Chinese Contemporary Art Series

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Chunchen Wang
China Central Academy of Fine Arts,
Beijing, China
This series focuses on what happens to Chinese art in the past decades. Since China has
changed greatly, it is now a curiosity and a research task: What is that? Why is that? How can
it be that? Culturally, why does Chinese art have its own special image narrative? How to
evaluate and criticize Chinese art made today? Is it a continuation of its history and heritage?
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Zhou Yan

Odyssey of Culture
Wenda Gu and His Art
Zhou Yan
Kenyon College
Ohio
USA

ISSN 2199-9058 ISSN 2199-9066 (electronic)

ISBN 978-3-662-45410-7ISBN 978-3-662-45411-4 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-662-45411-4

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015932959

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To the memory
of my father
Zhou Qiming
(19211985)
Abstract

Twentieth-century China experienced one of the most turbulent periods in her 5000 year his-
tory. This chaos, however, was different from any previous to the twentieth century because
the very culture the Chinese had been proud of for centuries faced tremendous challenges, and
the Chinese, especially the intellectuals, felt that, for the first time, Chinese culture had fallen
into a profound crisis. Reacting to this critical challenge, Chinese intellectuals attempted to
rescue Chinese culture through what I call three levels of culture, namely, technology, sys-
tem, and discourse. This rescue campaign began with the May-Fourth Movement of the 1920s
and continued through the Great Cultural Discussion, or Cultural Fever, of the 1980s.
Three intellectual schools who participated in this national debatethe Futurologist School,
the Chinese Culturalist School, and the School of Hermeneuticsoffered prescriptions. The
Futurologist School attempted to save the culture by importing sciences and management,
while the Chinese Culturalist School tried to revive Chinese culture through exploring and
maintaining the essence of traditional culture, particularly Confucianism. In contrast, the
School of Hermeneutics believed that the revolution should start from discursive level, so
that the critique of culture was essentially a critique of the value system as core of culture, or
a critique of discourse.
Launched in the 1980s, the Chinese Avant-Garde Movement was an artistic incarnation
of the concepts and thoughts embodied in these theoretical schools, especially the School of
Hermeneutics. Rationalist Painting, Current of Life and Anti-art were the main schools com-
prising this new art movement. They were radical in their attitude towards Chinese culture, as
they believed that the visual art revolution was an integral part of critique of culture because
it tended to subvert the cultural tradition at discursive level. This made those vanguard artists
the natural ally of School of Hermeneutics.
Wenda Gu was a representative of Chinese avant-garde of the 1980s. His career at home
and abroad concentrated on the issue of culture. His artistic adventure is composed of three
stagesa critique of culture, an analysis of culture and a synthesis of culture. In the 1980s,
Wenda Gu was a warrior who radically attacked traditional culture. Starting from a reflection
on history and civilizations in general, Gu shifted his focus to the Chinese written language, a
strategy of discursive critique. By deconstructing and reconstructing Chinese characters, Gu
echoed the call of the School of Hermeneutics for a discursive revolution.

vii
viii Abstract

When he moved abroad and settled in New York in 1988, Gu was confronted with an en-
tirely different art scenario and he made the necessary adjustments though he kept the issue
of culture in his thoughts. He explored materials as artistic means and as the object of cultural
analysis. By focusing on the human body materials, this initiated a new stage of analysis of
culture. Starting from this analysis, Gu expanded his viewpoint of the process of cultural con-
frontation to include the reconciliation on a global level. This led to another stage of synthe-
sizing culture. In this stage, Gu has utilized human hair to accomplish his ambitious ongoing
project, titled United Nations, which crosses over all five continents.
The challenge Gu faces may be one the most of contemporary Chinese artists face today.
The role of culture in art has been and will continue to be central for them, though their focus,
methodology, and strategy may change.
Acknowledgments

There is a Chinese motto that says . Literally, this means that it takes ten years
to sharpen a sword. Completing my doctoral program was similar to sharpening a sword: it
took about ten years. This ten-year effort was sometimes boring and sometimes difficult. At
moments I considered giving up. Now that I have finished my dissertation, I am thankful that
I did not. Completing this challenge has brought a sense of fulfillment and also a sense of
release. This process has been a meaningful learning experience, worthwhile and rewarding in
ways I never expected.
My first thanks go to Professor Stephen Melville, my major academic advisor. I have been
taught, directed, and advised by him for thirteen years. His outstanding scholarship, philosoph-
ical wisdom, and heart-and-soul devotion to academic quality and integrity have constantly
been sources of inspiration in my studies and research. His unique pedagogic methodology,
insightful remarks, and penetrating criticism, have been inspirational and enlightening.
I am really grateful to Professor Barbara Groseclose, my minor advisor and second reader
of the thesis, for her thoughtfulness, understanding, and heuristic instructions. Learning from
her and working with her have been a joyful and illuminating experience.
My thanks also go to Professor Rujie Wang, my former colleague and friend at the College
of Wooster. Professor Wang has conscientiously served as the third reader of my dissertation.
His honesty, insights, and unusual perspective have impressed me greatly, and I have benefited
enormously from his constant, genuine friendship.
And I thank Arnold Lewis, an emeritus professor of College of Wooster, for his encour-
agement, suggestions, and editorial support. His confidence in me has encouraged me to
continue to share my insights and judgments about the remarkable period through which I
have lived.
And I also like to express my appreciation to Professors Melissa Dabakis, Sarah Blick,
Eugene Dwyer, Kristen Van Ausdall, and Daniel Younger, my colleagues in Kenyon College,
for their understanding and support. They have welcomed me into a warm and generous
academic family; their encouragement reinforced my determination to complete this sacred
odyssey.
Finally, I must thank Yaping Wu, my wife, Wen Hui, my mother, and Mary Zhou, my
eight-year-old daughter. Yaping has sustained and inspired me, working as a waitress, as a
dental assistant, and now a college student. Her energy, intelligence, and compassion have
steadied me along the way. My mother cared for our infant daughter, meticulously, diligently,
and with unconditional love for four years. Mary, our lovely Angel, is always our source of
happiness, inspiration, and hope. Without their contributions, my doctorate dissertation would
still be a castle in the air. To my father who placed great hopes on me, this dissertation is a gift
for him in heaven.

ix
Contents

1Introduction 1
1.1Prelude 1
1.2Brief Biography and Scholarship 8

2Genesis of the Issue of Culture: The Cultural Fever and

Avant-Garde of the 1980s 11
2.1Cultural Fever and Hermeneutics School 12
2.2The Natural Ally of Hermeneutics School: Chinas
Avant-Garde in the 1980s 19
2.2.1Conceptual Roots of Avant-Garde 21
2.2.2Varieties of the Avant-Garde 26
2.2.3Debates in Symposia and Art Media 43

3 The Discovery of the Centrality of Culture in Art: Wenda Gu 53

3.1Wenda Gus Family and EducationArt Heritage 53
3.2InitiativeCritique of Culture 57
3.2.1Infiltration of Tradition 57
3.2.2Tradition: Rethinking at the DiscursiveLevel 66
3.2.3The Deconstruction of Written Language 71
3.3DevelopmentAnalysis of Culture 86
3.3.1Relocation and Reorientation: from Home to International Stage 86
3.3.2Biological SubstanceSubject and Object 93
3.4ReinforcementSynthesis of Culture 100
3.4.1Approach to Synthesis: the United Nations and
Forest of Stone Steles 100
3.4.2Theoretical Preparation: Concept, Strategy, and Methodology 102
3.4.3Execution, Exhibition, and Interaction of United Nations 108
3.4.4Forest of Stone Steles: Dialog Between
Chinese and English Worlds115

4Conclusion 121

Supplement: Forest of Stone StelesTranslation Within and Between Cultures125

Afterword 133

xi
xii Contents

Appendix A: Chronology of WENDA GU ()135

Appendix B: The Divine Comedy of Our Times141

References155

Index157
List of Figures

Fig. 1.1 Portrait of Wenda Gu, 1996, photographer unknown 2

Fig. 1.2 Wenda Gu, United NationsSwedish and Russian Monument:
Interpol, installation, at the InterpolA Global Network from
Stockholm and Moscow, Fargfabriken Center for Contemporary Art
and Architecture in Stockholm, Sweden, 1996 2
Fig. 1.3 Wenda Gu, United NationsSwedish and Russian Monument:
Interpol, installation, at the InterpolA Global Network from
Stockholm and Moscow, Fargfabriken Center for Contemporary Art
and Architecture in Stockholm, Sweden, 1996 3
Fig. 1.4 Oleg Kulik, Russian artist, was naked and performed as a chained
dog at the opening of exhibition InterpolA Global Network from
Stockholm and Moscow, Fargfabriken Center for Contemporary Art
and Architecture in Stockholm, Sweden, 2/2/1996 3
Fig. 1.5 Alexandr Brener, Russian artist, pounded a set of drums and shouted,
at the opening of exhibition InterpolA Global Network from
Stockholm and Moscow, Fargfabriken Center for Contemporary Art
and Architecture in Stockholm, Sweden, 2/2/1996 4
Fig. 1.6 Wenda Gu, United NationsSwedish and Russian Monument:
Interpol, installation, after destruction by Russian artist Alexandr
Brener, at the InterpolA Global Network from Stockholm and
Moscow, Fargfabriken Center for Contemporary Art and Architecture
in Stockholm, Sweden, 2/2/1996 4
Fig. 1.7 Wenda Gu, United NationsSwedish and Russian Monument:
Interpol, installation, after destruction by Russian artist Alexandr
Brener, at the InterpolA Global Network from Stockholm and
Moscow, Fargfabriken Center for Contemporary Art and Architecture
in Stockholm, Sweden, 2/2/1996 5
Fig. 1.8 Medias reaction to the Happening (see Figs.1.6 and 1.7) 5

Fig. 2.1 Front and back covers of the Chinese version of Martin Heideggers
Sein und Zeit (Being and Time), translated by Chen Jiaying and
Wang Qingjie and published by Joint Publishing Company, Beijing, 1987 18
Fig. 2.2 Book jacket of the Chinese version of Ernst Gombrichs Art and
Illusion: A Study in the Psychology of Pictorial Representation, 1960,
translated by Zhou Yan, published by Hunan Peoples Press 1987 20
Fig. 2.3 Xiamen Dada, DismantlingDestructionBurning, an event in
which about 60 paintings were burned by the featuring artists, right
after the show Xiamen DadaModern Art Exhibition was over, in
front of the Xiamen Art Museum, Oct. 5, 1986 25
xiii
xiv List of Figures

Fig. 2.4 Huang Yongping, A History of Chinese Painting and A Concise

History of Modern Painting Washed in a Washing Machine for Two
Minutes, installation view, paper pulp, approx. 31 x 20 x 20 in.,
destroyed, 1987 26
Fig. 2.5 Luo Gongliu, Tunnel Warfare, oil on canvas, 55 1/866.5 in., 1951,
Chinas National Museum, Beijing 27
Fig. 2.6 Han Xiang, Celebrating a Bountiful Harvest, gouache on paper,
2140 in., 1972 28
Fig. 2.7 Cheng Conglin, Snow, a Day in the Year 1968, oil on canvas,
47.2574 13/16in., 1979, National Art Museum of China 28
Fig. 2.8 Vasily Surikov, The Boyarynia Morozova, 1887, oil on canvas,
120231 in. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia 29
Fig. 2.9 Wang Keping, Silence, wood, 1979, measurements and collector
unknown 29
Fig 2.10 Luo Zhongli, Father, oil on canvas, 94.563in., 1979, National Art
Museum of China 30
Fig. 2.11 Yuan Yunsheng, The Water-Sprinkling Festival: Hymn to Life (detail),
wall painting, 133 13/16826in. 1979, the Capital Airport, Beijing31
Fig. 2.12 Meng Luding and Zhang Qun, In the New EraRevelation from
Adam and Eve, oil on canvas, 77 9/166 64 15/16in., 1985 32
Fig. 2.13 Wang Guangyi, Post-Classics: Maratthe Ultimate #1, oil on
canvas, 46 1/166669/16in., 1986, Tang Buyun collection, Chengdu,
Sichuan, China 33
Fig. 2.14 Zhu Xinjian, Inspiration by Ouyang Yongshus (Song dynasty)
Poem, 1985, ink on rice paper, measurements and collector unknown 34
Fig. 2.15 Ding Fang, Enclosed City, oil on canvas, 23 11/1635 7/16in.,
1985, Sun Yujin Collection, Chengdu, Sichuan, China 34
Fig. 2.16 Zhang Peili, Please Enjoy Jazz, oil on canvas, 1985, measurements
and collector unknown 35
Fig. 2.17 Red Humor group led by Wu Shanzhuan, Red 70%, Black 25%,
White 5%, installation view, red, black and white paint on wooden
boards, shown at the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts, Hangzhou,
Zhejiang, China, 1986 36
Fig. 2.18 Mao Xuhui, Nudes in a Concrete Room, oil on fiberboard, 35 7/16
39 3/8in., 1986, collector unknown 38
Fig. 2.19 Ye Yongqing, A Man Standing on the Lawn, oil on canvas, ca.
1986, measurements and collector unknown 39
Fig. 2.20 Ma Lu, A Drama Is Just a Drama, oil on canvas, 1985,
measurements and collector unknown 39
Fig. 2.21 Qiao Xiaoguang, Corn Field, oil on canvas, ca. 1985, measurements
and collector unknown 40
Fig. 2.22 Hu Zhaoyang and Wang Baijiao, Abandoned Dream, soft-drink
cans, 1986, measurements unknown 41
Fig. 2.23 Wang Jiping, Banners, mixed media, 1985 42
Fig. 2.24 Zhao Jianhai, Zheng Yuke, Sheng Qi, Xi Jianjun, and Kang Mu,
Conception 21, performance, a view at the balcony of the dining
hall, Peking University, Dec. 23, 1986 43
Fig. 2.25 Lin Chun and another two members of Xiamen Dada, Men
Wrapped in Red Cloth, Along with Rocks, Sea and the Vault of
Heaven, performance, Xiamen, Fujian Province, 1986 43
Fig. 2.26 Song Yongping and Song Yonghong, An Experience in a Scene,
performance, Taiyuan Workers Cultural Center, Shanxi Province,
Nov. 4, 1986 44
List of Figures xv

Fig. 2.27 Zhang Guoliang, Ding Yi, Qin Yifeng, Cloth Sculpture on Street,
performance, a view at the Peoples Hotel, Shanghai, Oct. 13, 1986 44

Fig. 3.1 Movie poster, A Flower of Passion, directed by Zhang Weitao, and
screenplay by Gu Jianchen, Wenda Gus grandfather, Aug. 1927 54
Fig. 3.2 Wenda Gu, Seal Carving, clockwise from top left:
(qian kun chen fu, descending and ascending of the universe);
(qing lu, clear dew); (mo hai, sea of ink);
(feng zhi ge, song of wind); (jiu shen, god of wine,
or Dionysus); (xing yun liu shui, floating clouds and
flowing water), ca. 1980 58
Fig. 3.3 Lu Yanshao, Zhushachong Sentry Post, ink and color on paper, 42
15/1626 13/16in., 1979, collector unknown 59
Fig. 3.4 Wenda Gu, Mountains and Waters, inscription
(xu shi xiang sheng nai shan shui hua zhi yao jue, one
of the essentials of mountains-waters painting is that emptiness and
solidness complement each other in the composition.), ink on paper,
ca. 1980, measurements and collector unknown 60
Fig. 3.5 Wenda Gu, Inspiration by Wang Weis (Tang dynasty) Poem, ink
on paper, 1982, measurements and collector unknown 61
Fig. 3.6 Wenda Gu, Two Portrait Images as Torsos, oil on canvas, 1985,
measurements and collector unknown 62
Fig. 3.7 Wenda Gu, DunhuangMilestone of the Meeting of the East and
the West, ink on paper, 1985, measurements and collector unknown 62
Fig. 3.8 Wenda Gu, Sky and Ocean, ca. 1980, ink on paper, measurements
and collector unknown 63
Fig. 3.9 Wenda Gu, The History of Civilizations, oil on canvas, 1985,
measurements and collector unknown 63
Fig. 3.10 Thomas Cole, The Course of Empire: Desolation, oil on canvas, 39
63 in., 1836, New York Historical Society 65
Fig. 3.11 M. C. Escher, Relativity, lithograph, 1953, 11 1/811 5/8in.,
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC 65
Fig. 3.12 Shu Qun, The Absolute Principle #1, oil on canvas, 1985, 59
9/1647 in., The Great Wall Art Museum, Beijing 67
Fig. 3.13 Yang Yinsheng, White Pigeons Blocked by Backs and the Magic
Cube That Is Floating Away, oil on canvas, ca. 1985, measurements
and collector unknown 67
Fig. 3.14 Zhang Jianjun, Human Beings and Their Clock, oil on canvas, ca.
1985, measurements and collector unknown 68
Fig. 3.15 Wenda Gu, Ive checked the character (jing, meaning
quietness, equability) written by Three Men and Three Women, ink
on paper, 114 3 /1670 7/8in., 1986, collector unknown 72
Fig. 3.16 Wenda Gu, Tang Poetry In My CalligraphyWrongly Written,
Missed, Reversed, Artistically Calligraphic, SongDynasty-
Style-Type-Faced, Meaningless, Upside-down, and Homonymous
Characters, ink on paper, 114 70 7/8in., 1986, collector unknown 73
Fig. 3.17 Wenda Gu, (changshen), ink on paper, one of three hanging
scrolls, 96 feet each, collection of Zhen Guo, China 74
Fig. 3.18 Wenda Gu, The Times of Totem and Taboo, ink and color on paper,
1986, measurements and collector unknown 75
Fig. 3.19 Wenda Gu, (fei chen shu de wen zi, nonnarrative/
accountable characters), first page, published on (Art
Trends, bimonthly), Wuhan, Hubei province, 1986, issue 4, pp.3236 77
xvi List of Figures

Fig. 3.20 Huang Qiuyuan, Watching Waterfall on Stony Mountain, 1976, ink
and color on paper, measurements and collector unknown 79
Fig. 3.21 Huang Qiuyuan, Zhusha Village, 1973, ink and color on paper,
measurements and collector unknown 80
Fig. 3.22 Wenda Gu, Landscape Inspired By Wang Weis (Tang dynasty) Poem,
ink and color on paper, 1982, measurements and collector unknown 81
Fig. 3.23 Wenda Gu, Splashing Ink Calligraphy: A Poem by Yue Fei (Song
Dynasty), detail, ink on paper, 1984, measurements unknown, China
Academy of Art, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China 81
Fig. 3.24 Wenda Gu, Solo Exhibition: Internal-Audience-Only Section,
installation view, Artists Gallery, Xi-an, Shaanxi, China, JuneJuly 1986 82
Fig. 3.25 Wenda Gu, Solo Exhibition: Internal-Audience-Only Section,
pyramid-like construction, detail, Artists Gallery, Xi-an, Shaanxi,
China, JuneJuly 1986 82
Fig. 3.26 Wenda Gu, Solo Exhibition: Internal-Audience-Only Section,
pyramid-like construction, installation view with the artist in front,
Artists Gallery, Xi-an, Shaanxi, China, JuneJuly 1986 83
Fig. 3.27 C. P. Fitzgerald, In Preparation of Dazibao (big-character posters),
ca. late 1960s 83
Fig. 3.28 Anonymous, Yin Fu Jin, Scripture on Esoteric Credentials, hand-
scroll, section 1, ink on paper, 9 7/856 7/16in., 1624, Shanghai
Museum, China 84
Fig. 3.29 Wenda Gu, The Dangerous Chessboard Leaves the Ground,
installation, at the University Art Gallery, York University, Toronto,
Canada, 1987 86
Fig. 3.30 Wenda Gu, The Dangerous Chessboard Leaves the Ground,
installation, at the University Art Gallery, York University, Toronto,
Canada, 1987 87
Fig. 3.31 Wenda Gu, The Dangerous Chessboard Leaves the Ground,
viewers in red costume as chessmen in the exhibition, at the
University Art Gallery, York University, Toronto, Canada, 1987 87
Fig. 3.32 Wenda Gu, Three and Three Others, installation, at the exhibition
Neo-Tradition, at Kunstindstrimuseum, Oslo, Norway, 1989 88
Fig. 3.33 Wenda Gu, Three and Three Others, installation, detail of cage and
mousetrap, at the exhibition Neo-Tradition, at Kunstindstrimuseum,
Oslo, Norway, 1989 89
Fig. 3.34 Wenda Gu, Vanishing 36 Pigment Golden Section, earth art project
in a large group project Exceptional Passage, left: spreading red
pigment; right: 36 red, rectangles, executed in Fukuoka, Japan, 1991 92
Fig. 3.35 Wenda Gu, Vanishing 36 Pigment Golden Section, earth art project
in a large group project Exceptional Passage, left: the ditch with
red rectangles was buried again; right: the field was restored to its
original status, executed in Fukuoka, Japan, 1991 92
Fig. 3.36 Wenda Gu, Two Thousand Natural Deaths, installation, detail of
used sanitary tampons with written commentary by the contributor,
shown at Hatley Martin Gallery, San Francisco, California, 1990 94
Fig. 3.37 Wenda Gu, Oedipus Refound #1: The Enigma of Blood, detail
of showcase with used tampons, written commentary by Monique
Sartor from Italy, and 6 Bibles, at Khan Gallery, New York, 1995 95
Fig. 3.38 Wenda Gu, Oedipus Refound #3: Enigma beyond Joy and Sin,
installation, Wexner Center for the Arts, the Ohio State University,
Columbus, Ohio, 1993 98
Fig. 3.39 Huang Yongping, Human-Snake Plan, installation, Wexner Center
for the Arts, the Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, 1993 98
List of Figures xvii

Fig. 3.40 Xu Bin, Cultural Negotiation, installation, Wexner Center for the
Arts, the Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, 1993 99
Fig. 3.41 Wu Shanzhuan, Missing Bamboo, installation, Wexner Center for
the Arts, the Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, 1993 100
Fig. 3.42 Wenda Gu, United NationsPoland Monument: Hospitalized
History Museum, installation, birds-eye view, at the History
Museum of Lodz, Lodz, Poland, 1993 108
Fig. 3.43 Wenda Gu, United NationsIsrael Monument: Holy Land, land
piece, distant view, Mitzpe Ramon Desert, Israel, 1995 109
Fig. 3.44 Wenda Gu, United NationsIsrael Monument: Holy Land, land
piece, detail of the rock with glued Israeli hair, Mitzpe Ramon
Desert, Israel, 1995 109
Fig. 3.45 Wenda Gu, United NationsItaly Monument: God and Children,
installation, Milan, Italy, 1994110
Fig. 3.46 Wenda Gu, United NationsItaly Monument: God and Children,
installation, detail of Roman Column, Milan, Italy, 1994111
Fig. 3.47 Wenda Gu, United Nations Babel of the Millennium, installation,
upward view from inside the Babel, San Francisco Museum of
Modern Art, San Francisco, California, USA, 1999113
Fig. 3.48 Wenda Gu, United NationsMan and Space, installation,
Chengdu, Sichuan, China, 2000113
Fig. 3.49 Wenda Gu, United NationsTemple of Exoticisms, installation,
Lyon, France, 2000113
Fig. 3.50 Wenda Gu, United NationsUnited 7561 Kilometers, installation,
birds-eye view, the University of North Texas Art Gallery, Denton,
Texas, 2003114
Fig. 3.51 Forest of Stone Stele of Xi-an, Gallery 3, built in the Song Dynasty
in the eleventh century, Xi-an, Shaanxi province, China115
Fig. 3.52 Yi Shan (Mt. Yi) Stele, seal-script, calligraphy by Li Si, Qin
dynasty, third century B.C., original stele was destroyed, this is
the Song dynasty (993 A.D.) carving based on original rubbing,
85 13/1633 1/16in., at the Forest of Stone Stele of Xi-an, Xi-an,
Shaanxi province, China116
Fig. 3.53 Wenda Gu, Forest of Stone Steles: Retranslation and Rewriting of
Tang Poetry, fifty stone steles, 7543 8in. and 1.3ton each, and
fifty ink rubbings from these steles, 7138in. each, at the National
Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia, 2001118
Fig. 3.54 Wenda Gu, Forest of Stone Steles: Retranslation and Rewriting
of Tang PoetryA Farewell to Meng Haoran On His Way to
Yangzhou, by Li Bai, rubbing from the stele, 7138in., made in
Xi-an, Shaanxi, China, 2000119
 Introduction
1.1Prelude
The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate the state-
ments, actions, and art of Wenda Gu 1 in order to prove that
the issue of culture is central in his art, which is a phenom-
enon common in Chinese contemporary art. Wenda Gu was
born in Shanghai, China, in 1955, moved to New York in
1988, and has become very active in the international art
scene during the 1990s (Fig.1.1).
In order to illustrate cultures centrality in contemporary,
international art and Wenda Gus understanding and critique
of it, an exhibition titled InterpolA Global Network from
Stockholm and Moscow provided an informative moment
(Figs.1.2 and 1.3). The exhibition, held at Fargfabriken Cen-
ter for Contemporary Art and Architecture in Stockholm,
Sweden, opened on February 2, 1996. The show had been
prepared for 2 years through the collaboration of Swedish and
Russian curators and artists, in addition to several artists from
China, France, Germany, Greece, and Slovenia. The major
curators, Jan Aman, the director of Center for Contemporary
Art and Architecture in Stockholm, and Victor Misiano, the
director of Russian Contemporary Art Center, Moscow, were
well-known critics. Thirty artists were invited to participate
in the exhibition. The theme the curators chose was confron-
tation and collaboration between East and West.
Wenda Gu was the only Asian artist who was invited to
participate in this East meeting West show. He proposed an
installation, calling it Swedish and Russian Confrontational
1
The artists name is Gu Wenda in pinyin, family name Gu
followed by given name Wenda. However, Wenda Gu as the English
version of his name appears in most of publications in western lan-
guage. The reason is that the artist used the manner of English naming
as formal English version of his name, as appeared in his social security
card, which he received in 1987. In an interview conducted in 2002,
he mentioned this anecdote and discussed the issue of identity be-
hind the naming as requested. See David Cateforis, An Interview with
Wenda Gu, in Mark H.C. Bessire edited, Wenda Gu: Art from Middle
Kingdom to Biological Millennium, Cambridge, MA: the MIT Press,
2003, p.147. However, the naming of rest of Chinese in the book is
still traditional, i.e., family name comes first and given name follows.
Z. Yan, Odyssey of Culture, Chinese Contemporary Art Series,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-662-45411-4_1, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015
1
Division: Interpol (to keep consistency with the rest of the
series, it had been changed to Swedish and Russian Monu-
ment: Interpol later) as part of his human hair project United
Nations. The United Nations is an ongoing project started in
1992. Made of human hair collected from every country where
individual installation is built, this project was about to show
his ideas of reconciliation and integrity of different cultures.
The proposal had been accepted by the two curators, and
featured as the central piece in the huge exhibition hall, which
occupied one third of whole display area. The final piece was
a 100-ft-long, 14-ft-high, and 16-ft-wide hair tunnel made
of Swedish hair. It consisted of hair bricks, hair curtains (or
screens/walls), and simply hair piles. There was a surface-to-
air missile, loaned from the Royal Swedish Army, suspended
in the center. A huge flag of the European Union was stretched
horizontally above. The missile seemed to run through the
long, narrow hair tunnel that, according to the artist, became
a hint of using military action to control the cultural battle.2
There was tension in the air as soon as the exhibition
opened. Oleg Kulik, a Russian artist, was naked and per-
formed as a chained dog (Fig.1.4). He crawled and attacked
the visitors physically, including a baby. This performance
shocked and confused the viewers. One of the visitors re-
taliated by kicking him at the face. Alexandr Brener, another
Russian artist, pounded a set of drums and shouted, a perfor-
mance that drew some attention (Fig.1.5). Suddenly, he ran
into the hair work, United Nations, and started to destroy
the installation. The audience was stunned. In no time the
work was totally destroyed, and Brener ran away from the
exhibition before the audience could react.
The audience screamed in shock and then was silenced by
such a Happening (Fig.1.6). Wenda Gu came back from
a short meeting with his friend and saw the mess in the hall.
It looked like a place after a terrorist bombing, he recalled
2 Wenda Gu, Cultural War, Flash Art, Summer, 1996, p.102. The
original plan was to collect hair from Sweden and Russia. However, the
Russians did not cooperate and eventually only Swedish hair was used
in the installation.
1
2 1Introduction
Fig. 1.1 Portrait of Wenda
Gu, 1996, photographer
unknown.
(Fig.1.7). The local police department was called immedi-
ately. Scores of media reporters arrived shortly, along with
the police officers. Kuliks performance was stopped and he
was detained to prevent further attacks while Brener escaped
from the scene.
In the following days, this Happening hit the headlines
in the Swedish press, as well as in newspapers of Norway,
Denmark, France, and England (Fig.1.8). Major art periodi-
cals, such as Flash Art, Art in America, and Art News, also
reported this dramatic incident.
The exhibition seemed not to have been simply an ar-
tistic event from its very beginning. The project was ini-
tiated from the meeting in 1994 between Victor Misiano
and Jan Aman, two leading critics from Russia and Swe-
den, respectively. This meeting focused on the subject of
the exhibition: peoples psychological and spiritual sense
of separation and contradictions after the collapse of Ber-
lin Wall. When the communist system had been dismantled
Fig. 1.2 Wenda Gu, United
NationsSwedish and Russian
Monument: Interpol, installa-
tion, at the InterpolA Global
Network from Stockholm and
Moscow, Fargfabriken Center for
Contemporary Art and Architec-
ture in Stockholm, Sweden, 1996.
and capitalism claimed its victory across Europe, the ten-
sions and contradictions between two kinds of societies,
systems, and ideologies in peoples mind persisted. In fact,
they deepened, so it seemed that a new Berlin Wall arose
in peoples minds, which became insurmountable. To re-
flect on this historical phenomenon in art, these two critics
decided to curate an exhibition, titled Interpol, the abbre-
viation of International Police Organization, which implied
conflict and confrontation. The two curators selected Rus-
sian and Swedish artists, respectively; in turn the chosen
artists chose several artists from other countries (an inter-
esting recruiting procedure!).
In October 1994, the organizers and participating art-
ists had a meeting in Stockholm to discuss the theme of the
show and their art proposals. Several collaborative propos-
als among artists from different countries were made in the
meeting but failed to materialize for various reasons by the
time the show opened. This fact suggested that confrontation
instead of collaboration became primary theme, anticipating
the conflicted conclusion of this unifying project.
Wenda Gu, selected by Dmitry Gutov, the participating
Russian artist chosen by Victor Misiano, attended the meet-
ing. The reason he was chosen by Gutov was, according
to Gutov, that Gus work Oedipus Refound #3: Enigma
beyond Joy and Sin (Fig.3.38), shown at the Wexner Cen-
ter for the Arts, Columbus, Ohio, 1993, was to him very
powerful. And, in the beginning, the curators planned that
each invited international artist would collaborate with the
artist who chose him/her, so the exhibition would consist of
collaborative works. This plan did not work out be-
cause of the conflict between the Swedish and Russian
1.1Prelude 3

Fig. 1.3 Wenda Gu, United

NationsSwedish and Russian
Monument: Interpol, installa-
tion, at the InterpolA Global
Network from Stockholm and
Moscow, Fargfabriken Center for
Contemporary Art and Architec-
ture in Stockholm, Sweden, 1996.

Fig. 1.4 Oleg Kulik, Russian

artist, was naked and performed
as a chained dog at the opening
of exhibition InterpolA Global
Network from Stockholm and
Moscow, Fargfabriken Center for
Contemporary Art and Archi-
tecture in Stockholm, Sweden,
2/2/1996.

