Yin Xiuzhen: Mapping the Fabric of Life A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Fine Arts of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts Cynthia A. Strickland June 2009 © 2009 Cynthia A. Strickland. All Rights Reserved. 2 This thesis titled Yin Xiuzhen: Mapping the Fabric of Life by CYNTHIA A. STRICKLAND has been approved for the School of Art and the College of Fine Arts by Marion Lee Assistant Professor of the Arts Charles A. McWeeny Dean, College of Fine Arts 3 ABSTRACT STRICKLAND, CYNTHIA A., M.A., June 2009, Art History Yin Xiuzhen: Mapping the Fabric of Life (90 pp.) Director ofThesis: Marion Lee This thesis examines the circumstances of production and layers of meaning in the installation works of Beijing-based contemporary artist Yin Xiuzhen (b. 1963, Beijing). The approach is to analyze several groups of Yin Xiuzhen’s installations to read how the artist has chosen to map the transformations of the economy, culture, built environment, and power structures, first of her native Beijing and then concentrically outward into the global arena. The result will chronicle the journey of the artist’s successful negotiation of place, space, materials, and message: what I call mapping the fabric of life. As an academically trained oil painter, the 1989 graduate of Capitol Normal University in Beijing initially had limited opportunities to explore a new creative path in art production. During the 1990s, she emerged along with other experimental artists in China who worked to create conceptual art. This thesis focuses on the choices both taken and resisted by Yin Xiuzhen as she developed her artistic voice and located her message within homegrown installations, using as materials fragments and remnants of lives and places. Yin Xiuzhen’s negotiation of the dignity, place, and space of ordinary people and their traditions, set against the overwhelming backdrop of destabilizing urbanization and depersonalizing market forces, gives voice to the powerless in the chorus of hard-won social discourse in China today. Approved: ____________________________________________________________ Marion Lee Assistant Professor of the Arts 4 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to acknowledge the academic guidance of Dr. Kuiyi Shen, Dr. Marion Lee, Dr. Joseph Lamb, Dr. Tom Patin, and Dr. Liang Tao, along with the other faculty and staff of Ohio University, Athens, Ohio. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract ............................................................................................................................... 3 Acknowledgments............................................................................................................... 4 List of Figures ..................................................................................................................... 7 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 10 Chapter 1: Yin Xiuzhen: The Early Years: 1963-1969 .................................................... 23 Who Is Yin Xiuzhen? ............................................................................................ 23 Childhood .............................................................................................................. 24 Adulthood ............................................................................................................. 26 College and Aftermath .......................................................................................... 27 Chapter 2: The Exploring Years: 1990-1994 .................................................................... 30 Experimentation .................................................................................................... 30 Underground Art ................................................................................................... 32 Artists’ Villages ........................................................................................ 32 Apartment Art ........................................................................................... 34 Chapter 3. The Professional Years: 1995-2001 ................................................................ 37 First Solo Exhibitions ........................................................................................... 37 Beijing Re-Mapped ............................................................................................... 45 Crossing Borders with Suitcases: Dislocation to Relocation ................................ 51 Come Into My Space ............................................................................................ 56 Chapter 4: The Museum and Gallery Years: 2002-present .............................................. 61 Yin Xiuzhen and Song Dong: Chopsticks ............................................................ 61 6 Mapping Global Concerns .................................................................................... 63 Fashion ...................................................................................................... 63 Terrorism................................................................................................... 66 Consumerism ............................................................................................ 68 Environmental Issues ................................................................................ 69 Militarism .................................................................................................. 74 Other Power Structures ............................................................................. 78 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 85 Bibliography ..................................................................................................................... 88 7 LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1. Photograph of Yin Xiuzhen with her family in Beijing, 1969. Property of the artist. Image reproduced from Chopsticks. ............................................................... 24 Figure 2. Yin Xiuzhen, Dress Box, 1995, performance and video installation, Contemporary Art Gallery, Beijing. Photo by Song Dong, reproduced from Chopsticks. ................................................................................................................ 37 Figure 3. Yin Xiuzhen, Dress Box, 1995, performance and installation, Contemporary Art Gallery, Beijing. Image from The First Guangzhou Triennial catalogue. ............... 39 Figure 4. Yin Xiuzhen, Wool, 1995, Beijing, installation: wool and knitting needles, photo by Song Dong, image from kaladarshan.arts.ohio-state.edu .......................... 42 Figure 5. Yin Xiuzhen, Yin Xiuzhen, 1998, installation: mixed media, image courtesy of Yin Xiuzhen und CourtYard Gallery, Peking via Alexander Ochs Galleries Berlin | Beijing ....................................................................................................................... 44 Figure 6. Yin Xiuzhen, “Ruined City,” 1996, cement dust, roof tiles, wooden furniture, The Art Museum of Capitol Normal University, Beijing. Photo by Song Dong, image reproduced from Chopsticks. ......................................................................... 46 Figure 7. Yin Xiuzhen, Transformation, 1996, Beijing, installation: roof tiles, photos. Photo by Song Dong, image reproduced from Chopsticks. ...................................... 49 Figure 8. Yin Xiuzhen, suitcase from Suitcase Series, 2000-2002, in Singapore, Germany, Japan, installation with video, used clothes, old suitcase. Image reproduced from Chopsticks. .................................................................................... 52 Figure 9 Yin Xiuzhen, Suitcase 2000, installation: used clothes, suitcases, video, Earl Lu Gallery, Singapore. Image reproduced from Chopsticks. ......................................... 53 Figure 10. Yin Xiuzhen, Building Game, 2002, installation: used clothes, wood, Yuangong Modern Art Museum, Shanghai. Photo by Song Dong, image reproduced from Chopsticks. ....................................................................................................... 54 Figure 11. Yin Xiuzhen, Portable Cities, Beijing, 2001, installation: used clothes, suitcase, map, sound. Image reproduced from Chopsticks. ...................................... 55 Figure 12. Yin Xiuzhen, Leisure 2002, Gwangju, Korea, installation: photos, mirrors, audio, photographs, tables, chairs, cups, bowls. Image reproduced from Chopsticks. ................................................................................................................................... 57 8 Figure 13. Yin Xiuzhen, Leisure 2001, installation: photographs, tables, chairs, bowls, cups. From “Busy Life” exhibition, Chengdu, China. Image reproduced from Chopsticks. ................................................................................................................ 58 Figure 14. Yin Xiuzhen, Enjoy Leisure Time, 2002, Gwangju Bienalle, Korea, installation: photographs, tables, chairs, bowls, cups. Image reproduced from Chopsticks. (Yin Xiuzhen and Song Dong seated mid-ground). .............................. 58 Figure 15. Yin Xiuzhen, Beijing Story, 2001, installation: photographs, stools, audio, from “Living in Time: Chinese Contemporary Art Exhibition” Hamberg Bahnhof Contemporary Art Museum, Berlin. Image reproduced from Chopsticks. ............... 59 Figure 16. Advertising Announcement: