JUNE 2006 SUMMER ISSUE INSIDE Urbanization and Cultural Memory: The 2005 Biennale of Urbanism and Architecture in Shenzhen Cultural Memory: An International Symposium Artist Features: Tang Maohong, Michael Cherney, Qin Yufen, Hong Hao, Shi Jinsong, Robert Majzels Reviews: Yang Fudong at Parasol unit Through Popular Expression at International Project Space Response to Hong Kong Feature: No “Local” is an Island US$12.00 NT$350.00 US$10.00 NT$350.00 co ɴ t e ɴ ts 2 Editor’s Note 4 Contributors u ʀ ʙ a ɴ ɪ z atɪoɴ aɴd c u ʟt u ʀ aʟ memoʀʏ p. 8 6 How to Urbanize a Special Economic Zone? The 2005 Biennale of Urbanism and Architecture in Shenzhen Eduard Koegel 13 The Authority of Beauty Sze Tsung Leong 17 Cultural Memory: An International Symposium Jo-Anne Birnie Danzker 20 Fragmented Memory and Energy: Chinese Contemporary Art and Its Multiple Layers of Ideology p. 14 Carol (Yinghua) Lu ɪ ɴ t e ʀv ɪ ew 28 “I’m a Lazy Person”: Interview with Tang Maohong Biljana Ciric a ʀt ɪ st feat u ʀ e s 37 Thin Slices: Michael Cherney’s Images of China Hui-shu Lee 44 One Person’s Classics of Mountain and Sea: p. 41 On Qin Yufen and Her Installation Art Bingyi Huang 53 Knowledge and Illusion: On Hong Hao’s Recent Works Christina Yü 59 Shi Jinsong: Na Zha Baby Boutique John Tancock 65 Spinning Chinese Characters, Hebrew Letters, and Plain English: Robert Majzels’s 85 Project Claire Huot p. 62 ʀ ev ɪ ews 75 No Snow on the Broken Bridge: Film and Video Installations by Yang Fudong Adele Tan 81 Through Popular Expression, International Project Space, Birmingham, U.K. Sally Lai ʀ e s poɴse to ʜoɴɢ koɴɢ feat u ʀ e 85 No “Local” is an Island Jaspar K. W. Lau 93 Chinese Name Index p. 78 EDITOR’S NOTE Y I S H U : Jo u rna l of Con tem pora ry Chinese Art Volume 5, Number 2, June 2006 At times Yishu presents special features, and at p ʀ e s ɪ d e ɴ t Katy Hsiu-chih Chien fouɴdɪɴɢ edɪtoʀ Ken Lum other times it hosts a mix of texts. This is part of its beauty and its spirited unpredictability. Yishu e d ɪ t o ʀ Keith Wallace maɴaɢɪɴɢ edɪtoʀ Zheng Shengtian 17 is certainly eclectic and contains a wide assocɪate edɪtoʀs Julie Grundvig variety of articles and artists, yet they are not Kate Steinmann pʀoject cooʀdɪɴatoʀ Larisa Broyde unrelated to each other. The Shenzhen Biennale adveʀtɪsɪɴɢ maɴaɢeʀ Joyce Lin ɪ ɴ t e ʀ ɴ Chunyee Li of Architecture and the symposium titled Cultural Memory held at the House of World Cultures in edɪtoʀɪaʟ ʙoaʀd Judy Andrews, Ohio State University Berlin, while they are separate events taking John Clark, University of Sydney place in different countries and tackling different Lynne Cooke, Dia Art Foundation Okwui Enwezor, San Francisco Art Institute thematics, are nevertheless connected in their Britta Erickson, Independent Scholar & Curator Fan Di'an, National Art Museum of China endeavour to generate analyses of the formidable Fei Dawei, Guy & Mariam Ullens Foundation Gao Minglu, University of Pittsburgh social, economic, and cultural transformation Hou Hanru, San Francisco Art institute Katie Hill, University of Westminster that is taking place in China today, both physically Martina Köppel-Yang, Independent Critic & Historian Sebastian Lopez, Daros-Latinamerica AG and psychologically. Lu Jie, Independent Curator Charles Merewether, Australian National University Ni Tsaichin, Tunghai University Apinan Poshyananda, Ministry of Culture, Thailand Along with the six features on artists as well as Chia Chi Jason Wang, Independent Critic & Curator Wu Hung, University of Chicago reviews of two exhibitions that recently took p u ʙ ʟ ɪ s ʜ e ʀ Art & Collection Group Ltd. place in Great Britain, this issues closes with a desɪɢɴ aɴd pʀoductɪoɴ Leap Creative Group response to the feature on Hong Kong in our last cʀeatɪve dɪʀectoʀ Raymond Mah issue. Jaspar K. W. Lau has provided commentary aʀt dɪʀectoʀ Gavin Chow desɪɢɴeʀ Jeremy Lee reflecting his own perspective on each of the ɪt coɴsuʟtaɴt relaITconsulting, Vancouver articles in that feature; these kinds of responses p ʀ ɪ ɴ t ɪ ɴ ɢ Chong-yuan Image Ltd., Taipei are welcomed, since they serve to create a ɪssɴ 1683-3082 forum for dialogue in Yishu. Yishu is published quarterly in Taipei, Taiwan and edited in Vancouver, Canada. The publishing dates of Yishu are 5th of March, June, September and December. Speaking of dialogue, Yishu has been invited to Editorial inquiries and manuscripts may be sent to the Editorial Office: participate in the documenta 12 magazines Yishu 410-650 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC project. This project involves seventy publications Canada V6B 4N8 Phone: 1 . 