sides.3 Gu sensed collision and smelled gunpowder of cul-
tural dispute, as he recalled. Gutov, an avant-garde artist
who believed in Marxism heart and soul and intended to
restore the Marxist tradition in post-Soviet society, told Gu
that he hated capitalism, the current situation of Russian
politics and economy, and contemporary art as well. In the
Stockholm meeting, Russian artists, led by Victor Misiano,
behaved aggressively and tended to dominate the discussion,
rejecting the proposals of individual artists, and controlling
the editing of catalogue. These Russian artists acted as if
3 This information is from Wenda Gus e-mail to Zhou Yan, September
20, 2002. My assumption was that Gutav might also consider Gu a po-
tential comrade since Gu was from China, a nation that was on Soviet
side before.
they wanted to regain their role of superpower in world af-
fairs, in this case in an art arena. Compared with Russian art-
ists, Swedish artists seemed on the defensive side and played
the game as gentlemen under the rules, Gu observed.
If the first meeting was not disruptive enough for Swedish
artists to realize how severe the cultural conflict was, the sec-
ond meeting held in Moscow had made them believe that
they might need to be more active to balance this battle. One
of Swedish artists recollected that they seemed to be confined
in prison during this 3-day meeting. The debate between two
sides was virtually nothing but fierce wrangling, while the
concluding performance by a Russian artist really upset the
Swedish artists: Alexandr Brener, the Russian artist who
destroyed Gus hair installation in the Interpol opening later,
kept hugging a Swedish female artist tightly and did not let
4 1Introduction
Fig. 1.5 Alexandr Brener, Russian artist, pounded a set of drums and
shouted, at the opening of exhibition InterpolA Global Network from
Stockholm and Moscow, Fargfabriken Center for Contemporary Art and
Architecture in Stockholm, Sweden, 2/2/1996.
go of her until several Swedish artists rescued her. For the
first time, these Swedish artists realized that the difference
between the two sides was not merely artistic or theoretical;
rather, it became an actual conflict of social custom, cultural
tradition, and political ideology.
On the Russian side, everything shown in the foreground
seemed to have its own logic against the background of the
post-Soviet context. There was a catastrophe in Russias
intelligentsia and art circles as well, according to Victor
Misiano. In the violent transitional period of politics, econo-
my, and social life, the intelligentsia had lost its ideological
Fig. 1.6 Wenda Gu, United
NationsSwedish and Russian
Monument: Interpol, installation,
after destruction by Russian artist
Alexandr Brener, at the Interpol
A Global Network from Stockholm
and Moscow, Fargfabriken Center
for Contemporary Art and Archi-
tecture in Stockholm, Sweden,
2/2/1996.
authority. The intellectual elite had once been the conqueror
of an old regime, prospering under the new regime; now
it felt itself being marginalized. The consequence of this
catastrophe in art was critical. According to Misiano, the
death of the intelligentsia gave birth to the phenomenon that
art currently lacks both social and cognitive justification.
For him, the art of Alexandr Brener and Oleg Kulik, two of
Moscows scandalous idols, was the realization of the post-
intellegentsia identity and the symbol of struggle with the
traumatic Russian reality. While Brener wore boxers shorts
and gloves, acted as a thug, and shouted at the Red Square,
Yeltsin! Dont hide! Come out! Kulik was naked, per-
forming as an artist-animal, or artist-dog, attacking, biting,
and growling, just as he did in the opening of the Interpol
exhibition.4
Perhaps the profound and symbolic significance of con-
frontation between Sweden and Russia, Western Europe and
Eastern Europe, or broadly speaking, the East and the West,
had preoccupied Wenda Gus mind when he submitted his
proposal for the exhibition. When he was still on his ongo-
ing projectseries of human hair installation United Na-
tionsthis show provided him with a valuable opportunity
to be a historical witness of, and also involved in a cultural
war, as he recollected. His proposal included a human hair
tunnel, hair bricks made in a Swedish asbestos factory, plus
4 All see Victor Misiano, Russian Reality: The End of Intelligentsia,
Flash Art, Summer, 1996, pp.104106.
1.1Prelude
Fig. 1.7 Wenda Gu, United NationsSwedish and Russian Monu-
ment: Interpol, installation, after destruction by Russian artist Alex-
andr Brener, at the InterpolA Global Network from Stockholm and
Moscow, Fargfabriken Center for Contemporary Art and Architecture
in Stockholm, Sweden, 2/2/1996.
a surface-to-air missile. The work was made of Swedish hair,
collected from more than twenty barbershops and Salons in
Stockholm within six months. The same did not happen in
Russia. It seemed that the Russian side was not willing to
cooperate in collecting Russian hair. It was interesting that
what Brener later destroyed in the opening of the show in-
cluded exclusively Swedish hair, which gave the Happen-
ing more significance in terms of offense and defense.
The installation had been completed after one month of in-
tensive work, helped by ten art students from the Swedish
Royal Art Academy and the Stockholm Academy of Fine
Arts. The stunning power and intriguing temptation of the
visual and psychological effect were the provocations Gu
conjured up in this work. He intended it to become a symbol
of some sort of trap, which might lead to an unpredictable
but more significant expression of the project as a confron-
tation and collaboration between the East and the West.
5
Fig. 1.8 Medias reaction to the Happening (see Figs.1.6 and 1.7).
When he was told that the hair tunnel would be the cen-
tral piece occupying one third of the space and extending
through the exhibition hall from the entrance to the exit, he
had a premonition that this piece might become a target of
some action. Therefore, he believed that this installation
could be a rare chance to attain a more profound accep-
tance. The missile now became an important prop for this
stage because it could become a symbol of cracking down
on the cultural dispute through violent means, as was true
in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe (Fig.1.3).
This provocative addition was intended by Gu to challenge
the audience and as a catalyst for interaction. The piles of
hair on the floor were added to be an implication of death.
As for the European Union flag, he believed a unified entity
was needed in this potential battle of culture, a utopia from
todays point of view (Figs.1.2 and 1.6). These additions to
his initiative proposal were intended to be more provocative
in encouraging audience reaction. Even though Gu thought
something dramatic would happen at the exhibition, he had
never expected the event to result in such violent destruction,
anticipating instead the verbal disputes and controversy he
had experienced before.
In the opening, while Kulik attacked the visitors, Brener
had played a drum and shouted for about a half hour. Gu
had been videotaping his performance and noticed from the
6 1Introduction
camcorders viewfinder that Brener was paying attention to
the audience, especially to Gus reaction. No more than one
minute after Gu went out to meet his friend, Brener launched
his fierce attack upon the hair installation. Obviously Brener
had chosen the time of Gus absence purposely.
On February 3, one day after the event, a press confer-
ence was held, and an Open Letter to the Art World was
announced to protest the destructive action. The people who
signed the letter were the personnel for the exhibition, in-
cluding one curator (from Sweden), ten artists (Wenda Gu,
and others from France, Germany, Greece, and Sweden), two
critics (from France), and four museum staff (from Sweden).
Both Russian artists did not keep their promises, as the open
letter pointed out. Kulik was to perform as a dog, but the
emphasis was put on endurance; he would react only when
and if provoked. Brener had declared that he had left art to
be a rock-star and wanted to do a drum performance. The
open letter condemned the action as destruction and chaos
in the name of the new experience, classical model of
imperialist behavior, a new form of totalitarian ideology,
and Misianos explanation was considered hooligan and
skinhead ideology. The event with this ideology behind it
denies every possibility of a dialogue between the (former)
East and the West.5 French critic Olivier Zahm even labeled
it absolutely a neo-fascist action.6
On another side, Victor Misiano, the Russian critic and
cocurator of the exhibition, had legitimized this violation
of agreement as a completely new experience. He re-
plied to the open letter and interpreted the reaction from
western art circles as the result of an old ideological pho-
bia. For him, this ideology deprives any phenomenon of
its heterogeneity, and contradicts any fruitful polemics.
When the Western critics do not feel secure, they have to
invent an East that does not exist any more in the new
Europe and post-ideological order. The result, as we can
see in the exhibition Interpol, has shown the emptiness of
the old western democracy, and the potential prejudices that
hide behind democratic rhetoric. Kuliks performance as
an aggressive, chained dog represents the image of Russia
still rooted in the Western collective subconscious(ness).
He felt that the dialogue has always been unequal, based
on help, sympathy and correctness. When Russian artists
are already in Europe, there is an attempt to isolate them
from the European scene. However, this confrontation is a
European problem and requires a European responsibility.
He warned that people should not isolate and discredit a
small group of Russian intellectuals who are ready for the
European dialogue, because there are many real fascists
5See Special ReportA Spectre at Large in Europe: The Letter,
Flash Art, May & June 1996, p.46.
6 Quoted from Bad Hair Day, ARTnews, April 1996, p.70.
in Russia. If they come to power, we will be far from ex-
changing open letters.7
The drama that occurred in the Fargfabriken Center for
Contemporary Art and Architecture in Stockholm in 1996
was by no means merely an artistic event. Instead, it re-
vealed, in the form of art, an intricate relation between dif-
ferent parties in international, geographic politics and a com-
plicated collective subconsciousness. The decade of 1990s
was a specific period for repartition and reorganization of
the worlds political powers. The former Soviet Union and
its eastern European allies had transformed their socialist
system of politics and economics into a procapitalist one.
The transformation had taken place with great pain of politi-
cal and economical instability and uncertainty. As a result, it
caused suffering in psychological adjustment and nihilism in
spiritual life. In the West, anticipation for reconciliation and
integration between two systems had been frustrated because
of the slow and chaotic process of transition in the East. The
situation in which two hegemonic superpowers had domi-
nated world affairs for decades gave way to a new reality
that one single superpower became superior over the rest
of the world. In Asia, China had launched its largest-ever
economic reform to develop the last biggest undeveloped
market in the world for adventurers while it had stubbornly
kept its political system. Samuel Huntington, the scholar of
political science and international affairs at Harvard Univer-
sity, predicted that in the twenty-first century the conflict
between cultures and civilizations would take over the role
in the world affairs previously played by the confrontation
of different ideologies during the Cold War.8 Unfortunately,
this prediction came true. While the Internet was about to
make the world a more interactive village, the conflict and
confrontation between cultures, conventions, customs, and
traditions had deepened and surfaced.
The most powerful evidence of this cultural phenomenon
was given by the exhibition and the opening incident. The
original intention of the show was to address the concern
about the spiritual gap of the East and the West in the post-
Berlin-Wall period, and to try to build a bridge for dialogue
and collaboration. This ideal had failed, and people had been
disillusioned after the destructive action, the catastasis fol-
lowing a series of discord, dispute, and antagonism. The gap
had not been filled but widened and deepened, and the ten-
sion had indeed been intensified.
What most interested me is not the exhibition and the
event itself, which should be a subject of further research
because it caused a fierce debate at the international level.
Rather, I am more interested in Wenda Gus position, role,
7 Victor Misiano, Special ReportA Spectre at Large in Europe: The
Response, Flash Art, May & June 1996, p.46.
8 See Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations? Foreign Af-
fairs, Vol.72, No.3, Summer 1993, pp.2249.
1.1Prelude
and reaction in this event because it seems to have raised a
series of questions that may illuminate my research project.
Wenda Gu, a third-party featured artist whose work was
victimized in the attack, believed that he and his art would
play a unique role in this exchange of art and culture.
As a Chinese who has been living in New York for eight years,
my role was as a third party working in between two groups.
I have a special sensitivity towards these kinds of conflicts
because of my past and present experiences with both Socialism
and Capitalism.9
It was true that Gu occupied a favorable position in this
arena. For the artist himself, he believed that he was in a po-
sition that had several advantages: while he experienced and
understood the politics and the art of the socialist east, he had
also been involved in the life and context of a western artist.
This gave him the capability of comprehending the state of
mind from both sides of the confrontation. While Russian
artists wanted to get involved in the European art scene and
tried to prove that they are, in fact, part of it, even through
an aggressive manner, the western European art community
still saw a clear border between the East and the West. Gu
attempted to be a witness, if not a judge, of this confronta-
tion, even though his art became the target of attack and was
destroyed.
At the press conference the day after the opening of ex-
hibition, Wenda Gu stated that it was a long time ago when
Dada artists destroyed art works as symbolic protest, but
they destroyed their own works, not those of others. How-
ever, Brener attributed aggressive and criminal behavior of
these would-be Dadaists to postcommunist frustration with
Russias fall from great power status into a state of subservi-
ence to the West. To Gu, Breners action was nothing but a
Dada-inspired response to the post-Soviet status quo, which
might not be acceptable but was understandable. Brener and
his comrades, however, saw the event from a quite different
point of view. They felt that the inclusion of Gus work was
in direct opposition to the stated aims and totally negated
the basic ethical imperatives of the project.10 To these
Russian artists, Wenda Gu, along with Swedish-side orga-
nizers, deviated from the direction that both sides set in the
beginning, which implied that Gus work focused more on
confrontation than collaboration between the East and the
West, so that Breners action could be considered rectifica-
tion of this deviation.
What the artist was not aware of, however, might be his
awkward status between these two groups. No matter how
we define the event and the consequent debatea fascist
9 Wenda Gu, The Cultural War, Flash Art, Summer 1996, pp.102 11Eda Cufer, Mind Your Own Business, Moscow Art Magazine,
103.
10See Ralph Croizier, The Avant-garde and the Democracy Movement:
Reflections on Late Communism in the USSR and China, European-
Asia Studies, May 1999, pp.483513.
7
action, a new experience, a legitimation of hooligan and
skinhead ideology, or an ideological phobia, Wenda Gus po-
sition in it was interesting: he did and did not belong to the
two groups. Traditionally defined as the East, China, where
the artist was born and grew up, had been in the same so-
cialist camp as former Soviet Union. When he immigrated
and settled down in New York for eight years (he moved
to the USA in 1988), the artist was considered part of the
western, or capitalist group, in the eyes of Russian art-
ist, particularly Alexander Brener. Otherwise, why he did
not choose the work by a Swedish or German artist as the
object of attack? It is worthwhile to quote a Russian critic
who commented on the Interpol event and consequences.
Eda Cufer, a Ljubljana (former Yugoslavian city)-based crit-
ic, implied that Gu and his art were already part of capital
flows. When the Western thinkers claimed that space no
longer determined us, Cufer argued, An individual is not
defined by space only if he consistently follows the flows of
capital Apparently, Wenda Gu does not intend to show his
art in Russia and thats why he finds it unusual and unneces-
sary to send his capital there.11 On the other hand, having
left China ten years earlier, the artist had hesitated to identify
his art as purely Chinese, or purely American either. This
situation recalled the concept of in-between defined by
Homi Bhabha.12 While Bhabha discussed this concept in a
colonial/postcolonial context, Gus awkward status defined
as an in-between in this case located in a broader context,
namely under two different geopolitical worlds with different
social systems, politics, ideologies, and economic structures.
Do the words between the lines mean, you are the scapegoat
of our battle, or get out of this battlefield? In this intersti-
tial position, the artist and his art seemed more complicated,
comprehensive, and, therefore, more significant.
The Interpol show provided Wenda Gu with a golden
opportunity for his art on an international stage. And this
show and the incident provided us a window to his art with
a unique perspective. This perspective is a cultural one that
functions as a telescope or magnifier through which we can
trace Gus art back to its origin, evolution, and development
in a larger context.
The original intention for Gus ongoing worldwide proj-
ect, a series of human hair installations begun in 1992, was to
seek understanding, tolerance, reconciliation, and harmony
of different cultures, at least, in an artistic or virtual reality.
This ideal was challenged in the Interpol event. What was
the real impact and significance of the event for Wenda Gus
project? What was the place of his United NationsSwed-
No.22. Internet version, see http://www.guelman.ru/xz/english/XX22/
X2212.htm, available Feb. 11, 2003.
12 See Homi Bhabha, The Commitment to Theory, in The Location
of Culture, London and New York: Routledge, 1994, pp.1939.
8 1Introduction
ish and Russian Confrontational Division: Interpol in his
entire United Nations project, and furthermore, in his art?
These questions lead me to Gus life and his art since the
late 1970s. What we need to investigate is the motivation
behind his fascination with the intercultural scenario. Is there
a consistent theme or issue that goes through his art? What
if there is one? How did this theme or issue begin in his art?
How did he deal with it when facing different concerns in
different contexts and environments? What is the logic that
leads to the United Nations, his most ambitious project?
And how did he act in and react to todays art world filled
with conflicts and confrontation, as well as possibilities of
reconciliation and integration? His art could be a valuable
example for a case study on todays multiculturalism and
globalization. This is also what I see as the apocalyptic sig-
nificance of the Interpol incident.
1.2Brief Biography and Scholarship
Wenda Gu was born in Shanghai, China, in 1955. He gradu-
ated from Shanghai Arts and Crafts School (a college with
two-year programs) in 1976 and received his Masters de-
gree from Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts (renamed as China
Academy of Art in 1993), Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province and
worked as a faculty member at the same academy beginning
in 1981. After six years of teaching at the academy, Gu left
China for Canada in 1987 and worked as a residential art-
ist at York University, Toronto. Shortly after he finished the
program in Canada in 1987, Gu moved to the USA the same
year, and eventually settled in New York City.
Like a piece of crystal or diamond, Wenda Gus art is a
multifaceted object, while the artist himself is, for some au-
diences, a really controversial figure. When looking at his
art of a particular period, of a special means, of a unique
subject, or of a specific medium, people may have divergent
impressions or put different labels on him. Is he an advocate
of individualism, a conceptualist, a shocking-value maker
(or an artistic troublemaker), a body-art experimentalist, or a
transcultural adventurer? He could play any role listed above
or none of them, because his own writing and art suggest,
wittingly or unwittingly, an occasional inconsistency and
sometimes a mixed picture. Searching for a logical or theo-
retical line in his art will be a prime objective of this study.
Wenda Gus art has been widely reviewed and studied in
both China and the West by critics and scholars before and
after his immigration. Even art history survey books now in-
clude him. The art critic and historian Edward Lucie-Smith
pointed out two characteristics of Gus art in his book Visual
Arts in the Twentieth Century when reviewing Gus ambi-
tious international project, United Nations. The first con-
nection is European Romanticism, the ideas inherited by author, unless indicated.
the Modernists from the culture of the late eighteenth and
early nineteenth centuries. The second is a contemporary
connection, namely, Gus growing awareness of regionalism
and otherness, the tensions and deep divisions to be found
in the most characteristic artistic expressions of the 1990s.13
One of the most complete researches on Wenda Gus art is
Gan Xus doctoral dissertation, Shape of Ideas: Minimaliza-
tion As the Structural Device in Selected Works of Samuel
Beckett and Gu Wenda.14 In his interdisciplinary research,
Xu compared Gu to Samuel Beckett, the Irish playwright,
in terms of art structure. Guided by Susanne Langers art
theory, Xu investigated and analyzed Gus adoption of struc-
tural minimalization in poetry, calligraphy, seal-carving, and
painterly imageries made in China and the West from the late
1970s to early 1990s.
If we could say that Gan Xu reads Gus art from a level
of artistic structure, and Lucie-Smith from a historical point
of view, many reviews and reports from various media,
interestingly, have paid attention to the cultural tension and
controversy his art causes. The East Meets the West has
been a common headline in a variety of media. When Gus
work was displayed in Hong Kong in 1993, the headlines
from local newspapers were, Gu Wendas Work Are Unac-
ceptable in Both China and the Western Countries,15 and
Gu Wendas Installation: Test in a Sensitive Cultural Area
by Used Sanitary Napkins and Tampons.16
In 2003, Mark Bessire edited a catalog for the traveling
exhibition Wenda Gu: Art from Middle Kingdom to Biologi-
cal Millennium, organized by the University of North Texas
Art Gallery, H & R Block Artspace at the Kansas City Art
Institute, and the Institute of Contemporary Art at the Maine
College of Art. Although it is an exhibition catalog, the
books contents are very comprehensive. In addition to more
than one hundred color plates, most of which have not been
published before, two essays by the artist, face the new mil-
lennium: the divine comedy of our times and The Cultural
War are valuable documents for the researchers, especially
for the first one, a long essay that was published for the first
13Edward Lucie-Smith, Visual Arts in the Twentieth Century, New
York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1996, pp.379381.
14
Gan Xu, Shape of Ideas: Minimalization As the Structural Device
in Selected Works of Samuel Beckett and Gu Wenda, doctoral disser-
tation, Athens: Ohio University, 1994. When the artist prefers to put
his name in a typical English order, Wenda (given name) Gu (family
name), Gan Xu still spells his name in a Chinese way, Gu Wenda, fam-
ily name comes first, following by given name. In my dissertation, I
will use Wenda Gu for two reasons: respect the artists preference
and follow the majority of English publications in which Wenda Gu
is preferred. Exceptions will be given to the translations from publica-
tions in Chinese.
15 (Sing Pao, Monthly), Hong Kong, April 19, 1993, p.20. All
Chinese characters and texts in this dissertation are translated by the
16 (Sing Tao Daily), Hong Kong, Feb. 2, 1993.
1.2 Brief Biography and Scholarship
time.17 The Interview with Wenda Gu by David Cateforis;
revealed a lot of artistic and personal anecdotes and informa-
tion through the interviewers intriguing questions not usu-
ally raised in previous serious criticism. The essay Seeking
a Model of Universalism by Gao Minlu explored the nature
of universal culture in Gus art, especially in his United
Nations. For Gao, the United Nations amounts to ency-
clopedic research similar to that of cultural anthropology.18
Gan Xu pointed out the evidence of conceptualism in Gus
Chinese ink art in his essay Neo-Hexagram: Early Work.
Not only with its informative visual and textual documents
useful to readers of Gus art but also with its profound re-
searches on his art, this catalog has established a basis for
further investigation of Wenda Gu, his art, his thoughts, and
the context behind them. What most interested me in this
catalog was Gao Minglus analysis of Gus universalism,
which to me caught one of the essential points, and was in-
spirational for my study on the United Nations as well as
his other transnational projects. The universalism is in fact
17
Ive included the original text of this essay, the 1995 version, titled
The Divine Comedy of Our Times: a thesis on United Nations art
project and its time and environment, as an appendix of this disserta-
tion for research purpose, since the published text has been revised and,
in fact, shortened.
18 Gao Minglu, Seeking a Model of Universalism: The United Na-
tions Series and Other Works, Mark H.C. Bessire edited, Wenda Gu:
Art from Middle Kingdom to Biological Millennium, Cambridge, MA:
the MIT Press, 2003, p.24.
9
one of the major concepts in Gus United Nations as I will
discuss in Sect.3.4, Chap.3.
Published scholarly investigations, artistic reviews, and
journalists reports have provided us with valuable insights,
and inspired me to rethink Gus art in a more systematic man-
ner. At a profound level, there could be something essential
that centers on and dominates his art. After analyzing his art
from the very beginning (late 1970s), I finally realized that
Wenda Gus art seemed to be always related to the theme of
culture,19 regardless of changes in media, the subjects and
motifs in his art, and occasional inconsistencies in his writing
and speech. Most importantly, this theme has persisted and has
been intensified in his art since he moved to the West, perhaps
one of the crucial reasons for his decision to emigrate.
This observation leads to further questions that need to be
answered before I can trace Gus art career as an odyssey of
culture. What are the factors that initiate and reinforce Gus
concern with the issue of culture? Is it the destiny that is so
critical for him both at home or abroad?
19 For the first time the word culture appears in the text, I realized
that it is a term with diverse meanings in various disciplines, and it
varies in different temporal-spatial situations. I will try to examine
this concept and its evolution in modern China in the next chapter and
provide further investigation when discussing Gus art.
 Genesis of the Issue of Culture:
The Cultural Fever and Avant-Garde
of the 1980s
It is reasonable to say that we may read cultural meaning from
most art works directly or indirectly, since art is always a
product of a specific cultural context. It is different, however,
to have cultural meaning in an artwork and to concentrate
cultural issues in his/her art intentionally by the artist. When
the former may focus on any issues beyond cultural concern,
the latter may consider cultural issues pivotal and critical and
comment on the issue one way or another. In other words,
cultural meaning or message might or might not be read from
the art in the first case, since the artist might or might not be
interested in such issues; while in the second case, the artist
knowingly injects his cultural concern into his art or com-
ments on a cultural issue in his works, so that the reading of a
cultural meaning from such works would be natural.
For most Chinese intellectuals of the 1980s, the cen-
trality of cultural issue in their speech, writing, art works,
and other presentations was not their choice but a natu-
ral reaction to the contemporary cultural circumstances. It
might or might not be comprehended for a Western reader.
The reason could be complicated. What is critical, I believe,
is the contrast of power between mainstream and marginal
cultures in the international scenario of modern times. While
America has a short history, thus tradition has never become
a burden, European civilization has a long history of tradi-
tion but for centuries has stayed in the mainstream of world
development, thus her tradition is always part of a proud,
continuously developing culture. For most Asian cultures,
however, tradition has been challenged and even shocked
repeatedly when Euro-American culture takes a critical step
in the fields of science, technology, political systems, man-
agement, and the arts. How an Asian culture reacts to these
challenges and shocks from platforms based on their pro-
found traditions has become a frequent question raised by
intellectuals. When a Western intellectual faces challenges to
traditional cultural tendencies, such as civil rights versus rac-
ism, feminism versus masculine-centered ideology, and en-
vironmentalism versus traditional industrialism, the Western
cultures place in the international mainstream would have
never been challenged in modern times. Though all eastern
Z. Yan, Odyssey of Culture, Chinese Contemporary Art Series,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-662-45411-4_2, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015
2
cultures have their internal problems, the primary challeng-
es come from outside. The consciousness of weakness and
backwardness of their native culture, as well as its marginal
position in the international arena encourage Asian thinkers
to focus on cultural crisis. This was particularly true for Chi-
nese intellectuals of the 1980s.
Basically, Gus focus on cultural issues started in his
native country where the diagnosis of cultural diseases
became a crucial task for many Chinese intellectuals in the
1980s. This focus has remained and deepened since he left
for Canada and eventually settled down in the USA. To com-
prehend his focus on the issue of culture, we need to examine
two important and interactive movements that occurred in
China in the 1980sCultural Fever and the Avant-Garde
Movement. The former was the cultural context in which
Gus interest in the issue of culture emerged and developed,
and the latter was the movement that Gu joined to incarnate
his concepts of cultural reconstruction and in which he be-
came one of the most radical advocates of the subversion of
traditional Chinese culture.
2.1Cultural Fever and Hermeneutics School
One of the most amazing and somehow magic-realistic
phenomena in China of the 1980s was the Great Cultural
Discussion, simply called the Cultural Fever (,
wen hua re in Pinyin1) by most critics. Without consider-
ation of this context, investigation of a subject from a new
literary school to an individual writers short story, from a
reform of the press to a new layout of a newspaper of this pe-
riod might not be complete or comprehensive. It is, however,
the most contextual factor for Chinas avant-garde art of the
1980s, Wenda Gus art in particular.
1 For all Chinese characters in the text, I will provide Pinyin, modern
Chinese phonetic system, with quotation marks, to assist pronunciation
for readers.
11
12 2 Genesis of the Issue of Culture: The Cultural Fever and Avant-Garde of the 1980s

This intense debate lasted about four years, from the be- workers), etc. in the vocabulary of the Communist Partys
ginning of 1985 to the middle of 1989. One of its most unique ideology since the 1940s. (culture) here refers to spirit,
features was an elite and grassroots combined campaign that literacy, or literature and arts, in different cases, but always
shared ideas about the reform of Chinas culture. Participants contains connotations of Communist ideology. Geremie
ranged from well-known university professors to college Barme observed, Since 1949, culture in Mainland China
and even high school students, from government officials to has shared the fate of virtually every other field of endeavor,
workers and soldiers. They joined this national discussion prospering and suffering in turn according to the dictates of
by expressing their opinions through all kinds of channels. political leaders.2 For archaeologists and anthropologists,
Seminars and research groups appeared in metropolitan cit- is a special term with the meaning of civilization, such
ies and small towns. New books, periodicals, lectures, and as (yang shao wen hua, Yangshao culture),
exhibitions concerned with the issue of culture attracted huge (long shan wen hua, Longshan culture).
audiences. Hundreds of Western works, particularly twenti- The most impressive and ironical use of the term, no
eth-century monographs on philosophy, social sciences, and doubt, took place during the so-called Cultural Revolution
humanities, were translated, published, and made available (the short form of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolu-
to hungry readers from urban areas to remote countryside tion), an event that made most Chinese aware of culture but
and the frontier. Thanks to this large volume of translation also confused. During this ten-year period, culture roughly
and the introduction of Western works, jargons such as refers to almost any nonnatural, nonphysical, nonmaterial
(xin xi, information), (xi tong, system), (jie phenomenon, such as ideas, thoughts, and spirits, and their
gou, structure), (jian gou, construction) and products, including philosophy, religion, literature, arts,
(jie gou, deconstruction), etc., entered the vocabulary of the and so on. Ideologically, all cultures were divided into two
everyday life of educated people. Subsequently, it changed opposites: the old and the new. One of the officially claimed
the structure of everyday Chinese language. For the first time goals of the revolution was to destroy the old culturethe
in thirty five years, both intellectuals and ordinary Chinese feudal, capitalist, and revisionist one in order to build the
could free themselves, to a high degree, from hegemonic ide- new culturea proletarian or socialist one. In the ideologi-
ology, absorb thoughts from various resources, and express cal hierarchy, however, even the new culture here is nothing
as individuals their concerns and opinions on cultures status but a weapon in the arsenal of class struggle.
quo, and even offer their own prescriptions for the cultural In the 1980s, the term in the connotation of culture
disease. It also had its long-term impact on almost every as- and civilization seemed to be rediscovered, thanks to the
pect of Chinese cultural life, including art. Theoretically, the Cultural Fever. Saying rediscovery here means that after
prodemocracy movement of 1989 could be seen as the most decades of the expansion and distortion of the meaning of
powerful by-product of the Great Cultural Discussion. the term, people went back to the starting point of the May-
The Chinese word (wen hua) seems to have ap- Fourth Movement of sixty years ago when the Chinese had
peared when China faced its cultural crisis one and a half launched the first campaign of modern culture.
centuries ago. The character (wen) means script, writ- With a more popular name, the New Culture Move-
ing, language, civilian, civil, gentle, refined, etc. and is used ment, the May-Fourth Movement began with demonstra-
mostly as a noun, while the character (hua) refers to tions against imperialism and alleged; traitorous government
transformation, conversion, digestion, and is usually used as officials. Supported mainly by college students with patri-
a verb close to English suffixes -ize, -ify, etc. such as otic enthusiasm in Peking (now Beijing), it burst out at the
(gong ye hua, industrialize, industrialization), Tiananmen, the gateway to the Forbidden City, on May 4,
(xian dai hua, modernize, modernization), (zheng 1919. The Chinese had sided with the Allies against Germany
zhi hua, politicize, politicization), and (jian hua, in the World War I and after the war requested the Allies
simplify, simplification). It was approximately in the second end their occupation of Chinese territory and grant conces-
half of the nineteenth century that these two characters were sions to China. Despite Chinas support for the Allies against
combined into a single word to convey the meaning of Germany, her requests were ignored. On May 4, 1919 about
the civilized, the educated to refer to an entity that has five thousand university students were joined by workers
been alienated from nature through humans cause. and merchants in Peking to protest the Versailles Conference
For ordinary Chinese who had lived for decades in Maos (April 28, 1919) awarding Japan the former German lease-
discourse, the word was not new but colored by main- hold of Jiaozhou, Shandong Province. Demonstrators burned
stream ideology. There were (wen hua zheng the house of a pro-Japanese cabinet minister. Demonstrations
feng, rectification of the incorrect style of work, a cam- and strikes spread to big cities including Tianjing, Shanghai,
paign launched by Communists in Yanan during the 1940s),
(wen hua xue xi, acquire literacy), 2 Geremie R. Barme, In the Red: On Contemporary Chinese Culture,
(wen hua gong zuo zhe, a cultural worker or cultural New York: Columbia University Press, 1999, p.1.
2.1 Cultural Fever and Hermeneutics School
Nanjing, Wuhan, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, and elsewhere, and a
nationwide boycott of Japanese goods followed.
At the ideological level, however, this movement contin-
ued in the following decade. Sparked by this political move-
ment, a campaign of reinterpretation and critique of Chinese
culture had been launched. Chinas weakness in international
diplomacy stimulated the consciousness in intellectuals and
students. These Chinese realized that China was at an intel-
lectual and political crossroad. The epicenter of the May-
Fourth Movement happened to be Peking University, ranked
in Chinas higher education equivalent to Harvard Universi-
ty in the USA. This university always plays a leading role on
Chinas academic stage as well as in the political arena. Sev-
eral of the brightest scholars who came back from abroad
Japan, Europe, and the USAtaught or administrated at
Peking University. What they, along with their contempo-
raries, brought into China were socialism, liberalism, anar-
chism, and even social Darwinism. Also, many internation-
ally well-known philosophers, including John Dewey and
Bertrand Russell, visited Peking University and introduced
their thoughts and ideologies to their Chinese counterparts
during this time. This enriched Chinese intellectuals and
college students with a new world perspective and provided
them with ideological weapons for the first-ever debate on
issues such as tradition and modernity, the West and the East,
the issues that have never lost their significance to Chinese
intellectuals for the remainder of the twentieth century.
The New Culture Movement, inspired by street protests,
identified itself as a campaign of Democracy and Science.
Tired of thousands of years of Confucianist domination, the
participants of radical groups in the movement believed that
China needed to destroy Confucianist culture by introducing
democratic practices, scientific theories, and management
techniques into her sociopolitical structure. The slogan
(da dao kong jia dian, down with Confucianism and so forth. The phrase (wei ji yi shi, awareness or
its disciples) expressed this groups radical attitude to tradi-
tional culture. (xi xue, western learning, referring to and on radio and TV broadcasts. What is wrong with the na-
the natural sciences and the democratic institution particularly
at this period), rather than only (chuan jian pao li, cused on a challenge common to most developing countries or
powerful battleships and canons, generally referring to West-
ern technology in the middle of nineteenth century) should be
introduced in order to catch up with the industrialized nations.
Intellectuals blamed the political establishment for Chinas
failure in the modern era. Later the movement split into leftist
and liberal wings. The latter advocated gradual cultural reform
as exemplified by Hu Shi (18911962) who interpreted the
pragmatism of John Dewey, while leftists like Chen Duxiu
(18791942) and Li Dazhao (18891927) introduced Marx-
ism into China and advocated political action. The movement
also popularized vernacular literature, promoted political par-
ticipation by women, and educational reforms.
In a sense, the Great Cultural Discussion of the 1980s
could be seen as continuation of the liberal wings interpre-
tation of the May-Fourth Movement, although the issues
13
were later dealt with on a larger scale and deeper level.3 The
old questions had been asked again. The similarities and
differences, advantages and disadvantages of Chinese cul-
ture versus western culture, subversion or transformation
of Chinese tradition, keeping the native cultural spirit while
introducing western system and management or wholesale
Westernization, were debated among the intelligentsia as
well as ordinary Chinese. By the 1980s, six decades had
passed since these topics were first debated. Many problems
have not been resolved. Rather, they became more compli-
cated. For example, the debate about tradition and modernity
in the 1920s dealt mostly with typical native cultural tradi-
tiona tradition based on Confucianist ideology, political
system, and managementand a European mode of modern-
ization and industrialization. In the 1980s, the tradition was
already a mixture of Marxist and Soviet-type ideology, plus
Chinese conventions of politics and cultural heritage. Even
the May-Fourth discourse itself became part of the tradition.
As another side of this pair of debated issues, the concept of
modernity had been modified or integrated into the notion of
postmodernism, not to mention post-Colonialism. Therefore,
the continuation of the spirit of the May-Fourth Movement
was not repetition, instead, it suggested that China stood and
faced a new cultural scenario, and no previous experience or
ready-made prescription could be simply applied.
After three decades of isolation from the outside world
from 1949 to the end of 1970s, many Chinese, who suffered
during the ten-year long Cultural Revolution, discovered a
painful fact. China had fallen behind other countries, especial-
ly those in the Westa reality that had existed for centuries
and became worse in modern times but had not been realized
by people living in a closed society. In almost every field,
the country lagged behind, including the economy, industrial
technology, law, medicine, psychology, computer science, and
consciousness of crisis) appeared in newspapers, magazines,
tion? Can it be healed or saved? The cultural discussion fo-
preindustrialization societies: fusing tradition and modernity.
A more fundamental factor was Chinese culture itself, namely
Chinas long history of civilization and its conventions.
Generally speaking, three approaches or opinion groups
dominated the discussion: the Futurologist School, the
Chinese Culturalist School (including a new Marxist
approach), and the School of Political Hermeneutics.4
3Ben Xu called these two campaigns the two most exciting and
memorable moments of proenlightenment and prodemocracy cul-
tural discussion in twentieth-century China. Ben Xu, Disenchanted
Democracy: Chinese Cultural Criticism after 1989, Ann Arbor: The
University of Michigan Press, 1999, p.1.
4
See Xudong Zhang, Chinese Modernism in the Era of Reforms:
Cultural Fever, Avant-Garde Fiction, and the New Chinese Cinema,
14 2 Genesis of the Issue of Culture: The Cultural Fever and Avant-Garde of the 1980s
Chronologically, the Futurologist School was the first
influential opinion group in the debate. It focused on the val-
ue-free domain of scientific knowledge and methods.
Through a series of publications under the title, Toward the
Future, this group attracted many followers in high schools
and colleges, as well as the educated public. It attempted
to convince readers that while Chinas culture lacked sci-
entific methodology and logic thinking, modern science
and technology, mostly imported from the West, could reduce
the distance between China and the West, the backward pres-
ent and the modern future. Spiritually, this group seemed to
be the direct successor of the May-Fourth Movement in its
respect for modern science and scientific principles. In fact,
there were slogans and strategies from the 1920s to 1940s that
reflected these concepts: (ke xuejiu guo, save the
nation through science) and (shi ye jiu guo, save
the nation through industry and commerce). The difference
was that while the early advocates of science concentrated
on introducing various scientific disciplines, the Futurologist
School of the 1980s also sought to introduce and utilize what
they called scientific methodology and logic thinking.
This was critical because science was considered not only at
a practical and instrumental level, but also at a spiritual and
philosophic level. In an article, Jin Guantao, a chemist and
a leading figure of the Futurologist School, the chief editor
of the series Toward the Future, pointed out that the Chi-
nese culture had internal restraints on logical thinking.5 For
him, traditional Chinese philosophy and other theories, such
as those of painting, literature, and music, were based on em-
pirical facts, rather than inference. In other words, Chinese
scholars usually drew their theory directly from their visual
observation, personal feeling, and emotional reaction to ob-
jects. By contrast, Western theorists formulated their abstract
structure through induction and deduction of empirical facts.
This representative statement of the Futurologist School
clearly treated science and the logic method as criteria to
judge the legitimacy and rationality of Chinese culture.
The Chinese Culturalist School (including a new Marxist
wing) seemed to be a countermove to the Futurologist School.
With members who were mostly well-known professors and/
or researchers of humanities and social sciences, this school
believed that Chinas culture could step forward to its own
modern stage. Supporters held two basic assumptions. First,
Chinese civilization had the internal capability of assimilat-
ing foreign factors while keeping its own primary values and
Durham and London: Duke University Press, 1997, pp.3771.
5 Jin Guantao and Liu Qingfeng, pivotal for Chinas cultural transformation. Its radical stance
? (Why didnt the an- toward tradition made this school a significant rival to the
cient Chinese philosophers discover the syllogism?a comparison be-
tween Aristotle and the ancient Chinese philosophers), in
(traditional Chinese culture reexamined), Shanghai: Fudan
University Press, 1987, pp.208215.
features (the best example is the cultural prosperity of the
Tang dynasty from the seventh century to tenth century). Sec-
ondly, as a temporal-spatial entity, Chinese culture with its
five thousand-year history could be a rival force against Eu-
ro-American-central narratives, thus its modernity could be-
come an alternative to Euro-Americas modernity. While the
media labeled this group New Confucianism, some new
Marxists, who tried to legitimate the experience of Chinese
indigenous modernity based on its native culture by means of
Marxist philosophy and anthropology, joined it. This group,
obviously, tended to hold a positive view of Chinas own cul-
tural tradition. Unlike the Futurologist School, which consid-
ered Chinas culturethe present culture was nothing but the
extension of the pastan obstacle of modernization because
of its nonscientific and nonlogic characteristics, the Culturalist
School attempted to dig out what they considered the essence
of traditional Chinese culture and assumed that it was not the
opposite of modernity, rather, it could become the core of Chi-
nese modernity, on which an alternative of existing modes of
modernization could be established. Confucianism, the he-
gemonic ideology that had ruled this central empire most of
time for the last twenty centuries, was naturally the essential
core of this Chinese modernity. After modification, the New
Confucianism could lead China toward modern society, not
unlike South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, or even
Japan, countries and regions that had more or less based their
contemporary development on Confucianism as well as on
Western management and technologies. Among its various
dogmas, the concept of (tian ren he yi, the harmo-
ny of heaven/nature and man) in Confucianism was the most
important principle guiding modernization. And, moderniza-
tion of human life style, a way of thinking and spiritual status,
instead of science and technology, should be the priority.
Some younger-generation scholars (most born after
1949), under an organization named the Editorial Com-
mittee for Twentieth-Century Western Scholarly Classics
founded in Beijing at the end of 1985,6 formed the School
of Political Hermeneutics, the third opinion group in the de-
bate. These scholars developed a different discursive space
and cultural strategy while addressing the motifs of modern-
ization and modernity. More theoretical than the previous
schools, they tended to transform Chinese tradition through
their hermeneutic effort based on Western modern philoso-
phy and human sciences, so-called (xi xue, Western
learning or scholarship). While the Futurologist School was
obsessed with scientific methodology and logic think-
ing, the Hermeneutics School focused on the introduction
of Western theoretical discourses, which it believed was
6 The name of the committee was changed into The Editorial Com-
mittee: CultureChina and the World in 1987.
2.1 Cultural Fever and Hermeneutics School 15

Culturalist School. Its statements such as (xuan the Chinese tradition. No matter how humble a persons po-
zhi chuan tong, suspending tradition) and sition is in society, his/her moral imperative will call him/her
(chong xin quan shi chuan tong, reinterpreting tradition) whenever the nation needs him/her. This might explain why
were, in effect, tactical slogans for the strategic goal of the the public became involved so deeply in the Great Cultural
critique and subversion of tradition. Discussion when they had the opportunity to address their
These three schools dominated the debate on culture and concerns and to offer solutions.
had immense impact on Chinese artists, who in turn were ac- We should ask, why the issue of culture, rather than issues
tive participants in the debate. The fact that a debate, which of economy, law, technology, or management, etc.; became
for most outsiders sounds like a merely theoretical discus- the focus of the debate? A pertinent and fundamental ques-
sion within the academic sphere, eventually went beyond the tion is, what was the meaning of culture in the vocabulary
ivory tower and became a nationwide culture-mania that of Chinas Cultural Fever of the 1980s?
was a phenomenon requiring exploration and analysis. The decade of 1980s was a crucial period for China. In this
As Xudong Zhang said, For the first time in the history period, there was a reenactment of the history of the past cen-
of the Peoples Republic, political intellectual discussion tury. After the Opium Wars in the middle of nineteenth cen-
was allowed discursive room outside the state apparatus of tury, China had tried various means to strengthen its national
ideology.7 Chinese citizens had the chance to express their power. This central empire realized for the first time that China
own opinion with little misgivings for the first time since 1949. was no longer a superpower or even the center of the world,
Thanks to the Reform and Opening campaign launched by but an aged nation that had been displaced by the fast-paced
Deng Xiaoping (19041997) in the late 1970s, they could ex- industrialization of the Western nations. The empire learned
press their concerns and criticisms not only about cultural is- this lesson mainly from its defeat in the Opium War. From the
sues but also about other topics such as economics, education, wars on, China began to import advanced technology and to
foreign affairs, or even government efficiency as long as they introduce modern science and a democratic political system.
did not challenge the authority directly. At this particular pe- She had tried to revive the nations culture at three levels: sci-
riod of history of the Peoples Republic, any issue could attract entific technology, political system, and cultural values.
public attention if it touched the lives, work, or future of the The reader may notice that this three-level division of cul-
people. But why did the public believe this cultural issue had ture is a creative concept. C. P. Snow, a British physicist, nov-
something critical to do with their lives? elist, and government minister, posed his two cultures the-
From a historical point of view there was a profound rea- ory in his well-known book The Two Cultures, first published
son for this phenomenon. In Chinas tradition, the publics in 1959. The author posited that there were two polar groups
interest in political and social issues was considered an ethi- of intellectuals: literary intellectuals and scientists. These two
cal imperative. First in the era of Confucius, a teacher and a groups of intellectuals were distinct from each other, and they
local official like Confucius would travel to various duke- formed two different cultures, sometimes indifferent to each
doms to promote his thoughts of governance. Then , other: literary culture versus scientific culture.8 This dualism
, , , , (zheng xin, cheng yi, xiu of culture was based on the concept that civilization could be
shen, qi jia, zhi guo, ping tian xia, make ones mind upright, considered as two opposites, spirit versus material, or human-
keep ones honesty and sincerity, cultivate ones moral char- ity versus technology, or, more abstractly, subject versus ob-
acter, manage ones family, run the country, and put great ject, an issue that had dominated philosophical thinking for
order across the land) became a pivotal principle for the centuries. Snow found a huge gap between the two cultures,
scholar-gentry (shi da fu). And three goals of a sage especially in his native country, Great Britain, and tried to offer
, , (li de, li yan, li gong, establish role model a solutionreform of the educational systemto bridge it.
by ethical behavior, achieve glory by writing, and render a Chinese intellectuals had developed their trichotomy of
deed of merit)encouraged a high standard for literati and culture in the process of learning from the West. First they
even knights. Up to the Song dynasty (tenth to thirteenth cen- found that modern science and technology, embodied in
turies), Fan Zhongyan (9691052), a statesman and a writer, the Western military arsenal, were strong, challenging sig-
claimed that , (tian xia xin wang, pi fu nificantly the confidence of this nations subjects who were
you ze, every ordinary man has a share of responsibility for proud of their long history of developed technologies. As
the fate of his country), which has encouraged generations a nation that was the cradle of gunpowder, paper, movable
and generations to devote themselves to the nation. Such a type printing, and the compass, China had its own history of
collective-oriented attitude and ethics is an integral part of science and technology. The problem was that all those in-
ventions, practical skills, and theory were simply considered
7Xudong Zhang, Chinese Modernism in the Era of Reforms: Cultural
Fever, Avant-Garde Fiction, and the New Chinese Cinema, Durham 8C. P. Snow, The Two Cultures: And, A Second Look, Cambridge:

