Issues in the Third World and Approaches to Contemporary Art

By Huang Zhuan
Translated by Binghui Huangfu

In the post-colonial era the Chinese contemporary art scene is driven by openness to influences, the diversity of information received and the complexity with which it is assimilated. For the Chinese however, the fundamental problem has not changed. That is, How to deal with the local dynamic while acknowledging the global realities of today. Within this dilemma is the relationship of a self-conscious "otherness", co-existing with the cultural mainstream. These issues force Third World art communities to require a more intense, critical evaluation of every aspect of their activities more so even than would be necessary in the west.

Third World art, by its very location in time, space, economics and politics, constitutes a paradox. While resisting cultural pressures from Western centralism in order to maintain local culture, it is at the same time embracing the forms of Western dominance. Simultaneously it has to avoid falling into old nationalism. The ideology then, is to use First World resources and approaches that considers local culture to forge a unique art cultural identity. The alienation from one's own cultural base can cause severe problems for developing an identity.

Contemporary Chinese art practices of the 1990's are the result of this paradox. The unique characteristic of these changes is that they are happening without relying on 'historicalised', 'labelled', 'politicised' and 'nationalistic' Chinese issues. It is achieved by employing narrative approaches to seek comprehension and recognition through the West, of an indigenous cultural situation, inspiration of the experience of life and psychological reality of living in the contemporary scenes as main themes of their art. Even though this shift in practice has traces of post-colonial elements within it, it still demonstrates the progress in the quality of thinking and direction of Third World art strategies.

The participation of mainland artists in this exhibition 'In and Out' demonstrates different ways of expressing this shift in approach. Wang Guangyi has developed his reputation in Third World cultural criticism circles by confronting issues via the choice of challenging subjects. His 'Visa' and 'Landscape of East Europe' show this cultural strategy clearly; take Chinese issues and interpret them as the 'universal'. At the same time he is actively giving his opinion on world issues. In his work ' Drug: anybody is a possible drug carrier' and 'Virus: anybody is a possible virus carrier' continue this strategy. These works make use of agencies which cause common danger and are characteristic of trans-local and trans-cultural threats to human physiology and psychology. He reduced this to a cultural theme 'anybody is equal in the face of ganger', trying to eliminate the conditions of 'centre', 'periphery', 'subject' and 'other'; these works are driven by the negative face of global power. The narrative approach in these works is humanistic. The fabrication of 'psychology story' may show the possibility of equal participation of Third World art in global cultural discourse.

Another approach to Third World issues can be seen in the work of Wang Youshen. He concentrates on the use of fundamental elements of nature, soil and other primary elements to make analogies with the fundamental elements of society i.e. the family. He poses questions concerning the process of forming meaning in particular cultural backgrounds and contexts of their ecology. He studies war, illness, ecology, pollution, information-pollution and their effect on human relationships in the post-modern era. He reflects cultural attitudes which take their initiative beyond nationalistic ideologies.

Wang Luyan's experimentation, on the other hand, always has a characteristic 'Avant Garde technique'. His focus in recent few years is on reforming space-reconsidering the bicycle - a very typical Chinese icon object. This experimentation continues the cultural concerns, techniques and logic issues associated with the 'New Measurement Group' of which he was a member. That group was experimenting with systems of reducing artistic expression to controllable mathematical formulae. To this background, he has added a cynical questioning of cultural expectations through the reworking of common objects. His restructured bicycles provide a paradox, namely: 'while it should go forward it actually goes backward' or 'while you go in you actually go out'. This work touches upon an issue of common knowledge and expectation.

Compared with the other artists, Wang Jianwei's art is contemplative and systematic. In his large art project 'Grey System', the boundaries of experimentation, in contemporary art, of the tranquil relationship of human knowledge has been extended to the much wider territory of environmental, social and behavioural issues set in a cultural context. This work uses as its subject, human nature, human physicality, social function, historical experiences, recent experiences and art practice. These are combined in order to express the complexity of existence typified by givens such the natural rule, social rule, basic human behaviour or art boundaries. Wang jianwei believes cultural issues always relate to a certain kind of implied philosophy and manipulation. For example, in 'Mirror of Product' the issues of legitimacy, culture and identity are brought together by the relationship that is set-up between a mirror and a box as an information transmitter or importers and exporters. In Wang Luyan and Wang Jianwei's work we can see evidence of the importance of deconstruction in the Third World art language strategies.

Contemporary Chinese art has not yet seen the emergence of a 'feminist movement' that would look familiar to people in the West. Women's themes are, however, dealt with by a growing number of inquiring women artists. Jiang Jie is an example. Her work explores the fragility of materials to reveal the female position. Especially for women from the Third World, life is a double 'otherness'. Female identity as expressed in contemporary art has the dual problem of being the other in the world of others. In her work 'Group Sculpture of Baby' the absence of the mother figure emphasises the deep, historical tragedy of women. In the work 'Fragile' we can see the frustration caused by the resistance to give women their position in recent and past history. Precisely behind this 'frustration' we see gradually and clearly the sexual 'otherness' overlaid by cultural 'otherness'.

Since the middle of the 1980's when some artists went abroad, contemporary Chinese art has been developing within Western cultural environments and within local cultural environments. The common issues between these two influences have not changed the basic approach of arriving at a contemporary path via a Chinese method. The interface between these forces has by necessity become the subject of study for contemporary Chinese art. The works shown in this exhibition demonstrate challenging themes in that debate.

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