71 Discursive means 23 Fredric 40 Discursive operation 104 Fredric Jameson 40 Discursive room 15 French academic art 27 Discursive space 14 Freud 18, 60, 68, 75, 100 Discursive transformation 51 Friedrich 34, 60 Disenchanted Democracy Fritjof 64 Chinese Cultural Criticism after 1989 107 Futurologist School 13, 14, 16, 18, 21, 26 Distrust of language 90 Dmitry 2 G Dominant ideology 70 Gadamer 17 Donald 91 Gan 8, 9 Donald Judd 91 Gasche 104 Down with Confucianism and its disciples 13 Ge Yan 48, 49 Downward power of life 24 Geng Jainyi and Song Ling 42 Dry 91 Geo/national/cultural 107 Du Chunlin 56 Georg 39 Du Du and Dou Dou 96 Georg Baselitz 39 Du Fu 117 George 20, 78 Duan Xiucang 39, 69 Georges 33 Duchamp 25, 61, 68, 71, 93, 115 Geremie 12 Duchamp, Marcel 61, 71 160 Index

Globalization 8, 117, 124 Issue of discourse 21 Gober 93 Issue of identity 106 Gombrich 20, 21 Issue of modernity 47 Gu Dexin 91 Issue of status quo 47 Gu Jianchen 53–55 Gu Wenxian 55 J Gu Wenyuan 55 Jacques 17, 32, 122, 123 Gustave 64 James 107 Gutov 2 Jameson 40, 41 Jan Aman 1, 2 H Jan, A. 1, 2 H. Harvard 20 Janson 20 H. W. 20 Jason 80 Habermas 17 Jean Paul 17 Hair-itage 107 Jia Fangzhou 49 Hammurabi Stele 115 Jiangsu Pictorial 47, 48 Hans Georg 17 Jin Guantao 14 Happening 1, 2, 5, 40, 42, 112 Jin Yuelin 16 Hegel 23, 78, 121, 123 Joan 61 Hegemonic discourse, 18, 37 John 13, 17, 25, 78 Hegemonic ideology 12, 14 Johnson 105 Heidegger 17, 50, 72 Jones 25, 94 Heinrich 20, 78 Jones, Jasper 25 Henri 60 Joseph 25, 90, 94 Henry 42 Joseph Kosuth 90 Herbert 17, 20 Journey of the Beautiful 78 Hermeneutics 18, 69, 70 Jung 17, 60, 68 Hermeneutics and Human Sciences Jurgen 17 Essays on Language 17 Juxtaposition 36, 79 Hierarchy of culture 107 History of Art Criticism 20 K History of Modern Art Kandinsky 61 Painting 20 Kang Mu 42 Homi 7, 104, 111 Karl 17, 21 Hong Kong 8, 14, 17, 47, 56, 79, 96, 97, 101, 108, 111 Karl R. 17 Hong Shen 54 Kathe 29, 57 Hong Zaixin 48 Kiki 93 Hou Hanru 117 Kim 106 Hu Shih 13 Kitsch 33, 66 Hu Zhaoyang and Wang Baijiao 41, 42 Knowledge and ignorance 99, 100 Huang Hongyi 50 Kollwitz 29, 57 Huang Qiuyuan 79 Kosuth 90 Huang Yongping 21, 24–26, 32, 40, 91, 92, 97 Kulik 2, 4–6 Human body material 93, 101, 104–106, 115 Kuo 80 Huntington 6, 107 Husserl 17 L Langer 8, 20, 78 I Language 12, 22, 23, 36, 37, 45, 46, 54, 69–72, 75–78, 80, 90–93, Identity 4, 83, 100, 101, 104–107, 109, 111, 112, 115–117, 122 100, 102, 103, 105, 106, 112, 114, 118, 122, 123 Ideological emancipation 21, 46 Laozi 22, 90, 91 Ideological tendency 22 Late capitalism 41 In-between 7, 104, 111, 112 Lawrence 90 Individualism 8, 24, 38, 42, 45, 69 Lawrence Weiner 90 Industrial civilization 35 Lee Fuhsing 81 Industrialization 12, 13, 15, 35, 38, 117 Levin 106 Intellectuals 6, 11–13, 15, 16, 21, 26, 60, 61, 69, 70, 83 Levi-Strauss 122 Inter-cultural scenario 8 Levitan 28 International chessboard of culture 86 Li Bai 117 Interpol – A Global Network from Stockholm and Moscow 121, 122 Li Dazhao 13 Interpol—A Global Network from Stockholm and Moscow 1 Li Keran 59 Interstitial 7, 104, 111, 112, 121 Li Xiao 47, 48, 50 Issue of cultural identity 123 Li Xiaoshan 47, 48, 50 Issue of culture 1, 9, 11, 12, 15, 19, 32, 122 Li Zehou 78 Index 161