and London: Duke University Press, 1997, p.4. Cambridge University Press, 1969.
16 2 Genesis of the Issue of Culture: The Cultural Fever and Avant-Garde of the 1980s
craftsmanship, convincing Chinese literati that they were
inferior to the importance of literature, history, strategy, and
philosophy. After the Opium Wars of the 1840s, the Chinese
started to rethink the role of craftsmanship in the devel-
opment of their country, as well as its place in scholarship.
Therefore, for the first time, science and technology were
fused and integrated into a larger category, which the Chinese
later called (culture). Up to the beginning of the twen-
tieth century, particularly during the May-Fourth Movement,
the Chinese realized that there must be something more im-
portant behind the Western science and technology, because
China was still too weak despite importing modern warships,
cannons, and pertinent technologies. Instead of searching im-
mediately at the spiritual level, they went to the instrumental
or operational level because they needed to determine how
these technologies worked under humans operation. This
level of system and management was difficult to classify
as a distinct unit in a dualism. Or, in other words, Chinese
intellectuals of this period thought the system and man-
agement belonged to the spiritual level, the opposite of the
material level, namely technologies, but the instrumentality
of system and management refers essentially to material
level. Up to the 1980s, the discussants of the Cultural Fever
dug deeper and found that there was value at the top of this
pyramid of culture. The democratic system and modern man-
agement were established on the basis of such value, which
Chinese intellectuals believed was the core of culture. The
value referred to value of human life, spirit, and rights. A
system or management established on it must serve human
beings and improve their material and spiritual lives.
This epistemological process was a perfect unity of his-
tory and dialectics: from technology and science, to political
system and management, finally, to the concept of value in
three time periods. Chronologically, the second half of the
nineteenth century could be seen as the first stagethe stage
of importing advanced technologies. In the period of the
May-Fourth Movement, around the early twentieth century,
China attempted to study and apply a democratic system
to politics, as well as to scientific management in industry,
business, and administration. Started from the May-Fourth
Movement of the 1920s and continued in the 1980s, the Chi-
nese, particularly the intellectuals, realized that the value
system of culture was pivotal for the revival of Chinese cul-
ture, although the resolutions could be different depending
on the perspective and strategy of various opinion-groups in
the Cultural Fever.
The phases of learning from the West can be tracked from
the generations of Chinese who studied overseas. Liang
Congjie (1932), a distinguished scholar in cultural studies,
son of Liang Sicheng (19011972), a famous architect, who
studied overseas in the early twentieth century, and grandson
of Liang Qichao (18731929), a scholar, journalist, philos-
opher, and reformist, one of the most influential figures in
the Chinese history of modern times, recalled when talking
about the generations of his father and grandfather:
There were several generations of Chinese overseas students.
The late-nineteenth-century generation represented by Zhan
Tianyou (18611919) studied mainly in the fields of railroad
and ship construction. Yan Fu (18541921) and Lin Changmin
(18761925) were the representatives of the second genera-
tion (the end of nineteenth century and early twentieth century)
who went abroad to study democracy and political science. In
the third generation, including Xu Zhimo (18971931) and Jin
Yuelin (18951984), the focus shifted from the technology of
ships and cannons, and political systems such as parliament, to
the study of human sciences.9
In the 1980s, China reopened its doors after three decades of
closure to the outside world. The first two stages had been
repeated in different ways and at a more intensive level.
Eventually, the leaders of the cultural discussion realized
that without a pertinent management system and politi-
cal framework, any advanced technology would not work
properly and efficiently. Most important, without renewal or
revival at the discursive level, that is, in a system of values,
the application and operation of modern management and a
political system would still face insurmountable obstacles.
Therefore, in the 1980s, the meaning of the term culture
used by discussants of Cultural Fever was close to the
Greek nomos which can be contrasted with physis (nature).
It is what humans produced and was thus subject to vol-
untary human intervention.10 Although one might not find
a consensual definition for all discussants, there was a
general concept. Historically and conceptually, most discus-
sants believed that culture could be subdivided into three
categories: technology, system, and values. Culture was an
integral entity, not unlike a personal computer. Technol-
ogy could be seen as hardware, while the system and values
function as the system software and the application software,
respectively. Technology was the physical base for the entity,
but it would only work in a system that could operate the
physical apparatus. Value, however, was located at the core
of the entity, and worked like an application software, which
consists of a series of instructions. It was the commander and
played the pivotal role in the cultural entity.
All three opinion-groups offered answers for the revival or
reconstruction of the value system. The Futurologist School
9Quoted from (Wu Fei), ( ren
jian si yue tian wai qu le li shi, the TV series April in life provided
a distorted picture), (world journal), Sunday, May 14, 2000,
supplement weekly, p.1.
10 See Jere Paul Surber, Culture and Critique: An Introduction to the
Discourse of Cultural Studies, Colorado: Westview Press, a Division
of Harper Collins Publishers, 1998, p.4. After describing this general
concept of culture, Surber pointed out, The operative definition of cul-
ture is inseparable from the type of critique being pursued, as the two
constantly interact and influence one another. (p.4) Considering the
Great Discussion of Culture as a critique of culture, the notion of
culture used was accordingly defined in a given context.
2.1 Cultural Fever and Hermeneutics School
believed that new technology embodied modern methods and
scientific logic, and represented a new view of world and
value, which was just what Chinese culture lacked. Two com-
mercially successful books, The Third Wave by Alvin Toffler
(1980) and Megatrend by John Naisbitt (1982), were trans-
lated into Chinese and became the bibles of the Futurologist
School afterwards. The postmodern and postindustrial land-
scape the authors described captivated Chinese readers. The
Futurologists and their followers seemed to have found some-
thing in common between the agriculture-dominant nation
and the postmodern nationsa more personal, nonmechani-
cal, and less homogeneous societya myth that fascinated
many readers, although some clearheaded scholars pointed
out the absurdity of this illusion. As one of the followers of
this school, I was in fact amazed by Tofflers The Third Wave
after I read its Chinese version in 1984, when I was an art his-
tory graduate student at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in
Beijing. Because of the paucity of translated copies, the book
had been passed around by schoolmates. The Futurologist
School and its followers believed that those post-modernist
concepts and life styles could be the savior of Chinese culture
if introduced into China. Compared to the other two schools,
the Futurologist School was more effective in combining
mass consumption and intellectual activities, and in the coor-
dination of public interests and the concerns of the elite.
The Culturalist School went back to traditional Chinese
philosophy and ethics in order to revive a Confucianism-based
system of value, which this school believed had been aban-
doned since the May-Fourth Movement in the early twentieth
century and was totally destroyed in the Cultural Revolution
during the 1960s and 1970s. They stressed that China needed
reconstruction, rather than construction, of its culture. The
tradition was not the part that could and should be rejected
in modernization, instead, it was the core on which Chinese
culture could be reconstructed, or creatively transformed,
through integrating modernity into this core. Or thinking
about it from another perspective, the active involvement of
the traditional elements with contemporary social conditions
may not be significant only to the construction of a modern
Chinese culture, but would also enable China to transcend
Euro-American modernism through its alternative approach
to modernization. The rise of Asias Four DragonsSin-
gapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Taiwanin the 1970s
and 1980s was, for scholars of the Culturalist School, the best
example of this Asian-type modernity. All of these nations/
territories, especially their mainstream ideologies, had been
marked profoundly by the Confucianist heritage. And at the
same time, they had applied Western management and tech-
nologies to their economic systems successfully.
The champions of Hermeneutics School called for a new
enlightenment which aimed at the renewal of the value sys-
tem by means of subverting the existing discourse, a com-
bination of Maoism and Marxism, plus some elements of
modified Confucianism. If we could say that the two previ-
17
ous schools tried to write out a prescription for Chinas dis-
eased culture, this group attempted to perform an operation
on the cultural body. Their radical stance was reflected in a
large-scale project of translation of modernist and postmod-
ernist theory. This was carried out by the Editorial Commit-
tee for Twentieth-Century Western Scholarly Classics. This
project covered approximately one hundred works, ranging
from Husserl, Heidegger, Gadamer, Jung, Sartre, Merleau-
Ponty, Popper, Marcuse, Adorno, Habermas, Ricoeur, Witt-
genstein, Foucault, Lacan to Derrida. A list of translated and
to-be-translated monographs appeared on the back cover of
the Chinese version of Sein und Zeit (Being and Time) by
Martin Heidegger, published in 1987 (Fig.2.1).11
Von Edmund Husserl  Logische Untersuchungen (Logical
Investigations, 1900)
Martin Heidegger Sein und Zeit (Being and Time, 1926)
Martin Heidegger Einfhrung in die Metaphysik (Introduc-
tion to Metaphysics, 1953)
Jean Paul Sartre L'tre et le nant (Being and Nothing-
ness, 1943)
Maurice Merleau-Ponty  Phnomnologie de la Perception
(Phenomenology of Perception, 1945)
Karl R. Popper Objective Knowledge: an Evolutionary
Approach (1972)
Herbert Marcuse  Eros and Civilization: A Philosophical
Inquiry into Freud (1955)
Theodor Adorno  Zur Metakritik der Erkenntnistheorie
(Against Epistemology, a Meta-critique,
1956)
Jurgen Habermas  Erkenntnis und Interesse (Knowledge
and Interest, 1969)
Hans Georg Gadamer  Wahrheit und Methode (Truth and
Method, 1960)
Paul Ricoeur  Interpretation Theory: Discourse and
the Surplus of Meaning (1976)
Paul Ricoeur  Hermeneutics and Human Sciences:
Essays on Language,Action, an Interpre-
tation (1981)
Michel Foucault  Les mots et les choses: une archologie
des sciences humaines (Word and Thing:
Archeology as Human Science, 1966)
Jacques Derrida  Speech and Phenomena, and Other
Essays on Husserls Theory of Signs
(translated from the English version,
1973)a
a
As I will discuss in Section 2.2, a large-scale translation in art
occurred simultaneously. This was not a coincidence; instead, it
indicated that there was something common to both spheres.
11 The translators of the book Sein und Zeit, Chen Jiaying and Wang
Qingjie, were members of the Editorial Committee for Twentieth-Cen-
tury Western Scholarly Classics. This list does not include all translated
and to-be-translated monographs published by the Editorial Committee
for Twentieth-Century Western Scholarly Classics because the plan
kept changing and more books were added. Therefore, different lists
could be found from the back covers of different translated books
during this period.
18 2 Genesis of the Issue of Culture: The Cultural Fever and Avant-Garde of the 1980s
Fig. 2.1 Front and back covers
of the Chinese version of Martin
Heideggers Sein und Zeit (Being
and Time), translated by Chen
Jiaying and Wang Qingjie and
published by Joint Publishing
Company, Beijing, 1987.
From this incomplete list, we can see the Editorial Committee
of the Hermeneutics School was very ambitious and tried to in-
troduce modern Western scholarship from phenomenology, ex-
istentialism, hermeneutics, philosophy of science, New Marx-
ism, poststructurism to postmodernism. Because of the limited
availability of original publications in China of the 1980s, the
selected books from specific thinkers might not be the most
representative one. Some modern classics by thinkers like Ni-
etzsche, Schopenhauer, Freud, and Saussure had already been
translated and published by other publishers after the Cultural
Revolution, in addition to the classics from Aristotle to Kant
published in the 1960s and 1970s. However, this ambitious
campaign of translation launched by the Hermeneutics School
scholars was the first systematic and large-scale project focus-
ing on modern and contemporary Western scholarship.
This systematic introduction was considered an essential
project through which totally heterogeneous discourses were
introduced and circulated. This Western scholarship on phi-
losophy, history, economics, linguistics, and literature became
the arsenal of the Hermeneutics School for the critique and
subversion of Chinese culture and tradition; no wonder mem-
bers of this school were labeled the Wholesale Westernizers.
The position of the third opinion group was important
because the Chinese avant-garde of the 1980s shared more
ideas and strategies with this group than with the other two.
According to Xudong Zhang, there was a major differ-
ence between the Futurologist School and the Hermeneu-
tics School. When the former drew their inspiration from
modern science and technology, the latter focused on the
sphere of Geisteswissenschaften (human sciences) and pur-
sued an interpretation, not an explanation, of the cultural con-
ditions of contemporary China.12 It indicates the end of an
ideological holy alliance within the Party-led mass movement
for modernization, the intellectual passion for rationaliza-
tion, and the cultural-critical effort to come to terms with the
New Era.13 The separation from science and technology was
so significant that it suggested an essential shift in the Herme-
neutics School from the concern for issues at the first level,
technology, to the third level, value, the core of the culture.
It was significant also because the official ideology of past
decades had claimed its scientific basisthe socialism in
Marx was called scientific socialism, for instanceso that
science itself became a shield for inhuman or nonhumanitar-
ian ideology and policies. If the Futurologists believed that a
scientific-critique or logic-critique would be the center of the
discussion, then the hermeneutics group called for a critique
of value or cultural critique for the new enlightenment. To a
high degree, it accorded with the thoughts of most avant-garde
artists, Wenda Gu in particular, as I will demonstrate later.
Among the three opinion groups, the Hermeneutics
School showed its distinctive independence from the of-
ficial ideology and hegemonic discourse, and argued a
radical intellectual attitude toward tradition. The Futurolo-
gist School shared its scientific basis, to a degree, with
scientific Marxism and scientific socialismanother ex-
12 Xudong Zhang, Chinese Modernism in the Era of Reforms: Cultural
Fever, Avant-Garde Fiction, and the New Chinese Cinema, Durham and
London: Duke University Press, 1997, p.54.
13 Ibid. p.55.
2.2 The Natural Ally of Hermeneutics School: Chinas Avant-Garde in the 1980s
pression of official ideology. The Culturalist School sought
its theoretical basis in either fundamentalist or modified
Confucianism, a stance close to Maos strategy of
(gu wei jin yong, the ancient serves the present, or using
the classics for todays task). The Hermeneutics School,
however, used an opportunist strategy (xuan
zhi chuan tong, suspending tradition)to de-emphasize
the current mainstream as well as classical ideologies. This
strategy enabled them to fulfill their missionthe subver-
sion of existing traditions and the transformation of them
into a modern type of culture. Born in the 1950s and 1960s,
most of the Hermeneutics School members were in the first
group of M.A. and Ph.D. recipients in philosophy, history,
sociology, literature, or economics after the Cultural Revo-
lution, sharing a background with those avant-garde artists
of the 1980s. Trained and often intellectually immersed in
Western texts, their inclination to Westernization seemed to
be inherent. To any ideological group in current Chinese so-
ciety, the hermeneutic faction was viewed as definitely inno-
vative or even heretical. Spiritually, Chinese avant-gardists
were natural allies of the Hermeneutics School. As a part of
Chinas avant-garde movement, Wenda Gu shared the ideas
of the Hermeneutics School and used them in forming his
own understanding of the issue of culture.
2.2The Natural Ally of Hermeneutics School:
Chinas Avant-Garde in the 1980s
When exploring the background of Wenda Gus interest in
cultural issues, we need to examine another movement
Chinas avant-garde, which emerged nearly simultaneously
with the Cultural Fever during 1985 and 1986. Because
of their frequent and intense interactions and similarities
of spirit, we may consider the avant-garde an integral part
of the Cultural Fever, or more accurately, the natural ally
of the Hermeneutics School of the Great Cultural Discus-
sion. Deeply involved with the avant-garde campaign,
Wenda Gu shared interests and ideas with most of the van-
guard artists.
It is by no means a coincidence that from the beginning
of 1985, when the Great Cultural Discussion began, about
eighty new and unofficial art groups mushroomed nation-
widea distinctive signal of the wave of Chinas avant-
garde, or (ba wu mei shu yun dong, 85 Art
Movement), as coined by Gao Minglu, a well-known critic
and one of the key figures of the movement.
Spread over twenty-three provinces, autonomous regions,
and central jurisdictional cities,14 these groups consisted of
14 There were twenty nine province-level administrative unitstwenty
one provinces, five autonomous regions, and three central jurisdictional
citiesin China in the 1980s.
19
mainly graduates or current students in art colleges.15 They
were mostly born before the Cultural Revolution (1966
1976) and grew up during and after the revolution, the gen-
eration close to those Hermeneutics School members.
In the book A History of Contemporary Chinese Art:
19851986,16 the authors pointed out the connection be-
tween the Great Cultural Discussion and the formation of
new thinking about culture on which Chinas avant-garde
was based. Chinese intellectuals (including all three scholar-
ly groups of the Cultural Fever) had realized that in order
to move toward a modern society China needed to establish
a system of new cultural values. According to the authors,
there were four basic opinions about new culture:
We should reestablish the Chinese culture based on the
core of the new value system, therefore the old culture,
the barrier of modernization, should be criticized and
destroyed because of its closed status, exclusiveness, and
super-stability.
Based on the new culture, we may revise and develop
Confucianism.
We need to establish enlightened culture in which man,
instead of gods, is the center, since contemporary China
is still in a pre-industrial stage, comparable to that of the
Enlightenment in Europe.
We can establish modern Chinese culture based on the
ethical principles of Confucianism, in addition to capital-
ist management.
As radical as the Hermeneutics School, Chinese avant-garde
artists were essentially anti-tradition warriors. Most of them
advocated the first premise: art as a part of culture or in-
carnation of cultural discourse needed to be renewed under
a new value system; thus, those art traditions from past to
present had to be rejected in order to pave way for new art.
Here we see a dilemma. In contemporary intellectual com-
munities, artists and philosophers (or social activists) often
affiliated with different social groups, but artists tended to
have their own ideology, even independence from other
groups. However, Chinese avant-garde artists still consid-
ered themselves part of the intelligentsia as a whole, not un-
like their ancestors of a century ago, when European (French
particularly) vanguard artists, poets, novelists, thinkers, and
social activists shared their concepts in taverns, salons, and
15
Unlike the West, there were still few universities that had art depart-
ments in the 1980s. Fine arts academies were mostly responsible for
educating/training art professionals with exceptions of art departments
in teachers universities or colleges.
16 (Gao Minglu,
Zhou Yan, Wang Xiaojian, Shu Qun, Wang Mingxian, Tong Dian)
:19851986 (zhong guo dang dai mei shu shi: 1985
1986, A history of contemporary Chinese art: 19851986), Shanghai
Peoples Publisher, 1991.
20 2 Genesis of the Issue of Culture: The Cultural Fever and Avant-Garde of the 1980s

Fig. 2.2 Book jacket of the

Chinese version of Ernst Gom-
brichs Art and Illusion: A Study
in the Psychology of Pictorial
Representation, 1960, trans-
lated by Zhou Yan, published by
Hunan Peoples Press 1987.

academic forums. In the period when Chinas culture was in Herbert Read  A Concise History of Modern Painting (1959)
a critical stage, the artists claimed that they belonged to the H. W. Janson  History of Art: A Survey of the Major Visual
Arts from the Dawn of History to the Present
camp where the most radical Hermeneutics School members
Day (1962)
resided. In this sense, Chinas avant-garde artists were simi-
H. Harvard Arnason History of Modern Art: Painting, Sculpture,
lar to the modernists in the West. Also, they shared antago- Architecture (1968)
nist attitude with their Western pioneers, though the latter Lionello Venturi  History of Art Criticism (translated from
tried to attack the culture of bourgeoisie, while the object of English version, 1936)
formers battle was a mixture of official ideology and literati Robert Venturi  Learning from Las Vegas: the Forgotten
tradition. Symbolism of Architectural Form (1972)
One of the best indicators of this allied relationship be- Heinrich Wolfflin  Principles of Art History, the Problem of the
Development of Style in Later Art (translated
tween avant-garde and the Hermeneutics School was that
from English version, 1929)
both groups published many translated books of modern
Erwin Panofsky  Studies in Iconology: Humanistic Themes in
and contemporary Western scholarship. The Editorial Com- the Art of the Renaissance (1939)
mittee for Twentieth-Century Western Scholarly Classics, Ernst Gombrich  The Story of Art (1950)
the actual headquarters of the Hermeneutics School, Ernst Gombrich  Art and Illusion: a Study in the Psychology of
organized this large-scale project of translation and pub- Pictorial Representation (1960, Fig.2.2)a
lication of Western philosophy and human sciences. At George Santayana  The Sense of Beauty: Being the Outlines of
the same time, the young art critics and scholars, most of Aesthetic Theory (1936)
whom belonged to the avant-garde circle, also translated Susanne Langer  Problems of Art: Ten Philosophical Lectures
and published books of modern Western art history and (1957)
theory, including Read, Janson, Arnason, L. Venturi, Wolf- Robin Collingwood  The Principles of Art (1955)
flin, Panofsky, Gombrich, Santayana, Langer, Collingwood, Rudolf Arnheim  Film als Kunst (Film as Art, 1931)
and Arnheim. Clement Greenberg also became popular for Rudolf Arnheim  Art and Visual Perception: a Psychology of
the Creative Eye (1954)
many young critics and artists. However, there was no coun-
Rudolf Arnheim  Visual Thinking (1969)
terpart of the Editorial Committee of Hermeneutics School
Rudolf Arnheim  The Power of the Center: a Study of Compo-
in art circles, so the translations were made at various insti- sition in the Visual Arts (1982)b
tutions and published by different publishers. A complete aThere were two versions of the translation of Art and Illusion,

list of such imported scholarship was seldom seen, but my translated by Fan Jinzhong and Zhou Yan, respectively
b The Power of the Center was translated by Zhou Yan and Zhang
bookshelf provides us with a segment of it:
Weibo
2.2 The Natural Ally of Hermeneutics School: Chinas Avant-Garde in the 1980s
This incomplete list shows the interests of vanguard art-
ists, critics, and art historians of the 1980s. The reaction of
art circles to these translated books was interesting. The
avant-garde artists read the modern part of those histories,
and scanned catalogues of individual artists without translat-
ing them. Also, they were more interested in humanities and
philosophy books, translated by the Hermeneutics School
scholars, than in Gombrich, Panofsky, and Arnheim. Huang
Yongping (1954), one of the most radical vanguard artists,
even mocked Reads A Concise History of Modern Painting
in his conceptual piece, A History of Chinese Painting and
A Concise History of Modern Painting Washed in a Wash-
ing Machine for Two Minutes in 1987 (Fig.2.4). Art crit-
ics commented on Lionello Venturi and Arnheim, and on a
series of translated articles by Greenberg which appeared in
various periodicals. At the same time, they were fascinated
with Saussure, Derrida, and Foucault, among others. The
theory of discourse and its impact on Chinese contempo-
rary art was among the hottest topics for them. The young
generation of art historians was particularly obsessed with
Panofsky, Gombrich, and Warburg School. Discussions on
iconography and iconology became major themes in some
art magazines.17 Interestingly, Arnheims theory of visual
perception became fashionable for academician artists who
believed the author proved that the pursuit of beauty and for-
mal pleasure was psychologically based.
The new art groups which mushroomed in 1985 and 1986
consisted of a new generation of enlightened artists. The
word enlightened here refers to the circumstances of the
1980s. After having been isolated from the outside world
for decades, young Chinese artists now had the chance to
encounter the accomplishments of modern and contempo-
rary scholarship of art, art history, and art theory, thanks to
those translated publications, imported catalogues of ex-
hibitions and individual artists, as well as campus lectures
presented by the artists and professors who just visited the
museums, galleries, and art institutions in the West, or some-
times by visiting or residential artists from the West. These
new stimulants opened a window to them and refreshed
them with amazingly exciting concepts, ideas, and thoughts.
Compared to the education they had received, these refresh-
ments were nothing but catalysts of enlightenment.
2.2.1Conceptual Roots of Avant-Garde
Some critics have noted with concern that Chinas avant-
garde was a movement in which the concept came first and
the artistic creation followed. For example, Chen Weihe, a
17 Articles
on art history and art criticism appeared in general art mag-
azines because there were few specific periodicals for art history in
China of the 1980s.
21
critic from the Chinese Institute of Art Research, posited
that the 85 Art Movement had expanded and developed
the movement of ideological emancipation launched in the
beginning of 1980s. Its works were mainly crystals of
ideas and concepts, rather than a unified art creation.18 This
revealed an interesting phenomenon, namely, that the van-
guard artists were more interested in the so-called revolution
of conception than the evolution of art. From this, we can
also see the alliance between the Hermeneutics School and
the avant-garde: both concentrated on the issue of discourse,
rather than the vehicle that carried it.
The term (guan nian, concept or conception) was
integral to the avant-garde movement from its beginning.
The reasons that this term became central were multifold.
First, from political and philosophic arenas, we could fol-
low the debate on the notion (yi hua, alienation)
from around the year of 1981, when Karl Marxs Economic
and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, particularly the first
manuscript Alienated Labor, had been rediscovered by
Marxist theorists with liberal thoughts. The term alienation
(or estrangement) meant for Marx that man does not un-
derstand himself as the acting agent in the world, rather, the
worldnature, others, and himselfremains alien to him.
While the world could be the objects that man creates, it, in
turn, stands above and against him as an object.19 Applying
the term alienation, these Marxist theorists tried to rethink
mans role in Chinas society. The words between the lines
could be read emancipating man from alienation by hege-
monic political power and its ideology. This rediscovery
provided weapons for the critique of inhuman reality and
ideology, and the basis for the establishment of humanism
in Chinas semi-official discourse. The fact that one critical
concept or notion could spark a campaign for an ideological
emancipation made the Chinese, especially the intellectu-
als, realize the power of discursive rhetoric, perhaps for the
first time in decades. Therefore, the renewal of conception
became a banner for liberals and pro-liberals. Second, from
the perspective of the Great Cultural Discussion, launched
in 1985, all three schools endorsed the transformation of
conception since they realized that the Chinese culture was
a highly comprehensive system with trained generations
of Confucianists and other official ideologies, producing
countless ossified-minded officials and even intellectuals.
The transformation of conception, in the final analysis,
revealed the de-ideologization of the Futurologist School
18
See (Gao Minglu,
Zhou Yan, Wang Xiaojian, Shu Qun, Wang Mingxian, Tong Dian),
: 19851986 (zhong guo dang dai mei shu shi: 1985
1986, a history of Chinas contemporary art: 19851986), Shanghai:
Shanghai Peoples Publisher, 1991, pp.333334. Detailed discussion
on the criticism of Chinas avant-garde can be found in 2.2.3.
19 SeeErich Fromm, Marxs Concept of Man, New York: The Con-
tinuum Publishing Company, 2002, p.44.
22 2 Genesis of the Issue of Culture: The Cultural Fever and Avant-Garde of the 1980s
and the Culturalist School, or a strategy of subversion of
hegemonic discourse of the Hermeneutics School. Concep-
tion referred not to a narrowly defined notion, rather, it was
broadened into an ideological system or discursive construc-
tion. Finally, for vanguard artists and critics, focusing on
concept or conception was necessary for both strategy and
their cause. In a period when the new possesses more posi-
tive meanings than the old, the rhetoric of new concept
became a sharp weapon against stubborn-minded rivals.
More importantly, however, they realized that the concept
was an elemental unit in a discursive system, and it was both
the breach for attacking the hegemonic discourse and the
starting point for a new discourse. In these conceptual roots,
the avant-garde grew and developed, drawing criticism for
championing concept-oriented art.
There were roughly three categories in the avant-garde
movement: Rationalist Painting, Current of Life, and Anti-
art. Though they were different from each other in terms of
ideological tendency and artistic means, they had at least two
things in common: their concepts of culture and art and their
determination to subvert tradition and the discursive revolu-
tion.
Rationalist Painting may be the school that is the closest
to the Hermeneutics School in term of stance, attitude, and
strategy relating to culture. The so-called Rationalist Paint-
ing (li xing hui hua) referred to painting that had or in-
tended to carry some philosophical implication. The word
(li xing) was usually translated as reason in philo-
sophical terms. Although there was (li xue, referring
to the New Confucianism of Song and Ming dynasties) in the
legacy of Chinese philosophy, emphasizing social and ethi-
cal order and harmony based on strict social hierarchy,
(reason) for most vanguard artists and critics was a Western
notion. Three aspects should be mentioned to understand
(reason) in Chinas avant-garde context: humanistic
meaning, ontological implication (religious reason, philo-
sophical reason and objective reason), and thinking mode.20
The humanistic meaning of reason for the avant-garde
was, in fact, directly derived from discussions of Marxs
notion of alienation in the early 1980s. This understanding
considered reason from a humanist point of view. It was
to confirm humans ability of recognition and their freedom
of pursuit of universal truth, which should be seen as indi-
viduals essential need for civilization and progress. The
advocates believed that the reason was a spirit of Greek cul-
ture, Renaissance, and the Enlightenment of eighteenth cen-
tury. The term reason was characterized by anti-tradition,
20See (Gao Min-
glu, Zhou Yan, Wang Xiaojian, Shu Qun, Wang Mingxian, Tong Dian),
: 19851986 (zhong guo dang dai mei shu shi: 1985 22
1986, a history of Chinas contemporary art: 19851986), Shanghai:
Shanghai Peoples Publisher, 1991, pp.92105.
anti-theology, anti-political-authority, development of self-
confidence and conscience, and respect for science and
knowledge. The critical spirit was at the core of this rea-
son. Vanguard artists liked reading more than practicing
their art skills. Classic and modern philosophy by Kant,
Nietzsche, Bergson, Wittgenstein, Laozi, Zhuangzi, and
Chan Buddhism were what they loved to read. This reading
and the fascination with philosophy reflected their concern
for humankind and its culture. Chen Zhen (19552000), a
Shanghai artist, was provoked to study philosophy by a com-
ment made by a Western art historian, there is no modern art
in the East because there is no modern philosophy there.21
Repeatedly, readers found profound thoughts on humankind,
culture, and history in the art notes, written by vanguard
artists, of different publications. Thus, it is fair to say that
it was not philosophy that invaded art; rather it was art that
invaded contemporary Chinese philosophy.
The ontological implication of reason referred to the
ultimate objective in art, the appropriation from the philo-
sophic notion of noumenon, the elementary or essential
entity. Based on this understanding, vanguard artists created
art with three different inclinations. When the artists consid-
ered their art an approach up to the sublime, the other shore
or eternal spirit, this kind of religious consciousness ap-
peared in their art. This consciousness combined belief and
passion seen in religion, but more accurately, it did not belong
to any specific religion, rather, it was a fusion of life experi-
ence and the metaphysical principleclose to Nietzsches
will. This fusion seemed to imply the possibility for an
artistic solution for the contradiction between experience
and metaphysics. Unlike artists who valued the pro-religious
objective as the ultimate goal, other artists emphasized the
universal generalization of human experience, a philosophi-
cal approach toward the ultimate. This generalization could
be a methodological search, such as the search for the east-
ern intuitive way of thinking with focus on totality, seen
in Ren Jians (1955, from Heilongjiang) abstract Chinese
ink painting, called by critics universal current painting.22
Or, it could be an artistic incarnation of some philosophic
viewpoint, such as a language for dialogue between univer-
sal origin and humans internal world, displayed in Chen
Zhens linear field painting, named by the artist himself.23
It also could be the presentation of thinking about society
and life, such as the awareness of cultural crisis in Ding
Fangs (1956, from Jiangsu) oil painting, and Yang Zhil-
ings (1956, from Jiangsu) attempt to reveal the paradox of
humankind in his painting, Man Is Evolved from Fish, and
Man Loves Eating Fish. Finally, when artists tried to focus
21 Quoted from the above, p.186. The original source is unknown.
Ibid. pp.114118.
23 Ibid. pp.186189.
2.2 The Natural Ally of Hermeneutics School: Chinas Avant-Garde in the 1980s
on the noumenon of art to reach purity and independence
in art, they kept an objective attitude. The so-called purity
of art referred to concepts of art as a self-contained entity,
which excluded subjective and empirical elements, such as
emotional, visual, or any preconceived ideas.
As for the meaning of thinking mode in (reason),
it referred to artistic thinking, not existential thinking. For
the artists, there was a gap between sensibility and reason,
intuition and thinking, and art and science, in general, a gap
between the empirical and the metaphysical spheres. Van-
guard artists and critics believed that artistic thoughts should
be seen in a scientific context, and it should be considered a
discipline parallel to philosophy and science. In other words,
art wanted first to solve the problem of the nature of the uni-
verse and human beings, and to develop methodology for this
solution, as in other disciplines. Rudolf Arnheim, the Ameri-
can art psychologist, seemed to echo this attitude. When his
Visual Thinking (1969) was translated into Chinese in 1987,
vanguard artists realized that Arnheim had tried to bridge the
gap between art and science, as well as visual thinking and
scientific thinking through his research on visual perception.
For them, a Chan-Buddhist-type of epiphanyreaching
truth in mans intuitionseemed to be a way out. Thus, it
was possible for art to reach essence and nature if the artist
could handle artistic thoughts maturely.
From avant-gardes understanding of reason, we can
see the intention of their discursive revolution, a further and
critical step from the point of meditation and contempla-
tion, embodied best in the Exhibition of International Youth
Year to be discussed in the next part, Varieties of the Avant-
Garde (2.2.2).
Although reason was a basic concept for all avant-
garde schools, Rationalist Painting upheld this concept
more consciously than the other schools. First, Chinas cul-
tural context, or crisis as the vanguard artists identified
it, forced them to rethink and reinterpret this culture from a
profound level, requiring discursive means. Eventually, they
discovered the notion of reason, a way in which persons
act freely in Kant and Hegel, or a measure to judge what had
ever existed in the Enlightenment. Secondly, in art itself, the
nature of art was questioned because of the distortion of art
concepts in mainstream ideology and the less-self-contained
art theory in Chinese traditional scholarship. Finally, van-
guard artists tried to explore the methodology in order to find
a way out of the crevice between art and science, as well
as art and philosophy. Compared to the pre-avant-garde art,
which made efforts to deny the official reflection theory
and raised concerns about Chinese tradition, these efforts
by the rationalist painting artists were critical steps in the
re-interpretation, subversion, and re-construction of Chinese
art, not to mention Chinese culture.
23
A representative manifesto, written by the Northern Art
Group, based in northeastern China, articulated the attitude
of those Rationalist artists:
Our painting is not art! It is just the means of conveying our
thoughts, and it must be part of all our thoughts. We resolutely
oppose the clich of purifying art language and giving full play
to art media in the name of autonomy. Our criteria of a valu-
able painting is that it has to embody true ideas, namely, it must
reveal the power of human intelligence and nobility, and the sub-
lime ideal of human beings.24
This statement was rather abstract, but its aim was obvi-
ous: these artists believed that formalism or autonomy in
art should be discouraged because it lacked spiritual sig-
nificance. After decades of domination by socialist realism,
academician-oriented artists searched for art that would tran-
scend ideological realism through purifying art language.
The avant-garde artists believed, however, that the problem
of socialist realism was not the absence of beautiful form
or pure language; rather, it was the hegemonic discourse re-
flected in socialist realism that should be the object of cri-
tique and subversion.
Compared to Rationalist Painting, which introduced the
concept reason to shake the basis of hegemonic discourse
in art, the Current of Life was a direct reaction to a decade-
long suppression of the awareness of life through stoicism
and asceticism in hegemonic discourse. This awareness of
life included intuition, unconsciousness, sexuality, and de-
sire. Further, the artists of this school believed that there
was a tradition of asceticism in Chinese culture. The typical
evidence was the famous tenet , (cun tian
li, qu ren yu, keep heavenly principles and eliminate mans
desire), propounded by Zhu Xi (11301200), Confucianist
and leader of the School of Principle of the Song dynasty.
The principles here were Confucianist ideology and ethics,
in effect stating that in order to carry out Confucianist norms
people had to suppress their natural desire. One of the results
for women in obeying the Confucianist moral code was the
requirement that they should remain chaste and faithful to
their husband or betrothed, even after his death, thus women
who became widows even at a young age should keep their
widow status throughout their life. This tenet became one
of the most stressful shackles for women as well as men.
For the artists, current asceticism in official ideology repre-
sented the continuation and radicalization of ancient tradi-
tion. It should not only be suspended, as the Hermeneu-
tics Schools strategy urged, but also be destroyed. Also,
unlike Rationalist Painting artists who advocated collective
consciousness, philosophical critique, metaphysic contem-
plation, and religious meditation, the artists of the Current
24 (bei fang yi shu qun ti de jing shen,
spirit of the northern art group), (China Fine Arts, week-
ly), 1985, issue 18.
24 2 Genesis of the Issue of Culture: The Cultural Fever and Avant-Garde of the 1980s
of Life School embraced individualism, subconsciousness,
awareness of nature, and physical intuition. Some artists
claimed they wanted to explore the so-called animal side of
human beings.
The spiritual property of the Current of Life School con-
sisted of four main points: life entity, natural concept, re-
ligious feeling, and intuitive thinking. The artists of this
school viewed life as an individual existence, and looked for
the transcendence of individuals in the process of experienc-
ing this existence. If we could say the Rationalist Painting
artists looked for the upward power of life, then the Current
of Life group examined the downward power of life. In the
final analysis, the basic layer of life was instinctive for these
artists. As one of the artists stated:
The original motive of everything lies in the soil, while the origi-
nal motive of human beings is in their corporeality. It comes
from and goes back to the origin. Without this circulation, life
would be total nihility.25
While some believed that life in art should be the coordi-
nation of social and biological elements of human beings,
others claimed that the realization of life needed not only
recognition of individual life but also transcendence of it.
The consciousness of life of these artists usually derived
from their conception of nature. They considered nature as
a symbol of life, or as a vehicle of the homologue of man
and society, as well as man and the universe. Therefore, the
fictional scenery of nature or personified regional landscape
appeared in their painting. Compared to literati landscape
painting, which was saturated with traditional ethical impli-
cations, this type of painting was characterized by intimacy
and individual sensibility and sentiment.
When individual life entered nature, the unknown terri-
tory of life was extended. It provided the artists with space
from which they looked for the creator behind nature. How-
ever, this pursuit of God did not point to a belief in any
dogma or principle, rather, it led to a religious passion, com-
bining man with nature and the universe through an integral
whole in human instinct.
Accordingly, these artists embraced intuitive thinking.
They considered intuition the best source of instinct, a con-
tinuous flow of internal existence. This was close to what
Buddhism called epiphany, an approach to enlightenment
via the meta-empirical way. For them, spatial concepts should
give way to temporal ones, because the epiphany here was
a process of thinking, a flow of thoughts, rather than a phe-
nomenon of space or a three-dimensional movement. In Ra-
25Quoted from dices representing different kinds of oil pigments, ink,
(Gao Minglu, Zhou Yan, Wang Xiaojian, Shu Qun, Wang Mingxian,
Tong Dian), : 19851986 (zhong guo dang dai mei
shu shi: 19851986, a history of Chinas contemporary art: 1985
1986), Shanghai: Shanghai Peoples Publisher, 1991, p.230.
tionalist Painting, as we saw before, the epiphany was a
way to approach a spatial scheme that housed sublimity, eter-
nity, and spirit. The Current of Life viewed the epiphany as
a process implemented in a linear way. The name of Current
of Life referred in fact partly to this notion of temporality.
The process, instead of results, and the flowing property of
time, rather than three-dimensional space, were valued.
Compared to the other two, the Anti-art group probably
was the most radical of the avant-garde of the 1980s in terms
of its resistance to traditions of art and culture. On the one
hand, it pushed the sur-art (or meta-art) trend of 1985 to the
extreme. The so-called sur-art here referred to non-traditional
art means, particularly some action art in the former two
schools in which artists executed occasional performance or
environmental pieces. On the other hand, the anti-art opposed
the metaphysical approach of the Rationalist Painting, be-
lieving it was isolated from real life.
Xiamen Dada, marked by the exhibition Xiamen
DadaModern Art Exhibition held in the newly opened
Xiamen Art Museum, Fujian Province, September 28
October 5, 1986, was well known for its radical art atti-
tude and action under the leadership of Huang Yongping
(1954). I have chosen Huangs activity and ideas to il-
lustrate the concepts of the Anti-art school because of his
profound understanding of past and current art and culture
as objects of critique, and his radical Anti-art thoughts. It
seemed impossible to discuss his concept without talking
about his art because he integrated the former into the lat-
ter successfully. Also, when his art became more and more
conceptual, concepts advanced while artistic means reced-
ed. As a representative of anti-art, Huang was the spiritual
leader and a talented artist. His art of 1983 to 1989 had four
phases, developing from studio art to site art, and eventually
to conceptual art. In the conceptual stage, it shifted from art
antagonism to the critique of culture while the artistic means
became more and more conceptual.
A. Anti-Aesthetic-Art. He used a spray gun and factory paint
instead of traditional studio supplies to make a series of
paintings of industrial materials, such as T-Shape Pipes,
Several Curved Steel Plates, etc. The reason for this
was that he believed mechanical force represented a mod-
ern spirit on the one hand, and spraying could eliminate
the decorative and artificial features popular in art identi-
fied as aesthetic art on the other.
B. Anti-Self-Expression and Anti-Formalism. This phase
was marked by his Roulette Wheel series. Inspired by
the gambling device, he designed his own roulette wheel,
which was inscribed with various numbers, symbols, and
and acrylic. When spinning the wooden wheel, it told the
painter the place where paint should be put on the canvas,
while throwing the dice determined the selection of paint.
2.2 The Natural Ally of Hermeneutics School: Chinas Avant-Garde in the 1980s 25

Fig. 2.3 Xiamen Dada, Dis-

mantlingDestructionBurn-
ing, an event in which about
60 paintings were burned by the
featuring artists, right after the
show Xiamen DadaModern
Art Exhibition was over, in front
of the Xiamen Art Museum, Oct.
5, 1986.