6 0 4 . 6 4 9 . 8 1 8 7; Fax: 1 . 6 0 4 . 5 9 1 . 6 3 9 2 from around the globe and focuses on three key E-mail: [email protected] [email protected] questions: Is Modernity our Antiquity? What is Subscription inquiries may be sent to either the Vancouver address Bare Life? and What is to be Done (Education)? or to Hawai’i: Rather than attempting to address all three topics, Journals Department University of Hawai’i Press Yishu will be exploring aspects of education and 2840 Kolowalu Street, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA Phone: 1 . 8 0 8 . 9 5 6 . 8 8 3 3; Fax: 1 . 8 0 8 . 9 8 8 . 6 0 5 2 devoting a section of its next three issues to this E-mail: [email protected] subject. With the aforementioned changes taking The University of Hawai’i Press accepts payment by Visa or Mastercard, cheque, or money order (in U.S. dollars). place in China, Yishu will attempt to address the Advertising inquiries may be sent to either Vancouver address question of what the role of education is now or Taiwan: Art & Collection Ltd. for both artists and the public. We welcome 6F. No.85, Section 1, Chungshan N. Road, Taipei, Taiwan 104 Phone: (886) 2 . 2 5 6 0 . 2 2 2 0; Fax: (886) 2 . 2 5 4 2 . 0 6 3 1 submissions on this topic—from teachers, E-mail: [email protected] students, artists, docents, and so on—and we w w w. y i s hu j o u r n a l . com hope that writers will take the opportunity to No part of this journal may be published without the written permission from the publisher. respond to texts as they appear in these next Subscription rates: one year: US $48; two years: US $86 three issues. Subscription form may be downloaded from our Website We thank Mr. Milton Wong, Mr. Daoping Bao, and Paystone Technologies Corp., for their generous support. Keith Wallace C ov e r : Qin Yu f e n , 100 Meters, i n s t a l l a t i o n , 1994. Courtesy of the artist. 2 co ɴ t ʀ ɪ ʙu to ʀ s B I L JA NA CIRIC has an M.A. from East China Normal University Shanghai. She is Director of the Shanghai Duolun Musem of Modern Art’s Curatorial Department, Net-Working Curator (China) for the Singapore Biennale 2006, and a regular writer for Art China magazine. JO-ANNE BIRNIE DA N Z K E R has been Director of the Museum Villa Stuck in Munich since 1992. She has curated numerous exhibitions on both contemporary and historical art, with a special emphasis on the history of the Modern. In 2004–2005 she was Curator of Shanghai Modern (with Ken Lum and Zheng Shengtian), and, in 2005–2006, Curator of Art of Tomorrow: Hilla von Rebay and Solomon R. Guggenheim (with Karole Vail and Brigitte Salmen). CLAIRE HUOT is an independent researcher on China. Formerly she was a tenured professor at Université de Montréal and later served as Canada's Cultural Counsellor in China. She has written several articles and two books on contemporary Chinese culture. BINGYI HUA N G is Assistant Professor of art history at the State University of New York— University at Buffalo. She earned her Ph.D. in art history from Yale University. Her interests include Chinese archaeology as well as contemporary Chinese art and cinema. She has curated various exhibitions in the U. S. and China and was Assistant Curator for Film with the exhibition The Wall: Reshaping Contemporary Chinese Art. E D UARD KO E G E L is director of the Agency for Urban Development in Berlin with a strong focus on research on Chinese architectural and urban development. From 1999 to 2004 he was Assistant Professor at the Technical University of Darmstadt in the Department for Planning and Architecture in Non-European Regions. As a curator he has organized two exhibitions on contemporary architecture in China and published many papers and several books on current developments. S A L LY LA I is a fellow of the Clore Leadership Programme, London, and was until recently curator at the Chinese Arts Centre, Manchester. She is also currently acting as Visual Arts Adviser to the Scottish Arts Council. Lai has an M.A. in curating from Goldsmiths College, University of London. She has worked extensively as a curator and has written and spoken on topics in Chinese contemporary visual culture, including land and identity in Hong Kong art and resistance to definition in British Chinese art. JA S PAR K. W. LAU is a curator and writer. He has also served as editor for several books, including Local Accent: 12 Artists from Hong Kong (Para/Site, 2003) and a monograph on Wu Shanzhuan(Asia Art Archive, 2005).