Liang Congjie 16 Moreau 64 Liang Sicheng 16 Morgan 91, 92 Lin Changmin 16 Mountains-and-waters painting 58, 59, 64 Lin Chun 42 Mu, Kang 42 Lionello 20, 21 Multi- 21, 39, 53, 64, 71, 89, 102, 104, 111, 112, 123, 124 Literati taste 36, 42, 79 Multi-culturalism 8 Liu Guosong 56 Multi-cultured hair 104 Liu Xiaochun 50 Murfin 70 Logical positivism 70 Mystic pessimist 70 Long March 103 Longshan culture 12 N Lorna 93 Naisbitt 17 Lu Shuyuan 49 Nanjing Art Academy 47 Lu Yanshao 57, 59, 122 National Art Museum of China 30, 41, 45, 57, 88 Lucie-Smith 8 Nationalization of oil painting 45 Ludwig 60 Native culture 11, 14, 64, 101, 106 Luo Zhongli 30 Nature 9, 12, 14, 16, 21, 23, 24, 30, 37–39, 41, 47, 61, 64, 66, 70, 72, Lynton 25 73, 75, 77, 78, 91, 95, 96, 99, 100, 103, 106, 108, 112, 114, 122, 123 M Nature and culture 103, 106, 122, 123 Ma Lu 38, 48 Neo-Expressionism 39 Mainstream ideology 12, 23, 57, 72 New 1, 7, 8, 12–14, 18, 22, 27, 30–32, 35, 36, 40, 41, 46, 48, 49, 68, Mao Xuhui 38 69, 87–89, 91, 111, 112, 116 Mao Zedong 30, 103 New Confucianism 14, 22 Mapplethorpe 95, 97 New cultural scenario, 13 Marcel 61 New culture 12, 19, 26, 49, 89 Marcuse 17 New enlightenment 17, 18 Mark 8 New Marxism 18, 41 Martin 17, 50, 94, 95 New racial identity 107 Marx 18, 21, 22, 57, 60, 121 New three theories 70 Marxism 3, 13, 17, 18 Nietzsche 18, 22, 60, 66, 68 Materialanalysis 90 Noblesse oblige 33 Matisse 30 Norbert 25 Maurice 17 Max 78 O May-Fourth discourse 13 Objective Knowledge May-Fourth Movement 12–14, 16, 17, 26, 54, 57, 70 an Evolutionary Approach 17 Meaning 11, 12, 15, 16, 22, 23, 25, 36, 37, 47, 54, 58, 68, 72–76, 84, Objective reason 22 90, 91, 94, 97, 100, 101, 104, 106, 108, 109, 111, 117 Oedipus 2, 90, 97, 99, 100, 105 Megatrend 17 Official ideology 18, 20, 23, 27, 30, 37, 39, 44, 51, 58, 60, 70 Menstrual blood 94–97, 101, 105, 115 Oleg 1, 4 Menstruation 94–96, 105, 122 Oleg Kulik 1, 4 Merleau-Ponty 17 Olivier 6 Metaphysical approach 24 Other 2, 7, 9, 11–19, 21–28, 30–36, 38, 41–43, 45, 47, 48, 50, 53, 55, Metaphysical art 72 57, 60, 61, 66, 69–71, 74–76, 78, 79, 83, 85, 86, 90, 91, 94–97, Metaphysical life 66 101, 102, 104, 105, 107, 110–112, 114, 117–119, 121, 122 Metaphysical meditation 61 Otherization 104, 112 Metaphysical principle, 66 Ouyang Yuqian 54 Metaphysics 22, 68 Owens 89 Methodology 14, 23, 76, 78, 90, 92, 103, 105, 121, 123 Mexican mural 33 Michael 61 P Michel 17 Pablo 57 Miro 61 Panofsky 20, 21 Misiano 3, 4, 6 Paul 17 Misunderstanding 66, 102, 106, 110, 115, 118, 119, 123 Peking University 13, 40, 42 Modern Chinese culture 17, 19, 51 Peng De 80 Modern culture 12, 38 Peredvizhniki (Wanderers) 28 Modernism 17, 29, 30, 40, 41, 45, 48, 57, 68, 71, 85, 86, 89, 102 Performance 1, 2, 42, 105 Modernist painting 45 Philosophical reason 22 Modernity 13, 14, 17, 45, 79 Picasso 29, 57 Modes of modernization 14 Piet 61 Mondrian 61 Pivotal principle 15 Moore 42 Playful element 33 Pop art 40–42 162 Index