Possible expressions of subjective emotion/feeling and a specific way of displaying painting. All these aspects
formalist approaches were replaced by the chance-domi- could be seen in his works shown in Xiamen Dada
nated process of execution. Ironically, his anti-expression Modern Art Exhibition, in which Huang and his com-
pieces made in such execution looked like Pollock and rades displayed their anti-art works. However, the most
were very expressive! Huang Yongping accepted this radical anti-art action of the Xiamen Dada artists in this
reading, but he exhorted the audience, To understand a event was the burning of works after the exhibition. More
painting one must go deeper into the method by which this than sixty pieces60% of all featured workswere
painting is made, instead of just looking at its final results. burned on the square in front of Xiamen Art Museum be-
The final result is not as important as the method.26 fore hundreds of spectators (Fig.2.3). Two months later,
C. Anti-Art. In this period, Huang Yongping and other this group engaged in another action, Event Occurred
Xiamen Dada artists began to introduce Dada into their in the Fujian Provincial Art Museum. If the first one
art. Dada to them referred not only to Duchamp and his destroyed what we called art, the second introduced the
comrades of the early twentieth century; they also de- non-art objects into the art institutioniron wire fence,
fined any artists who practiced anti-art as Dada, includ- timber, carts, prefabricated architectural components, old
ing Yves Klein, Jasper Jones, Joseph Beuys, John Cage, painting frames, an air-blower, worn sofa, cane chairs,
and others. As one critic pointed out that to Huang and and couches were moved from the courtyard of museum
his comrades, Dada is an alias for non-art or anti-art, into the exhibition hall. One and a half hours after the
and its meaning is to negate something or to consign it opening, the authorities shut down this crazy show.
to nihility.27 Huang Yongping mentioned three aspects D. Anti-Art-History. This was the most significant step in
of his art in this period: the destruction of the medium of terms of the discursive revolution, a stance many leading
painting, the appropriation of image, and the search for vanguard artists held. As a part of history and culture,
art history was narrated with certain discourses in certain
cultural circumstances. Its narratives and rhetoric were
26
Hunag Yongping, (gei wang xiao jian de xin, a products of specific cultural contexts; in turn, they guided
letter to Wang Xiaojian), October 22, 1987, quoted from Gao Minglu or led contemporary art to a special direction. The shift of
etal. (zhong guo dang dai mei shu shi: 19851986, target from art to art history reflected Huangs profound
a history of Chinas contemporary art: 19851986), Shanghai: Shang-
insight into this crucial sphere. He produced two major
hai Peoples Publisher, 1991, p.342.
27 (Fan Di-an), (lun xia men da da, On Xia- works in this phase. The project Book Collection was
men Dada), unpublished article, quoted from to glue together the book The Story of Modern Art by
(Gao Minglu, Zhou Yan, Wang Xiaojian, Norbert Lynton (1980) page by page. Eventually, it be-
Shu Qun, Wang Mingxian, Tong Dian), (zhong guo came a paper brick and symbolized the closure of the
dang dai mei shu shi: 19851986, a history of Chinas contemporary
history of modern art. The second was his well-known
art: 19851986), Shanghai: Shanghai Peoples Publisher, 1991, p.344.
26
Fig. 2.4 Huang Yongping, A History of Chinese Painting and A Concise
History of Modern Painting Washed in a Washing Machine for Two Min-
utes, installation view, paper pulp, approx. 31 x 20 x 20 in., destroyed, 1987.
piece, A History of Chinese Art and A Concise History of
Modern Painting Washed in a Washing Machine for Two
Minutes (1987)28 (Fig.2.4). This work articulated his
anti-art-history attitude in a very strong and radical way
and became the most poignant and frequently cited anti-
art-history classic work in Chinas modern art history.
Huang Yongpings case was especially significant for my
study because from his anti-art career we can see step by
step how a Chinese avant-garde artist of the 1980s moved
from art to discourse. Looking at Huangs art made in France
and other countries in the 1990s, it is not difficult to trace
his footprints from the critique of art, to the critique of art
history, and, finally, to the critique of culture, a counterpart
transformation of Wenda Gus early period.
28 (zhong guo mei shu shi, a history of Chinese art) by
(Yu Jianhua, 1970s); A Concise History of Modern Painting, by
Herbert Read (1974).
2 Genesis of the Issue of Culture: The Cultural Fever and Avant-Garde of the 1980s
Compared to the different schools of the Great Cultural
Discussion, I realized that Chinas avant-garde was not
close either to the Futurologist School or to the Chinese
Culturalist School, except for its willingness to search for
a solution to the cultural crisis. Vanguard artists did not be-
lieve, or at least were not interested in the opinion of sav-
ing the nation by science and technology, suggested by
intellectuals during the May-Fourth Movement, an idea
inherited by the Futurologist School. They believed that the
crisis of Chinese culture occurred at the level of value, or,
more accurately, that of discourse rather than at the technical
level. And, they never thought they could be comrades of
the Culturalist School either, since they were so radical that
no tradition for them could be an integral part of the new
culture they wanted to build. Tradition, convention or lega-
cy was to the vanguard artists, Anti-art particularly, simply
targets of critique and subversion and was by no means one
of the agents of rebuilding Chinese culture, as the Culturalist
School suggested.
Not every avant-garde group or individual artist identified
themselves as the ally of the Hermeneutics School. Gener-
ally speaking, however, these groups and artists were close
in spirit to that school. Several similarities in concerns and
possible solutions could be seen here. First, Chinas prob-
lem was defined as one at the discursive level, instead of
at the level of technique and operation. Thus, secondly, re-
interpretation or even subversion of Chinese tradition be-
came necessary and critical. Third, spiritually, they both bor-
rowed weapons from the Western arsenal in order to battle
stubborn traditional culture. The weapons included Western
philosophy, social sciences and human sciences, plus art the-
ory and criticism, particularly for the avant-garde. Finally,
because they sought solutions at the discursive level, avant-
garde artists believed that art would be in a crucial place and
become a critical fighting force in this revolution. Accord-
ingly, they considered themselves the major group in regen-
erating culture, and their art would be an incarnation of ideas
and conceptions of this cause.
2.2.2Varieties of the Avant-Garde
There were basically three schools in the avant-garde of
the 1980s: Rationalist Painting, Current of Life, and Anti-
art, though there was overlapping in concept, art style, and
grouping.29 Before the eruption of vanguard art and groups,
there were explorations in art that laid the groundwork for
this new art in theory and practice, which I call pre-avant-
garde.
29The overlapping in grouping here refers to the fact that a few
avant-garde groups were hard to be classified to one single group, and
some artists joined several groups of different schools in different time.
2.2 The Natural Ally of Hermeneutics School: Chinas Avant-Garde in the 1980s
Fig. 2.5 Luo Gongliu, Tunnel Warfare, oil on canvas, 55 1/866.5
in., 1951, Chinas National Museum, Beijing.
2.2.2.1Pre-avant-garde
Chinas avant-garde movement was not a sudden phenom-
enon; rather, it was a logical development of post-Mao art.
For almost three decades, Chinas mainstream art had been
an admixture of the Chinese version of socialist realism, tra-
ditional literati art, and French academic art, in addition to
folk art. In the early 1950s, the traditional ink painting and
propaganda art, an art inherited from Communist-controlled
Liberation Area of 1940s,30 dominated. In the mid-1950s, a
group of art students, selected from a few major art acade-
mies, were sent to the Soviet Union to study the concepts and
skills of socialist realism from the Big Brother, just like
the Chinese did in other fields, such as social sciences, hu-
manities, science, and technology. At the same time, a couple
of Soviet artists were invited to Beijing to hold workshops.
As a result, a generation of Chinese Socialist Realist artists
grew up and became the dominant art force of the 1950s
and 1960s. Still, some old masters who had been trained in
France in the 1930s and 1940s tried to retain their French
academic style, but, at most, this was truly at the level of
technique only. Their painting and sculpture had to have the
content of official ideology, and technique was nothing but
the vehicle that carried those politically correct contents
(Fig. 2.5). The Soviets influence was so strong that even
the artists of Chinese ink painting tended to combine the po-
litically correct themes and oil paintings treatment of light,
perspective and color, etc. on their rice paper.
During the Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976, Chi-
nas art had reached its revolutionary peak. Propaganda
posters spread to every corner of the country, with Maos
30 The Liberation Area refers to the area where Red Army, led by Mao
Zedong, based in the 1940s, mainly northern part of Shaanxi Province.
27
portraits and statues seen from schools to factories, from
military bases to villages threshing grounds. Two official na-
tional art exhibitions had been held in this period. Although
there were all types of art on display, including oil painting,
ink painting, sculpture, graphics, New-Years painting, and
serial pictures, etc., the subjects, as we can imagine, were all
about the revolution and the like. There were hymns to the
leaders, stories of revolutionary leaders and heroes, smiling
faces of workers, peasants and soldiers, in addition to the
landscape of new China (Fig.2.6).
Right after the Cultural Revolution, artists began to re-
think revolutionary art. They tried to get rid of it through
various approaches. Generally speaking, they reexamined
three aspects in this post-Mao period: truth, beauty, and vir-
tue. First, critical realism was forced to reflect on truth in
reference to society and peoples lives, especially the physi-
cal and mental suffering caused by the Cultural Revolution,
rather than beautifying or distorting them as the revolution-
ary art did. Second, they thought that virtue (or love) in-
stead of evil (or hatred) should be sought in art in order to
reconcile people who had suffered from the class struggle
during the Cultural Revolution. Finally, they decided that
one of the critical factors of art was beauty, which should be
realized through the formal elements of art.31
Accordingly, there were several trends at the end of 1970s
that paved the way for the avant-garde movement. To seek
truth, a trend called (shang hen hui hua, scar
painting) tended to reveal the darkest side of the Cultural
Revolution and tried to address the trauma the Revolution
had caused. Realistic depiction with emotional brushwork
brought the audience back to the inhumane revolution,
evoking painful recollections, sympathy, or sometimes
sentimentality.
One of the representative paintings was Chen Conglins
(1955) Snow, A Day in the Year 1968 (Fig.2.7), refer-
ring to a page of diary in the form of painting. It depicted
a scene familiar to those who had experienced the Cultural
Revolution. A group of Red Guards, led by a girl who stood
barefoot in the snow in torn clothes, was surrounded by an
armed group of the Red Guards. The scene depicted was the
aftermath of violence after a verbal struggle between rivals,
a nationwide phenomenon during the revolution. The trag-
edy here was not only the physical torture and trauma of the
defeated, and the hatred between two groups of the fighters,
who might have been classmates months earlier and now
were enemies, but also the staunchness and pride on the faces
and posture of the fighters on both sides. These Red Guards,
31See (Gao Min-
glu, Zhou Yan, Wang Xiaojian, Shu Qun, Wang Mingxian, Tong Dian),
: 19851986 (zhong guo dang dai mei shu shi: 1985
1986, a history of Chinas contemporary art: 19851986), Shanghai:
Shanghai Peoples Publisher, 1991, pp.3450.
28 2 Genesis of the Issue of Culture: The Cultural Fever and Avant-Garde of the 1980s

Fig. 2.6 Han Xiang, Celebrat-

ing a Bountiful Harvest, gouache
on paper, 2140in., 1972.

Fig. 2.7 Cheng Conglin, Snow,

a Day in the Year 1968, oil on
canvas, 47.2574 13/16in.,
1979, National Art Museum of
China.

like most Red Guards all over the country, believed that they
were fighting for a just cause, and they were willing to sacri-
fice for that cause, though it sounded absurd to todays young
audience. The composition, tone, coloration, atmosphere, and
even the snowy scene recalled the painting The Boyarynia
Morozova painted by Vasily Surikov, the nineteenth century
Russian historical painter, in 1887 (Fig.2.8).
This similarity reveals an interesting fact: the artists of
critical realism, a term used by some critics, respected
those realists of nineteenth century Russian much more than
the Socialist Realist of twentieth century Soviet Union, popu-
lar among their teachers generation. First, mostly professors
who had studied Soviet realism trained this generation. The
Russian art tradition was what the faculty was most famil-
iar with. The Peredvizhniki (Wanderers)Repin, Surikov,
Serov, Levitan, and Shishkinwere all idols for them dur-
ing their student years.32 Second, they believed that the nine-
teenth-century realists were really loyal to reality and truth,
while the Socialist Realists of the Soviet Union were more
concerned with propaganda than truth, similar to what their
fathers generation did before and during the Cultural Revo-
lution. Learning from Surikov and other nineteenth century
32
In fact, I myself was an admirer of Levitan and Shishkin when I
studied in the Hunan School of Arts and Crafts, Hunan Province, China
in the early 1970s. Once we gathered in a schoolmates home, where he
showed us a catalogue of Levitans landscape, all of us were fascinated
by those incredible landscapes. This was, however, a secret display
in a private space because displaying this bourgeois art publicly was
not allowed during the Cultural Revolution, and could cause trouble for
the owner and viewers as well.
2.2 The Natural Ally of Hermeneutics School: Chinas Avant-Garde in the 1980s 29

Fig. 2.8 Vasily Surikov, The

Boyarynia Morozova, 1887,
oil on canvas, 120231in.
The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow,
Russia.

Russian masters in technique and spirit was common among
these young artists. Third, and more importantly, when the
critique of reality instead of the critique of culture, a major
task of the avant-garde, became central to these artists, West-
ern modernism, later the major weapon for avant-garde art-
ists, had not yet become influential. Rather, Russian realism
of the nineteenth century, the major source of realism for art
students and artists of late 1970s, became the main source of
inspiration for their critical realism.
A more radical group in truth seeking was Stars Society,
named after its first exhibition, the Star Art Show, in Novem-
ber 1979. The slogan of this group was Kollwitz is our flag,
and Picasso is our pioneer. While in form they used some
non-figurative imagery similar to Picasso, in subject their
critical spirit was inspired by Kathe Kollwitz, the German
expressionist printmaker and sculptor of the first half of the
twentieth century. Their pro-expressionist style and strong
politics-oriented subjects pioneered, in a sense, the radicalism
of the avant-garde. The wood sculpture Silence by Wang
Keping, the leader of the Stars Society, was one of their
typical art protests: a head without its top (brain), with one
eye blinded and another covered, and the mouth clogged by a
chunk of wood (Fig.2.9). While people were unable to speak
and see, their right of thinking was also curtailedthe poi-
gnant reality of the revolution. Again, interestingly, we could
see some appropriation from modernism here. For Stars So-
ciety members, most of whom were self-taught or amateur
artists, the Russian/Soviet tradition was officially inaccessible
because it was only taught in academies, but Picasso could be
studied through an unofficial channelimported magazines
and texts brought in by foreign diplomats or experts. The
situation for these artists was unique: some of them were the
youth who were sent down to remote country hamlets to
work as educated youth33 during the Cultural Revolution,
33 Theword educated youth refers to those middle and high school
students in urban areas who were sent to the countryside to labor after
Fig. 2.9 Wang Keping,
Silence, wood, 1979,
measurements and collector
unknown.
and some of them were rejected later by art academies be-
cause of limited admission quotas, or perhaps their eccentric,
amateur-looking style. In a sense, they were marginalized in
post-Mao society and art circles. Their motivation to pursue
art was most likely idealism and bohemian because they
could not make a living through their amateur art. Partly
because of their amateurism, the Stars artists had not been
burdened with traditional training, but, excited by the new art
and frustrated by political reality, they were eager to express
themselves freely and take advantages of what they learned
from outside the academies, especially from Western mod-
ernism. And spiritually, the Stars Society was close to the
avant-garde and believed that modernism, instead of tradi-
tional realism, was proper for their critique of politics.
graduation, a government policy that was made under Maos instruction
in the beginning of the Cultural Revolution. Tens of millions of stu-
dents, including my elder sister, a middle school graduate, were forced
to terminate their school education and were sent to remote parts of the
country during this period.
30 2 Genesis of the Issue of Culture: The Cultural Fever and Avant-Garde of the 1980s
The call for the return of virtue in human nature was the
second tendency in post-Mao art. In the Cultural Revolu-
tion, communist leaders, especially Mao Zedong, had been
elevated to a sacred throne, while ordinary people fought
each other in fierce class struggles. Hatred, suspicion, and
revenge dominated the relationships of colleagues, neigh-
bors, and even relatives and family members when they ex-
pressed different political viewpoints, not to mention those
enemies, the targets of class struggle, who became victims
of torture and persecution. Sympathetic, realistic descrip-
tions of ordinary people, reflecting the artists humanism,
were another taboo during the revolution. Luo Zhonglis
(1948) painting Father (1979) was representative of this
tendency: a senior peasant was rendered in a super-realistic
manner in a scale similar to Maos portrait during the revolu-
tion, about 7.55 ft (Fig.2.10). The respect for a devoted
senior peasant was conveyed by those inscriptive wrinkles,
rough bronze-colored skin, expressionless face, and the dull
look in his eyes. The artist admitted that he saw several pho-
to-realist portraits in magazines, probably by Chuck Close.
However, as he recalled his original impulse for this work,
his motivation for such a super-realist piece was humanitar-
ian enthusiasm and compassion:
This was the eve of Chinese New Year. Almost midnight, I went
to the restroom before going to bed.34 Under dim light, I found
him. The extreme chill squeezed him into the corner of rest-
room. He huddled up with cold, while his eyes, like the eyes
of a cow or goat, were fixed on the manure pit. He looked as
if he was a victim of a predator, and wouldnt resist but only
wished to protect his own confinement. I was shocked. All sorts
of feelings, such as sympathy, compassion, sorrow, welled up in
my mind like a fierce windI didnt know what he ate, how he
spent his time. The thing was always like this: humble peas-
ants were usually in unfavorable situations. I know this, I want
to shout for them!35
This concern for the fate of the common individuals was an
expression of the artists humanitarian sentiment, encouraging
him to create one of the most touching pieces in late 1970s.
His concern for marginal groups in society, as we see from this
work, reflected a concern for human fate and destiny in a more
general sense, as was shown in avant-garde art later.
More than other groups, academic artists continued to
probe artistic beauty. During the Cultural Revolution, any
attempt to pursue beauty or simply formal factors was criti-
cized as a bourgeois tendency or formalism, the opposite
of the dogma of putting politics in command in official
ideology. Many middle-aged artists, mainly faculty in acad-
34In the countryside of the 1970s, south China particularly, public re-
strooms were mostly thatched shacks, built with mud brick, and sepa-
rated from residential houses.
35 (Luo Zhongli), (guan yu fu qing de
chuang zuo, notes of painting Father), (mei shu, Fine Arts,
monthly), Beijing, February 1981, p.4.
Fig 2.10 Luo Zhongli,
Father, oil on canvas,
94.563in., 1979, National
Art Museum of China.
emies, embraced the abstraction of modernism. For them,
modernism was a revolution of form, because line, shape,
color became independent factors that could be interpreted
as beautiful without any reference to reality or subject mat-
ter. Matisse along with folk art, for instance, was an ideal
combination for building this formal beauty, while the lin-
ear character of literati painting could make a harmonious
symphony with Cezannes colorful dubs. Furthermore, this
formalist pursuit was also a reaction to subject matter as the
highest priority of art, a dogma of revolutionary art. As
we will see later, this anti-subject stance prepared the way
for the anti-formalism of the avant-garde.
One of examples of typical aesthetic work was wall
painting in the new Capital Airport, Beijing, painted by
various artists. One of these wall paintings, The Water-
Sprinkling Festival: Hymn to Life (Fig.2.11), was painted
by Yuan Yunsheng (1937). The artist created elegant and
tender human figures, snake-like movements of the female
body, a riot as well as the harmony of color, all providing a
sense of light music. For the first time in thirty years, nudes
even appeared in public spaces, a direct challenge to the
asceticism and taboo in Mao discourse. Unfortunately, this
attempt was still unacceptable for administrative officials,
who awkwardly covered nudes with cloth for the opening
ceremony.
These three developments of late 1970s and early 1980s
were executed mainly by middle-aged academic artists or
graduates of art academies. Unlike this generation, young-
er artists, most of whom were art students, believed that in
order to create new art that really transcended tradition (two
thousand years as well as last 30 years), they needed some-
thing more radical. The Exhibition of International Youth
Year, held at National Art Museum of China, Beijing, in May
1985, confirmed this radical move.
The most impressive feature making this exhibition dif-
ferent from previous post-revolution art was the rationaliza-
tion of subject matter and the treatment of formal factors.
As I will discuss regarding the avant-garde movement, this
2.2 The Natural Ally of Hermeneutics School: Chinas Avant-Garde in the 1980s
Fig. 2.11 Yuan Yunsheng, The
Water-Sprinkling Festival: Hymn
to Life (detail), wall painting,
133 13/16826in. 1979, the
Capital Airport, Beijing.
rationalizing tendency was a distinct characteristic shared by
many young artists of the time. However, the work in the
Exhibition of International Youth Year focused primarily on
meditation and contemplation, lacking the spirit of critique
and somewhat religious passion, characteristic of Rationalist
Painting in the avant-garde movement.
Tired of traditional ways of training in art and treatment
of subject and form, young artists tried to find an art that
could express their own ideas of art, reality, and society.
They thought that art of the Scar Painting and Stars So-
ciety was nothing but another version of politics-oriented
art characteristic of the mainstream. Aesthetic art for them
was merely a play of form pleasing only the eyes of audience
as well as the artists themselves. As for those who called
for a return of virtue or love in art, they believed that these
artists were more concerned about the lives of others than
their own. The true artist, these young radicals contended,
should take a more individualist stance by following their
own feelings, emotions, and thoughts. Therefore, these art-
ists stressed rational elements and emphasized individual
meditation and contemplation in their promotion of self-
expression. This, as we will see later, was an important step
that would lead to a move toward the discursive level, a
processfrom critique of reality to critique of value, thus
critique of culturecompleted in the avant-garde campaign.
What caused this rationalization was, in the final analysis,
a counteraction to reflection theory, a major dogma of so-
cialist realism which claimed that art should be a reflection
of social reality. For the young art students, this mechanical
reflection theory was an obstacle to the creation of real
art. On the one hand, this reflection was totally hypocritical
because the art based on it always distorted realityexag-
gerating positive aspects while hiding negative aspects of
31
real life for the purpose of propaganda. On the other hand,
this reflection theory denied the role of individualsart-
ists hereas living beings in art who had their own feeling,
emotion, and thoughts. Some critics worried that these artists
would become passive instead of active agent by following
this theory, a fact proved by experience of those Socialist
Realists.
One of the most impressive and controversial paintings in
the Exhibition of International Youth Year was In the New
EraRevelation from Adam and Eve (Fig.2.12), an oil
painting by Meng Luding (1962) and Zhang Qun (1962),
two senior students from the Central Academy of Fine Arts,
Beijing. The controversy this painting caused was provoked
by its two large-scale male and female nudes. Though the
painting was an enlargement, in a sense, of their academic
studio work, it shocked some organizers who decided to
move it from the central exhibition hall into a small, margin-
al display room. The artists found this compromise both
funny and annoying because they had no intention of simply
rendering two nudes to offend anybody, neither curators nor
audience.
Inspired by the composition of Surrealism, the painting
depicted a male and a female nude in large-scale standing on
either side with an apple in their hands, a Chinese version of
Adam and Eve. A young woman in front view broke a se-
ries of frames in the center, and walked toward the viewer. On
the bottom right sat a young man, who seemed to be saying
something about the broken plate on the table. The plate was
decorated with a (tai ji tu, symbol of Yin and Yang
of Chinese traditional philosophy).36 It is not difficult to read
36 originated from two sources. The first is a symbol of ancient
time that indicates a unity of oppositesYin and Yangby a circle
32 2 Genesis of the Issue of Culture: The Cultural Fever and Avant-Garde of the 1980s
Fig. 2.12 Meng Luding and Zhang Qun, In the New EraRevelation
from Adam and Eve, oil on canvas, 77 9/166 64 15/16in., 1985.
the message of this painting. Inspired by the story of Adam
and Eve, the younger generation of Chinese was going to
eat the forbidden fruit, breaking through those frames that
were symbols of the frameworks of traditional Chinese cul-
ture. Although it looked like an illustration of a concept, this
painting opened a new approach to Chinese modern artthe
expression of the artists own understanding of and commen-
tary on society, reality, and culture. And most importantly, a
concern for the crisis of culture, popular in this generation,
was articulated for the first time in contemporary art. From
now on, the Chinese avant-garde intensified this concern and
offered its artistic solution in a more radical manner.
To better understand the thoughts of these artists, the fol-
lowing quote may be useful:
Any final conclusion is to the youth questionable. The pressure
for progress forces us to rethink the past. More and more we are
not compatible with some existing order.
with (eight diagrams, eight combinations of three whole and
broken lines formerly used in divination) outside. It has been used as
a primary symbol of Daoism. The second is drawn by Zhou Dunyi
(10171073), a philosopher of the Song dynasty. It is again a circular
symbol, but is interpreted as the origin of universe is divided
into Yin and Yang, and the Yin and Yang together generate (wu
xing, five elements, namely metal, wood, water, fire, and earth), then
all creatures and nature are created.
Someone doesnt know that thinking in a brain is also reality,
a hidden reality that is self-contained. Artists can observe the
world, which we live in materialistically, with their eyes as
well as sense idealistically with their hearts.37
There are three aspects that should be pointed out here. First,
to react directly to the reflection theory, the artists tried
to redefine the concept of reality, and legitimize their
symbolic art, in which the conceptual or spiritual instead
of the material reality was their major concern. Second, an
attitude of skepticism was evident, and this echoed clearly
the spirit of the Enlightenment that asked that everything in
the past be rejudged based on a universal reason. Third,
the phenomenon that the artists had recourse to written state-
ments to articulate and advocate their concepts and thoughts
foresaw the tendency of manifesto-oriented art among the
avant-garde. And, all three aspects made this painting and
thoughts behind it a transitional point from the Hermeneutics
School to the avant-garde. The issue of culture had been
raised and one of the solutions had been offered at the discur-
sive level rather than at the technological or systematic level.
It would be fair to say that In the New EraRevelation
from Adam and Eve marked officially the birth of the
avant-garde in China.
2.2.2.2Rationalist Painting
Not many vanguard artists were purely conceptual artists
who usually used non-traditional means, as we saw in Huang
Yongpings case. Most of them still used traditional means
oil painting, ink painting, sculpture, etc.to attack tradition,
a significant phenomenon of the avant-garde movement of
the 1980s. On the one hand, from the perspective of their
technical training, it was natural for them to utilize those
skills with which they were most familiar. On the other hand,
from the artists viewpoint, the discursive revolution was a
revolution in the spiritual sphere, not in the formal field, so
art media mattered little as long as they could express and
convey their thoughts.
Wang Guangyi (1956), the key member of the Northern
Art Group, painted a series of Post-Classics in 1985 that
exemplified the spirituality the group sought. In this series,
the artist reinterpreted classic masterpieces in form but tried
to keep what he believed was the classicist spirit. For in-
stance, one of the serial paintings was his version of Jacques-
Louis Davids Death of MaratPost-Classics: Marat
the Ultimate #1 (Fig.2.13). For Wang and his comrades,
European art from the Renaissance to Romanticism was
considered classical. This art exemplified, they believe,
the humanist spirit currently lacking and desperately needed
in Chinas culture. Here his heart beat in harmony with this
spiritmartyrdom for a just cause presented with solemnity,
37
, (Meng Luding, Zhang Qun),
(ai xin shi dai de qi shi, revelation of the in the new era),
(mei shu, Fine Arts, monthly), Beijing, July 1985, p.47.
2.2 The Natural Ally of Hermeneutics School: Chinas Avant-Garde in the 1980s
Fig. 2.13 Wang Guangyi, Post-
Classics: Maratthe Ultimate
#1, oil on canvas, 46 1/1666
9/16inches, 1986, Tang Buyun
collection, Chengdu, Sichuan,
China.
quietude, and sense of solitude through simplification, sharp
contrasts of light and darkness, and symmetric composition.
Red-Journey was a group of nine Jiangsu artists. Against
the literati art tradition which had dominated for centuries,
this groups main principle (yan su, seriousness)
was a unique, obviously critical rejection of the playful and
relaxed elements of literati art. Literati art, represented main-
ly by ink-on-rice-paper painting and calligraphy, has had a
solemn and meditative tone through history. After the Yuan
dynasty (12711368), a playful element entered literati art
during the reign of the foreign Mongols in central China. The
playful element in both theme and brushworks was, in fact,
a form of cultural escapism. No wonder it became popular
and intensified during the Qing dynasty (16441911), when
China was under the high-handed reign of the Manchu, anoth-
er foreign regime. This element of play in art re-emerged
in the early 1980s. This time the intention was relaxation and
entertainment, both needed after a long period of ideological
suppression. A good example is Zhu Xinjians Inspiration
by Ouyang Yongshus Poem (Fig.2.14). Here a traditional
Chinese beauty is transformed into a philistine woman who
is nearly naked and reclines in flowers, with an undergar-
ment covering her chest and abdomen. This transformation
reinforced the playful aspect of literati painting in the form
of genre.38 For the Red-Journey artists, this represented
38 There are several terms in the historiography of Chinese painting
that point to Chinese painting but are different in emphasis. The term
ink painting (, shui mo hua) stresses the material and the
technique related to it, while the literati painting (, wen ren
hua) appeared after Yuan dynasty, emphasizing the spiritual feature of
the ink painting since the painting has been involved in artists, main-
33
degeneration from the noblesse oblige of traditional literati
work to kitsch, another form of cultural escapism. Their atti-
tude to this escapism was absolute resistance. They explained
their concept of seriousness based on four criteria:
Weve found a common fulcrum in the seriousness of our
devotion.
We are craving for regeneration of internal life.
We will approach the sublime in the journey toward the other
shore.
We feel sacredness of vocation in confrontation with the
eternal.39
This is what they understood as the consciousness of tragedy.
This consciousness is a call from the heart in response to the
suppression of an ideal, a pursuit not unlike that of devoted
religious disciples. The stronger the suppression is, the more
resounding the call will be. Ding Fang (1956), the leader of
the group, was an artist with such a strong awareness of trag-
edy. His early work was marked by strict structure and a sense
of order. Then, he became influenced by Mexican mural and
Georges Rouault, the French Fauvist. In the Enclosed City
(Fig. 2.15), Ding Fang illustrated his thoughts on the long
history of Chinese civilization. The dark-tone enclosure con-
ly literatis, ideas, ideals, and viewpoints of the world. Also, we may
see the term national painting (, guo hua) in some texts; it is
new compared to the first two terms, since it was created after West-
ern oil painting had been introduced to China in the nineteenth century
and possesses meaning of cultural identity.
39Quoted from
(Gao Minglu, Zhou Yan, Wang Xiaojian, Shu Qun, Wang Mingxian,
Tong Dian), : 19851986 (zhong guo dang dai mei
shu shi: 19851986, a history of Chinas contemporary art: 1985
1986), Shanghai: Shanghai Peoples Publisher, 1991, p.135.
34 2 Genesis of the Issue of Culture: The Cultural Fever and Avant-Garde of the 1980s

Fig. 2.14 Zhu Xinjian, Inspira-

tion by Ouyang Yongshus (Song
dynasty) Poem, 1984, ink on
rice paper, measurements and
collector unknown.

Fig. 2.15 Ding Fang, Enclosed

City, oil on canvas, 23 11/1635
7/16in., 1985, Sun Yujin Collec-
tion, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.

sisted of heavy and thick walls, obviously a symbol of China
or its heritage. Isolated from the outside world for centuries,
Chinas self-contained agricultural society became a barrier
to modernization for him. The ghost-like figure standing in
the city, not unlike German painter Casper Friedrichs lonely
figure, may be read as a spirit who cannot walk out of this
maze and will eventually expire. To Ding Fang, and to many
avant-garde artists as well, this civilization was too old to lead
the Chinese in catching up with the modern world. It needed
regeneration, just as the phoenix arising from the ashes. In his
other paintings, he depicted bronze-color earth that is always
a sign of the age-old culture and its heavy burden on people.
At the same time, this was a symbol of tenaciousness and
stamina. His manifesto-like statements expressed his anxiety
about the regeneration of Chinese culture, as well as his qua-
si-religious passion. He wrote in the mid-1980s:
In fact, the destiny of a culture is not survival between war and
peace; rather, it is either victory or extinction. To win, there must
be victorious sacrifice. The rule is made by and for the power.
We must experience and comprehend thoroughly the most pro-
found agony of our time. This agony is closely bound up with
2.2 The Natural Ally of Hermeneutics School: Chinas Avant-Garde in the 1980s
the fate of our culture, and it is a link in the chain of humans
eternal spirit.
The agony we experience cannot be confined within the per-
sonal sphere; rather, it should be sublimated to a universal,
eternal and metaphysical level. This universal agony originated
from specific suffering and accordingly reach of stature of eter-
nal tragedy is the destination we struggle for.40
For the Red-Journey artist, rethinking and reinterpret-
ing Chinese culture was an imperative task; otherwise, this
culture might follow the destiny of the once powerful but
now extinct civilizations, such as ancient Egyptian and
Roman civilizations.
Unlike the Northern Art Group and Red-Journey,
which focused on the past, present, and future of culture in
a rather abstract way, 85 New Space defined its spiritu-
ality with a contemporary urban state of mind. 85 New
Space was the title of an exhibition held in the Zhejiang
Academy of Fine Arts, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, December
1985. Twelve artists, most of whom were graduates of the
academy, contributed fifty three works to the exhibition. In
May 1986, six of these participants founded the Pool Soci-
ety group.
Born and/or lived in the coastal city, Hangzhou, Zhejiang
Province, these artists focused on the industrial civilization
and its aftermath. They were tired of both the melancholic,
pretentious style and expressive, sensational tendencies.
They chose a very cold manner to comment on urban
life and the mechanized world. Their approach tended to be
objective, neutral, and detached. Their paintings resemble
those of Charles Sheeler (18831965), an American cubist
painter and a representative of Precisionism, although these
young artists might not have known Charles Sheeler and Pre-
cisionism. The difference was that while Sheeler applauded
precision, accuracy, and efficiency brought about by indus-
trialization, 85 New Space artists, a half century later,
tended to stress alienation of human beings by mechanization
and urbanization. Zhang Peili (1957), a major organizer of
the exhibition 85 New Space and founding member of the
Pool Society, painted a series of works with expressionless
and stiff figures in cool tones. One of them was titled Please
Enjoy Jazz (Fig.2.16). Jazz is usually energetic, dynamic,
and cheerful music, but we see in this triangularly composed
painting stiff postures and indifferent facial expressions on
the standing drummer and sitting trumpeter. The most alien-
ating feature is the light. It is too cold to be an illumination
of a performing space; rather, it seems to be unworldly or
from outer space. This makes the viewer feel no sense of
40Quotes from (Gao Minglu, Zhou Yan, Wang Xiaojian, Shu Qun, Wang
(Gao Minglu, Zhou Yan, Wang Xiaojian, Shu Qun, Wang Mingxian,
Tong Dian),: 19851986 (zhong guo dang dai mei dang dai mei shu shi: 19851986, a history of Chinas contempo-
shu shi: 19851986, a history of Chinas contemporary art: 1985
1986), Shanghai: Shanghai Peoples Publisher, 1991, pp.138139.
35
Fig. 2.16 Zhang Peili, Please Enjoy Jazz, oil on canvas, 1985, mea-
surements and collector unknown.
the liveliness of the music. The artist explained his reason for
making such a cold painting:
A serious, orderly and tensional art is helpful for the redemption
of scattered souls, and also good for the elimination of gen-
teel, mincing petit bourgeois culture. The art I made rejects,
first of all, peoples demand for pleasurable and sensuous art,
It should be like a long whip or club that lashes the inertia so that
man can face directly his deficiencies.41
The sense of estrangement in Zhangs painting is not dif-
ficult to see. It can be understood as a metaphor of urban
peoples relationship: close to each other physically, but in-
different psychologically.
The Red Humor led by Wu Shanzhuan (1960) is the
least serious group in the Rationalist Painting School, but ad-
dresses one of the most important parts of culturewritten
language and its role in the discursive context. In February
1986, seven juniors of the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts
founded a group called Red Humor. Three months later, an
exhibition titled Red 70%, Black 25%, White 5%, also the
works title, opened in the academy (Fig.2.17). The work
consisted of seventy six pieces of square, rectangular, and
circular wooden boards on which bold Chinese characters
are written in red, black, and white paint. It is not hard to
imagine the great shock viewers experienced when they en-
tered the red-color-dominated exhibition room in dim light.
The boards with white characters on red ground, black on
red, red on black, white on black, or black on white created
41
(Zhang Peili), (wo de yi shu tai du, my
attitude of art), quoted from
Mingxian, Tong Dian), : 19851986 (zhong guo
rary art: 19851986), Shanghai: Shanghai Peoples Publisher, 1991,
pp.153154.
36 2 Genesis of the Issue of Culture: The Cultural Fever and Avant-Garde of the 1980s
Fig. 2.17 Red Humor group
led by Wu Shanzhuan, Red
70%, Black 25%, White 5%,
installation view, red, black and
white paint on wooden boards,
shown at the Zhejiang Academy
of Fine Arts, Hangzhou, Zhejiang,
China, 1986.
a mixed mood of solemnity, gravity, oppression, suffocation,
jocularity, and absurdity. It seems to be obvious for those in
the audience who had experienced the Cultural Revolution
that the utilization and proportion of red, black, and white
colors was inspired by the propaganda art of the revolution.
The unique effect of this work, most importantly, came
from the creative use of Chinese characters. First, the bold-
face type of Chinese characters rejected the traditional way
of reading Chinese calligraphic work with literati taste. Sec-
ondly, the complex content of writing on the boards produced
new meaning. It is significant that the second feature was
an effort to subvert tradition at the discursive level. Chinese
written language has been an object of critique and reinter-
pretation since the mid-1980s. Wenda Gu, as I will discuss
later, also discovers something essential in written Chinese
from which he launched his critique of culture through his
deconstructive and reconstructive methods. These efforts at
the discursive level point to a goal shared with the Herme-
neutics School of the Great Cultural Discussion. We can
analyze the work by the Red Humor group through four
basic points:
New language context is created by conflict symbols.
The most typical example is juxtaposition of (la
ji, garbage) and (nie pan, nirvana). A pile of
characters garbage with a word nirvana on the top
celebrates conflict between the holiest and the filthiest,
the sacred and the profane, the religious and the secular,
and the spiritual and the material. In this new context, each
symbol may have a new meaning, which provides readers
room for their own interpretation. Another example is that
the (zui hou de wan can, last supper) and 42
(taijitu)42 coexist to refer to the meeting of the
West and the East, and Christianity and Daoism.
Everyday (spoken and commercial) and journalistic
language in a solemn ground raise new meaning. In the
temple-like setting, we see [bai cai
san fen qian yi jin, cabbageone jin (Chinese weight
measurement, about eighteen ounces) for three cents],
(huo che zheng dian dao da ning bo,
the train arrives at Ningbo on time), (you qi
wei gan, Wet paint!), or Chinese New Years antithetical
couplet-like device with contents that has little to do with
the New Year, such as , (duo
chi yi du pi, shao chi shao zi wei, the more one eats,
the better for the stomach; the less one eats, the less one
can taste), along with a horizontal scroll,
(yi bai ge ren yi bai zhang zui, a hundred people
have a hundred mouths, meaning everyone has different
food preference and taste). All would make the viewer
feel amusing and then think about their possible implica-
tion. The sentences, such as 1986 128
1 (yi jiu ba liu
nian yi yue er shi ba ri shang wu tiao zhan zhe hao qi fei
yi fen zhong hou zai mei guo dong bu shang kong bao
zha, space shuttle Challenger exploded one minute after
launch on the east of the USA, in the morning, January
28, 1986), (yi lang he yi la ke hai
zai da, Iran and Iraq are still fighting each other), and
12 (jia zhi shi er yi mei yuan, 1.2 billion dol-
lar value), may lead to readers reading and reaction that
would be different from those on newspaper. In this new
See footnote 36.
2.2 The Natural Ally of Hermeneutics School: Chinas Avant-Garde in the 1980s
context, the serious becomes amusing, while everyday
language appears solemn.
(Chan), allegorical language makes complex mean-
ing.43 Chan should be everywhere, according to Chan
Buddhism, but the statement (he cha
li mian mei you chan, there is no Chan in tea drinking)
contradicted that, which, in fact, might make the audience
think about Chan when s/he drinks tea. The following
poem-like structure is another reinterpretation of Chan,
(zhuang zi de hu die shi yi ba jian dao)
culture. I will present a detailed discussion of the treatment
(shen mo di fang yao shen mo di fang mai)
(shen mo shi hou yao shen mo shi hou mai)
2.2.2.3Current of Life
(nan nu lao shao yao nan nu lao shao mai)
(Meaning:
Zhuangzis butterfly is a pair of scissors.
You can buy one wherever you need it.
You can buy one whenever you need it.
Any man or woman, the old or the young, can buy one
whoever needs it.)
This profane treatment of Chan is to combat Chan with
Chan, so that it is closer to real Chan. Chan put Buddha
everywhere, and everybody can be self-enlightened in
everyday life. At the same time, it is the most ambigu-
ous discipline. The Red Humor artists tried to reveal
the Chan Buddhisms dual nature of the sacred and the
mundane.
Tedious repetition baffles reading. This repetition appears
mostly on those small circular boards, such as
(si wa, silk socks), (lao jiu, rice
wine), (li guang, RICOH),
(feng tian, Toyota), (feng huang,
Phoenix (a Chinese bike brand)), (san
yang, Sanyo), (hu die, butterfly),
(mei neng da, Meronta), and
(xiang yan, cigarettes). Because of repetition their
original meaning becomes lost and strange implica-
tions may raise. Does this reflect our baffling experience
when facing ever-changing popular culture? And when a
Chinese audience sees the repetition of compass, paper-
making, art of printing, and gunpowder, the four great
inventions by the Chinese, in their textbooks, official
Televisions, radios, and newspapers, what will be their
reaction? Pride, burden, encouragement, or indifference?
This tactic of repetition is also poignant to the Chinese
pride because in official ideology this Chinese pride has
been repeated and the result is a strong contrast of bright
past and dim present in Chinas science and technology.
43 was translated to Zen based on Japanese pronunciation, and it is
Chan in Chinese Pinyin system.
37
The importance of Red Humor led by Wu Shanzhuan was
evident not only in its red humor, which used vocabulary
of revolutionary art to make fun of the revolution, but also
in its significant experiment at the discursive levelChinese
language, or more accurately, Chinese characters. As we will
see later, Wenda Gu also experimented with Chinese charac-
ters during his early rationalist-trend painting. It may not be
a coincidence that several Chinese artists rethought and rein-
terpreted Chinese written language or characters. For them,
the critique of language was the most critical step in the
subversion of hegemonic discourse, leading to a critique of
of Chinese written language when analyzing Wenda Gus art.
The Southwest Art Research Group was the most repre-
sentative and influential group in the Current of Life School
in terms of theory, art style, and activities. As we saw in the
previous section, this school approached its critique of cul-
ture through a search for basics: digging into mans natu-
ral levelthe subconsciousness, desire, and intuitionand
mans origin, nature. The main propositions of the South-
west Art Research Group were anti-formalism, action as
the top priority, and respect for intuitive life and nature. The
following statement summarized the manifesto of this group:
The artists incubated from the hot soil44 have an instinctive urge
in their blood that longs for melting into an entity with vast
universe and great life. The mysterious dimness covers time
and space, blurs boundaries between religion and history, vision
and phantom, life and soul, and implies an endless macrocos-
mic eternity. Even the holy water of reason poured here would
become hot and enigmatic steam. Only in the chaos of every-
thing interacting, and one single entity of heaven and earth, only
in the mutual infiltration and combination of vision and insight,
physical images and virtual ones, fantasy and reality, the percep-
tual and the rational, ego and superego, can we be inspired and
intuit the boundless, limitless precinct.45
Such a manifesto may sound like Greek to ordinary domain,
but it is a genuine expression of serious thoughts after its au-
thors long-term physical and spiritual suffering. In tradition-
al culture, the quest of individuals for the free expression of
mans nature had been suffocated with increasing intensity
after 1949. The manifesto was a protest against this system-
atic suffocation. Obsessed with their homeland, the soil on
which they lived, and protective of their deep-seated instinct,
these artists were loyal only to nature and their own true life.
44
Soil color of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, where most members of
the Southwest Art Research Group were born and live, is primarily
red, brown, or dark red/brown, which looks warm or even hot to the
artists.
45 (xi nan yi shu yan jiu qun ti, Southwest Art
Research Group), (lai zi zhi jue de gan wu, Inspi-
ration from intuition), (zhong guo mei shu bao, China
Fine Arts, weekly), 1986, issue 51.
38 2 Genesis of the Issue of Culture: The Cultural Fever and Avant-Garde of the 1980s
Fig. 2.18 Mao Xuhui, Nudes in
a Concrete Room, oil on fiber-
board, 35 7/16 39 3/8in., 1986,
collector unknown.
Mao Xuhui (1956) is the real leader of the Southwest
Art Research Group. His art revealed a series of severe con-
flicts between the subconsciousness and consciousness, the
physical and the psychological, nonreason and reason, life
and ethics, need and norm, and the individual and society.
The Nudes in a Concrete Room (Fig.2.18) is a good exam-
ple of these conflicts. It depicted four nudes. Their twisted,
skinny and distorted bodies walk, lie, recline, or even float
upside down. All are struggling to keep their intense desire
from exploding. After a long period of pent-up natural de-
sire, a pictorial protest here lays bare the confrontation deep
in mans physicality and mentality. This profound predica-
ment was not easy to surmount.
From Ye Yongqing (1958), another key member of this
group, we can learn about other aspects of this school. He
was unique in the group for his contemplative and melan-
cholic temperament embodied in his art. Stylistically, his
painting had two different styles. The first was close to
Gauguins primitive mode that expresses a spiritual relation-
ship between man and nature, including cultivated nature.
The second consisted of dense dots and gossamer lines knit-
ted into webs. This meticulous treatment was related to his
subtle psychological experiences. A Man Standing on the
Lawn (Fig.2.19), for instance, shows his mixed feelings
about man and industry. This figure looks fragile and ner-
vous, and stands in front of a factory, while another figure is
walking out of the picture. The factory building with chim-
ney has been simplified, as if painted by a child. However,
there is tension and dissonance instead of harmony between
cultured nature and man. The artist comments on this ten-
sion in this work of 1985:
The chimney and building of Chongqing (of Sichuan province
then) Power Plant, close to the Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts
(from which he graduated and has taught since graduation
note by the author), appeared in my painting as a totem of the
times antagonistic to humanity.46
Although most Chinese are ready to embrace and cele-
brate a new, industrial modern culture, the artist reminded us
of a potential or even existing crisis caused by industrializa-
tion, awareness ahead of his contemporaries. The point here
is the internal conflict between modernization and humanity,
between industrialization and individualism.
Ma Lu (1958), a Beijing artist, represents a group of art-
ists who combine their first-hand experience and training in
contemporary Western art and their personal understanding
of the cultural crisis in their art. He studied in West Germany
46Quoted from , (Lu Peng and Yi Dan),
:19791989 (zhong guo xian dai mei shu shi: 19791989, a history
of Chinas modern art: 19791989), Changsha, Hunan, China: Hunan
Fine Arts Publisher, 1992, p.188.
2.2 The Natural Ally of Hermeneutics School: Chinas Avant-Garde in the 1980s
Fig. 2.19 Ye Yongqing, A Man Standing on the Lawn, oil on canvas,
ca. 1985, measurements and collector unknown.
in early 1980s when German Neo-Expressionism flourished,
and returned to China in 1984. His works looked simple but
the audiences often read more from them than he intended to
express. His concern for new painting, following his study
abroad, encouraged him to pay more attention to what he
called the image as sign. He wanted to inject more pictorial
elements rather than implications into these images. An ex-
ample was his A Drama Is Just a Drama (Fig.2.20). It was
a new and strongly expressive piece for Chinese audiences at
the time, despite the fact that it was painted, to a high degree,
under the influence of Georg Baselitz (1938), a key figure
of German Neo-Expressionism. What the artist emphasized
was the hand action in execution, the subtle transition
of color expression from stroke to stroke.47 To the critics,
however, a head half-red and half-white, shackled hands and
clenched fists, a large red area with a big white cross in force-
47 (Ma Lu), (wo zai hui hua
zhong yun yong hui hua yu yan, I use pictorial language in my paint-
ing), (zhong guo mei shu bao, China Fine Arts, weekly),
1985, issue 19.
39
Fig. 2.20 Ma Lu, A Drama Is Just a Drama, oil on canvas, 1985,
measurements and collector unknown.
ful brush strokes, especially upside-down treatment similar to
Baselitzs work, all suggested a bloody massacre.
For some Current of Life School artists, folk art offered
research value for its origin, spirit and artistic features,
and provided them with a potential approach to modern art
through its confluence with literati art. This stance was in-
teresting because folk art had been in the mainstream for
decades and was part of the tradition vanguard artists were
about to attack. In fact, folk art, reduced to peasant art in
official ideology, played an awkward role in mainstream art.
It had been used as supplementary means in socialist real-
ism to show the multi-sources and proletarian nature of of-
ficial art as defined by propaganda officials. This utilization
of folk art did not necessarily explore the essence of folk art;
rather, it modified folk art for the purpose of propaganda. In
this case, folk art was not an object of research and explora-
tion; instead, it was more like an object of exploitation.
Duan Xiucang, Qiao Xiaoguang, and Wang Huanqing
were members of the group Miyang Studio48 from Hebei
province. They tried to explore those unique features in folk
art in order to build their own art with the primitive power
of life. Corn Field by Qiao Xiaoguang (1957) exempli-
fied their artistic objectives (Fig.2.21). He considered his
study of folk art serious research and scholarship. Folk art
to him had a very broad definition, though an art critic might
not agree with him: northern Shaanxi and Henans paper-
cuts, peasant painting, ancient cliff painting, totem images,
48 (mi yang) means ants in the local dialect of Hebei province.
40 2 Genesis of the Issue of Culture: The Cultural Fever and Avant-Garde of the 1980s
Fig. 2.21 Qiao Xiaoguang,
Corn Field, oil on canvas, ca.
1985, measurements and collector
unknown.
Buddhist statues, stone relief of the Han dynasty, and illus-
trations of the Song and Yuan dynasties are all included in
his database. The Corn Field is filled with golden yellow
corn, clumsy human figures and livestock, distorted houses
and trees, producing Chinese type of pastoral. The perspec-
tive he usedlinear one-point perspective on the top com-
bined with a birds-eye view but flattening treatment in the
restreinforces a sense of primitiveness, a manner common
in many Chinese folk paintings. The so-called
(tian ren he yi)unity of nature and man, the highest spiri-
tual realm in traditional Chinese philosophyseems to have
been realized in his primitive scenery.
2.2.2.4Anti-art
The Xiamen Dada, led by Huang Yongping, was the most
representative group of the Anti-art school. Because of its
emphasis on conceptuality, I have discussed this group,
Huang Yongping specifically, in the section entitled The
Conceptual Roots of Avant-Garde (2.2.1).
The appearance of the Anti-art school was partly because
of the introduction of Post-modernism. Introduced first in
the field of architecture, Post-modernism with its ambigu-
ous and controversial tendencies was mainly considered by
the Chinese as a kind of pluralism against the monism of
modernism. Roman Verostko, artist, historian, and emeritus
professor of Minneapolis College of Art and Design, gave
a series of lectures at the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts in
March and April 1985. He stated that Futurism, Dada, New
Dada, Happening, Pop art, and Conceptual art, all contained
Post-modernist ideas or elements. This seemed to be the first
contact, though indirectly, between Post-modernism and
Chinese art circles.
Fredric Jameson, a well-known Post-modernist thinker and
professor at Duke University, offered a course Post-Modern-
ism and Cultural Theory at Peking University from Septem-
ber to December 1985. According to the Chinese version of
the transcript, Jamesons course consists of seven sections:
Introduction: Culture and the Period of Cultures
Chapter I: CultureThe Way of Production
Chapter II: CultureReligion
Chapter III: CultureIdeology
Chapter IV: Cultural StudyAnalysis of Narrative
Chapter V: Post-modernist Culture
Appendix: Various Ideological Theories49
49See : . (hou xian dai
zhu yi yu wen hua li lun: fo jie mu xun jiao shou jiang yan lu, postmod-
ernism and the theory of culture: lectures by F. Jameson), translated by
(Tang Xiaobing), based on the tape recording of the lectures,
2.2 The Natural Ally of Hermeneutics School: Chinas Avant-Garde in the 1980s
Fig. 2.22 Hu Zhaoyang and
Wang Baijiao, Abandoned
Dream, soft-drink cans, 1986,
measurements unknown.
Focused on the cultural characteristics of late capitalism,
Jameson systematically introduced his theories of culture
and Post-modernism in the basis of New Marxism. The fifth
chapter, Post-modernist Culture, used architecture, art,
literature, and music to illustrate his concepts of Post-mod-
ernism, one of the most interesting parts for vanguard artists.
As Xudong Zhang claims, his lectures, later published in
Chinese, were vital in turning the Chinese discussion of Post-
modernist as a jargon used in literary criticism into a cultural
reflection on post-modernity vis--vis the modern.50 This
course, no doubt, had introduced Post-modernism into China
systematically. While some vanguard artists considered re-
turning to convention as a stance close to Post-modernism,
the Anti-art artists were more interested in blurring the dis-
tinction between art and life in Post-modernism.
American Pop artist Robert Rauschenberg held a signifi-
cant, perhaps historical, exhibition in the National Art Mu-
seum of China in November 1985. From this exhibition, Chi-
nese vanguard artists found a new weapon for their art, anti-
art particularly. Compared to Andy Warhol, Rauschenbergs
Pop art seemed more refined and graceful. However, it was
still a big shock for Chinese audiences and a great inspira-
XiAn: Shaanxi Normal University Press, 1986. The English headlines
are translated from Chinese, thus could be different from the original.
50 Xudong Zhang, Chinese Modernism in the Era of Reforms: Cultural
Fever, Avant-Garde Fiction, and the New Chinese Cinema, Durham and
London: Duke University Press, 1997, p.95.
41
tion for Chinas avant-garde, especially the Anti-art, in the
mid-1980s. His use of ready-made materials and everyday
motifs reinforced the thinking of the Anti-art artists, namely,
that the boundary between art and life could be blurred ef-
fectively or even removed.
Hu Zhaoyang and Wang Baijiao, an artist couple from
Hubei province, made Abandoned Dream by using a sort
of Rauschenberg vocabulary (Fig.2.22). Reversed and cut
soft-drink cans, as well as an intact can and several can
fragments were organized into a refined but absolutely non-
traditional metallic relief. Audience might sense the sounds
of light music from the rhythm of up and down, convex and
concave, and light and shadow in this composition. The sig-
nificance of this Rauschenberg-inspired piece was its direct
relationship to the rhetoric of hegemonic discourseArt is
from life and above life. It points out the hypocrisy of this
rhetoric. When most Chinese were struggling with the hard-
ship of real life, what they saw in official art was nothing but
smiling faces and exciting celebrations. The artists wanted to
tell audiences that life was just what you see and what you
feel everyday, and that art was not something above life, it
was indeed the life surrounding you day and night.
To Wang Jiping, a Shanxi artist, Warhols Pop seemed
to have stronger power than Rauschenbergs. He believed
that the refinement of ready-mades could weaken its power
and finally transform the nature of Pop art. His Banners
was a miscellany of various banners and other objects from
ritual scenes, taverns, kitchens, etc. (Fig.2.23)all hung
42 2 Genesis of the Issue of Culture: The Cultural Fever and Avant-Garde of the 1980s
Fig. 2.23 Wang Jiping,
Banners, mixed media, 1985.
on a wooden rack randomly. The bright and dark red colors
of the objects, however, were chosen intentionally to inten-
sify the wildness, primitiveness, and shocking effect. Obvi-
ously, it was a statement in opposition to the genteel literati
taste. It was a combination of Pop art and Chinas stage art.
Compared to Hu Zhaoyang and Wang Baijiaos Abandoned
Dream, the Banners seems more radical and closer to the
tastes of ordinary audiences, a posture that more vanguard
artists assumed in order to separate themselves clearly from
the mainstream and the academician trend.
Some Anti-art artists and groups concluded that the ap-
proach of Pop art was still not strong enough to subvert
traditional art; performance art and happenings became an
alternative for them. An interesting phenomenon was that
many artists had themselves wrapped when they performed
as if they had agreement before their actions. The reasons
were many. First, wrapping the body, similar to staying in a
closed container, might symbolize a kind of physical and/or
spiritual confinementa reflection of their real life. Second,
it could be adapted from folk art and local drama which rely
on masks and heavy, bright, and colorful costumes. Third,
it might be a sign of protest against the suppression of indi-
vidual freedom and individualism. Or, finally, it could sim-
ply be the exciting experience of wrapping and unwrapping.
Similar important events took place in several areas.
Zhao Jianhai, Zheng Yuke, Sheng Qi, Xi Jianjun, and
Kang Mu performed the Conception 21 at Peking Univer-
sity campus on December 23, 1986 (Fig. 2.24). They had
themselves bound and wrapped with red, black, and white
cloth strips; some had their hair cut in an unusual manner.
Some walked and others rode bicycles on the campus. Even-
tually, they stopped at the square in front of a dinning hall,
where their partners and the audiences, mostly university
students, poured paint on them. The most exciting and in-
teresting part of this performance was the happening press
conference at the end of action. The audience, mainly stu-
dents from Peking University, was fascinated by this nev-
er-seen art. Compared to ordinary audiences, its degree of
acceptance was very high. The audiences wanted to know
the reasons for this kind of art and how to understand it,
showing that the avant-garde was welcome in colleges in the
1980s. This positive interaction between artists and audience
encouraged the radicals and created resonance in the same
generation outside art circles. It might not be a coincidence
because the Hermeneutics School also had its most receptive
audiences on college campus.
Geng Jainyi and Song Ling asked their artist friends to
wrap them in newspaper and tie them with ropes, and then
sat on a bench side by side. Entitled King and Queen, this
became a satirical simulation of Henry Moores piece in
Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. Lin Chun and others of Xia-
men Dada laid down on the seashore, covered in red cloth,
and gave a long title to their performance, Men Wrapped in
Red Cloth, along with Rocks, Sea and the Vault of Heaven
(Fig. 2.25). An Experience in a Scene was an event ex-
ecuted by brothers Song Yonghong and Song Yongping in
Taiyuan, Shanxi province. They painted their heads and
hands red and white, and had themselves wrapped in red and
white cloth respectively, then sat silently in a setting of all
kinds of replicas of ancient pottery in a ritual atmosphere
(Fig.2.26). In Shanghai, Zhang Guoliang, Ding Yi, and Qin
Yifeng, wrapped in yellow cloth, posed on the streets, at fast-
food restaurants, and in front of an art museum and other
places, in Cloth Sculpture on Street (Fig.2.27). These
wrapped performances had various effects: some created
a ritual atmosphere, while others seemed sadomasochistic;
2.2 The Natural Ally of Hermeneutics School: Chinas Avant-Garde in the 1980s 43

