Socialism, Globalism, and Playful Sabotage
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SOCIALISM, GLOBALISM, AND PLAYFUL SABOTAGE: THEIR REPRESENTATION AND PURPOSES IN THE WORKS OF FOUR CONTEMPORARY CHINESE ARTISTS: XU BING, ZHANG PEILI, YANG ZHENZHONG, AND XU ZHEN A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Cornell University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Shin-Yi Yang May 2006 © 2006 Shin-Yi Yang SOCIALISM, GLOBALISM, AND PLAYFUL SABOTAGE: THEIR REPRESENTATION AND PURPOSES IN THE WORKS OF FOUR CONTEMPORARY CHINESE ARTISTS: XU BING, ZHANG PEILI, YANG ZHENZHONG, AND XU ZHEN Shin-Yi Yang, Ph.D. Cornell University 2006 This dissertation examines four contemporary Chinese artists’ selected installations, performances, and video works created from 1993 to 2003. The artists who are the subjects of this dissertation are Xu Bing, Zhang Peili, Yang Zhenzhong, and Xu Zhen. Particular attention is given to several political and cultural phenomena of the time that dramatically show the tension between socialist forces and the emerging capitalist and globalist forces in China. At this moment of great change and socialist appropriation of capitalist and globalist vehicles, a great energy was provided, which inspired a creative dynamism in art. It also shaped the artists’ visions in the media used. A common strategy used by these artists was one of playful sabotage, a strategy by which these artists tried to deal with the opposing forces of socialism and consumerism and then attempted to affirm the self in their new world in art. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Shin-Yi Yang was born in Taipei, Taiwan in 1971. He came to Cornell University in 2000. He currently lives and works in New York with his wife Fanny Chung and their soon-to-be-born baby. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS In the course of researching and writing this dissertation, I have been fortunate to enjoy support of many kinds. I would like to begin by thanking those friends in China and in the United States who made this experience enjoyable and who offered intellectual as well as spiritual sustenance in times of both feast and famine: Xu Bing, Zhang Peili, Yang Zhenzhong, Xu Zhen, Wu Pulin, Gao Yue, Liang Yue, Lu Leiping, Yang Fudong, Qiu Zhijie, Song Dong, Xu Tan, Fei Dawei, Lin Yilin, Zhang Huan, Qing Zhaokai, Iftikhar Dadi, Derek Murray, and Vigy Jing, my research assistant in Shanghai. I also want to thank Karen Chirik, the manager of the Cornell art history department, for her kind assistance. I also want to thank my teachers at Cornell University: Dr. Judith Bernstock, Dr. Timothy Murray, Dr. Salah Hassan, Dr. An-Yi Pan, Dr. Susan Buck-Morss, Dr. Geoffrey Waite, Dr. Brett de Bary, and Dr. Laura Meixner as well as teacher at Queens College: Dr. William Clark. I especially appreciate Dr. Bernstock, my advisor at Cornell University, for her careful reading of this dissertation at all of its stages. In this context, I appreciate Dr. Murray’s input and guidance. His penetrating criticism more than once alerted me to pitfalls and challenged me to streamline and strengthen my argument as it unfolded. The editorial assistance of Helen Bournas-Ney and Kristen Ebert-Wagner helped me to better organize this dissertation. I want to thank the following grant supports for this dissertation: Mario Einaudi Center Travel Grant, Cornell University, 2003; East Asia Program Travel Grant, Cornell University, 2003; Henry Luce Foundation Fellowship, 2003 and 2002; History of Art and Archaeology Graduate Travel Grant, Cornell University, 2003; iv Sage Graduate Fellowship, 2003 and 1999; and Liu Memorial Award and Wu Scholarship, Cornell University, 2002. Finally, I want to thank my family in Taipei and in New York. My debt of gratitude to my parents and mother-in-law is beyond measure. Their encouragement, advice, and sympathy have been a constant resource. My sisters and my wife’s brothers also support my studies in the States in significant ways. Finally, there is no way to adequately thank my wife, Fanny Chung, for her part in this project and my study in the States. Her unwavering emotional support has provided me with a crucial source of strength. v TABLE OF CONTENTS BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH............................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS................................................................................... iv TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................... vi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS .............................................................................. vii INTRODUCTION............................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER ONE: PLAYFUL SABOTAGE ....................................................... 