Popper 17 Rushdie 104 Post-Berlin-Wall period 6 Russell 13, 60, 70–72, 91, 100 Post-industrial 17 Post-intellegentsia 4 S Post-modern 17 Salman 104 Post-Modernism 13, 18, 40, 41, 49, 57, 85, 86, 89 Salvador 61 Postmodern-Postcolonial 107 Samson 110 Postsocialist-Postcolonial condition 107 Samuel 6, 8, 107 Post-Soviet 3, 4, 7 Santayana 20, 78 Power of discourse 44 Sartre 17 Power of life 24, 39, 96 Save the 14 Pre-avant-garde 23, 26 Scar painting 27 Presentation 22, 90, 93, 105 School of Principle 23 Principles of Art History 20, 78 Schopenhauer 18, 60, 68 Problems of Art Science of Logic 121 Ten Philosophical Lectures 20 Sculpture 20, 42, 107 Pro-democracy movement 12 Seal script 70, 90, 91, 106, 115, 117 Project De- 91 Second language revolution 70 Propaganda art 27, 36, 49 Second nature 70, 106, 123 Psycho-Analysis 60 Secularization 64, 66 Psychology of Arts 78 Sein und Zeit (Being and Time 17 Psychology of Tragedy 78 Sein und Zeit (Being and Time) 17 Selected Works of Samuel Beckett and Gu Wenda 8 Q Self-expression 24, 31, 48, 69 Qi, Sheng 42 Semantics 60 Qiao 39 Seriousness 33, 66 Qiao Xiaoguang 39 Serov 28 Qin Yifeng 42 Servin 107 Sexuality 23, 75, 100, 106 Shanghai Arts and Crafts School 8 R Sheeler 35 Rao Fu 50 Shen Qin 69 Rationalist Painting 22–24, 26, 31, 32, 35, 49, 61, 66, 68, 76, 78 Sheng Qi 42 Rationalization 18, 30, 31 Shishkin 28 Rauschenberg 41, 57 Shu Qun 49, 66 Read 20, 21 Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts 38 Realism 27, 29 Sigmund 60, 100 Reason 2, 11, 15, 22–24, 32, 35, 37, 38, 46, 47, 56, 61, 66, 68–71, Signified 59, 75, 90, 94, 105, 106, 114 76–78, 84, 85, 102, 104, 117 Signifier 59, 75, 94, 105, 106, 114 Reason and intuition 76 Silent-selves 93 Reconciliation 1, 6–8, 111, 112, 114, 122, 124 Simpson 93 Reflection theory 23, 31, 32 Skepticism 32, 66, 69, 90, 91 Regeneration of Chinese culture 34 Skepticism on language 90 Regionalism 8 Smith 93 Reinterpretation and critique of Chinese culture 13 Snow 15, 27 Religious life 66 Social Darwinism 61 Religious reason 22 Socialism 7 Ren Jian 22, 69 Socialist Realism 27, 31, 39, 84 Repin 28 Sol 91 Representation 90, 93, 105 Sol LeWitt 91 Reversed 41 Song Dynasty 15, 23, 64, 116 Rhetoric 6, 21, 25, 41, 84, 89, 109 Song, Yonghong 42 Ricoeur 17 Song, Yongping 42 Rightist 55, 56 Soviet Union 5–7, 27, 28 Robert 20, 41, 57, 91–93, 95 Sponsorship 48 Robin 20, 78 Status quo 7, 12, 44 Rodolphe 104 Stereotyping 104 Role of 3, 16, 31, 48, 51, 54, 60, 78, 93, 100, 115, 116 Stockholm Academy of Fine Arts 5 Roman 35, 40, 91, 110 Subject representing subject 105 Roman civilization 35 Subject-matter determinism 45 Roman Verostko 40 Sublimity 24, 47, 66, 97 Romanticism 8, 32, 66, 68 Sullivan 61 Rouault 33 Sum of human activity 93 Rudolf 20, 23, 78 Sun Jin 48, 49 Ruling discourse 103 Sun Yong 50 Index 163

Supplement 123, 124 Victor 1, 2, 4, 6 Sur-art/meta-art 24 Victor Misiano 1, 2, 4, 6 Surikov 28 Vincent 61 Surrealism 31, 61, 68, 71 Visual Arts in the Twentieth Century 8 Susanne 8, 20, 78 Visual Thinking 20, 23 Swedish Royal Art Academy 5 Von Edmund 17 Syllogism 121–124 Synthesis of culture 53, 101–103, 107, 114–117, 121–124 W Wang Bangxiong 49 T Wang Guangyi 32 The Elementary Structures of Kinship 122 Wang Huanqing 39 The Jade Mountain Wang Jiaxiang 103 A Chinese Anthology Being Three Hundred Poems of the Tang Wang Jiping 41 Dynasty 117 Wang Keping 29 The Living Tree Wang Luxiang 48 The Changing Meaning of Being Chinese Today 107 Wang Luyan 92 The Principles of Art 20 Wang Mingxian 49 The Satanic Verses 104 Wang Wei 117 The Story of Art 20 Wang Xiaojian 48 The Story of Modern Art 25 Wang, Baijiao 41 The Third Wave 17 Wang, Jiping 41 The Two Cultures 15 Warhol 41 The unspeakable 71 Wassily 61 Theme of culture 9 Wenda Gu 1, 2, 4, 6–9, 11, 18, 19, 26, 36, 37, 49, 51, 53–61, 64, 66, Theory of class struggle 60 68–72, 76, 78–81, 85, 86, 89–93, 96, 97, 100–102, 105, 112, Theory of evolution 61 116–118, 121, 124 Theory of infinitude 64 Art from Middle Kingdom to Biological Millennium 8 Thomas 64 Western culture 11, 89, 95, 107 Three 3, 13, 15, 16, 18, 19, 21, 22, 24–27, 30, 32, 35, 36, 50, 53, 55, Western Scholarly Classics 14, 17 56, 58, 64, 68, 69, 73, 86, 88, 91, 102, 108, 109, 114, 117, 118 Wexner Center for the Arts 2, 97 Three categories 16, 22 Wholesale Westernization 13 Three goals of a sage 15 Wholesale Westernizers 18 Tian Han 54 Witter 117, 118 Toffler 17 Wittgenstein 17, 22, 60, 70–72, 90, 91, 100 Tractatus logico-philosophicus 70 Wolfflin 20, 78 Tradition 3, 11, 13–15, 17, 18, 20, 22, 23, 26, 28–30, 32, 33, 36, 39, World War I 12, 108 43, 45, 47–50, 53, 57, 59, 64, 66, 68, 69, 71, 72, 76, 79, 85, 88, Written language 35, 37, 43, 69–72, 76–78, 80, 81, 84, 90, 91, 93, 97, 89, 102, 117, 122 100, 102, 112, 114, 122, 123 Tradition and 13, 22, 43, 45, 48, 79, 89, 102 Wu Hung 69, 70 Traditional Chinese culture 11, 14, 32 Wu Shanzhuan 35, 37, 49, 68, 69, 72, 97 Traditional culture 13, 26, 37, 45, 68 Traditional ideologies 71 X Traditionalists 48 Xi Jianjun 42 Trans-cultural 8, 86, 103, 112 Xiamen Dada 24, 25, 40, 42 Translation 12, 17, 18, 20, 54, 70, 75, 78, 90, 102, 104, 117–119 Xiaoguang 39 Trichotomy of culture 15 Xu 8, 9, 16, 49, 56, 69, 72, 97, 107 Tu Wei-ming 107 Xu Bin 69, 72, 97 Two major stages 53 Xu Genrong 56 Xu Lei 69 U Xu Zhimo 16 Unity of nature and man 40 Xudong 15, 18, 41 Unity of universe/nature and human beings 64 Universal current painting 22 Y Universal identity 104, 107 Yan Fu 16 Universalism 9, 108, 112, 114 Yang Jiechang 91, 92 Upward 24 Yang Xianzhen 105 Utopia 5, 101, 123, 124 Yang Xiaoyan 48 Yang Yinsheng 66 V Yang Zhilin 22 Van Gogh 61 Yang Zhiling 22 Vasily 28 Yangshao culture 12 Venturi 20, 21 Ye Yongqing 38 Versailles Conference 12 Yellow 91 164 Index

Yeltsin 4 Zhang Jianjun 66 Yi Ying 48 Zhang Peili 35, 48 Yifeng, Qin 42 Zhao Jianhai 42 Yongping, Huang 21, 24, 25, 40, 97 Zhaoyang, Hu 41, 42 York University 8, 85, 86 Zheng Yuke 42 Yuan Yunsheng 30 Zhou Enlai 103 Yves Klein 25 Zhou Yan 49 Zhu De 103 Z Zhu Guangqian 78 Zahm 6 Zhu Qingsheng 49 Zhan Tianyou 16 Zhu Xi 23, 33 Zhang 15, 18, 31, 35, 41, 42, 48, 66, 85, 103 Zhu Xinjian 33 Zhang Baoqi 48 Zhuangzi 22, 37, 64 Zhang Bin 85 Zong Baihua 78 Zhang Guoliang 42 Zong Bing 75 Zhang Guotao 103