some tried to please or scare the audience, while others were

intended for their own pleasure only. A feeling common to
most of them was a physical and mental excitement never
experienced before. This kind of performance or happening
was liberating in terms of art media and spirit. For those who
were confined to easel painting, ink-on-rice-paper paint-
ing and plaster sculpture for years, walking out of a studio,
wrapping their bodies, and performing wherever and what-
ever they wanted was a new life and art experience: release,
self-indulgence, or purgation. All expressed a rebellious
attitude toward art tradition and cultural suffocation.

2.2.3Debates in Symposia and Art Media

During the mid-1980s, two other vehicles conveying the

Fig. 2.24 Zhao Jianhai, Zheng Yuke, Sheng Qi, Xi Jianjun, and Kang
Mu, Conception 21, performance, a view at the balcony of the din-
ing hall, Peking University, Dec. 23, 1986.
avant-garde concepts that were an integral part of the Great
Cultural Discussion were symposia and art mediaart
newspapers and magazines. Most of these debates about
the avant-garde and cultural issues in art appeared in either
symposia or art media, or both. This development requires
a brief explanation. First, the avant-garde engaged the bat-
tle at the discursive level; oral and written language was at
least as important, if not more important, as visual means
for this battle. Traditionally, Chinese artists were trained to
be cautious about their statements on art because they and
their public believed that art was a matter of manual skills
rather than of oral or written ones, and commentary on art
was the responsibility of the audience, especially the critics,
not the artists themselves. Vanguard artists, particularly those
half-philosopher artists, considered oral and written articu-

Fig. 2.25 Lin Chun and another

two members of Xiamen Dada,
Men Wrapped in Red Cloth,
along with Rocks, Sea and the
Vault of Heaven, performance,
Xiamen, Fujian Province, 1986.
44 2 Genesis of the Issue of Culture: The Cultural Fever and Avant-Garde of the 1980s

Fig. 2.26 Song Yongping and

Song Yonghong, An Experi-
ence in a Scene, performance,
Taiyuan Workers Cultural
Center, Shanxi Province, Nov. 4,
1986.

Fig. 2.27 Zhang Guoliang, Ding

Yi, Qin Yifeng, Cloth Sculpture
on Street, performance, a view
at the Peoples Hotel, Shanghai,
Oct. 13, 1986.

lation critical and integral to their art, a stance that challenged
traditional definitions and methodologies of art. Second, more
and more vanguard artists realized that the power of discourse
could accompany, if not lead, their new art and concepts to first
base. Ironically, this understanding was partly derived from
official ideology and strategy, since the party would argue, If
socialism does not occupy the ideological field, capitalism in-
evitably will. The manifestoes and criticism in newspapers
and magazines and debates in symposia, were all channels for
their thoughts, ideas, and new concepts, and, at the same time,
spotlighted them. Third, in the case of the Great Cultural Dis-
cussion, where symposia became very important platforms
for the proliferation and exchange of new concepts among
discussants and followers, art circles took advantage of this
form to advocate their own ideas. Meanwhile, new magazines
and newspapers mushroomed nationwide, resulting in a more
promising and lively art media.
There was a variety of subjects discussed in symposia
in the mid-1980s, for example, freedom of art creation, the
avant-garde, the status quo of Chinese ink painting, etc. and
2.2 The Natural Ally of Hermeneutics School: Chinas Avant-Garde in the 1980s
all became hot topics in practice, theory, and exhibitions.
In the final analysis, these topics were related to a larger
issuetradition and modernity, or, the crisis and regenera-
tion of Chinas culture.
The Symposium of the Art of Oil Painting, soon re-
named Mount Huang Symposium, held in Jing County,
near the famous Mount Huang, Anhui Province, in April
1985, was not mainly about oil painting.51 Attended by sev-
enty oil painters and critics, mainly of the mid-aged genera-
tion, this symposium raised issues beyond mere oil painting.
For decades, oil painting, rather than Chinese ink painting,
had been the leading type of painting in China. Thus, discus-
sion in this symposium represented, to a large degree, gen-
eral ideas circulating in the art community. Consequently,
attendees were not surprised when the discussion passed
beyond the subject of oil painting. In a transitional period,
when many new issues needed to be discussed, expanding
the focus was understandable. The major topic was Free-
dom of Art Creation and Renewal of Art Conception. Under
this heading, the participants discussed several subjects,
such as subject-matter determinism, nationalization of oil
painting, individualism, and modernist painting, etc.
Although young artists were not primarily concerned with
these subjects, the discussants realized that they were critical
for contemporary art.
First, the subject-matter determinism, a phrase of of-
ficial art dogma that elevated the subject matter to the top
priority in art, was rejected by most of the discussants. They
argued that this dogma produced similar works only because
a subject matter at a given time always required the same
mode of painting. It suffocated diversity in art.
The subject nationalization of oil painting was anoth-
er controversial topic. This was, in fact, an official slogan
known for decades. Based on the partys policy ,
(gu wei jin yong, yang wei zhong yong, make garde movement moved into the national spotlight. There
the past serve the present and the foreign serve China), oil
painting as an imported type of art should be transformed
into a Chinese-type art, thus the phrase nationalization of
oil painting became an ideological slogan. This transfor-
mation in practice eventually became an arbitrary campaign
having little to do with art. In the symposium, some believed
that even if it was an ideal objective, it should be a long-
term, gradual, and natural process, rather than an arbitrary,
immediate goal.
One of the hot subjects was individualism in art. In the
so-called liberation of the artists individuality, many discus-
sants urged artists to paint what s/he wanted to paint, and to
51See (Gao Min- conspicuous and dynamic art phenomenon, pushing all other
glu, Zhou Yan, Wang Xiaojian, Shu Qun, Wang Mingxian, Tong Dian),
: 19851986 (zhong guo dang dai mei shu shi: 1985 ing that the term movement recalled those political move-
1986, a history of Chinas contemporary art: 19851986), Shanghai:
Shanghai Peoples Publisher, 1991, pp.6167.
45
expresses his/her own personality and feeling. This was ob-
viously a reaction to the suppression of individuality in art of
past decades. Interestingly, when these mid-aged discussants
were arguing for freedom of expression, the younger artists
were practicing this principle, as we saw in the Exhibition of
International Youth Year, held at the National Art Museum
of China, Beijing, only a couple of days after the Mount
Huang Symposium. No wonder some symposium attendees
were surprised to see hundreds of works of free expression
in the gallery when they returned to Beijing from Mount
Huang. These young artists transformed what they called for
in the symposium into reality. Also, we should point out that
the individuality to those participants means mainly art-
ists personality, rather than connotation of individualism in
terms of philosophy.
The last but also the most intriguing subject was mod-
ernist painting, referring to Western modernism. Many
discussants realized that denying it was futile because its
emergence in history was a reality. Because modernism
conveyed new concepts, inspired new ways of thinking, en-
couraged creativity, and refreshed national spirits, it could
not be stopped. However, some discussants did not believe
that modernism would be a positive influence for Chinese
artists because of its decadent spirit; rather, they should learn
its new language and accomplishments regarding scheme,
color, texture, space, and media, etc. This attitude to mod-
ernism presented a striking contrast between mid-aged aca-
demicians and avant-garde artists, who were much younger.
When the former were ready to profit from the technical
achievements of modernism but rejecting its spiritual heri-
tage, vanguard artists embraced it as a whole and used it as
weapon to bombard the fortress of traditional culture.
As this new art phenomenon spread nationwide with its
impact on art as well as in general public spheres, the avant-
were many symposia on the avant-garde, taking place usu-
ally during an exhibition period in provinces and big cities.
One of them, the National Art Theory Symposium, held
in Yantai, Shandong province, from July 7th to 15th, 1986,
however, provided the 85 Art Movement for the first time
with a platform to exchange opinions and ideas from different
aspects and perspectives at the national level. Gao Minglu,
a critic and editor of (mei shu, Fine Arts, monthly,
Beijing), assessed the situation of the avant-garde since 1985,
and referring to it at the symposium as the 85 Art Move-
ment. He called it a movement because he believed it was
the continuation of cultural movement of early twentieth cen-
tury as well as a new art movement after the Cultural Revolu-
tion. In the year of 1985, the avant-garde became the most
art trends aside. Some other discussants were critical, claim-
ments launched by the government in past decades, that the
46 2 Genesis of the Issue of Culture: The Cultural Fever and Avant-Garde of the 1980s
new wave appeared several years ago rather than in the year
of 1985, and that it was led not only by young artists but also
by artists of all generations exploring various aspects of art.
The question here was how to define the avant-garde that ap-
peared in 1985 and 1986. Art exploration was never the goal,
or, at least, never the main goal of the avant-garde. For these
artists the cultural contents of art, or put another way, art as a
cultural form, was their main concern. It might be correct to
say that it was a cultural movement rather than simply an art
movement, because the cultural discourse behind the art was
the main issue. From this point of view, any explorative art
before 1985 could not be counted because it did not touch, or,
at least, did not intentionally touch this issue.
Though we could say that open-minded officials provided
platforms for discussing the avant-garde, the vanguard critics
and artists were more likely to hold their own meetings to de-
bate issues they were really concerned about. The 85 Youth
Art Wave Slide Show and Symposium at Zhuhai, Guangdong
Province, from August 15 to 19, 1986, soon renamed the
Zhuhai Symposium, was just such a national symposium.
It was also the most controversial and influential conference
of the mid-1980s.52 Sponsored by (zhong guo situation, art had no choice but to be overloaded with what
mei shu bao, China Fine Arts, weekly) and Zhuhai Paint-
ing Institute, the symposium was, in fact, organized and con-
ducted by several vanguard artists and critics. The attendees
of this event were representatives of avant-garde groups,
art critics, and some art officials and faculty members from
various art institutions. This event provided an opportunity
for most of the attendees for the first time to look through
works by new art groups nationwide. More than one thou-
sand slides of this kind of art was displayed and explained by
representatives of various groups. This symposium helped to
raise two new issues: Pictorialism vs. Conceptuality and
New Art: Modern Art Movement or Not?
Related to the first topic, discussants asked if the paint-
ing of the avant-garde needed to be pictorially acceptable
and enjoyable. Despite the social significance of avant-
garde art, academician artists pointed out that many works
were simple, crudely made, or too conceptual. They urged
vanguard artists to concentrate more on the study of picto-
rial language rather than playing with fashionable concepts.
This, in fact, raised a significant issue: What was critical for
art, avant-garde art in particular? Was it technique/language
or concepts/spirit? For vanguard artists, obsession with oil
technique was simply a form of academism giving priority
to the beauty of form. On the contrary, they wanted to inject
their thoughts and concepts into their work and looked for
52See (Gao Min- Tong Dian), : 19851986 (zhong guo dang dai mei
glu, Zhou Yan, Wang Xiaojian, Shu Qun, Wang Mingxian, Tong Dian),
: 19851986 (zhong guo dang dai mei shu shi: 1985 1986), Shanghai: Shanghai Peoples Publisher, 1991, pp.333334.
1986, a history of Chinas contemporary art: 19851986), Shanghai:
Shanghai Peoples Publisher, 1991, pp.331335.
the most suitable form to carry out their concepts and spirit.
Art in this sense would become more like a means than an
end. However, this was consistent with their larger goala
revolution at the discursive instead of the technical level.
The second major question New Art: Modern Art
Movement or Not? drew more interest and caused more
serious disputes. In fact, it derived from the first topic, in
a sense. Chen Weihe, a critic from the Chinese Institute of
Art Research, Beijing, stated that the 85 Art Movement
was not a modern art movement; rather, it was a move-
ment of ideological emancipation. The reason for this was
that the modern art movement was supposed to be a revo-
lution of art itself, namely in the realm of art language in
terms of certain social and cultural contexts. The 85 Art
Movement, however, expanded and developed the move-
ment of ideological emancipation launched in the beginning
of 1980s, and its works were mainly crystals of ideas and
concepts, rather than a unified art creation. And the art (of
the 85 Art Movement) as vehicle of concept was alienation
of art, and it was an extension of the idea that art should
divorce from its matrix under given cultural context. In this
it could not bear, thus expanding beyond its conventional
boarders. When she realized that it was a necessary phase
in Chinas art history, the pride of Chinese art, she called
it a sublime tragedy, referring to sacrifice that Chinas
contemporary art had to make.53 Her implication was that
Chinas art needed to pass beyond this conceptual phase
to the next onean art unburdened by concepts or ideology.
The opposite opinion argued that the 85 Art Move-
ment was the aurora of Chinas modern art because it
spurred the renewal of art, changed artistic conceptions,
and transformed culture. The avant-garde introduced brand
new art forms, expanded greatly the boundaries of art, and
enriched the means of expression for artists as individuals.
Conceptually, traditional ideas about art were questioned
and challenged, and avant-garde artists tried to redefine art
in the contemporary society and to reposit it in contemporary
culture. At the cultural level, the vanguard considered art an
integral part of culture, and tried to subvert cultural traditions
at the discursive level. Together, all of these developments
led to the appearance of Chinas modern art.54 From this de-
bate, we can see that even the first opinion granted the role
avant-garde plays in ideological liberation, one of the goals
of this movement. The divergence between the supporters
and opposers revolved around the question of whether this
53
Quoted from
(Gao Minglu, Zhou Yan, Wang Xiaojian, Shu Qun, Wang Mingxian,
shu shi: 19851986, a history of Chinas contemporary art: 1985
54I was, in fact, the major discussant who held this opinion in the
symposium.
2.2 The Natural Ally of Hermeneutics School: Chinas Avant-Garde in the 1980s
liberation was the task of art, modern art particularly, or not.
For vanguard artists, who considered themselves warriors in
the cultural arena rather than mere artists in the traditional
sense, emancipation in the ideological sphere was precisely
the objective of their art. Once again, conceptualism rather
than pictorialism was primary.
The issue of the status quo of Chinese ink painting was
first raised in an art magazine, and then discussed in sym-
posia and other art media nationwide. As one of the most
intriguing and controversial issues in the 1980s, it indeed
touched something explosive, and echoed appealing for sub-
version of cultural tradition from Chinese ink paintingthe
premier form of art in China.
The article My Opinion on Contemporary Chinese Ink
Painting by Li Xiaoshan (1957), published at formed into conception versus form, or spirit versus tech-
(jiang su hua kan, Jiangsu Pictorial, monthly) in July nique. To regenerate this type of painting, Chinese ink paint-
1985, caused an uproar in art circles, especially in the Chi-
nese ink painter community. When it was reprinted in
(zhong guo mei shu bao, China Fine Arts, weekly), not touch its nature or essence. In this sense, Li Xiaoshans
the editor used a more intriguing and shocking title, Chinese
Ink Painting Is Approaching a Cul-de-sac, which reinforced
the importance of this article and read provocative. Because it
was a national publication, China Fine Arts reprinting trans-
formed the article into a powerful bomb. The same genera-
tion of most vanguard artists, Li Xiaoshan had studied in mas-
ters program with a specialty in Chinese landscape painting
at Nanjing Art Academy, Jiangsu province since 1984. Not
trying intentionally to shock the readers with the title of the
article (original title sounds calm and neutral), Li Xiaoshan
attempted to explain through analysis of its history, technique,
and spirit why Chinese ink painting needed regeneration:
Traditional Chinese ink painting reached its last phase in the era
of Ren Bonian (18401896), Wu Changshuo (18441927) and
Huang Binhong (18641955). Thus contemporary Chinese ink
painting is at a turning point between crisis and regeneration,
and also destruction and re-creation.
The story of Chinese ink painting from its beginning is closely
related to the history of Chinese society and dynasties, and the
mutation and revolution had never taken place. In fact, its his-
tory is a process of searching for perfection in technique (formal
means for the pursuit of artistic precinct) but avoiding the
challenge of conception (aesthetic experience).
From early painting (painting on silk, wall painting, and linear-
style stone relief) to literati painting, the development of pic-
torial form in Chinese painting intended to eliminate gradually
the purely pictorial elements of dot, line, color and ink, and to
infuse these formal signs with abstract aesthetic significance. It
is fair to say that the more aesthetic significance Chinese paint-
ings brushwork possesses (because of emphasis on calligraphic
brushwork), the stricter the formal norm of Chinese ink painting
would be. Accordingly, when the technical means of Chinese ink
painting reached its peak, this type of painting became a rigid
abstract form.
For the same reason, painting theory is also dominated by this
conceptpractice is more important than theory, and becomes
simply an accumulation of painting experiences with stress on
47
technique or craftsmanship. Thus, the theory of Chinese ink
painting needs neither revision nor supplementation; instead, it
needs fundamental alteration.
The point is to get rid of the old theoretical system and the ossi-
fied understanding of art and to emphasize the conception of
art. The first task in the regeneration of Chinese ink painting
is to liberate it from its obsession with formal norms and break
through this formal confinement.55
In accordance with the vanguards stance on tradition, Li
Xiaoshan launched an attack on one of the strongest fortress-
es of the Chinese art tradition. While most vanguard artists
were trained in oil painting and sculpture, basically imported
Western types, and thus paid more attention to these types,
Li Xiaoshan opened a new battlefield. And not surprisingly,
the issue of modernity versus tradition in culture was trans-
ers needed first to renew their concepts of art, otherwise, any
change would only occur at the technical level and would
viewpoint was very close to the vanguard, and, in turn, to the
Hermeneutics School.
Chinese ink painting had evolved into a purely formal
craftsmanship after thousands of years. If we could say that
the early ink painting, the Northern Song dynasty particular-
ly, could convey some spiritual significance and maintain its
sublimity, paintings of a later time, in the Qing dynasty espe-
cially, were transformed into a stylized, strict formal system
feeble in spirit. Therefore, a revolution was needed at the
discursive level; any other solution would be merely what a
Chinese idiom says, (ge xue sao yang, scratch
an itch from outside ones boot). Like some other vanguard
artists, Li Xiaoshan was not strictly a logical critic, so his ar-
guments were not impeccable. For instance, his use of con-
cepts in his article was not clear, sometimes it suggested an
attitude of reformation and renewal, and sometimes implied
an aesthetic experience. In his article, the meaning of the
term concepts in traditional and modern painting were not
clarified, thus causing confusion.
It is partly these ambiguities and shocking effect that led
to a debate in the national art media and symposia, as well
as in non-art media. (nan jing ri bao, Nanjing
Daily, Jiangsu Province), (jie fang ri bao, Lib-
eration Daily, Shanghai), (ren min ri bao, Peo-
ples Daily, Beijing), (xin hua wen zhai, Xinhua
Digest, Beijing), (Wenwuipo, daily, Hong Kong) ei-
ther reprinted the article or reported on the debate. The
(zhong guo mei shu bao, China Fine Arts, weekly,
55 AllQuoted from
(Gao Minglu, Zhou Yan, Wang Xiaojian, Shu Qun, Wang Mingxian,
Tong Dian), : 19851986 (zhong guo dang dai mei
shu shi: 19851986, a history of Chinas contemporary art: 1985
1986), Shanghai: Shanghai Peoples Publisher, 1991, pp.468469.
48 2 Genesis of the Issue of Culture: The Cultural Fever and Avant-Garde of the 1980s
Beijing) reprinted the article with a new, provocative title,
while (mei shu si chao, Art Trends, monthly, tors worked for were still official or semi-official. Edi-
Hubei Province) published excerpts of it. The responses to
this publicity from art circles were passionate, sometimes
emotional. Some critics contended that Li Xiaoshans arti-
cle lacked theoretically convincing arguments, while others
found it too radical. He was even labeled as an individual
mainly seeking fame and publicity. As for the crisis of Chi-
nese ink painting, however, many readers agreed with his
contention that there was a real crisis in this type of art.
If this were not so, why did many contemporary Chinese
ink paintings become hotel decorations rather than works in
collection of art museums? The readers offered some pos-
sible solutions. One of the most radical suggestions was to
shake off the yoke of tradition and introduce modern art
concepts in order to pave the way for a new Chinese ink
painting. Others suggested a conservative way out: create
new art on the basis of the national tradition; the more na-
tional it is, the more international it will be. The dispute
raised by Li Xiaoshan, supported by the art media, provided
a battlefield for confrontation between the vanguard and
the conservatives. The antithesis of the Culturalist School
and the Hermeneutics School was reified into the opposites
of the traditionalists and anti-traditionalists in the field of
Chinese ink painting, if we do not see this reification as a
simple transplantation.
Based on the role played by these two art magazines,
(jiang su hua kan, Jiangsu Pictorial, monthly) of the 1980s. In 1985, when several young editors joined
and (zhong guo mei shu bao, China Fine its editorial staff, including Gao Minglu, Wang Xiaojian, the
Arts, weekly, Beijing), we can extrapolate to see a larger
picture in which the art media played a critical role in the
avant-garde movement. It was noticeable that in the mid-
1980s many art researchers, art theory faculty, and gradu-
ate students worked fulltime or part-time as editors in art
publications. These editors played a unique and significant
role in Chinas avant-garde movement. They worked as
editors, critics, and also curators occasionally. Their spe-
cial roles were significant because there was not yet any
private art sponsorship in China in the 1980s. The art mar-
ket was still underdeveloped and not sufficiently familiar
to the art community since economic reform had not yet
created a mature system for selling, purchasing, and col-
lecting. The art industry cycle of producing, marketing,
selling, purchasing, exhibiting, criticizing, and collecting
artwork, familiar to Western artists, critics, curators and
collectors, had not appeared in China. Artists who wanted
to make their work public usually needed resources from
official channels such as official magazines and museums.
However, because avant-garde artists were then considered
dissidents, few official sources managed by conservative art
officials were available for their rebellious art. Because of
this awkward situation, editors were given opportunities to
sponsor new art, even though some magazines these edi-
tors with insight and courage worked together in sponsoring
the avant-garde through their media. Thus the public first
learned about avant-garde art works from art magazines, in
which young editors had limited power to publish what they
believed valuable and significant. Therefore, it is fair to say
that Chinas avant-garde inspired a generation of artists, edi-
tors, and critics.
Looking at what (mei shu, Fine Arts, monthly,
Beijing) did in 1985 and 1986 is illuminating because it
reveals some of the most important aspects of the avant-
garde, and, more generally, the Cultural Fever. In other
words, the art magazine Fine Arts in 1985 and 1986 became
an integral part of the art and cultural movement.
Founded in 1954, (mei shu, Fine Arts) was the of-
ficial magazine of China Artists Association, an artists orga-
nization under the Communist partys leadership. After the
Cultural Revolution, the editorial office had been gradually
taken over by several open-minded editors. It reported many
of the significant art events, including Scar Painting and
Stars Society, among other important developments, and
featured discussions on issues such as form and content,
self-expression, realism, nude art, the function of art,
Chinese ink painting, and abstraction, etc. All these provided
a better foundation for a more productive period of debates
because of its place as flagship in Chinas art community
magazine presented its new face to the readers. With its na-
tional reputation, the magazine played the role of advocate
and escort for the new art movement, although there were
always disputes and compromises among editors holding
different interpretations of the movement. The following
are titles of a few articles and reports which appeared in the
magazine from 1985 to 1986:
Reports and discussions of The Exhibition of International Youth
Year
Zhang Qun and Meng Luding, Revelation of the New Era
Ge Yan, Tension of the Tradition
Ma Lu, The Art and Ego in A Cultural War
Gao Minglu, The Development of Chinese Ink Painting in
Modern Times
Yang Xiaoyan, Significances of Art History as A Discipline
Gao Minglu, The Schools of Oil Painting in Recent Years
Yi Ying, On Current of Life
Sun Jin, The Aesthetics of Modern Art
Zhang Baoqi, Face the West: Selected Acceptance and

