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Re-Imaging China: Ai Weiwei and Contemporary Chinese Art |
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| Author |
Peterson, Nathan James (著)
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| Date | 2015.01.01 |
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| Pages | 752 |
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| Publisher | University of Iowa |
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| Publisher Url |
https://uiowa.edu/
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| Location | Iowa City, IA, US [艾奧瓦城, 愛荷華州, 美國] |
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| Content type | 博碩士論文=Thesis and Dissertation |
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| Language | 英文=English |
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| Degree | doctor |
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| Institution | University of Iowa |
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| Department | Art and Art History |
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| Advisor | Craig E. Adcock |
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| Publication year | 2015 |
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| Abstract | This dissertation connects the life and work of Ai Weiwei to Chinese art history. This field is dynamic and, during certain periods, an influx of outside ideas has revolutionized it. Ai’s belief in democratic values—criticized as being anti-Chinese—is part of a tradition in China emphasizing diversity. From the Hundred Schools of Thought (zhu zi baijia) during the Warring States (475 BCE-221 BCE) to the spread of Buddhism during the post-Han era (220-589), divergent thinking has been part of China’s intellectual development. This diversity, however, has been crushed by ideology during other periods.
Ai embraces diversity as the future of China. His life and work reestablish a narrative of Chinese intellectual history. This narrative is free from ideological mandates to erase the past. Ai looks at everything critically. His art reveals new ways of understanding China. His career also corresponds to the policies of opening China known as Gaige kaifang. As a result, economic issues are recurrent themes in Ai’s work. He questions the value of liberalizing China’s economy when political and judicial systems are still closed. This contradiction could have manifold consequences to the world.
Another feature of Ai’s work is the legacy he inherited from his father, the Modern poet Ai Qing. This legacy is being tasked with modernizing China. The issues about modern China are addressed in this dissertation, and it is contextualized according to a balance between Western and Chinese thought. Ai has passed down this legacy to young artists, and his example recalls the axiom “the green comes from the blue and will surpass it” (qing chu yu lan, er sheng lan.
A student’s abilities have the potential to surpass the teacher’s talent. Ai Qing was a great poet, but his son is his “masterpiece.” Ai Weiwei has hope that the next generation will be better than his. The way they improve it is by including heterodox voices in Chinese society. China is ascendant, but its opaque system appears to be contradictory to Ai’s desire for transparency and the sharing of information globally. The future could resemble the lamenting of Lu Xun’s provincial character Jiujin laotai: “Yes, indeed. Each generation is worse than the last.”
Ai’s life and work show that the future of China is far from being determined. What is certain, and what Ai has done through his art, is that China and the world must be engaged. Human rights, specifically the freedom of expression, are paramount. The outcome of the twenty-first century depends on it. |
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| Table of contents | Chapter One: Introduction: Not Yet Or Never? 1
Misfortunate Origin of a Name 3
In the Name of 7
Love Coming of Age 10
Love Fated in the Stars 13
Step-Brothers Ai Duanwu, Ai Xuan, and Different Opportunities 17
Making which Name for Himself? 21
Artist Versus Personality 23
Compassionate Spirit and the Kafkaesque 27
Chapter Two: Beijing, 1979-1980: Ai Weiwei, The Stars, and Cultural Exchange 31
A Summary of Ai’s Life in the Post-Mao Years 32
From Rote Memory to Philosophical Questioning 34
Ai’s Juvenile Work and Art in China, 1979-1980 36
A New Direction 47
"The Punishment of History" 50
Chapter Three: Ai Weiwei's Work From New York 52
Mao, Emptiness, and Graphic Contextualization 54
From Discarded Book to the Ready-Made 59
Repurposed Objects, Repurposed Life 64
Photographic Practice: With an Eye on the Culture War 68
Chapter Four: The Cover Books as Interlinear Commentary in the Late Twentieth Century 74
Going Against Party Doctrine 77
The Black Cover Book and Choice 81
Parallels to Zhuzi yulei 85
An Ethical Approach to Learning 88
Chapter Five: Return To Beijing: Censure and Praise Lasting Two Generations 91
Attacking Culture while Creating Art 92
New Symbols of China 96
Beijing National Stadium 99
The Deplorable Treatment of Ai's Art in Beijing 105
The Price of Development in Beijing 108
Architecture and Concern for the Local 113
Elegant Treachery 116
Chapter Six: Fairytale, Sculptural Works, and Ceramics: Minimalistic Tendencies in Ai Weiwei's Art 119
Minimalism and Chinese Aesthetics 122
Template, Fairytale, and 1,001 Chairs 124
Minimalism and Chinese Curio 131
Ai's Sculpture and Parallels to Minimalism 136
Ai's Architectural Projects and the Harmony of Spaces 138
Ceramics 141
"This One's for You!" 144
Chapter Seven: The Sichuan Earthquake Names Project and Blogging Activities 147
The Sichuan Earthquake 148
Blogging Activity 154
Ai's Art as a Mode of Resistance 162
Chapter Eight: Ai Weiwei's Arrest, The Response on Social Media, and Graffiti 168
Ai and the China Exception 170
Ai as Torchbearer of "Unofficial Democracy" 171
Father’s Influence, Global Response 174
Arrest, Twitter, and Calls for Worldwide Action 176
1,001 Chairs for Ai Weiwei, Graffiti, and Hong Kong as
Democratic Base in China 181
A Change in the Digital Landscape 186
Chapter Nine: The Divine Comedy 191
Should Ai Weiwei Make Music? 192
Understanding The Divine Comedy as Scholarly Discourse 194
Dumbass and the Issue of Apolitical Metal 196
Chaoyang Park 200
Laoma tihua, Do not Fuck around! 202
Just Climb the Wall and Backfired Plans 204
Hotel USA and Tested Sino-American Relationships 207
Give Tomorrow Back to Me 210
Performed Words and Antecedents in Classical Poetry 214
Chapter Ten: Ai Weiwei, Patriotism, and China's Vanguard Nationalism: Memory and Virtue Amid Ideological Turmoil 218
Lei Feng: the Party's Archetype of Heroism 220
Can Ai Weiwei Be Called a Patriot? 224
Let's Forget Patriotism 228
Forgetting Tiananmen as a Form of Patriotism 232
Ai and the New Heroicism 236
Fuck Patriotism 240
Chapter Eleven: Conclusion: China, the Ready-Made 242
Pax Sericana 244
Ominous Science Fiction 255
Democratic Reforms in China 258
A Style Yet to Come 263
NOTES
Chapter One 268
Chapter Two 272
Chapter Three 275
Chapter Four 278
Chapter Five 280
Chapter Six 284
Chapter Seven 288
Chapter Eight 290
Chapter Nine 295
Chapter Ten 298
Chapter Eleven 302
Selected Bibliography 308
Appendix A: Documents 318
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| DOI | https://doi.org/10.17077/etd.weoc3sow |
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| Hits | 97 |
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| Created date | 2023.05.08 |
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| Modified date | 2024.06.20 |
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