12 CHAPTER TWO: META-FICTION WITH THE COMIC IN XU BING’S WORKS ............................................................ 42 CHAPTER THREE: MOCK SOCIALIST EPIC OF THE TRUE MACHINE IN ZHANG PEILI’s VIDEO INSTALLATIONS: ..................... 110 CHAPTER FOUR: INCONGRUITY IN YANG ZHENZHONG’S FOUR VIDEO WORKS ............. 169 CHAPTER FIVE: THE TWOFOLD VOICE OF DEPENDENCE/INDEPENDENCE IN XU ZHEN’S ROAD SHOW AND BABAMAMA ............... 225 CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSION: ...................................................................... 278 APPENDIX A: POLITICAL CHRONOLOGY.................................................. 292 APPENDIX B: EXHIBITION CHRONOLOGY ............................................... 293 APPENDIX C: ILLUSTRATIONS .................................................................... 294 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................... 358 vi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Illustration C.1: Zhao Bandi, Zhao Bandi & Panda (Love Each Other), 2001 ... 295 Illustration C.2: Cai Guoqiang, APEC Cityscape Fireworks, Shanghai, China, 2001................................................................. 296 Illustration C.3: Wang Guangyi, Great Criticism: Marlboro, 1992 .................... 297 Illustration C.4: Wang Jingsong, Chorus Line, 1990 .......................................... 298 Illustration C.5: Xu Bing, Book from the Sky, 1987–1991 (at Elvehjem Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin-Madison) 299 Illustration C.6: Xu Bing, A.B.C...., 1991 (Installation Detail View)................. 300 Illustration C.7: Xu Bing, An Introduction to New English Calligraphy, 1994–1996.......... 301 Illustration C.8: Xu Bing, Classroom Calligraphy, 1995 (Installation at the Institute of Contemporary Art in London, England) .................. 302 Illustration C.9: Xu Bing, Your Surname Please (Spanish Version), 1998 (at CAAM: Centro Atlantico de Arte Moderno Museum, Grand Canary Islands, Spain)...................................................... 303 Illustration C.10: Xu Bing, A drawing study from a series of the Himalayas Journal, 1999................................................... 304 Illustration C.11: Xu Bing, Landscript, 2000...................................................... 305 Illustration C.12: Gu Wenda, A Game with Audience being the Chess Pieces, 1987................ 306 Illustration C.13: Wu Shanzhuan, One of the Red Series, 1986 ......................... 307 Illustration C.14: Detail of Book from the Sky ................................................... 308 Illustration C.15: Xu Bing, Cultural Negotiation, 1992–1993 ............................ 309 Illustration C.16: Xu Bing, A Case Study of Transference, 1994....................... 310 Illustration C.17: Wang Luyan, The Revision of a Bicycle, 1995 ...................... 311 vii Illustration C.18: Xu Bing, Five Series of Repetitions, 1985–1986.................... 312 Illustration C.19: Xu Bing, Ghosts Pounding the Wall, 1990–1991................... 313 Illustration C.20: Zhang Peili, Water Standard Version from the Dictionary Ci Hai, 1992 ........ 314 Illustration C.21: Pan Jiajun, I am Haiyan, ca 1970............................................ 315 Illustration C.22: Liu Yi, Coexistence, 1996....................................................... 316 Illustration C.23: Zhang Peili, Let’s Watch Global TV, 1997 ............................ 317 Illustration C.24: Zhang Peili, Broadcasting at the Same Time, 2000 ................ 318 Illustration C.25: Zhang Peili, Good Evening, 2002........................................... 319 Illustration C.26: Hu Jieming, The Fiction between 1999 & 2000, 2000 ........... 320 Illustration C.27: Qiu Zhijie, Object being Measured: Voyeur, 1993................. 321 Illustration C.28: Zhang Peili, 30 x 30, 1998 ...................................................... 322 Illustration C.29: Zhang Peili, Uncertain Pleasure, 1996.................................... 323 Illustration C.30: Zhang Peili, Uncertain Pleasure, 1996.................................... 324 Illustration C.31: Zhang Peili, 1990 Standard Pronunciation, 1991.................... 325 Illustration C.32: Hu Jieming, Virtual Linguistic Expression, 1996................... 326 Illustration C.33: Song Dong, Clone, 1996 ......................................................... 327 Illustration C.34: Yang Zhenzhong, Fish Bowl, 1996......................................... 328 Illustration C.35: Yang Zhenzhong, I Will Die, 2000......................................... 329 Illustration C.36: Yang Zhenzhong, Do Not Move, 2002................................... 330 Illustration C.37: Yang Zhenzhong, I Will Die, 2003......................................... 331 Illustration C.38: Vito Acconci, Walk-Over (a.k.a. Indirect Approaches), 1973 332 Illustration