Chineseness
Wang Luxiang and Li Xiao, Renewal of Our Art Concepts:
New Equilibrium under New Circumstance
Hong Zaixin, Brave Sacrifice
Shi Jiu (penname of Zhang Peili), On Reactions of the
Exhibition 85 New Space
Fei Dawei, Challenge Modernism: An Interview with Painter
Gu Wenda
2.2 The Natural Ally of Hermeneutics School: Chinas Avant-Garde in the 1980s
 an Jingzhong, Silence and Transcendence: Comments on Gu
F
Wendas Work
Shu Qun, Content Determines Form
Gao Minglu, On Rationalist Painting
Wu Shanzhuan, On Chinese Written Language
Report of 85 Youth Art Wave Slide Show and Symposium
Zhou Yan, Vision and Visual Art
Jia Fangzhou, The Awakening of the Consciousness of
 reached new heights. In modern times, the Chinese culture
Criticism
Ding Fang, Great Inkling
Wang Mingxian, Post-ModernismNot to be Ignored
Ge Men (penname of Gao Minglu), Boundary of Art
Xu Tian (penname of Zhu Qingsheng), Principle of Being
Bewildered
Zhou Mo (penname of Zhou Yan), Strata of Visual Stimulus
Sun Jin, New Art and New Culture
Wang Bangxiong, Art as Cultural Form
Lu Shuyuan, The Visual Revolution of China56
This long list addressed major trends, important events,
criticism, interviews, vanguard artists essays, and debates
on hot and critical topics. For the readers who were accus-
tomed to those official art and propaganda articles, these
new images and texts provided them with an entirely dif-
ferent reading experience, and also provoked reactions from
opposite viewpoints. Some conservatives attacked the van-
guard as young antagonists waving the banners of Western
art, who only used their mouths to deny tradition. Others
questioned the editors mental stability. The vanguard and
their supporters, however, hailed their victory in Chinas
most influential art magazine, and found that every issue
required careful reading and even collection, while they be-
came increasingly tired of those periodicals that were still
dominated by hard-line official editors and filled with pro-
paganda and lies.
More importantly, the magazine emphasized the relation-
ship between new art and culture. For example, the article
New Art and New Culture by Sun Jin in the issue of No-
vember 1986 tried to make the connection between these
two fields. It stated that the new art was a product in the
regeneration of Chinas culture, while, in turn, this new art
contributed to the formation and construction of Chinas new
culture. Wang Bangxiongs Art as Cultural Form pointed
out that art could not be isolated from its cultural context.
Consequently, we should examine it against the broad back-
ground of human activities, associating it with industrial
production, the development of technology, and social life so
that we could see the profound relationship of art to culture
as a whole. Ge Yan, a Masters degree recipient of art history
and a researcher of the Chinese Institute of Art Research,
56See (Gao Minglu, bao, China Fine Arts, weekly) played a leading role mainly in avant-
Zhou Yan, Wang Xiaojian, Shu Qun, Wang Mingxian, Tong Dian),
: 19851986 (zhong guo dang dai mei shu shi: 1985 59 There were few institutions that offered a Ph.D. program in China
1986, a history of Chinas contemporary art: 19851986), Shanghai:
Shanghai Peoples Publisher, 1991, pp.497499.
49
even argued in his Tension of the Tradition that learning
from outer sources was a necessary step for the development
of tradition. He offered examples of art of Qin, Han, and
Tang dynasties to illustrate that with foreign elements and
inspirations the art of these periods was greatly enriched and
needed to regenerate and become integrated into a larger
network.
It happens that a tradition with stubborn structure is smashed
under the inevitably, external cultural impact. When facing new
world culture with strong absorbing power, the only way out for
a long-history culture is to integrate with it. Only when this pain-
ful process has been completed can our tradition find its place in
the new world. Only then can the tradition tell at a new level
its old and young stories.57
All these discussions on the relationship of art, culture, and
tradition conveyed the message that the editors were trying to
explore and advocate Chinese contemporary art in a cultural
framework. This echoed the central tenet of the avant-garde:
cultural elements are the discursive core of art, and an art
revolution can succeed only in an inclusive cultural context.
Noticeably, Wenda Gus ideas, along with several of his
works, conveyed similar tenet.
Compared to the (mei shu, Fine Arts) which still
had its limitations on editing and its young editors needed
to make more compromises in editing because of its official
status, (zhong guo mei shu bao, China Fine
Arts, weekly) was a more independent medium thus more
aggressive in editing. Thus it became, in a sense, a flag-
ship for the avant-garde in the mid-1980s.58 It was found-
ed in June 1985, and managed by the Fine Arts Division,
Chinese Institute of Art Research. The editorial committee
consisted primarily of mid-aged and young art scholars, and
half of them were Masters degree recipients since 1982.59
A weekly newspaper, its steering committee intended for it
to become a newspaper for academic information, debates,
and exploration. The time of its founding, June 1985,
coincided with the launching of the avant-garde movement.
As the most aggressive national art journal of the time, it
introduced and commented on nearly one hundred avant-
garde groups and their art. Because this platform became
so controversial, it provoked opposition, spurring debates
57 (Ge Yan), (chuan tong de zhang li, tension
of the tradition), (mei shu, Fine Arts, monthly), Beijing, May,
1985, p.13.
58 (mei shu, Fine Arts) as a flagship was of all official and
nonofficial art of the 1980s, while (zhong guo mei shu
garde circles in that period.
of the early 1980s, therefore a Masters degree was the highest one a
student could attain.
50 2 Genesis of the Issue of Culture: The Cultural Fever and Avant-Garde of the 1980s
about the new art in each issue. As we saw above, it was
the first national journal that reprinted Li Xiaoshans article
with its new and shocking title, Chinese Ink Painting Is
Approaching a Cul-de-sac. Consequently, it lifted the de-
bate on Chinese ink painting from a provincial to a national
level, where it became one of the most significant disputes in
the 1980s. Without this reprinting, it would be hard to imag-
ine that Chinese ink painting would have been reexamined
and re-judged so thoroughly and profoundly.
When discussing art media, it would be remiss not
to mention another art periodical, (mei shu si
chao, Art Trends), a short-lived bimonthly published in
Wuhan, Hubei province. Founded in January 1985 and ter-
minated in December 1987, this magazine flourished in the
period when the avant-garde launched and then reached its
high tide. Its contribution to the avant-garde movement and
the Great Cultural Discussion essentially laid in its sys-
tematic, theoretical criticism of the movement with strong
awareness of the cultural crisis and regeneration. This was
particularly significant because it was the only art magazine
in this period that carried out this task by providing critics
and artists with a stage for their serious, theoretical com-
mentary on new art. In the Letter to Readers in the first
issue, the editor stated, As everyone knows, there has been
no normal atmosphere for the exploration and polemics in our
critical community. Beating the rival through non-academic
power has become a long-standing practice. Stopping
this unproductive manner of criticism is the mission of our
generation.60 Their mission, in fact, was intended not only
to stop this destructive manner of criticism, which was the
product of the hegemonic discourse of past decades, but,
more importantly, to encourage real criticism to focus on
cultural issues. In its three-year of publication, the maga-
zine published a series of essays on avant-garde, official
art, modern architecture, etc. which tried to discuss subjects
from a philosophical and cultural perspective. These are a
few examples of the essays:
 Minutes of Symposium of the Sixth National Art Exhibition by
CAFA (the Central Academy of Fine Arts) Faculty and Students
Sun Yong, Art Authority and Art Value
Rao Fu, Disappointment and Hope
Gao Minlu, The End of A Period of Art Making: On the Sixth
National Art Exhibition
Deng Pingxiang, On the Third Generation of Painters
Introduction of Martin Heideggers Building, Dwelling, Thinking
Gao Minglu and Liu Xiaochun, Dialogue: Culture and Art
Huang Hongyi, Study on Failure and Frustration in Art
60See (Gao Minglu, In making the case that the avant-garde movement of the
Zhou Yan, Wang Xiaojian, Shu Qun, Wang Mingxian, Tong Dian),
: 19851986 (zhong guo dang dai mei shu shi: 1985
1986, a history of Chinas contemporary art: 19851986), Shanghai:
Shanghai Peoples Publisher, 1991, pp.504505.
Chen Yungang, On Feedback in Teaching of Art Theory61
For many readers, this magazine was more like a journal of
the humanities or more specifically, aesthetics or art philos-
ophy, than an art magazine, because the articles in it were
mostly products of research on art that often were abstract,
sometimes recondite. This was one more proof of the dis-
cursive revolution in art criticism of the 1980s. When new
theories and methodologies had been introduced and applied
to art criticism, and avant-garde art appeared nationwide,
young critics tried to open a channel for exchange between
the new art and new criticism. This magazine simply pro-
vided them with a platform. It became a laboratory for revo-
lutionary criticism and new methodologies, often explaining
the reconditeness of the articles. Another interesting point
is that some of the essays were imbued with philosophic
speculation, which for some artists was nothing but Greek.
The philosophic speculation here was sometimes more akin
to poetic philosophy than to philosophy fabricated by strict
logic and analysis. Ironically, the empirical and poetic man-
ner of thinking and writing, rather than that of logic and anal-
ysis, was closer to the traditional Chinese cultural spiritan
awkward but natural return to the tradition that vanguard
artists attacked. All these aspects made the magazine unique;
many readers felt a significant loss when it was folded at the
end of 1987.
Debates on symposia and the media in the mid-1980s
were not peculiar phenomena to art field; rather, these were
popular in many other fields, such as literature, history, phi-
losophy, law, and economics. This popularity owed much to
the Great Cultural Discussion, which impacted on many
aspects of cultural life. We could see the interaction of dis-
putes and art media with the Cultural Fever, and especially
with the Hermeneutics School. The active involvement of
art media and debates in art practice made the avant-garde
a more discursive catalyst instead of merely being an art
revolution in a traditional sense. As a result, the raw ideas
of artists were discussed and refined via these channels. And
the media provided not only a platform for this discussion,
but also timely windows for contemporary Western criticism
and theory. Through a process of introduction, discussion,
and digestion, these imported concepts could be filtered and
absorbed by critics and artists. The uniqueness of debates in
the art field was that under the circumstances of a national
campaign of the avant-garde, these debates presented both
theoretical and practical value. On the one hand, art practice
provided living sources for the debates; on the other hand,
the debates pushed vanguard artists forward through their
theoretical and conceptual inspiration.
1980s was an integral part of the cultural movement, the role
61 Ibid, pp.505506.
2.2 The Natural Ally of Hermeneutics School: Chinas Avant-Garde in the 1980s 51

of symposia and art media cannot be overemphasized. Cre-
ative friction in the collaboration of vanguard art, symposia,
and the art media was not only a strategic need of move-
ment, but also a new scenario for modern Chinese culture
in the 1980s. Without this lively collaboration, the power
and impact or even existence of the avant-garde would be
unimaginable, because vanguard art was no longer an art
in its pure form or a vassal of official ideology. The avant-
garde became a revolution in art and in the cultural sphere,
requiring theoretical support. Furthermore, it was imbued
with all essential ingredients necessary for a discursive trans-
formation. This was, as we shall see in the next chapter, an
extremely significant condition for the emergence and evo-
lution of Wenda Gus art, because his art was first known
nationally through several art media, and then reached its
initial peak in the exhibition and symposium in Xian.
 The Discovery of the Centrality
of Culture in Art: Wenda Gu
Wenda Gu was one of the major figures in Chinas avant-
garde movement of the 1980s and played a unique role in
this movement as well as in the Great Cultural Discussion.
When art groups mushroomed nationwide, Gu became a
bright star as an individual artist independent of any art
groupan unusual phenomenon in 1985. The term indi-
vidual artist refers, in this context, to those vanguard artists
who would occasionally participate in group shows but tend
to create and exhibit their work independently. While van-
guard groups had their specific orientation, usually reflecting
their manifestoes, and presenting relatively similar artistic
styles in collective activities and exhibitions, the individual
artists presented their artistic concepts and styles in a more
personal manner.
Wenda Gus art drew intensive attention in several solo
and group exhibitions,1 and reviews in several national art
periodicals spread his art and thoughts in 1985 and 1986. He
became one of the key spokesmen of the Great Cultural
Discussion through his antagonistic works and thoughts in
the field of visual arts. Generally speaking, his approach was
close to that of the Hermeneutics School. As a warrior against
persistent tradition, he could not be in the camp of the Cul-
turalists. Furthermore, he was not a scientific-oriented artist,
since his training and intuition gave him no ground for it. His
obsession with the Chinese written language, as we will see
later, made him a natural ally of the Hermeneutics School,
because this school concentrated on the reinterpretation of
convention and the critique of value through the decon-
struction of language systems and hegemonic discourses. A
revolution at the discursive level, I will argue, is one of
the major goals shared by Gu as an individual artist and the
Hermeneutics School as an intellectual group.
1
The group exhibitions in which he had participated were not those
featured by specific avant-garde groups, instead, they were shows that
focused on certain art types or subjects, such as Neo-Ink Painting Invi-
tational of All China (Wuhan, Hubei province, 1985), The Last Show of
1986 (Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, 1986), and National Calligraphy
Exhibition of China (Beijing, 1986), etc.
Z. Yan, Odyssey of Culture, Chinese Contemporary Art Series,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-662-45411-4_3, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015
3
Gus concern for cultural issues dominates his work at
home and abroad. My investigation will be a study of his
cultural odyssey. It is an inquiry into how his art was inspired
by the Cultural Fever, and, in turn, how his art reflected
the spirit of this great discussion. Furthermore, I will explain
how his essential concern for cultural issues motivated him
to go into the international arena and became central to his
art venture overseas. Through this investigation, I would like
to create a window through which the reader can see and
understand the development of contemporary Chinese art,
which has become an integral part of todays multicultural
art world.
Chronologically, Gus art has had two major stages: the
Chinese stage from approximately the late 1970s to 1987
and the West stage or international stage from 1987 to the
present. From the first stage to the second, he experienced a
cultural and artistic adjustment and relocation, but cultural
issues continued to play an essential role in both his thought
and art. This concern is reflected in his art through three ap-
proaches: critique, analysis, and synthesis. These three ap-
proaches may be overlapping or closely related to each other,
but each of them may have different degrees of importance
and significance in different periods and in a given project.
If divided into three parts, the Chinese stage would be the
period of the critique of culture, the first Western stage (from
1987 to the early 1990s) the analysis of culture, and the sec-
ond Western stage (since the early 1990s) the synthesis of
culture.
3.1Wenda Gus Family and EducationArt
Heritage
Gu was born into a family with literati heritage in Shanghai
in 1955. He might have inherited lots of cultural and artistic
genes from his paternal grandfather, Gu Jianchen (,
18971976), original name Gu Sijiang. Though Gu Jianchen
53
54 3 The Discovery of the Centrality of Culture in Art: Wenda Gu

was a noted person in Chinese art and culture, his influence

on Wenda Gu is difficult to judge.
Gu Jianchen was born in Shangyu county, Zhejiang prov-
ince, in 1897. As a bank clerk and a self-taught writer with
only an elementary school education, he was one of the
founders of the drama society in Shanghai. In the history of
Chinese modern drama, his name is related to several of the
most famous playwrights of the 1920s and 1930s, including
Tian Han (18981968), Hong Shen (18941955), and Ouy-
ang Yuqian (18891962). He was the creator of the first Chi-
nese modern drama, (gu jun, meaning an isolated
force), four-act play, written in the 1920s. Traditionally,
Chinese drama was more like Italian opera, such as Peking
(Beijing) opera and indigenous operas, which consisted of
stylized music of voices and performance combined with
dance, martial arts, etc., plus some dialog mostly in modified
classic Chinese. The so-called modern drama refers to
(hua ju) in Chinese, a stage play that consists of dialog in
(bai hua), vernacular language, mostly Mandarin, and
realistic acting and stage design, but without choral com-
mentary. It is, in a sense, one of the most important cultural
by-products of the May-Fourth Movement.2 Gu Jianchens
modern drama is, in fact, the first experiment of the trans-
formation of a traditional form of drama into modern type.
As for the content, his drama was mostly related to the Anti-
Japanese War.
Gu Jianchen also became well known for his director-
center theory, a concept in film production in which the
role of director is stressed over that of playwrights, actors, Fig. 3.1 Movie poster, A Flower of Passion, directed by Zhang
Weitao, and screenplay by Gu Jianchen, Wenda Gus grandfather, Aug.
production crews, or producers. He published this concept 1927.
in his essay (dian ying zhong
zhi jue dui dao yan zhong xin lun, meaning on the absolute
center of director in film production) in August 1926, per- (yang huo, foreign matches).3 However, people refer to
haps the earliest essay on this issue. He was a screenwriter (dian ying, film, motion pictures, or movie) without
of several movies, including (hua guo da (yang, foreign) in front of the name, despite the fact that
zong tong, meaning a flower of passion, 1927, see poster, your theater shows foreign movies. This dialog evidently
Fig. 3.1), (bai mei gui, meaning white rose, motivated Gu Jianchen to investigate the evolution of Chi-
1929), (ying xiong yu mei ren, meaning nese film. Further search revealed a fact that the translation
hero and beauty, 1929) and (hun yue, meaning from the word film to had a long history of discus-
engagement, 1939). (si shi, meaning the dead sion and debates among Chinese scholars and film industry
body, date unknown) is his only novel. Gu Jianchen was re- community. The audience of the 1920s liked Chinese mov-
ally the first Chinese scholar to investigate the development ies more than imported ones. Therefore, how a foreign type
of Chinese film when he wrote (zhong of art was transformed and merged into Chinese culture in
guo dian ying fa da shi, the story of evolution of Chinas such a timely manner (only about twenty years) became fas-
film, 1934).
There is an anecdote about the motivation of Gu Ji-
anchens study of Chinese film history. In a party of 1928, 3
In the early twentieth century China, the names of many Western im-
the owner of a match factory talked to the owner of a movie ported products or the products produced in Western technologies were
theater, I am a Chinese, and have created a factory which given a character (yang, foreign, Western-style) in front of them,
produces Chinese products, but people call the product such as imported ships), (kerosene), (Western-style
houses), (matches), (Western-style clothes), (cement),
and (Western-style painting, referring to oil painting), etc. to
differentiate them from domestic products and traditional, Chinese-
2 As for the May-Fourth Movement, see Section2.1. style items. It had lasted as a naming convention till around the 1960s.
3.1 Wenda Gus Family and EducationArt Heritage
cinating to Gu Jianchen.4 The significance of this anecdote is
that during the period when the Western, modern civilization
invaded the Central Empire, the Chinas response and
reaction were always fascinating subjects for Chinese intel-
lectuals. This interest lasted for decades, and it still occupies
a significant position in Chinas scholarship.
By 1949 Gu Jianchen had held about twenty posts in the
organizations and the institutions such as the Diantong Film
Company, the Chinese Dramatists Association (Shanghai),
the Chinese Educationalists Association, the Chinese Film-
dom Association, the National Normal University (Suzhou,
Jiangsu), the Jiangsu Provincial Teachers College (Wuxi, Ji-
angsu), the Nanjing National Theater Academy, among oth-
ers. However, he was silenced after 1949, partly because he
didnt join the (zuo yi zuo jia lian meng,
the Left-wing Writers Association) in the 1930s, and partly
because of his Rightist comments on the society and the
Communist Party in the 1950s. In 1957, he was labeled as
a Rightist by the party.5 He worked as a librarian, and then
was forced to quit the job because of his problematic back-
ground. During the Cultural Revolution, he was separated
from his family and exiled to the countryside as a coun-
ter-revolutionist, and settled in Shaoxing county, Zheji-
ang province, about one hundred thirty miles southwest of
Shanghai. The manuscripts of his two books,
(zhong guo xi ju shi, a history of Chinese drama) and
(zhong guo dian ying shi, a history of Chinese cin-
ema) were taken away and destroyed by the Red Guards in
the revolution. He died in Shaoxing caused by a fall in 1976,
the year when the revolution was officially over. Wenda Gu
recalled,
The last time I saw him was in my brothers wedding. He
came back to Shanghai and stayed two days only. A couple of
weeks after my grandfather went back to Shaoxing, he was con-
fined to bed most of time. He passed away several days later
when tumbled. There were no relatives around when he died,
because family members got to make a clear break with him, a
reactionary.6
4 (Sun Jiansan), Film ? (film wei shen mo
jiao dian ying? why is the word film translated into dian ying?),
the website of Beijing Film Academy http://www.bfa.edu.cn/kycz/xssd/
sunjiansan/xssd_sjs1.htm, August 20, 2003.
5
In 1957, Mao launched an Anti-Rightist campaign, called The
Counterattack against Bourgeois Rightists officially, to eliminate any
dissidents and silence all dissent from inside and outside the party. The
consequence is that five hundred thousand intellectuals, mostly elite in
society, were determined as Rightists, which led to destruction of their
career, mentality, physicality, or even life. It became one of the histori-
cal tragedies in the history of the Peoples Republic of China.
6 Quoted from (Liu Guosong), : a close friend of Chen Guofu, an important Kuomingtang
, (po huai chuan tong de chao ji
lang zi: zhi jie wen zi, zhen dong ling hun de hua jia gu wen da, Gu
Wendaa super-rebel who tries to destroy the tradition through de-
constructing Chinese characters and shocking audiences, (wen
xin, literary stars, bimonthly), Hong Kong, 1988, issue 3, p.93.
55
According to Wenda Gus memory, his grandfather taught
him standard pronunciation of Chinese characters by using
(zhu yin fu hao), the national phonetic alphabet
before (Pinyin), the scheme for the Chinese phonetic
alphabet, was invented in the 1950s. This happened in the
early years of the Cultural Revolution, namely late 1960s,
when his grandfather held a study class at home for neigh-
bors children, before his exile to the countryside. In addi-
tion, he taught them the Tang poetry, a pedagogic method
not unlike that of (si shu), a mode of traditional Chi-
nese private school, usually offering classes at teachers
home.
How profoundly his grandfather influenced him is still a
subject for investigation. Wenda Gus only memory is that
he was really nearsighted, and bent over his desk reading
and writing most of time without much talk.7 Most likely
Gu Jianchen, as a liberal intellectual, gave a lot to Wenda
Gu in cultural edification. Or, the inheritance was more from
genetic factor instead of their personal interaction.
Wenda Gus other family members might also have pro-
vided him with artistic and cultural heritage for his art ca-
reer directly or indirectly. Beside his paternal grandfather,
his maternal grandfather was a wealthy merchant of wool,
who was also a reverent Buddhist as well as a scholar. He
wrote several books on Buddhism, and knew German well,
an unusual skill in China during the early twentieth century.
Wenda Gus paternal grandmother was good at calligraphy.
His father, a lover of classic poetry and calligraphy, encour-
aged Wenda to practice calligraphy in his childhood. His
mother was a bank clerk, and an amateur soprano who once
sang in Shanghai Chorus.
Wenda was the youngest of three children in the fam-
ily. Gu Wenxian, Wendas elder sister, was a cellist. She
sometimes accompanied her mother when she sang. She
learned Western music as well as literature and introduced
Wenda to Western literature when she gave him a literature
book during the Cultural Revolution. After the Cultural
Revolution, she became a faculty member of the Shanghai
Academy of Music.
Wendas elder brother, Gu Wenyuan, was a man of many
talents and interestsgymnastics, physics, and painting. He
was the first to teach Wenda drawing, Gus first art skill. De-
spite Gu Wenyuans abilities, he was not allowed to enter
college during the Cultural Revolution when he worked as
an educated youth8 in Guizhou province, thousands of
miles west of Shanghai, although he did exceedingly well in
his studies and exams. It was simply because of family po-
litical connections. His grandfather, Gu Jianchen, had been
7
Ibid. p.92.
8 See footnote 33, Chapter 2.
56
(KMT, Nationalist Party that reigned mainland China from
1911 to 1949) government official before 1949.9
While it is difficult to judge the special ways in which his
talented family profoundly affected Wenda Gu, we do know
that he and his family were persecuted during the Cultural
Revolution (19661976). Although Wenda Gu has not writ-
ten in extensive detail about these years of prosecution, his
grandfathers Rightist connections were well known. Family
members suffered from discrimination, and, like many Chi-
nese during this terrible time, were shunned by classmates,
neighbors, and colleagues.
In a conversation in late 1980s with Liu Guosong, a well-
known artist based in Hong Kong, Wneda Gu recalled how
the enforcers of the Cultural Revolution detected Rightist
tendencies in the pictures hung inside his family house:
When I was in the third grade, the school was closed for the rev-
olution. We adored Mao very much as if he was the God. Once
my brother painted a portrait of Mao in watercolor, and I cut two
paper national flags, and then hang them in the center of wall.
However, when the Red Guards came to search our house, this
hanging picture became the evidence of our crime. The reason
is typical of revolutionary ideology. First, the portrait had a light
color because of the unsaturated color and poor color-mixing,
so that it looked like a monochromic drawing.10 Secondly, the
flags were out of proportion thus dishonoring our nation instead
of honoring it. The final cause, ridiculously, was because my
grandpa was considered a Rightist. In fact, the walls of our home
were already full of small-character posters that criticized my
grandpa11 in obedience to orders of cadres of the neighborhood
committee.12 It is not hard to imagine how awkward this situa-
tion was for all of my family at that time.13
This was probably his first experience of the hardship of life
and the absurdity of reality. However, this kind of experience
was not unusual for the youth of this period, especially for
9
The information about Wendas Gus family background is based on
the authors interview with the artist in his home, Brooklyn Heights,
New York, March 30, 2002, unless otherwise cited.
10
Portraits of all CPP leaders, Maos particularly, were supposed to be
bright and color saturated.
11 Small-character posters, derived from big-character posters, was a
form of repudiation during the Cultural Revolution. Like big-character
posters, these were done on paper in Chinese brush and ink. The differ-
ence is simply the size of the character and the paper, so that one is for
public space and the other for private or small spaces such as the home
or classroom. As we shall see later, Wenda Gus ink work in his early
period, particularly in terms of form and structure, might be inspired
by such posters.
12
The neighborhood committee has been an official organization at
the grass-roots level in urban areas after 1949. It functions mostly as a
device of supervision of its residents rather than that of service during
the revolution.
13 Quoted from (Liu Guosong), : the first several years. The characters Gu painted, Yang Zirong and Li
, (po huai chuan tong de chao ji Yuhe, are from Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy and The Legend
lang zi: zhi jie wen zi, zhen dong ling hun de hua jia gu wen da, Gu
Wendaa super-rebel who tries to destroy the tradition through de-
constructing Chinese characters and shocking audiences, (wen hua, figure painting), and (hua niao, flowers-and-birds paint-
xin, literary stars, bimonthly), Hong Kong, 1988, issue 3, p.94.
3 The Discovery of the Centrality of Culture in Art: Wenda Gu
those children whose family members might have been ac-
cused of being of class enemies.14 The insanity, ridicule,
and power of state ideology might have left a deep impres-
sion on him.
Compared with his talented sister and brother, Wenda was
the only child in the family considered a good-for-nothing
kid, a naughty urchin called by his parents and siblings. It
seems he had rebellious elements in his personality from his
childhood. It was during the first year of his middle school,
in the middle of the Cultural Revolution that Wenda Gu
became interested in painting. In this period, schools were
open, but only a few courses were offered. Students spent
most of the school time in various activities, such as learn-
ing Maos books, repudiating or torturing their teachers, and
even destroying anything that was related to so-called feu-
dalism, capitalism, and revisionism. Wenda Gu started his
painting from the year of 1969. His first group of paintings
is about the hero characters of revolutionary model plays,
such as Yang Zirong, Li Yuhe, among others.15 Because of
his ability of painting these heroes, he became the propa-
ganda cadre of the school, and painted the mastheads and
wrote art letterings on the display of mass criticism posters.
This experience might have affected his late development
both psychologically and artistically, possibly reducing his
fervor for the revolution.
The first art teacher Gu had was Du Chunlin, who taught
him painting. Xu Genrong, Dus friend, was very good in
Chinese ink painting, especially in (shan shui hua,
mountains-and-waters painting, one of the three major motifs
of Chinese ink painting16). Gu was fascinated by Xus paint-
ing and later became his student of mountains-and-waters
painting. For centuries, mountains-and-waters painting has
been a gateway to Chinese ink painting, and even literati art.
During his middle school years, Gu started his traditional
training in art, a process in which he evidently decided to
become an artist, or more accurately, a painter.
14 The class enemies might include landlords, rich peasants, reac-
tionaries, evildoers, Rightists, all classified by the Communist Party
and the government of this time period.
15
There were eight revolutionary model plays, created under the
directions of Communist Party leaders, especially Jiang Qing, Maos
wife, right before and during the Cultural Revolution. They are Peking
operas Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy, The Legend of Red Lan-
tern, The Seaport, Sha Jia Bang, Sweeping the White Tiger Regi-
ment; ballets Red Women Detachment, The White Haired Girl;
and the symphony Sha Jia Bang. Beyond these plays, there were
few other plays for Chinese audiences in this period, especially during
of Red Lantern respectively.
16Another two motifs of Chinese ink painting are (ren wu
ing).
3.2 InitiativeCritique of Culture
The only official art education Gu attained before his
graduate program was his study in the Shanghai Art and
Crafts School, similar to a two-year college program in
the USA. After having worked in the countryside for sev-
eral months, he was fortunate to be admitted to this school
through admission examination in 1974, luckier than many
of his schoolmates who were still working in the country-
side. He was assigned to the woodcarving class, a specialty
different from his real interest, which was to become a
painter. I wanted to be a fine artist, but wood carving
is an applied art, he said in an interview.17 He did not at-
tend woodcarving classes regularly, sometimes hiding in
his dorm to paint. The teacher would always come and
pick me up and say go to class, recalled Gu.18 This be-
came one of his misconducts for which was criticized by
his teachers as (zou bai zhuan dao lu, going
on a politically incorrect but professionally competent ap-
proach), a serious political label that could bring trouble
to a persons life and career. He was eventually assigned
to the Shanghai Woodcarving Factory after graduation in
1976, officially the last year of the Cultural Revolution.19
Luckily enough, he was assigned as a designer who worked
in the design studio, where he had opportunities to practice
his ink painting.
Tired of working in this factory, Gu spent his spare time
in self-taught courses of art and learned calligraphy and seal
carving from one of his colleagues, Cao Jianlou. The way he
learned Chinese traditional art is also traditional, that is, in
a relation of master and student, or mentor and pupil. When
the master teaches the student, he is like an old member of
the family. The concepts and skills are passed on to the next
generation this way, just like an apprentice learns in a work-
shop. Then the student is named as disciple of the master,
if he is successful in keeping and developing the masters
style. This training in traditional art had a great influence
on his later art and artistic thoughts, a consequence which
surprised Gu when he recalled these years.20
In 1979, with no undergraduate degree he entered the grad-
uate program at the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts, Hang-
zhou, Zhejiang province, and studied traditional Chinese ink
17 Quoted from David Cateforis, An Interview with Wenda Gu in
Mark H.C. Bessire edited, Wenda Gu: Art from Middle Kingdom to
Biological Millennium, Cambridge, MA: the MIT Press, 2003, p.144.
18
Ibid.
19
Though the beginning and end of the Cultural Revolution are still
debated, the ten-year Cultural Revolution is usually dated from 1966
to 1976.
20 See (Liu Guosong), : , bloc of the past, Wenda Gu tried to differentiate the ancient
(po huai chuan tong de chao ji lang zi: zhi
jie wen zi, zhen dong ling hun de hua jia gu wen da, Gu Wendaa
super-rebel who tries to destroy the tradition through deconstructing
Chinese characters and shocking audiences, (wen xin, literary
stars, bimonthly), Hong Kong, 1988, issue 3, p.94.
57
painting under an old master, Lu Yanshao (19091993). He
found out later that it was valuable to study from the Master
Lu, from whom he really comprehended what the tradition
was, leading him to rethink and reinterpret it. I gained so
much knowledge of the tradition from him, and this gave
me more of a focus, a target. If you dont know the tradition,
how can you go against tradition?21 questioned the artist.
He became a faculty member at the same academy after
he received his Masters degree in 1981 and taught there until
he left for Canada in 1987. He treated teaching as a necessary
job to meet his living expenses. He spent most of his spare
time in reading, painting, and engaging in other art activities.
3.2InitiativeCritique of Culture
3.2.1Infiltration of Tradition
As an art graduate student in the 1980s, Gu faced a specific
cultural legacya combination of discourses from funda-
mentally different sources. The first was the mainstream ide-
ology, the official one, the so-called Chinese-type social-
ism, which was a mixture of Maoism and imported Marx-
Leninism. The second source was the native Chinese culture
with Confucianism as its core, though radically modified
after tens of centuries. The third source was a scientific-ori-
ented Western ideology, which had been present since the
May-Fourth Movement of the 1910s. The result in the art
field was a grotesque blending of Chinese folk art, tradition-
al literati art, Soviet socialist realism, and Western, mostly
French, academic art. One of the questions asked most fre-
quently by young artists in this period was, which of these
is relevant and applicable? With the appearance in the late
1970s of Western Modernism and then Postmodernism
in China through various channels, younger Chinese artists
seemed to have found help in defining their struggle. As the
Stars Society declared in 1979, Kollwitz is our flag, and
Picasso is our pioneer. Kathe Kollwitz (18671945) and
Pablo Picasso (18811973) were among the first group of
the modernists to be accepted by young antagonists. The
protestant ethic of Kollwitz and the ever-changing styles in
Picasso were reasons these Westerners appealed to young
Chinese artists. Robert Rauschenberg brought Postmodern-
ism to China through his solo exhibition at the National Art
Museum of China in November 1985, when Modernism at-
tracted more and more followers who were mainly students
and graduates of art academies.
Though some artists considered tradition a monolithic
21 Quoted from David Cateforis, An Interview with Wenda Gu, in
Mark H.C. Bessire edited, Wenda Gu: Art from Middle Kingdom to
Biological Millennium, Cambridge, MA: the MIT Press, 2003, p.144.
58
Fig. 3.2 Wenda Gu, Seal
Carving, clockwise from top
left: (qian kun chen
fu, descending and ascending of
the universe); (qing lu,
clear dew); (mo hai,
sea of ink); (feng zhi
ge, song of wind); (jiu
shen, god of wine, or Dionysus);
(xing yun liu shui,
floating clouds and flowing
water), ca. 1980.
cultural legacy from the official ideology (mainstream
discourse) after 1949. To overthrow it, Gu believed, one
needed first to understand its essence and significance. In
the graduate program focusing on Chinese traditional art
at the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts from 1979 to 1981,
Gu studied traditional mountains-and-waters painting, cal-
ligraphy and seal carving, three of four basic qualifications
(or accomplishments) (shi, poetry), (shu, cal- ment in seal carving. Three characters are carved as whirl-
ligraphy), (hua, painting), (yin, seal carving) wind sweeping away wisps of clouds, and all sword-like
for traditional Chinese literati. These four qualifications
could explain that an artist and an intellectual should be
inherent and integral as an individual in terms of approach
toward their destination. As an artist in tradition, one needs
to be able to write poetry, and be good in calligraphy, seal
carving, and painting. The reverse is true, namely, a lite-
rati writer or poet is supposed to be good in all these four
qualifications, though his specialty could be poetry, while
an artists, painting. Gus prowess in these types of art was
demonstrated in his Chinese ink and seal-carving works of
this period.
From several of his seal-carving works, we can see
Wenda Gus creative understanding of this old type of art.
Seal carving is the art that combines calligraphy, paint-
ing, and carving. Gus seal carving has skillfully balanced
these three factors and displayed his originality. In the seal
carving with intagliated characters (qian kun
chen fu, sinking down and floating up or descending and
ascending of the universe. Figure3.2, top left), he left the
whole top of the seal blank, an unusual composition which
looks like a vast sky. Two characters (qian kun, relate to water in one way or another are consisted of.
3 The Discovery of the Centrality of Culture in Art: Wenda Gu
heaven and earth, the universe) are treated as descending
earth and ascending stars or planets respectively in a deep
dark sky, while another two characters (chen fu,
sinking down and floating up, descending and ascending)
shared a radical22 with (shui, water) that reinforced a
sense of movement. (feng zhi ge, song of wind,
Fig.3.2, bottom right) is another example of pictorial treat-
strokes at the right display such natural power. Different
from first two works, the seal with characters in relief
(mo hai, sea of ink, Fig.3.2, top right) provides an-
other style that is more like a free brushwork ink painting.
First, we can see some short strokes, not unlike ink drops,
then a fish-like form (hai, sea) swims in water (the
radical of character is , water). The composition is
a combination of a birds-eye view (hai, sea) and a
mans-eye view (mo, ink, or ink stick) since the char-
acter (mo) is more like a standing (ren, man, or
person, may signify the artist who uses ink), a creative
treatment of perspective in seal carving. The strokes of
characters are treated as brushworks of an ink painting, and
also as calligraphy. According to Wenda Gu,
The artistic characteristics of Chinese characters in seal carv-
ing are determined by symbolic meaning and mystic features
22 A radial is the basic structure of a Chinese character. In this case,
the left part of characters (chen) and (fu), namely those three
strokes (meaning water), is a radical with which many characters that
3.2 InitiativeCritique of Culture 59

of these signs. They can survive with independent forms and

aesthetic value when the meaning of characters is stripped.23
This attempt to separate signifier from signified is relative-
ly new practice in Chinese contemporary art, although in
his work these two are still connected and interacted. Also
new is Gus experiment in the de-construction of char-
acters when he composed these seals by using wrongly
written characters and re-constructed characters, etc.
These experiments can be viewed as groundwork for his
later development in written Chinese, which I will discuss
in the part 3.2.3.
From Lu Yanshao (19091993), his graduate advisor and
a well-known old master in the field of Chinese ink painting,
Gu seems to have found what he thought was the essence of
mountains-and-waters painting, alias of Chinese landscape
painting (Fig.3.3). He recalled,
Before I entered the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts, my moun-
tains-and-waters painting was inspired mainly by Li Keran.24
After I started my masters program at the Zhejiang Academy of
Fine Arts, my artistic perspective changed thoroughly. I felt that
my painting was made without awareness of how I was doing it,
and it might not be called art. I have loved traditional art and
poetry, but it was Mr. Lu Yanshao, my advisor, who taught me
to understand what the essence of tradition is. He is an outstand-
ing painter in the field of mountains-and-waters painting, and at
the same time he is an instructor able to inspire the initiative of
developing students.25

Lu Yanshao was not only Gus teacher in mountains-and-

waters painting, but also his first guide in his discovery of
the tradition of Chinese ink painting, and that of Chinese
art in general (Figs.3.4, 3.5). Gu is indebted to Lus direc-
tion and instruction when recalling his life in the graduate
period.26
When studying traditional ink painting, Gu hesitated to Fig. 3.3 Lu Yanshao, Zhushachong Sentry Post, ink and color on
follow the traditional way of training. For centuries, the ped- paper, 42 15/1626 13/16in., 1979, collector unknown.
agogic method of Chinese ink painting has been developed
as a strict system of traininglearning skills and the styles copying masterpieces is the basis for understanding tech-
of old masters through copying their work. It is said that nique, styles, and artistic concepts. There are large numbers
of textbooks in which specific illustrations of rocks, hills,
23Quoted from (Zhu Xuchu), leaves, trees, bushes, waters, clouds, in hundreds of various
(yi xiang he jie goutan gu wen da de ying zhang de brushwork by old masters have been reproduced for students.
gou si, imagery and structureon composition and conception of Gu Therefore, everyday study for students is essentially copying
Wendas seal cutting), (jiang su hua kan, Jiangsu Pictorial,
these elementary units in order to learn the basic skills of
monthly, Nanjing, Jiangsu province), 1985, issue 2.
brushwork and inking. Later, students were allowed to copy
24 , 19071989, another old master in Chinese ink painting.
the whole work using reproductions when the originals were
25
Quoted from (Liu Guosong), :
, (po huai chuan tong de chao ji not available. Wenda Gu found this a time-consuming and
lang zi: zhi jie wen zi, zhen dong ling hun de hua jia gu wen da,Gu unworthy requirement. He believed that studying from old
Wendaa super-rebel who tries to destroy the tradition through de- masters needed more than copying their brushwork and com-
constructing Chinese characters and shocking audiences, (wen position; more importantly, an art student ought to under-
xin, literary stars, bimonthly), Hong Kong, 1988, issue 3, p.9495.
stand the masters artistic concepts and spiritual elements.
26 See (Lee Fuhsing), !
(ting! na re ren yi lun de ling hunshi wen gu wen da, listen to In the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts around 1980, gradu-
the soul that causes controversyten questions to Gu Wenda), ate students of Chinese ink painting were required to copy
(xiong shi mei shu, Hsiungshi Art, monthly), Taipei, Taiwan, masterpieces from the Song dynasty (9601279) to the Qing
June, 1989, p.102.
60
Fig. 3.4 Wenda Gu, Mountains and Waters, inscription
(xu shi xiang sheng nai shan shui hua zhi yao jue,
one of the essentials of mountains-waters painting is that emptiness and
solidness complement each other in the composition.), ink on paper, ca.
1980, measurements and collector unknown.
dynasty (16451911). Gu had little interest in this boring
copying and often gave up after copying a couple of rocks.
He spent most of his time in reading, and he joked that he
had been brain washed,27 since the reading had far-reach-
ing impact on his art and viewpoint of world.
His reading included Friedrich Nietzsche, Henri Berg-
son, Arthur Schopenhauer, Bertrand Russell, Sigmund
Freud, and Ludwig Wittgenstein, among others, most of
them translated by the Hermeneutics School scholars. In-
stead of painting, Gu was more inclined to talk about phi-
losophy, aesthetics, poetry, and novels with his classmates.
Not unlike many vanguard artists, Gus interest in disci-
plines beyond art influenced his non-traditional thoughts.
A survey titled Your Favorite Books was taken among
27 Quoted from (Fei Dawei), 28Quoted from (Fei Dawei),
(xiang xian dai pai tiao zhanfang hua jia gu wen da, challenge
modernistsan interview with painter Gu Wenda), (mei shu,
Fine Arts, monthly), issue 7, 1986, p.53.
3 The Discovery of the Centrality of Culture in Art: Wenda Gu
the artists of vanguard groups in 1986. The result was in-
teresting,
Categories Percentage
Biology 5.1
Freud and psychoanalysis 9
Nietzsche 15.6
Analytic philosophy 6
Books on Western cultures 9
Modern art and aesthetics 25
Chinese culture and Chan 11.7
No selection 18.6a
a
See (Gao Minglu,
Zhou Yan, Wang Xiaojian, Shu Qun, Wang Mingxian, Tong Dian),
: 19851986 (zhong guo dang dai mei shu shi: 1985
1986, a history of Chinas contemporary art: 19851986), Shanghai:
Shanghai Peoples Publisher, 1991, p. 647.
Nietzsche (perhaps Schopenhauer too) and books on modern
art and aesthetics became favorites of many young artists in the
mid-1980s. For these artists, Nietzsche opened a realm of hu-
manism because they believed that his philosophy celebrated
man as individual existence. In China of the early 1980s, this
kind of philosophy, along with Freud and Jung, had its power
and impact on young artists that other philosophies, such as
analytic philosophy and semantics, did not have. Wenda Gu
recalled his reading experience of early 1980s,
The most influential philosophy on me was Nietzsche. Those
scientific and analytic philosophies were to me not directly on
man, while Nietzsches philosophy was a kind of humanism and
had strong impact on men themselves.28
It is understandable that young artists like Wenda Gu con-
centrated on human issues, their destiny, value, essence, and
role in society. As I have discussed in the second chapter,
intellectuals with liberal thoughts made the rediscovery of
Marxs concept of alienation, and the status and the role
of man in society were reexamined and rethought. In the of-
ficial ideology, man was not considered a self-contained
individual; rather, it was a screw in the giant revolutionary
machine. This ideology served the politics based on the the-
ory of class struggle. A man existed only as a member of
collective class, rather than an independent unit of society.
Therefore, human individuality, desire, and creativity were
suppressed in order for the political machine, which claimed
to represent the masses, to exert full control. It is inevitable
that the liberation of man as an individual becomes one of
the most important issues to Chinese intellectuals, including
vanguard artists, when social control was relatively weak-
ened. The issue of man, in the final analysis, is an issue about
culture, because man is at the center of culture. Therefore,
(xiang xian dai pai tiao zhanfang hua jia gu wen da, challenge
modernistsan interview with painter Gu Wenda), (mei shu,
Fine Arts, monthly), issue 7, 1986, p.53.
3.2 InitiativeCritique of Culture
Fig. 3.5 Wenda Gu, Inspiration
by Wang Weis (Tang dynasty)
Poem, ink on paper, 1982,
measurements and collector
unknown.
Wenda Gu and his contemporaries were challenging a fun-
damental cultural assumption.
Wenda Gu began to paint in oil in 1981, when he gradu-
ated from the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts, while con-
tinuing ink painting as well. He recalled doing a large
amount of oil painting in the period from 1981 to 1983.
In style, these paintings were influenced by Western mod-
ernist painters, including Vincent van Gogh, Salvador Dali,
Wassily Kandinsky, Piet Mondrian, Marcel Duchamp, and
Joan Miro. Surrealism was the major influence on his paint-
ing in these years, including some Chinese ink works.29
The impact of Surrealism, compared to other modernist
schools, on Chinas avant-garde of the mid-1980s, espe-
cially on Rationalist Painting artists, was great. The reason
could be that Surrealism provides a way of artistic thinking
and compositional structure through which the vanguard
artists could convey their metaphysical meditation and reli-
gious sentiment, qualities other modernist schools, such as
Abstraction and Expressionism, did not offer.
The motifs of his painting in this period ranged from
primitive totems, ancient cave images, Taiji, to landscape
featuring sky, ocean, as well as symbols associated with na-
29 See (Lee Fuhsing), !
(ting! na re ren yi lun de ling hunshi wen gu wen da, listen to
the soul that causes controversyten questions to Gu Wenda),
(xiong shi mei shu, Hsiungshi Art, monthly), Taipei, Taiwan, Issue
220, 1989, p.102.
61
ture, universe, and life. (Figs.3.6, 3.7). Michael Sullivan de-
scribed one of his paintings of this period,
in Sky and Ocean a white pillar of cloud rises from the sea,
resembling, as Fan Jingzhong noted, the frozen phantom of an
ancient Greek statue. (Fig.3.8)30
Most of these images, such as totems from primitive tribe
culture, cave images from ancient villagers, Taiji (yin and
yang) symbol from the philosophy of the Ming Dynasty,31
were specially related to a given culture or civilization. The
media he utilized were mainly oil painting, and occasion-
ally Chinese ink painting. In the beginning, Gu seemed
to be a believer in Darwins theory of evolution, more ac-
curately speaking, Social Darwinism. This was common
among many artists and intellectuals at the time. This theory
of linear evolution applied to the development of civiliza-
tion convinced believers that cultures could be divided as
advanced and backward ones regardless of the heterogeneity
of cultures. The Chinese needed to find out the causes for
their backwardness despite their long history of belonging to
an advanced culture. Furthermore, the study of ancient civi-
lizations could be instructive for todays China. This is one
reason why we see so many signs and symbols derived from
distant times and places in Gus early paintings (Fig.3.9).
30 Michael Sullivan, Art and Artists of Twentieth-century China,
Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996, p.264.
31
See footnote 36, Chapter 2.
62 3 The Discovery of the Centrality of Culture in Art: Wenda Gu

Fig. 3.6 Wenda Gu, Two

Portrait Images as Torsos, oil on
canvas, 1985, measurements and
collector unknown.

Fig. 3.7 Wenda Gu,

DunhuangMilestone of
the Meeting of the East and
the West, ink on paper, 1985,
measurements and collector
unknown.
3.2 InitiativeCritique of Culture 63

Fig. 3.8 Wenda Gu, Sky and

Ocean, ca. 1980, ink on paper,
measurements and collector
unknown.

Fig. 3.9 Wenda Gu, The

History of Civilizations, oil on
canvas, 1985, measurements and
collector unknown.
64
Such a reflectively visual meditation on ancient and foreign
civilizations reminds us of The Course of Empire (1836,
Fig.3.10), a series of allegorical paintings made by Ameri-
can artist, Thomas Cole, about one hundred fifty years ago.
However, the difference between Cole and Gu is distinctive.
While Cole meditated on ancient civilizations, its vicissi-
tudes particularly, in a pessimistic mood, Gu seemed to be
inspired by contemplating ancient cultures. Optimistically,
he thought that Chinese contemporary culture could benefit
from them.
Wenda Gu was not an artist inclined to destroy all tra-
ditions without really understanding them. Rather, he was
fascinated by those cultural heritages, which inspired him,
activated his desire to invent, and provoked his interest in
interpreting and reinterpreting such traditions.
Fan Jingzhong, a well-known critic of the Zhejiang Acad-
emy of Fine Arts, and Wendas friend, wrote an influential
essay, Silence and Transcendence - Reflection on Gu Wen-
das Work, published in (mei shu, Fine Arts, Bei- His acceptance and rejection of different phases of ink paint-
jing, monthly) in 1986. He recalled that Gu was an artist who
was sentimentally and nostalgically attached to old tradi-
tion, and at the same time incessantly fascinated with emerg-
ing new things.32 With this attitude, the artist tried to absorb
anything he believed valuable without prejudice. Wenda Gu
simultaneously absorbed and filtered new ideas according
his artistic and philosophical criteria. Fan Jingzhong de-
scribed his painting Knowledge of Human Kind:33
The painting is like one by Escher34 (Fig.3.11). However,
Escher concentrates on the exchange of figures and grounds, the
illustration of paradoxes, and the ambiguity of three-dimensional
space. Wenda doesnt play with this kind of interaction of pat-
terns and images in his Knowledge of Human Kind. Rather, the
structure of this painting is more like The Tao of Physics (1975)
by Fritjof Capra, including the geometric perspective used in
painting since Brunelleschi, the heavenly pole with mythologi-
cal significance from Chinese legend, multi-dimensional space
of physic-mathematics, and philosophical patterns of change as
well. Those Taiji images approaching the infinitesimal do not
only embody Zhuangzis35 theory of infinitudeit will be end-
less that one divides a one-foot stick into a half and keep divid-
ing it every daybut also displays a process of creation and
32 (Fan Jingzhong), and nature, and understood the separation of man from nature
(chen mo he chao yuekan gu wen da zuo ping de yi xie gan
xiang, silence and transcendencereflection on Gu Wendas work),
(mei shu, Fine Arts, monthly), Beijing, issue 7, 1986, p.46.
33 Unfortunately, there is no reproduction of this painting left. The
close example may be Gus The History of Civilizations, see Fig.3.9.
34
M.C. Escher, 18981972, Dutch painter. Here, Fan refers to Eschers
lithographs made from 1950s to 1960s, such as House of Stairs (1951),
Relativity (1953), Concave and Convex (1955), Ascending and De-
scending (1960). These prints interpreted paradoxes in visual means,
appeared on the covers of translated books of human sciences and phi-
losophy in mid-1980s China, and became signs of modern thoughts
familiar to many Chinese intellectuals and college students.
35 Zhuangzi, c. 369286 B.C. Chinese philosopher, one of founders
of Daoism.
3 The Discovery of the Centrality of Culture in Art: Wenda Gu
transformation. The Knowledge of Human Kind combines
perspectives of universe and culture both from the East and the
West. In art history, perhaps only Gustave Moreaus (1826
1898, France painter) Vie de lHumanite (Life of Humanities,
1886) could be its counterpart in this capacity.36
From this description, we can better understand Wenda Gus
multiperspective attitude toward tradition. In his painting,
traditions and cultures from different sources were integrat-
ed into a comprehensive picture, exemplifying his under-
standing of the past and the present, the East and the West.
One point should be addressed, that is, he was very cautious
about current traditiona mixture of Chinese folk art, tra-
ditional literati art, Soviet socialist realism, and Western,
mostly French, academic art. He was in fact critical of con-
temporary culture. Or, to put it in another way, when facing
current and dominant discourses in art, he was more critical
rather than absorptive, which was basically his attitude to-
ward the traditions of ancient China, and that of the West.
ing is a good example.
When rethinking the native culture, Gu attempted to
dig out positive elements from ancient art in order to sub-
vert current unhealthy art and culture. Here, Gus stand
was also close to the Hermeneutics School of the Cultural
Fever. This group insisted that culture and tradition can
not be thought of in terms of one another; both have to be
called into question along with an unfolding of the present
and a search for its historicity.37 Gu believed that landscape
painting of the northern Song dynasty (9601127) was the
peak of Chinese painting because it attained (tian
ren he yi), a unity of heaven and man, or a unity of uni-
verse/nature and human beings.38 By contrast, he considered
post-Song paintings, namely ones of Yuan, Ming, and Qing
dynasties (12061911), expressions of mundane sentiment.
In notes written in 1985, he criticized this tendency toward
secularization,
The development of Chinese mountains-and-waters painting
from the Song dynasty to Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties has
been considered by art historians a positive process from the
realm without ego to the realm with ego. To them mankind
has re-discovered the relationship in this process between man
through artistic creation. To me it is problematic. Some Yuan
artists believed that an artistic format was created to give vent to
36 (Fan Jingzhong),
(chen mo he chao yuekan gu wen da zuo ping de yi xie gan
xiang, silence and transcendencereflection on Gu Wendas work),
(mei shu, Fine Arts, monthly), Beijing, issue 7, 1986, p.47.
37Xudong Zhang, Chinese Modernism in the Era of Reforms: Cultural
Fever, Avant-Garde Fiction, and the New Chinese Cinema, Durham &
London: Duke University Press, 1997, p.55.
38 Interestingly, some of his contemporary literary scholars believed
that the Song dynastys literature was the highest point of the history of
Chinese literature. It might not be a coincidence.
3.2 InitiativeCritique of Culture 65

Fig. 3.10 Thomas Cole, The

Course of Empire: Desolation,
oil on canvas, 39 63 in.,
1836, New York Historical
Society.

Fig. 3.11 M. C. Escher, Relativ-

ity, lithograph, 1953, 11 1/811
5/8in., National Gallery of Art,
Washington DC.
66
ones depression or gloom, or to express ones detached mood.
Such a realm with ego is essentially a misunderstanding of
sublimity in art. The decline of Ming and Qing ink painting, like
expressionist art, had something to do with the belief that art
is for expressing personal feeling and emotion. Art with the
narrow function that only expresses personal feeling would lose
its properties of grandeur and eternity, and lead to an art full
of trifles and mundane sentiment Compared to the Song ink
painting with was exuberant environment and vast landscapes,
this kind of art is unbearably vulgar with little sublimity of spirit.
It was only obsessed with meticulously rendering grass, trees,
waters and rocks. The cause of this unhealthy art is that it is no
longer an expression of the spiritual sublimation of unity of
nature and human beings. The realm with ego in the paint-
ing of Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties was a secularization
of art. Up to today, people even consider art a tool of mundane
life. However, a serious and sublime art should not be contami-
nated with mundane sentiment, rather, it should be the sphere for
those ideals that cannot be realized in this very world, so that it
becomes indispensable to human life.39
This pursuit of sublimity sounds as if he was influenced by
Western Romanticism of the eighteenthnineteenth century.
However, it would be more reasonable to see it as a direct re-
sult of his radical response to contemporary situation. After
the Cultural Revolution, many artists ignored revolutionary
art and as a substitution they favored traditional literati art.
Gu believed that even literati art should be the target of a cri-
tique rather than a source for revivals because it had become
a kind of kitsch, full of mundane emotions and devoid of the
sublimity and grandeur present in Song dynastys art. This
point of view separated Gu from the Culturalist School, be-
cause literati art or the literati tradition was one of the main
sources for the cultural revival, a central argument of the
Culturalist School.
Significantly, Wenda Gu in the mid-1980s was essentially
close to those Rationalist Painting School artists. In concept,
both Wenda Gu and these vanguard artists considered rea-
son a fusion of life experience and the metaphysical princi-
ple, close to Nietzsches ontological will. This can explain
why Wenda Gu advocated a purely religious spirit in art
distinct from any existing religion. He said:
A purely artistic life is really like religious life, but it is not
religious life. There are no dogmas, preaches, and puritanical
morality laws in artistic life, thus, it is, in fact, against any exist-
ing religion. Art is a joyous and substantial life, which makes
possible humans pure spirituality.40
Fan Jingzhong also noticed this kind of religious feature
in Gus personality. He commented, As for the serious
character, few critics, except for me, considered Gu an artist
with a serious attitude in art and life. His seriousness is
a kind of cosmic religious feeling which originated from
39
(Wenda Gu), (yi shu bi ji, notes on art), writ- 41 (Fan Jingzhong),
ten in August 10, 1985, (hua lang, art corridor, quarterly),
Changsha, Hunan province, 1987, issue 2.
40
Ibid.
3 The Discovery of the Centrality of Culture in Art: Wenda Gu
his conquest of secularity and the absurdity of human life.
It could be proved by his paintings made in the last two
years inspired by gazing at the sky.41 Fan pointed out an
important formal property of Gus Rationalist painting,
and actually one of the formal properties of other Rationalist
Paintingscontemplating the sky. The vast and unfathom-
able sky in Gus early painting became a vehicle that carried
his metaphysical questions about the nature, the world,
and the universe, and provided him sustenance for his medi-
tative and transcendent contemplation. This was also true
for some Rationalist Painting artists, for example, Shu Qun
of the Northern Art Group from the northeast of China
(Fig.3.12), Yang Yinsheng of the Red-Journey group from
Jiangsu province (Fig.3.13), and Zhang Jianjun from Shang-
hai (Fig.3.14). This similarity between Wenda Gu and the
Rationalist Painting artists was significant because both par-
ties sought a spiritual or metaphysical life in art, so that they
tried to comprehend and think about art at a different level
that distanced them from their parent generation. Art was no
longer purely a means for improving mundane life, rather,
it should be considered at a deeper level, namely, an inte-
gral part of the culture they lived in and experienced. This
made it possible to rethink and reinterpret the tradition they
had inherited. It was critical for Gu to go forward from his
Rationalist Painting phase. Based on his understanding of
the relationship of art and culture, his next step would point
to the written Chinese, which he believed was the essential
element of Chinese culture.
3.2.2Tradition: Rethinking at the
DiscursiveLevel
With deep involvement in various traditions and a profound
understanding of their essence, strength, and drawbacks,
Wenda Gu started to reconsider his cultural heritage and
compare it with the ancient Chinese culture and the West-
ern tradition as well. When he separated art from mundane
life and rejected the notion it could be an autonomous entity
indifferent to the cultural context, Gu was also expressing
his skepticism of any formalism, Expressionism and pseudo-
realism in contemporary Chinese art. For him, the formal-
ism that sought for the pure beauty of lines, brushwork and
colors was nothing but a form of cultural escapism, while
Expressionism was simply a channel for personal modes of
being, such as depression, anxiety, or unspeakable desires.
As for the pseudo-realism, although it might appear to have
something to do with living conditions, it was a distorted
reality, essentially distant from existing cultural reality.
(chen mo he chao yuekan gu wen da zuo ping de yi xie gan
xiang, silence and transcendencereflection on Gu Wendas work),
(mei shu, Fine Arts, monthly), Beijing, issue 7, 1986, p.49.
3.2 InitiativeCritique of Culture 67

Fig. 3.12 Shu Qun, The

Absolute Principle #1, oil on
canvas, 1985, 59 9/1647 in.,
The Great Wall Art Museum,
Beijing.

Fig. 3.13 Yang Yinsheng, White

Pigeons Blocked by Backs and
the Magic Cube That Is Floating
Away, oil on canvas, ca. 1985,
measurements and collector
unknown.
68
Fig. 3.14 Zhang Jianjun,
Human Beings and Their
Clock, oil on canvas, ca. 1985,
measurements and collector
unknown.
The first step of Gus search for the meaning of cultural
issues was to compare the East and the West and to rethink
his native tradition, Chinese art (painting in particular), and
its cultural context, while at the same time trying to come to
terms with Western Modernism. At this stage, he made the
critique of culture through constructive means. The follow-
ing stage would be more radical and somehow destructive. At
the first stage, he picked up some elements from traditional
arts and combined them with thoughts and ideas from foreign
cultures in order to criticize those values and conceptions in
traditional culture and art that he believed were unhealthy,
weak, and superficial. Tradition here referred primarily to li-
terati painting. What he criticized were those elements related
to the consciousness of the literati: the expression of personal
and mundane sentiment; the preference for formal instead of
spiritual factors; and their passive attitude leading to cultural
escapism. At this point, he thought he was on the threshold of
discovering something essential in Chinese culture and also
understanding art at a more profound level.
Such a shift of attitude and approach occurred for several
reasons. The first and most direct reason was his interac-
tion with Chinas avant-garde movement. As I discussed in
the last chapter, there were three major schools in Chinas
avant-garde of 1980s: Rationalist Painting, Current of Life,
and Anti-art. As for the Rationalist Painting, there are three
features. First, it was a kind of painting with philosophical
content. The artists of this school believed that reasons
humanitarian, ontological, and logic onesplayed a critical
role in culture and in art. Second, they paid homage to logic
philosophy, analytical philosophy, as well as to Nietzsche,
Schopenhauer, and Darwin in philosophy, and to Romanti-
cism and Neo-Classicism in art. Third, their paintings were
influenced primarily by Surrealism (in structure only) and
3 The Discovery of the Centrality of Culture in Art: Wenda Gu
the metaphysics school, de Chirico in particular, but with a
solemn, cool, and indifferent atmosphere. By contrast, the
artists of the Current of Life School concentrated on the sub-
conscious level of the human spirit, inspired by psychoana-
lysts, Freud and Jung particularly, while its style was close to
Expressionism, abstract painting and Abstract-Expression-
ism. Anti-art, however, wanted to get rid of any means of
traditional painting and sculpture, and embraced Duchamp-
oriented art, such as happenings, performance, ready-made
art, installations with conceptual art content, etc., in order to
subvert all existing art in form and content as well.
Gu realized in 1985 that he himself was in step with the
Rationalist Painting Schoola major branch of Chinas
avant-garde. The Northern Art Group from the North-
east, 85 New Space of Hangzhou, Red-Journey from
Nanjing, Red Humor led by Wu Shanzhuan of Zhoushan,
Zhejiang, were representative factions of the Rationalist
Painting. Critics found many similarities between Gu and
the Rationalist Painting artists. As he always does, Gu tried
to avoid the mainstream because he was conscious of be-
coming a leader of new trends. When asked about his rebel-
lious attitude during the avant-guard movement, Wenda Gu
recalled:
I was aware of the antagonism against tradition in vanguard art.
The interesting thing was that many of the vanguard artists were
trained in western art, namely they were students or graduates in
oil painting or sculpture.42 Few of them were trained in authentic
42 Sculpture as a type of art is not an imported one since China has
this type of art for centuries. The reason Gu considered it as a Western
art type is that sculpture in Chinas art academies has been impacted
greatly by Western methodology, especially one from the French Aca-
demicism of the nineteenth century. The pedagogy and theory of the
French Academism, along with the Soviet method since 1950s, became
3.2 InitiativeCritique of Culture
traditional Chinese art, such as ink painting, calligraphy, seal
carving, etc. Comparing to them, I had the upper hand of dealing
with Chinese traditions. Only when you study and comprehend
traditions thoroughly, can you know where and how to attack
and re-interpret it. I did not join any art group for two reasons.
First, my rebellious attitude might be stronger than the artists
who were group members, so I did not want to be constrained
by any regulations or rules of a group. Secondly, it might be
because of the aloofness and eccentricity in my personality that I
wanted to make art alone. At this moment the rebelliousness for
me led to two directions: a search for cultural reality in China
and collectivism in avant-guard movement. The result should be
confirmation or realization of value of a man/artist as an inde-
pendent individual, which is distinct from member of a group
or collective.43
Two points are interesting to me in this recollection. First,
that Gu preferred to fight from the inside rather than from the
outside made him different from many vanguard artists and
hermeneutics scholars as well. Although there were, in fact,
some vanguard artists who were trained in Chinese painting,
such as Ren Jian, with a Masters degree, from the North-
ern Art Group, Shen Qin and Xu Lei from Red-Journey,
Duan Xiucang from Miyang Studio, and Fan Bo from
New Wild Nature, the majority of avant-guard artists were
trained in imported art media, mainly oil painting and sculp-
ture in academies. And, most scholars of the Hermeneutics
School were majoring in Western philosophy, law, history or
literature. To Gu, they were all outside-fighters. He believed
that if one did not know Chinese philosophy well, he might
not be able to touch its essence in his critique. Secondly,
when vanguard artists opposed collectivist discourse and
ideology by means of collectivism, Wenda Gus conscious-
ness of individualism placed him head and shoulders above
others. Partly because of his desire of destruction and
skepticism, and partly because of his clear-cut awareness
of anti-mainstream, as he dubbed himself,44 Gu always
hesitated to join the masses. Collectivism was necessary
in these years because individuals lacked effective power to
challenge the control of the authoritative art administration.
Though the collective tactic might strengthen the group in
confrontation with authority, it tended to obscure or mini-
mize the independence and originality of individuals within
the group. Gus decision to follow a more independent path
was both uncommon and admirable.
Going further and deeper, instead of changing tradition
by moderate means and a reformist attitude, Gu chose to
the mainstream of teaching, while the methodology of creation of tradi-
tional Chinese sculpture has been overlooked or even ignored.
43
Quoted from the authors interview with Wenda Gu in his home at
Brooklyn Heights, New York city, March 30, 2002.
44 See (Lee Fuhsing), !
(ting! na re ren yi lun de ling hunshi wen gu wen da, listen to
the soul that causes controversyten questions to Gu Wenda),
(xiong shi mei shu, Hsiungshi Art, monthly), Taipei, Taiwan, Issue
220, 1989, p.105.
69
use more radical means to reinterpret tradition at its deepest
level, that is, deconstruction of written language.
There was a debate of who was the first artist to use Chi-
nese characters as a major medium in Chinas avant-garde,
Wenda Gu or Wu Shanzhuan (1960-)? The latter, a lead-
ing figure of Red Humor group, applied large-scale and
bold-style Chinese characters in the group installation Red
70%, Black 25%, White 5% at the Zhejiang Academy of
Fine Arts, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, in 1985 (see 2.2.2.2. and
Fig.2.17). Wenda Gu started his experiment in using charac-
ters in his art as early as 1984. Consequently, Xu Bing (1955-)
joined exploration on Chinese written language through his
Books from the Sky in 1988, in which he conceived and
carved thousands of pseudo-characters from around 1986 in
order to question the value of written history and to reveal
the absurdity of existing discourses.
To me, the reason behind this selection of medium is more
significant than the inquiry on and confirmation of patent.
Written Chinese has existed at least five thousand years,
longer than written history of Chinese civilization. When
Chinese history has been written in Chinese characters for
thousands of years, this written language is saturated with
the concepts of Chinese philosophy, literature, mathematics,
and military affairs, among other fields, not to mention that
has been the core of Chinese calligraphy. It became sacred to
generations of Chinese, especially those scholar-bureaucrats
in ancient times, and intellectuals in modern China. These
three contemporary Chinese artists, Wu Shanzhuan, Wenda
Gu and Xu Bing, attempted to start a discursive revolution in
China through reconstruction of this unique written language.
Wu Shanzhuan treated characters as an object of artistic joke,
while Xu Bing seriously created tons of meaningless charac-
ters. For Wenda Gu, those characters were more like martyrs
sacrificed in a virtual funeral of Chinese tradition.
Wu Hung, a professor of Chinese art history at the Univer-
sity of Chicago, suggested that Gus written language art
of the 1980s was a form of anti-writing, a position Chinas
vanguard artists took against content-oriented writing, the
typical mode of traditional Chinese writing. Wu Hung im-
plied that Gu, along with Xu Bing, another experimentalist
of Chinese written language of the 1980s, was a formalist,
or expressionist with de-contentized stance,
Deeply committed to traditional aesthetics yet profoundly skep-
tical of any content or doctrine, Wenda Gu and Xu Bing were
attracted by an extreme form of anti-writing: in subverting regu-
lar writing codes, reversing and disfiguring graphs, and forging
fake characters they found effective ways to use an age-old
tradition for self-expression.45
45 Wu Hung, Anti-writing, Transience: Chinese Experimental Art
at the End of the Twentieth Century, Chicago: The David and Alfred
Smart Museum of Art, The University of Chicago, 1999, p.40.
70
This formalist stance, furthermore, led to a mythically
religious connotation or mood in his work, as Wu Hung
indicated.46 The binary opposition of form vs. content is
a unique perspective through which we can explain many
artistic phenomena. It is true especially in Chinas art, which
has been evolved in this opposition and/or unity from the
1950s. In official ideology, a form ought to serve content of
an artwork, and ideal status is that both form and content are
united and integrated into the work.
To argue a more profound reason for such subversion, I
believe it is necessary to consider Gus written language
art in the context of the Cultural Fever. By doing this, we
can discover a more complicated significance and cause of
Gus art.
Accordingly, we need to pay attention to Wenda Gus
spiritual closeness to the Hermeneutics School of the Cul-
tural Fever in order to better understand his motivation and
thoughts behind this written language art. According to the
strategy of this group, reinterpretation and reconstruction at
discursive levels were crucial. The term discourse has ac-
quired wide meanings and implications in contemporary lit-
erary criticism and cultural studies. For Chinese intellectuals
of the 1980s, this term, as commonly understood in contem-
porary criticism, referred to a strand within a given narra-
tive that argues a certain point or defends a given value sys-
tem, as summarized by Ross Murfin & Supryia M. Ray in
late 1990s. In a broader context, as Murfin and Ray claimed,
Society is generally made up of a number of different dis-
courses or discourse communities, one or more of which may
be dominant or serve the dominant ideology. Each discourse
has its own vocabulary, concepts, and rulesknowledge
of which constitutes power.47 In China after 1949 Maos
discourse had become the hegemonic discourse. Other sub-
discourses, though minor, were either different versions of
it or highly influenced by it. Any attempt to critique culture
had to be done at the discursive level, these young intellec-
tuals believed. It meant that certain narratives with given
values of power serving the dominant ideology should be
the main object of this critique. And a new cultural theme
could be developed only at this discursive level. The effort
of the Hermeneutics Schoolto transcend this hegemonic
discourse by substitutional Western discourseswas for or-
dinary people who had become accustomed to the Partys
discourse, nothing but another language revolution.
The first language revolution took place during the May-
Fourth Movement from 1910s to 1920s. (bai hua
wen), a written language combining vernacular vocabulary
and syntax with connotations of popular culture, was intro-
duced into literature and mass media in order to challenge
46 Ibid. see p.41.
47 Ross Murfin & Supryia M. Ray, entry discourse, The Bedford
Glossary of Critical & Literary Terms, Boston & New York: Bedford
Books, 1997. pp.8889. The italic and boldface words are as in the
original text.
3 The Discovery of the Centrality of Culture in Art: Wenda Gu
the dominating role of classical Chinese language that had
played for several thousands of years. For many high school
and college students, and even their teachers and professors
of the 1980s, the vocabulary and concepts of Maos dis-
courseclass struggle, peoples democratic dictatorship, or
collective spirit, for instancewere accepted as a natural part
of their life. Now the new three theories (information theory,
cybernetics, and system theory), psychoanalysis, existential-
ism, hermeneutics, and logical positivism, among others, not
only greatly expanded their visions, but also demonstrated to
them a huge realm that human language could reach and be
applied to.48 This phenomenon happened for the first time in
more than thirty years. Its shocking value and revolutionary
effects were one of the most significant cultural scenarios
in the 1980s China, which I would like to call the second
language revolution in the twentieth-century China.
In this period, Wenda Gu read several books in translation
by Russell and Wittgenstein and rethought the relationship
between language and reality, the so-called second nature
and first nature. He recounted his realizations in that period:
During this period I studied (zhuan shu, seal script).49
It is a written language that needs special training in reading
and writing. I could not understand many of them because of
its special structure. It was the time when the Tractatus logico-
philosophicus (1922) by Wittgenstein and A History of Western
Philosophy (1955) by Russell had been translated and published
in Chinese. I was most interested in the difference between
these two philosophers. Russell believed that the world could be
known and comprehended, in the final analysis, while Wittgen-
stein was a mystic pessimist. The world could be interpreted by
language, Russell insisted optimistically. Even though there is
something that could not be described and interpreted by current
languages, eventually it would be interpreted when languages
keep developing. However, Wittgenstein believed that there
would be something mystic that could not be explained by lan-
guages. When a language develops, the world always changes
ahead of it. Thus there is always something mystic and unex-
plainable. I am a believer of Wittgenstein. Languages belong to
the second nature. It subordinates the first nature. It could not
catch up with the changes of the first nature, or in other words, it
always lags behind the first nature. This thought inspired me for
my written language art. When learning to read (zhuan
shu, seal script) I found that tons of characters were Greek to
me, which forced me to think that there is always something
unknowable in this world and the universe. The interesting thing
was that this made me feel relaxed and released. There is little
fixed definition that we need to bother to know it. I didnt need
to learn those seal scripts; rather, I could create my own seal
scripts. To me it was nothing but liberation: from a prescribed
form to an unconstrained territory.50
48
I remember the first time when I read the books on the new three
theories, I was surprised by the fact that Chinese could even be written
and expressed in such a different manner, which was a nave but real
feeling I had then.
49 (zhuan shu), seal scripts, a style of Chinese calligraphy, usu-
ally used on seals in the ancient China, around the eighteenth to the
third century B.C.
50
Quoted from authors interview with Wenda Gu in his home at
Brooklyn Heights, New York city, March 30, 2002.
3.2 InitiativeCritique of Culture
This long quotation describes what the artist thought when
he moved to his written language art, critique of culture in
a way of deconstruction, from early constructive critique
of culture. Russell and Wittgenstein happened to be the major
figures in the list of translated works of the Editorial Com-
mittee for Twentieth-Century Western Scholarly Classics,
the headquarters of the Hermeneutics School in the Great
Cultural Discussion. And the concept the unspeakable (
, bu ke yan shuo, in Chinese) by Wittgenstein, one
of the most common jargons used by Hermeneutics School
scholars and their followers, also inspired Wenda Gus writ-
ten language art.51 To these scholars, the unspeakable
was the best excuse of getting rid of the hegemonic discours-
es and traditional ideologies. They claimed that we should
suspend those discourses and ideologies since they are
the unspeakable. These strategic and pragmatic interpreta-
tions and uses of Wittgensteins notion of the unspeakable
might be beyond the intention of the philosopher. However,
this interpretation itself was a part of the larger strategic goal
of the Hermeneutics Schoolthe subversion of tradition at
discursive level, a goal shared by Wenda Gu and many other
vanguard artists. According to Gus understanding, language
(proposition in Wittgenstein) might not be able to catch
objects sometimes, so we could suspend them and approach
the essence in our own way, namely, through the artists in-
tuition.
Furthermore, Gus artistic personality might explain his
rebellious advocacy of destruction. When discussing Gus
written language works, Fan Jinzhong compared them
with John Barths feeling of transformation from the expe-
rience to the language. He quoted Barth,
The transformation from the experience into a kind of lan-
guagedifferentiating objects from each other, sorting them,
forming concepts, using grammar, and finding syntaxis
always a betrayal of the experience because it changes the expe-
rience into something unsubstantial and intangible. However,
this betrayal is necessary because through it the experience can
be dealt with and treated, which also makes me feel Im a dis-
tinctive and dynamic individual When I sharpen my razor that
can create myth, brandish it and hack at the reality, I feel incom-
parably delighted and joyful.52
51
In Wittgensteins Tractatus logico-philosophicus, the concept of
the unspeakable or unsayable can be found from proposition 4 and
pertinent comments. The proposition 4 claims a thought is a proposi-
tion with a sense. The pertinent comment 4.115 supplements, It will
signify what cannot be said, by presenting clearly what can be said.
See Tractatus logico-philosophicus, translated by D. F. Pears and B. F.
McGuinness, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1961, p.19 and p.26.
According to the understanding of Max Black, professor of philosophy,
Cornell University, the phrase what cannot be said can be literally
understood as the unspeakable, or unsayable, while comment 4.115
can be paraphrased as, in some loose sense, one cannot refer to what
cannot be said, or use propositions whose sense is the unspeakable.
See Max Black, A Companion to Wittgensteins Tractatus, Ithaca,
New York: Cornell University Press, 1964, p.187.
Quoted from (Fan Jingzhong),
52
(chen mo he chao yuekan gu wen da zuo ping de yi 56
71
Gus experience in making propaganda posters during the
Cultural Revolution could be a footnote to his fascination
with destruction and his critical attitude toward the tradi-
tions he encountered. The artist admitted this connection in
an interview,53 and the connection might be meaningful for
his language art, not only as a state of mind but also as an
artistic form, as well as in a sense as a critical spirit.54
The fourth reason for Gus shift of attitude and approach
in the critique of culture was his shift of interest in Modern-
ism from Surrealism to Duchamp, Dada, and Francis Bacon.
In 1984, the artist recalled, Beside Duchamp and Dada, I
also followed Francis Bacon. The desire of destruction, vio-
lent expansion, and mysticism were the subjects of my art
in this period.55 If we could say the Surrealism provided
him compositional direction and a way of thinking artisti-
cally about metaphysical issues, Duchamp, Dada, and Bacon
offered him the concept of anti-tradition and the means of
deconstruction.
3.2.3The Deconstruction of Written Language
The year 1985 was significant for Gus art and Chinas avant-
garde movement as well. This was the beginning year of the
avant-garde campaign in which about eighty unofficial art
groups mushroomed nationwide. For Wenda Gu, The year
1985 was the beginning of fundamental shift of my art.56
This shift was multi-faceted: from Surrealism to Duchamp in
concept, from constructive contemplation to deconstructive
reinterpretation in art means, and from the general cultural
heritage to the Chinese written language in terms of the ob-
ject/target of critique.
Highly sensitive to contemporary cultural concerns, Gu
was aware that the critique of culture could not be effective
and succeed if not done at the discursive level. Unlike those
young Hermeneutic School scholars, who tended to revolu-
tionize discourses in terms of structure, Gus effort pointed
to the essential element of a dominating narrative system:
characters of the written language. While the Hermeneutics
xie gan xiang, silence and transcendencereflection on Gu Wendas
work), (mei shu, Fine Arts, monthly), Beijing, issue 7, 1986,
pp.50. John Barth (1930-) is an American novelist and short-story
writer.
53 See (Lee Fuhsing), !
(ting! na re ren yi lun de ling hunshi wen gu wen da, listen to
the soul that causes controversyten questions to Gu Wenda),
(xiong shi meishu, Hsiungshi Art, monthly), Taipei, Taiwan, Issue
220, 1989, p.102.
54
More specific arguments will be given in 3.2.3.
55 Quoted from (Lee Fuhsing), !
(ting! na re ren yi lun de ling hunshi wen gu wen da,
listen to the soul that causes controversyten questions to Gu Wenda),
(xiong shi meishu, Hsiungshi Art, monthly), Taipei, Tai-
wan, Issue 220, 1989, p.102.
Ibid. p.102.
72 3 The Discovery of the Centrality of Culture in Art: Wenda Gu

School suspended tradition in order to deemphasize the cur-

rent mainstream ideology, Gu tended to de-stress the tradi-
tion essentially.
Here we face an interesting situation. China is a country
with more than five thousand years of written history. She has
her unique written language, a language consisting of hiero-
glyphs or pictorial characters. Such language was developed
in the beginning from a purely visual/imaginative association
of characters with objects. For instance, the original Chinese
characters for sun (, ri), moon (, yue), water (
, shui) and mountain (, shan) are all derived from
graphic diagrams of these natural objects. Later, ideographic
elements entered the language. Therefore, the Chinese writ-
ten language possesses two important features: the figurative
and the abstract. It can carry meaning; at the same time it
becomes an object of aesthetic appreciation. When Chinese
calligraphy is developed systematically, the aesthetic func-
tion of this language has been greatly enhanced. In the mid-
1980s, several artists tried to reach the essence of Chinese
culture through Chinas written language. Wu Shanzhuan
from Zhejiang province, Xu Bing from Beijing and Wenda
Gu were among these experimentalists. For them, the Chi-
nese written language is a matrix and reservoir of Chinese
civilization and history. When the heroes in history died,
the oral languages changed, the ancient architecture became
ruins or was totally destroyed, the history and the civilization
remained only in tons of historical documents, literature, and
philosophy preserved in the Chinese written language. Those
square-shape characters seemed to have contained the entire
history and culture of China. Therefore, any cultural critique
ought to consider this language. Subversion of discourse of a
culture, in the final analysis for these artists, could be a sub-
Fig. 3.15 Wenda Gu, Ive checked the character (jing, meaning
version of its written language. Although such radical ideas quietness, equability) written by Three Men and Three Women, ink on
sound highly utopian and problematic for todays critics, it paper, 114 3 /1670 7/8in., 1986, collector unknown.
was contextually understandable and artistically feasible in
the China of the mid-1980s. Gu did not apologize for seeing Now a radical destruction of traditional systems of concep-
a connection between his deconstructed Chinese written lan- tion and form replaced the construction of a metaphysi-
guage and modern Western philosophy, especially analytical cal art with religion-like reverence for the previous stage.
philosophy, when he recalled his art of the 1980s: Traditionally, calligraphy carries two basic functions: it is
In about 1982 I had carved a series of seals with wrongly-written a vehicle of meaning as well as an object of aesthetic appre-
characters. At the same time I had read linguistic and logic phi- ciation. Gu turned the structure of Chinese characters into
losophies by Heidegger, Russell and Wittgenstein. These writ- meaningless fragments and then reshaped them in random
ings inspired large amounts of over-size ink paintings consisting combinationswrongly written characters and upside-down
of wrongly-written, deformed and pseudo Chinese characters,
made during 1982 to 1987 when I left China. I even wrote an art or reverse characters with red crosses and circles on them
essay in 1986 in homophonic characters that I picked up from (Fig.3.15).
a dictionary. By doing this I questioned the nature of written One of examples of his written language work is
language that eventually led to my abandonment of written lan- ,,,,,,,
guage.57
(wo shu xie de tang shicuo zi, lou zi, fan zi, mei
shu zi, fang song zi, wu yi zi, dao zi, yi zi, Tang poetry in my
57 Quoted from Wenda Gus letter to Li Xiaoshan, a Chinese critic, calligraphywrongly written, missed, reversed, artistically
Dec. 1995, p.1, unpublished. Li Xiaoshan is also a warrior in the anti-
tradition campaign, see 2.2.3. As for the mentioned essay, titled
(fei chen shu de wen zi, non-narrative/accountable char- his series on the destruction of written language later in this part (see
acters) and written in 1986, I will wait till I discuss the methodology of p.78, Fig.3.19).
3.2 InitiativeCritique of Culture 73

calligraphic, Songdynasty-style-type-faced, meaningless,

upside-down, and homonymous characters, Fig.3.16). This
long title actually describes most of the means Gu applied
in the work. The poem in this calligraphy work is
(bo qin huai, Moor at the Qinhuai Canal), written by Tang
poet (Du Mu, 803852). The original poem is,
, (yan long han shui yue long sha)
(ye bo qin huai jin jiu jia)
, (shang n bu zhi wang guo hen)
(ge jiang you chang hou ting hua)
Mist veils the cold stream, and moonlight the sand,
As I moor in the shadow of a river-tavern,
Where girls, with no thoughts of a perished kingdom,
Gaily echo A Song of Courtyard Flowers.58
The destruction was three folded. First, the characters are
destructed, reconstructed, or simply repositioned. Second,
the format of calligraphy was subverted through inconsis-
tent types of characters and accidental ink blots. Finally,
the poetry became hardly readablethus deconstructed
because of various treatments of characters. Furthermore,
there were three intentionally skipped or missed characters
(there are totally twenty eight characters in the poem).
An analysis of the mood that this poem carries will
reveal further significance of Gus intention. A Song of
Courtyard Flowers mentioned in the poem is a sensual
and alluring piece written by Chen Shubao (known as Chen
Houzhu), the last emperor of the weak Chen dynasty (reign
583589). Although this song celebrated the beauties of the
royal court, his advisors sensed the decadence and the im-
pending destruction of the dynasty. Chen was exterminated
by the Sui dynasty several years later. Two and a half cen-
turies later, Du Mu wrote his Moor at the Qinhuai Canal
when the Tang dynasty was suffering from its own crisis.
In the ears of the poet, this song recalled the decadence and
destruction of a dynasty and caused anxiety and worry for
the present. The selection Gu made was significant because Fig. 3.16 Wenda Gu, Tang Poetry In My CalligraphyWrongly
this poem carried an awareness of the crisis and warns of Written, Missed, Reversed, Artistically Calligraphic, SongDynasty-
Style-Type-Faced, Meaningless, Upside-down, and Homonymous
the immediate danger of a dynasty, or a culture in general. Characters, ink on paper, 114 70 7/8in., 1986, collector unknown.
Its implication could be read as a tocsin of cultural crisis,
while this artistic destruction of characters, calligraphic
channel of meaning has been shifted. Meanwhile, the content of
and poetic structures of forecast of destruction reinforced
this abstraction is confirmed.59
greatly the power of the critique of culture. For the artist,
this was an experiment in the esthetic sphere as well as the It is true in his Tang Poetry in My Calligraphy. This ab-
semantic sphere: straction in characters provides us with a new type of ab-
I disintegrated and reintegrated characters because I saw them straction, an abstraction with somewhat distorted poetic
as a new figuration (or image). Once an abstract painting is meaning. For those who know this poem, it is still signifi-
combined with characters, it looks abstract while the characters cant in terms of poetry reading, while others might only
possess content. The content in such combination is conveyed see several Chinese characters with various styles and non-
through characters rather than images from nature. Thus the
traditional structures.

59Quoted from (Fei Dawei),

58Witter Bynner, translated, The Jade Mountain: A Chinese Anthology (xiang xian dai pai tiao zhanfang hua jia gu wen da, challenge
Being Three Hundred Poems of the Tang Dynasty (618906), New modernistsan interview with painter Gu Wenda), (mei shu,
York: Alfred A Knopf, Inc. published, 1929, 8th printing, 1960, p.176. Fine Arts, monthly), issue 7, 1986, p.54.
74
Fig. 3.17 Wenda Gu,
(changshen), ink on paper,
one of three hanging scrolls, 96
feet each, collection of Zhen Guo,
China.
However, what might also be confirmed in such work was
the aesthetic function of calligraphy, because the characters,
although disintegrated and reintegrated, had retained their
calligraphic features. The result was a group of dynamic and
violent calligraphic-abstract paintings. The ideographic or
semantic meanings of the original characters had been de-
constructed along with the fragmentation of their structure.
3 The Discovery of the Centrality of Culture in Art: Wenda Gu
The integration of those character fragments could produce
new meaning, meaning not found in a common dictionary.
For example, Gus work (chang shen), one of
his best-known ink pieces, consists of two characters that
share a part of each others (shen, Fig.3.17). Two
characters, (chang) with meaning free or unimpeded,
pleasure, accessibility, and joy, and (shen), spirit,
3.2 InitiativeCritique of Culture 75

god, vivification, are blended and become subject to

various or divergent interpretations. The word was a
notion created by Zong Bing (373443), a painter of the Six
Dynasties. It means that Chinese landscape painting can be
an approach from which people reach god of nature. To ordi-
nary audiences the most likely reading is to let ones mind
go freely, or let ones spirit ride with a loose rein. This is
the conclusion from readers eye shifting from one character
to another, which we might call semantic reading. Howev-
er, in the work, we could find more than one reading. When
read from left to right, as we do in modern Chinese printing,
it could be read as (shen yi) or (shi chang), de-
pending on giving (shen) to the left or the right. Neverthe-
less, when read from right to left, as in the traditional way
of Chinese printing, it becomes (chang shi) or (yi
shen). Both readings, which we might call compositional
reading, make little sense in Chinese since there are no
such words. The ambiguity of this compositional reading
should we read from left to right or vice versacomplicates
the meaning of this piece. Furthermore, the conflict instead
of agreement between the semantic and compositional read-
ings subverted the foundation on which the Chinese written
language and calligraphy were based, and made the work a
representative of Gus deconstruction and reconstruction of
written Chinese.
In other cases, it might have no literal meaning but is just
an expression of emotion, as seen in
(tu teng yu jin ji de shi dai, the times of totem and taboo,
Fig. 3.18). The title is obviously inspired by Freuds book
Totem and Taboo, a study of the consciousness and symbol-
ism of sexuality in totems. This ink work contains several
images, including a spittoon with a circle and an arrow, a
red-lip mouth and a candle with a cross on each of them. On Fig. 3.18 Wenda Gu, The Times of Totem and Taboo, ink and color
both sides, several characters are hard to read since they are on paper, 1986, measurements and collector unknown.
mostly disintegrated and merged into the gray-blue ink area.
According to the translation in Fan Jinzhongs article, tive symbols, and this critique pointed to the features of vio-
they read, The times of totem and taboono bustles, no lence and arbitrariness in those discourses. Also, it touched
smoking, no spitting, and no tossing waste on the street.60 a cultural taboo, the issue of sex, through sexual implication
These images and characters look like posters on which vari- in the signs of the arrow and circle, as well as images of the
ous signs with red crosses tell pedestrians not to do certain mouth and candle.
things. The proofreading type of symbols in the work, similar Although this work appears to be an abstraction, the
to marks found in school homework grading, functions not problem is that it seems to be impossible to cancel the basic
only as an indicator of revision, but also carries the meaning semantic function of a language, Chinese language in this
of negation, denial, ban or prohibition in Chinese society. case, because the deconstructed or reconstructed characters
For instance, a red sign of a cross on a persons name on an Gu made still convey meanings. In other words, the original
official legal document means that the person is sentenced connection of signifier and signified has been changed, but a
to death. Therefore, Gus appropriation implied the signifi- new type of connection has been built from the deconstruc-
cance of critique of hegemonic discourses through prohibi- tion. In effect, Gu still conveyed something through emo-
tional expression, as in the Times of Totems and Taboos,
or through a confrontational treatment of semantic and com-
60See (Fan Jingzhong),
positional readings, as in Changshen (Fig.3.17) although
(chen mo he chao yuekan gu wen da zuo ping de yi xie gan the way of saying had been changed dramatically.
xiang, silence and transcendencereflection on Gu Wendas work),
(mei shu, Fine Arts, monthly), Beijing, issue 7, 1986, p.50.
76
When examining Gus work, one feels the effect of it
seems predictable and the process seems to have followed a
clear logic. In fact, Gu is an artist who really honors artistic
intuition and always follows it when making art. The way
of making ink painting or writing calligraphy is to lay the
paper horizontally on the table or on the floor if the size is
large. Wenda Gu usually laid the large-size rice paper on the
floor and followed his inclination as in painting or writing.
He did not have a clear idea of what to do in the beginning,
and simply wielded his brush with saturated ink to generate
spontaneous effects on the paper. Then he observed the effect
and began to conceive composition, structure, and details.
This process was also true of his calligraphy-like work.
Therefore, those deformed characters were not designed
or conceived beforehand; instead, they were constructed
under his impromptu implementation. Every new discovery
took place not at the time I had a clear concept, rather, at the
time I hesitated and didnt know what to do, Gu recalled.61
Reason as a way of thinking versus intuition as an
approach toward the essence of art creation intrigued Wenda
Gu deeply during this period. In the Notes on Art written
in 1985, there was a section subtitled The Creative Rela-
tionship between Intuition and Reason in Artistic Scheme.
He believed that reason and intuition co-exist in every art-
ists mind in a relation he called unconscious relationship
in coordination.
The rational analysis lies at a certain moment in the process of
creation, and it points to a specific direction. Since it develops
vertically and linearly, those horizontal and lateral areas could
be ignored. These areas are simply for intuition that expands
and develops with reason simultaneously. At the moment we
cudgel our brains and suddenly are surprised or even shocked by
some new effects of brushwork or coloration, we usually believe
these effects are products of our pondering. In fact, we may find
out after careful observation that those effects are not from our
thinking, but something else takes effects at the time we are
thinking, thus surprises us. To be sure, the pure thinking will not
give us surprising and unexpected things. The something else
here that works with reason simultaneously is nothing but intui-
tive impulses. It always takes effect under the guise of reason.
The relation between reason and intuition like these is what I
called unconscious relationship in coordination.62
The artists statement is by no means a scientific report of
psychology or aesthetics. Rather, it is a result of an empiri-
cal summary of his artistic practice. Thus, it might not be
scientifically accurate but simply empirically faithful. Like
many vanguard artists, Gu had spent a lot of time to explor-
61
Quoted from (Lee Fuhsing), ! ing but a serious play by using language. Because it is impossi-
(ting! na re ren yi lun de ling hunshi wen gu wen da,
listen to the soul that causes controversyten questions to Gu Wenda),
(xiong shi mei shu, Hsiungshi Art, monthly), Taipei, Tai- 63See
wan, Issue 220, 1989, p.104.
62 (Wenda Gu), (yi shu bi ji, notes on art), writ- the soul that causes controversyten questions to Gu Wenda),
ten in August 10, 1985, (hua lang, Art Corridor, quarterly),
Changsha, Hunan province, 1987, issue 2.
3 The Discovery of the Centrality of Culture in Art: Wenda Gu
ing how to transfer concepts into artistic form, or, in other
words, to find a way that could reach something essential in
art. For them, a Chan-Buddhist-type of epiphanyreaching
truth in mans intuitionseemed to be a way out. This Chan-
inspired theory of intuition was Gus theoretical basis for
most of his spontaneous work in deconstructed characters.
As discussed in a previous section, when some critics
grouped Gu with Rationalist Painting, the artist attempted
to distance himself from this school by shifting from the re-
consideration of tradition via traditional means including ink
and oil painting to destruction of tradition via deconstruction
of essential elements of Chinese culturewritten language.
One of reasons for this self-distancing could be the differ-
ence in viewpoints on the relationship between reason and
intuition, or more specifically, the way of dealing with trans-
formation from concepts to artistic form. Gu once criticized
his Rationalist Painting comrades as being too philosophi-
cal. He disliked works that used philosophic titles and
required extensive explanatory texts to make their meaning
clear. The knowledge and study of history, philosophy and
religion, he argued, were necessary for artistic creation but
were not the goal of it. This knowledge and study should be
integrated into artists intuition or subconsciousness. I feel
that knowledge and cultivation belong to the realm of histo-
ry. Only if they are integrated into our unconscious intuition,
could they be liberated from the histories and become the
sources for creation. This creation is by no means a descrip-
tion of our knowledge. Gu explained his ideas on intuition
when commenting on Chinas avant-garde of the mid-1980s
in the interview with a Taiwanese critic in 1989.63
As for the intention and methodology of the series of
the destruction of Chinese written language, as the artist
called it, Gu wrote a special essay (fei
chen shu de wen zi, non-narrative/accountable Chinese
characters, Fig.3.19) to explain. The essay itself was his
language experiment since he used a lot of unreasonable
and non-conventional punctuations, as well as homophonic
characters, and dismantled some characters so that the article
became somehow non-narrative/accountable. If read care-
fully, it could be re-organized into a readable text, in a con-
ventional manner, in our mind. Regarding the explanation
in non-narrative/accountable characters about his series of
the destruction of Chinese written language, Gu wrote:
Man thinks concepts through language, and he narrates by lan-
guage too. Both would not work without language. The former
uses language to think and construct, while the latter, to express
(I believe the latter is closer to the artistic realm). Probably they
could not be differentiated from each other. The thinking is noth-
(Lee Fuhsing), !
(ting! na re ren yi lun de ling hunshi wen gu wen da, listen to
(xiong shi meishu, Hsiungshi Art, monthly), Taipei, Taiwan, Issue
220, 1989, p.106.
3.2 InitiativeCritique of Culture 77

Fig. 3.19 Wenda Gu,

(fei chen shu de wen zi,
non-narrative/accountable charac-
ters), first page, published on
(Art Trends, bimonthly),
Wuhan, Hubei province, 1986,
issue 4, pp.3236.

ble to prove that a written language by which we build concepts
and narrative is a bridge toward the essence of nature, artists
have the right to claim that written languages may be a special
aesthetic process.
Written languages that we called aesthetic process are mans
endless interpretations, with religion-like passion and obses-
sion, of the natures internal truth, which man could never
approach. In this sense, ancient fables, Greek myths and modern
sciences are not different.
The reason64 relies on language too, thus it could not reach
the essence of nature and approach the sphere of unity of man
and universe. However, intuition could reach anything, includ-
ing ones that could not be narrated by language. The intuition
could not be transformed into the reason because the medium of
transformation is language.
64The concept reason Gu used is similar to what most vanguard

artists understood, see my discussion in 2.2.1, Conceptual Roots of

Avant-Garde.
78 3 The Discovery of the Centrality of Culture in Art: Wenda Gu

Therefore, if we would not apply a regular way to recognize and
comprehend the structure of Chinese characters and the gram-
mar of Chinese language, but consider them an aesthetic process
and reconstruct them freely, we could get back, in this aesthetic
narration, the lost comprehension based on the intuition on the
whole.65
From esthetic and artistic perspectives, Gu launched his
campaign of deconstruction of Chinese written language,
according to the artists statement. In the 1980s aesthetics as
a modern discipline, like art theory and modern philosophy,
became popular among intelligentsia and college students in
China, thanks to the efforts of Hermeneutics School scholars
as well as art critics and theorists. Chinese scholarship in
aesthetics prospered during this period. Books such as
(bei ju xin li xue, Psychology of Tragedy),
(wen yi xin li xue, Psychology of Arts),
(xi fang mei xue shi, A History of Western Aesthetics), all
by Zhu Guangqian (18971986), (mei xue san
bu, Essays on Aesthetics) by Zong Baihua (18971986)66,
(mei xue lun ji, Anthology of Aesthetics),
(mei de li cheng, Journey of the Beautiful),
(zhong guo mei xue shi, A History of Chinese
Aesthetics), all by Li Zehou (1930-) were published in late
1970s and early 1980s. In addition, literature in this field by
Western scholarsincluding Asthetik (aesthetics) by Hegel,
The Sense of Beauty by George Santayana, Problems of
Art by Susanne Langer, Aesthetic as Science of Expression
and General Linguistic by Benedetto Croce, Art and Visual
Perception by Rudolf Arnheim, Principles of Art by Robin
Collingwood, Principles of Art History by Heinrich Wolf-
flin, Art as Experience by John Dewey, sthetik und allge-
meine Kunstwissenschaft (aesthetics and theory of art) by
Max Dessoir, among otherswas translated and published.
A national periodical Aesthetics (quarterly) was founded and
became a critical forum in the field. In this context, aesthet-
ics became a hot discipline attracting scholars, college
students, and artists as well. No wonder some media called
it fever of aesthetics. Involved in this fever, Wenda Gu
added his understanding of aesthetics to the experiment.
Like many vanguard artists, the Rationalist Painting artists
particularly, Gu thought of the concept reason as a way of
thinking. He believed that art needed to solve problems of
the nature of the universe and human beings, and to develop
a methodology for this solution, as in other disciplines. For
him, just as for many vanguard artists, a Chan-Buddhist-type
of epiphanyreaching internal truth in mans intuition
seemed to be an appropriate way out. The role of language,
written language in his case, should be reconsidered in terms
of aesthetics. In other words, despite its conventions of using
and reading, the Chinese written language, especially its
elementary unitscharacterscould and should be recon-
structed based on artists intuition. This explains Gus moti-
vation for the deconstruction of written language and the
methodology he applied to his execution of these works. It
would be arbitrary to say that Wenda Gu was directly influ-
enced by Croces theory of intuition. However, Croces con-
cept of intuition was popular in China in the 1980s, thanks
to the publication of a translation of his well-known book
Aesthetic as Science of Expression and General Linguistic.
Croce divides knowledge into two forms:
It is either intuitive knowledge or logical knowledge; knowl-
edge obtained through the imagination or knowledge obtained
through the intellect; knowledge of the individual or knowledge
of the universal; of individual things or of the relations of them:
it is, in fact, productive either of images or of concepts.67
Croces classification of two groups of knowledgethe in-
tuitive, imagination, the individual, individual things, and
images are in one group, while the logical, intellect, uni-
versal, relations, and concepts belong to the anothercould
find similarities in the thoughts of vanguard artists, Wenda
Gu particularly. In art the intuition seems to be the domi-
nant factor leading to individualized, imaginative art images.
They are not logical, universal concepts of relations but an
alternative and creative approach to truth and nature.
In his essay (fei chen shu de wen zi,
non-narrative/ accountable characters, Fig.3.19), Gu spent
much time describing the aesthetic appreciation of his de-
construction of written language work. The frustration of
reading experiencereorganization of fragmented charac-
ters and sentences in the essayis nothing but exactly what
he meant by aesthetic appreciation through intuitive partici-
pation. When audiences have difficulty deciphering those
perplexing characters, they have crossed over the wall of
reality and entered the aesthetic sphere. They might have a
truer grasp of the nature of things and the world from this
somewhat frustrating experience.
When reading his essay, I have found a dilemma. Al-
though his destruction of written language succeeded in
a degree in those ink works, this essay still attemptted to
convey his conception of non-narrative/accountable char-
acters through narrative characters, even when he used
unreasonable punctuation and dismantled characters. In the
final analysis, reading his essay is still a process of thinking
through language, not unlike a reading of a scientific text. In
this sense, his experiment in writing might not be as success-
ful as his ink painting.

65 (Gu Wenda), (fei chen shu de wen zi,

nonnarrative/accountable Chinese characters), (mei shu si 67 Benedetto Croce, Aesthetic as Science of Expression and General
chao, Art Trends, bimonthly), Wuhan, Hubei, 1986, issue 4, pp.3233. Linguistic, translated from the Italian by Douglas Ainslie, New York:
66 Yes, two masters of aesthetics were born and died the same years. The Noonday Press, 1970, 14th printing, p.1.
3.2 InitiativeCritique of Culture 79

The comprehensive result of his critique of written Chi-

nese could be seen in his only solo show in the 1980s, a
highly provocative and controversial event at the time. The
show was held simultaneously with the symposium of Tra-
dition of Chinese Painting at the Xian Artists Gallery,
Xian, Shaanxi province, from June 22 to July 1, 1986. To
make a comparison, ink paintings by a newly-discovered
old master, Huang Qiuyuan, were displayed at the same gal-
lery, although they were two individual exhibitions held in
separate exhibition spaces.
It is interesting and significant to juxtapose Wenda Gus
work with Huang Qiuyuans ink painting. Huang Qiuyuan
(19131979), a native of Nanchang, the capital city of Ji-
angxi province, is a legendary artist who was not discov-
ered until a couple of years after his death. A self-contained
and self-confined individual, Huang had never been corrupt-
ed by officialdom and money during the reigns of both the
Kuomintang (19111949, Nationalist Party founded by Sun
Zhongshan, also spelled as Sun Yat-sen) and Communist
Party (1949). In his nearly reclusive life, Huang worked as
an apprentice in a painting-calligraphy-mounting workshop
in his teenage years, and as a bank clerk most of his life. He
rejected an offer to become a mayor by a Kuomintang high-
ranking official and declined an invitation of employment
at a high salary in a Hong Kong gallery from an art dealer.
After 1949, he lived alone without artistic fame and never Fig. 3.20 Huang Qiuyuan, Watching Waterfall on Stony Mountain,
joined the local branch of the China Artists Association, a 1976, ink and color on paper, measurements and collector unknown.
semi-official organization of artists under the leadership of
the party. He traveled to and wandered in Mt. Lu (Jiangxi),
Mt. Jingang (Jiangxi) and Mt. Wuyi (Fujian), among others. firmed an uncompromising confrontation between tradition
After painting, he spent his spare time in teahouses chatting and modernity, and between the literati taste and the discur-
with a few bosom friends. His spiritually hermit-like status sive revolution.
protected him from the turmoil and suffering of a chaotic As a compromised project, Gus exhibition was divided
society, and provided him an environment in which he could into two sections: one was open to the public while the other
meditate and concentrated on his purely literati art. The tran- was accessible only to the attendees of the symposium, the
quility of life conditioned the tranquility of his art, painting so-called internal-audience-only show. This became a
full of remote mountains, age-old trees, thatched cottages, contrast within the contrast between Gu and Huang. The
waterfalls, clear springs, and idle clouds, instead of the dif- open-to-the-public exhibit contained ink paintings and cal-
ferent kinds of socialist landscape elements seen in works ligraphic works in the traditional manner (Figs.3.22, 3.23).
by many of his contemporary Chinese landscape painters. The internal-audience-only one was his Series of Chinese
Not contaminated by political, economic, and cultural impu- Characters. Gu, in fact, made an assembly in the gallery
rities, Huangs ink work sustained the spirit and style of lite- for this Rated R show. There might be two reasons for
rati art in a non-literati era, a miracle of these chaotic years. the creation of a traditional part and a modern section. First,
The exhibition showed more than one hundred twenty when a show with works of extremely radical concepts and
paintings by Huang. The audiences welcomed the opportu- styles was shown, a traditional section could be a balance for
nity to see ancient literati paintings made by a contemporary conservatives, who otherwise might blame the organizers for
artist. His work, not unlike the artist himself, was entirely their extremist curatorship. In addition to the exhibition of
un-contaminated. (Figs.3.20, 3.21) When organizers tend- Huang Qiuyuan, this part could be called a double-compro-
ed to indicate the contemporary development of Chinese ink mise or double-insurance. Secondly, for most of Chinese
art through juxtaposition of Huang, a typical traditionalist audience of the 1980s, modernists, at least as they claimed,
and conservative, and Gu, a modern interpreter of this tra- should prove their skills of traditional art before they could
dition in Xian Artists Gallery, this juxtaposition, however, make any modernist work. If s/he could not present such
pointed out the differences rather than similarities and con- skills, her/his modernist work would be accused of hav-
80
Fig. 3.21 Huang Qiuyuan, Zhusha Village, 1973, ink and color on
paper, measurements and collector unknown.
ing no foundation for a modern experiment, or even worse,
running before you know how to walk, as a Chinese saying
blames. Gus destructed character work was so ambitious
that he definitely needed proof of his conventional art train-
ing. The old-manner art here functioned not only a founda-
tion for experiments, but also a license for extremist art, a
specific but significant phenomenon in the 1980s.
According to Peng De, a critic from Hubei province, Gu
had a definite spatial setting and schedule for this exhibition.
His calculated placement also included covering all win-
dows of the exhibition hall to eliminate natural light, light-
ing candles to create a mystic atmosphere, displaying works
on all walls, ceiling and floor, and setting the tone of the
show by deconstructed written language works with vari-
3 The Discovery of the Centrality of Culture in Art: Wenda Gu
ous signs, mostly red crosses. His planned schedule includ-
ed four stages. During the first two days he was in a cage.
Then he walked out and chatted with the audience. Third,
he would place blank papers on the floor and then write on
them the content of his dialog with his audience, and then
he would cover his works with these papers. Finally, he put
down more blank papers, painted them in collaboration with
audiences, and then burned all these paintings later on site.
Only part of this plan was carried out because of organizers
objection.68
The final result of the exhibition, especially the Rated
R part, was still a shock for many audiences, including crit-
ics, artists and art officials. He exhibited ink works with cal-
ligraphy, seal carvings, using disintegrated or reintegrated
characters and symbols, and several geometrical construc-
tions with photographs of the artists studio scenes. In the
front part of the dimly-lighted exhibition hall, there were
two rowsseven hanging scrolls (a traditional format
of ink painting and calligraphy) in each rowof large-size
ink works hung from the ceiling to the floor, in addition to
four more scrolls in the rear part (Fig.3.24). These works
were not mounted, as was usually the case for traditional ink
work, but drifted in the air, something not unlike banners in
a Buddhist or Daoist temple. In the center of the hall was a
pyramid-like, life-size construction, with an opening on the
rear side. Photographs of Wenda Gus studio were collaged
inside this construction (Figs.3.25, 3.26). The most shock-
ing impact was made by those ink works covered by regu-
lar, reversed, or wrongly written characters with red crosses,
circles and checks, which hung everywhere in this crowded
space. The show was closed several hours after the open-
ing because of its radical statement and the uproar it pro-
voked. Even all the compromised designs and plans could
not prevent the exhibition from being shut down. Ironically,
because of the unreadable characters that to cultural officials
might have political implications, the best option for them
was to close the exhibition. This, unexpectedly, added politi-
cal significance to Gus critique of culture.
Jason Kuo considered Gus mutilation of the written
language as the artists reaction toward the abuses of lan-
guage by the writers of the big-character posters ()
during the Cultural Revolution.69 I would say that, instead
of reaction toward, Gus dis-integrated written language
could be inspired partly by the big-character poster.
The big-character poster was a vehicle for mass criti-
cism and repudiation in the Cultural Revolution (Fig.3.27).
68See (Peng De), (gu wen da su jie, reading Gu
Wenda), (mei shu si chao, Art Trends, bimonthly), Wuhan,
Hubei province, issue 3, 1987, p.20.
69 SeeJason C. S. Kuo, Mutilated Language: Politics and the Art of
Gu Wenda, a paper delivered at the College Art Association meeting,
San Francisco, revised in 1989.
3.2 InitiativeCritique of Culture 81

Fig. 3.22 Wenda Gu, Land-

scape Inspired By Wang Weis
(Tang dynasty) Poem, ink and
color on paper, 1982, measure-
ments and collector unknown.

Fig. 3.23 Wenda Gu, Splashing

Ink Calligraphy: A Poem by Yue
Fei (Song Dynasty), detail, ink
on paper, 1984, measurements
unknown, China Academy of Art,
Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.

Its contents were revolutionary, but it was also written in
traditional Chinese calligraphy on the printing paper rather
than on the rice paper. The spontaneity of execution, ran-
domness in use of words, syntax and grammar, and high
frequency of wrongly written characters, all could be in-
spirational to Gus mutilation of written language. When
getting rid of its political connotation, this metamorphosis
would have become a formal source for Gus experiment.
In fact, Wenda Gu was clearly aware of his appropriation,
or even wittingly appropriated, from the form and spirit of
the big-character poster. He said in the interview with Lee
Fuhsing, a Taiwanese art critic and editor:
I have considered the form of big-character posters the peak
of modern Chinas calligraphy. They are not executed by literati
and professional calligraphers who are skillful in traditional cal-
ligraphy, instead, they are processed by anonymous masses.
The breakthrough of big-character posters in calligraphy is so
comprehensive, profound, and essential that its significance is
even greater than any contemporary Chinese and Japanese art
82
Fig. 3.24 Wenda Gu, Solo Exhibition: Internal-Audience-Only Sec-
tion, installation view, Artists Gallery, Xi-an, Shaanxi, China, June
July 1986.
of calligraphy. The calligraphy as a form of communication
has been liberated from literatis private studies, and appears
in public space. There is no more stylized and decrepit
(yong zi ba fa),70 and no affectation and sentimentality
either71
Traditionally, a calligraphic work is executed in the study.72
The requirements of tools and materials are fastidious. A
70
(yong zi ba fa), the character (yong) includes eight
basic strokes, which should be practiced a lot by a beginner in training
of calligraphy.
71
Quoted from (Lee Fuhsing), !
(ting! na re ren yi lun de ling hunshi wen gu wen da,
listen to the soul that causes controversyten questions to Gu Wenda),
(xiong shi mei shu, Hsiungshi Art, monthly), Taipei, Tai-
wan, Issue 220, 1989, p.104.
72 In fact, ink painting is conventionally done in the study too. For a
traditional intellectual, his study is an ivory tower in which he writes,
paints, carves, and even plays music. This one-space-for-all study
exemplifies the unity of comprehensive qualifications an intellectual
should possess.
3 The Discovery of the Centrality of Culture in Art: Wenda Gu
Fig. 3.25 Wenda Gu, Solo Exhibition: Internal-Audience-Only Sec-
tion, pyramid-like construction, detail, Artists Gallery, Xi-an, Shaanxi,
China, JuneJuly 1986.
calligrapher first needs to rub an ink stick against an ink-
stone with water to prepare proper ink. Then he needs spe-
cial brushes for different purposesa brush made of wea-
sels hair for small-size characters because of its hard qual-
ity, such as book or letter writing, writing on fan, inscription
on painting, etc., while a goat-hair brush is used for larger
characters, mostly for calligraphic work in a hanging scroll
format, because of its softness. The surface could be either
silk or processed rice paper on which ink would not diffuse
(unprocessed rice paper is for free-brushwork ink painting
only). As in painting, a calligrapher usually needs to pre-
pare mentally and physically before the execution, usually
through meditation and directing strength to his stomach.
When writing, the characters go vertically and vertical lines
go from right to left. The training of calligraphy takes years
or even decades. Beginners usually start writing basic strokes
by practicing (yong zi ba fa, see footnote 70,
chapter 3). The content of a calligraphic work ranges from
poetry, prose, historic or official document, to personal com-
munication. Finally, an artistic calligraphic work has to be
3.2 InitiativeCritique of Culture
Fig. 3.26 Wenda Gu, Solo Exhibition: Internal-Audience-Only Sec-
tion, pyramid-like construction, installation view with the artist in front,
Artists Gallery, Xi-an, Shaanxi, China, JuneJuly 1986.
mounted for display and storage, while books need special
binding (Fig.3.28).
A big-character poster, however, discarded most of
these fastidious traditions and restrictions. First, people used
bottled ink rather than ink-stick rubbing ink. Second, they
did not care about the quality of brush as long as it could
write quickly. Third, the writing surface was printing paper
of regular quality, or even newspaper, rather than high-qual-
ity rice paper or silk. Fourth, its content was nothing but
criticism of feudalism, capitalism and revisionism, a seri-
ous comment on the class struggle. And of course, a writer
of big-character poster did not need any mental or physi-
cal preparation since priority is put on speedy and effective
execution for immediate revolutionary mass repudiation.
From Gus statement, we know that he appropriated the
features of big-character posters, such as its effectiveness,
straight-forwardness, and sentimentality-reduction. Further-
more, he exploited the non-professionalism or amateurism,
publicity, and low-culture identity. In practice, Gus exploi-
83
Fig. 3.27 C. P. Fitzgerald, In Preparation of Dazibao (big-character
posters), ca. late 1960s.
tation of the big-character posters was still purposive and
selective. His work was less sentimental, the message is
straightforward despite the ambiguity of the characters, and
the execution and display were made public and accessible
to the outsiders. Some of these works were even the result of
collaboration with audiences. However, these works are by
no means amateur, or low culture. He used traditional rice
paper and special brushes, though unprocessed rice paper
was sometimes used. The calligraphic skills behind those
destructed characters were obvious. And more importantly,
the concept of discursive revolution in these experimental
works was definitely not part of the popular culture in China
of the 1980s.
Significantly, Gus statement on the big-character post-
ers might be correct in aesthetics but not in politics. Al-
though it is difficult to date the appearance of the first big-
character poster, it was not new in the Cultural Revolution;
it had been the tool used by the government to launch mass
movements since the 1950s. It functioned as a weapon to
prosecute dissent intellectuals and was reinforced and trans-
formed into the tactic called great repudiation, which was
used by the Red Guards and other so-called revolutionary
masses during the Cultural Revolution. It insulted, attacked
and hounded those who were classified as reactionaries
or counter-revolutionaries, including the Rightists of the
1950s, and the officials and officers in the government and
84
Fig. 3.28 Anonymous, Yin Fu
Jin, Scripture on Esoteric Cre-
dentials, hand-scroll, section 1,
ink on paper, 9 7/856 7/16in.,
1624, Shanghai Museum, China.
military of Kuomintang before 1949, among others. For
most of these victims and their family members and friends,
the big-character posters were reminder of fear, trouble
and mental torture. Aesthetically, Gus statement could be
seen as black humor, or more accurately, a kind of aes-
thetics of violence. The freedom of execution in form and
style but strict confinement in contents and ideologies were
obviously paradoxical in big-character posters. And the
violence and inhumanity of class struggle reflected in this
form might be good footnotes for the spontaneity, publicity,
non-sentimentality (coldness) of the big-character posters.
The contradiction between the critique of culture, including
the legacy of the Cultural Revolution, and the theft of ideas
and resources from this revolution is evident but requires
critical explanation.
In the 1980s Gus ambitious destruction and reconstruc-
tion of written Chinese characters had a powerful impact
on and received different reactions from art circles. The re-
actions were both positive and negative. It might be more
illuminating to discuss some negative reactions from art
communities, which could serve as proof of the efficiency
of his critique of culture at the discursive level. One of the
representative critical articles was I Cant Understand: On
Gu Wendas Concepts of Art by Cheng Zhidi. This article
focused on the meaning of Gus work, the written lan-
guage work in particular. According to this critic, many art-
ists and critics beside the critic himself could not understand
Gus painting. The reason, he suggested, lays with the
artists incorrect art concepts. First, Gu believed art should
embody independent thought and spirit rather than being a
mere reflection of mundane lifea dogma of Socialist Re-
alism. Therefore, his art was nothing but the expression or
3 The Discovery of the Centrality of Culture in Art: Wenda Gu
expansion of personal will. Second, he searched in his art
for something mystic and agnostic, because he claimed,
what an art scheme states is the indefinite world that we
dont know. Thus it became clear that no one could under-
stand that unknown world. Third, Gus aesthetic point of
view was, in fact, based on a concept of ugliness, rather than
a theory of the beautiful. His deformed characters were typi-
cally derived from this concept. No wonder those destructed
characters looked like arms that were placed in the position
of legs.73 A good artwork should be one an audience could
understand; otherwise, it would not be a useful and valuable
work.
This article represented the reaction of many artists and
observers who remained committed to Marxist art theory.
First, they continued to believe in the idea of correct and
incorrect art concepts of this theory. Incorrect concepts
empowered official critics to criticize and correct. This is
typical what the official ideologies require. Second, that art
should be a reflection of reality is a dogma that has domi-
nated Chinas art for decades. This concept, derived from
the theory of reflection, excludes not only any potential
of expression of individual thoughts and feeling in art, but
also styles such as Symbolism, Abstraction and Expression-
ism, not to mention that the reality in official art and ide-
ology is also beautified or distorted. Third, the concept of
being understandable is related to the hegemonic rhetoric
art is for and serves workers, peasants and soldiers. If art
73 (Cheng Zhidi), (kan
bu dongtan gu wen da de yi shu si xiang, I do not understand: on
Gu Wendas concepts of art), (mei shu, Fine Arts), June 1987,
pp.1315, 21.
3.2 InitiativeCritique of Culture
lies beyond their realm of comprehension and utility, there is
no place or justification for it. During the Cultural Revolu-
tion, these transgressions would be severe. Chengs criticism
was nothing but a refurbished version of this revolutionary
rhetoric. Finally, Chengs reaction reinforced a conventional
thoughtart should be beautifula fairly narrow definition
of art. Vanguard artists believed the realm for art should be
much broader than simply being beautiful. When intent on
subverting the tradition at the discursive level, whether the
work is beautiful or not becomes extremely superficial and
totally misses the point.
An article by Zhang Bin in the same magazine refuted
Cheng Zhidis criticism. After analyzing Chengs view-
points, the author pointed out:
Most Chinese generally profess faith in the Confucian doc-
trine of the golden mean and discourage any behavior beyond
the proper. So-called the proper is a kind of Dao, or univer-
sally accepted law inherited from thousands of years of his-
tory. Ordinary people function within this law. They dare not go
even one step beyond the prescribed confinement, for to do so
would risk being different from others and laughed at by them.
However, there should be no inhibiting law for the creation
of human beings and real artworks. The emergence of a new
thing is always companied by destruction, because the new
law cant establish before the old law is destroyed. The only
truth for art is to be skeptical about all laws.74
This refutation indicated an important fact. In the China of
the 1980s, there was an imperative necessity for revolution
in discourse. Cheng Zhidi was not a stubborn hardliner in the
art field; rather, he was flexible in accepting modern art, such
as Gus art. A critic like Cheng, however, was representative
of Chinas critics and audience during this time. They were
educated and had good taste in art, especially in Chinese art
and Western art prior to the twentieth century. In his article,
Cheng even cited a number of examples of the Eeastern and
the Western art to support his arguments. The problem was
deeply rooted in their minds. Cultivated by Confucianism
and later Maoism, they considered the philosophy of con-
servatism the best for their life, art and society. Stability and
gradual evolution were safer than any radicalism and poten-
tial turmoil. When Gu touched the essential elements of the
cultural convention, a panic inevitably developed because
they feared that the foundation of their culture, on which
they had established their view of world, philosophy of life,
and artistic perspective, was threatened. The real reasons
for being unable to understand Gus art or avant-garde art in
general were simply that they were not ready for new knowl-
edge and unwilling to change their minds and perspective,
and they resisted new art in terms of ideology.
74 (Zhang Bin), (dui kan bu dong de yi artistic and cultural, not political, because by that time the political
yi, objection to the article I dont understand), (mei shu, atmosphere had become relatively liberal and Gu was about to seek
Fine Arts), May 1988, p.25.
85
The comprehensive and controversial Xian exhibition
did not terminate Gus critique of culture. The artist received
a grant from the Canada Council for Visiting Foreign Art-
ists, which supported him as a residential artist working at
York University, Toronto, Canada in 1987. He accepted, a
decision which launched his art Odyssey abroad. When he
went to Canada, Gu did not abandon his concern and deter-
mination for a critique of culture, despite settling in an envi-
ronment in which his audience came from a totally different
cultural background.
In the year of 1987 very few Chinese artists, particularly
young rebels, went abroad for their art adventure. The rea-
sons were numerous. On the one hand, most young artists
were still enthusiastic about their experiments at home, and
the political and cultural atmosphere was flexible enough
for such experiments. The reorganization and regrouping
of avant-garde artists were taking place, injecting vigor into
Chinas art world. On the other hand, Chinas new art had not
drawn much attention from the outside world, thus chances
of exhibiting and being recognized abroad were relatively
rare for non-official Chinese artists.75 For this reason, an
opportunity for art adventure overseas was tempting to the
avant-gardists, particularly to Wenda Gu who wanted expo-
sure and criticism at an international arena.
As we may imagine, Gus decision was typical of the am-
bitious goals he set for himself at every stage. Unlike many
young artists in the 1980s, who were struggling to be recog-
nized at home, and were utilizing Western Modernism and
Postmodernism in their arsenal for vanguard art, Gu was
thinking about challenging modern art when he departed.
He wanted to challenge the idea that modern art only re-
ferred to Western art of modern times.76
He continued his critique in his first work in the West,
a large-scale installation, The Dangerous Chessboard
75
The art world seemed to have not been aware of the existence of
Chinas avant-garde until the year of 1989 when the first large-scale
modernist art exhibition, China/Avant-Garde, was held at the National
Art Museum of China, Beijing. This show, ironically, drew most atten-
tion first from international journalists, rather than artists and critics
because of the sensational happening of shooting at an installation
which occurred immediately after the opening ceremony. In addition
to the Tiananmen incident that happened fourth months after the exhi-
bition, Chinese contemporary artists and their work, again ironically,
became visible and significant in international art arena.
76
Michael Sullivan implied that Gu could be an art dissident when he
left for Canada. He wrote, In 1987 Gu went into voluntary exile in
Canada, immediately following his description of Gus situationhis
art was criticized by the director of Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts
as pornographic, vulgar, obscene, and superstitious. See his Art and
Artists of Twentieth-century China, Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1996, p.265. I believe that this connection might not be as con-
vincing as it sounds. The main reasons he left in the mid 1980s were
chanllenge instead of exile.
86
Fig. 3.29 Wenda Gu, The
Dangerous Chessboard Leaves
the Ground, installation, at the
University Art Gallery, York
University, Toronto, Canada,
1987.
Leaves the Ground, at the University Art Gallery, York
University, Toronto, Canada, in 1987 (Fig. 3.29). For the
audience at the York University, this looked like a Chinese
maze: the chessboard was formed by a group of loose-
stretched canvases. These units were painted in black,
bold-font incorrect Chinese characters and in dripping red
paint with four red metal tubes above each unit, and all
were lifted up a few inches off the ground. He also built
several vertical newsstand-like structures that were cov-
ered by newspaper on which black, bold-font characters
crossed with red strokes were painted. Two of these char-
acters were (ge ming, revolution), one of which isolated from the outer world, this adjustment would not
was upside-down (Fig.3.30). Viewers could wear red cos-
tumes Gu provided to participate as chessmen (Fig.3.31).
In fact, this installation continued Gus Xi-an installation
in terms of antagonistic tendency and configuration. The
whole work expressed a sense of violence and suppression
because of its full red color, violent brush strokes, and dim
illumination.
Chinese characters again became the object of his de-
constructive action, but the context was different. For most
Western audiences, those pseudo-characters would work
just like authentic Chinese characters, because they tended
to look similar to people unable to read Chinese. The audi-
ence, however, could feel the mood, the ambience of the de-
construction of written language. Interestingly, through their
participation as chessmen, the viewers might have wondered
if Gu were asking them and himself: What is your position
in a deconstructed structure? What is your role in such a
structure? And further, what is your position and role in an
international chessboard of culture? What is your relation to
other chessmen in a trans-cultural context? Its impact from
3 The Discovery of the Centrality of Culture in Art: Wenda Gu
the searching questions of intrigued audiences could be more
provocative than the questions raised by Gus work at home.
This show was significant because it was Gus first show
in the West but still revealed many of his previous ideas
and strategies. Such a transitional statement deserves close
attention. The questions this show raised were not just artistic,
but also cultural and strategic, which is particularly signifi-
cant for Gus art and its emerging direction. This installation,
in fact, indicated an adjustment or reorientation of his goal,
methods and strategies at an artistic level and also at a cul-
tural one. For an artist from a nation that was still relatively
only be necessary but could also be imperative and dramat-
ic. Since China had not yet started its integration into the
international economy, politics and culture, Chinese artists
were probably isolated from the dominant issues affecting
international art. By contrast, they were preoccupied by their
own conflicts, tensions and confrontations at home. When an
artist with domestic cultural concerns entered an art world
focused on Post-Modernism and multicultural issues, his
artistic and spiritual relocation and reorientation naturally
became his first task and challenge.
3.3DevelopmentAnalysis of Culture
3.3.1Relocation and Reorientation: from Home
to International Stage
After a three-month stay at York University, Wenda Gu went
back to San Francisco, where he first arrived when he came
to the North America. He had stayed there for another three
3.3 DevelopmentAnalysis of Culture 87

Fig. 3.30 Wenda Gu, The

Dangerous Chessboard Leaves
the Ground, installation, at the
University Art Gallery, York
University, Toronto, Canada,
1987.

Fig. 3.31 Wenda Gu, The Dan-

gerous Chessboard Leaves the
Ground, viewers in red costume
as chessmen in the exhibition, at
the University Art Gallery, York
University, Toronto, Canada,
1987.

months before he went to New York in early 1988. In the
following year, the artist recalled in an interview, I almost
completely quit making art because most of my time was
spent studying English, and I was looking around trying to
absorb my new surroundings.77 Besides studying English
during this year, he also gave lectures and worked as a vis-
iting studio artist at the University of Minnesota. Although
he did not create any work, this year was very important for
him in making adjustments and preparing him to settle in
New York.

77 The Crisis of Calligraphy and the New Way of Tea: An Interview Asian American Art at the Asia Society and Museum, in Hong Kong:
with Wenda Gu, by Melissa Chiu, curator of Contemporary Asian and Orientations (quarterly), volume 33, number 3, March 2002, p.100.
88
Fig. 3.32 Wenda Gu, Three
and Three Others, installation,
at the exhibition Neo-Tradition,
at Kunstindstrimuseum, Oslo,
Norway, 1989.
In 2002, when asked in an interview why he wanted to
leave China, and what attracted him to America, Gu denied
that he was leaving for political reasons. In the middle of the
1980s, the political environment of China was the best in
nearly forty years. It was not necessary for an avant-garde
artist to self-exile for political reasons. The major reasons for
leaving were artistic and cultural, as he explained:
For me there were two reasons. One is that I was established as
one of the leaders in the contemporary art movement in China.
I wanted to upgrade, to be more international. I wanted to see
the world. And I didnt pick Europe, I picked America, because
America was more interesting for its diverse culture, diverse
races, and for its art center, New York.78
When Gu packed, he was thinking about a new world,
an international arena, where he could find a much larger
space for his ambition. The success in his homeland was not
enough for him, and only a more challenging task could trig-
ger greater accomplishments.
We could consider Gus work Three and Three Others
as his transitional work from a critique of culture to the next
stage (Fig.3.32). When he was chosen as an Asian partici-
pant for the international exhibition Neo-Tradition, at Kun-
stindstrimuseum, Oslo, Norway in the beginning of 1989,
Gu installed this work at the museum. Coincidentally, a
historical exhibition China/Avant-Garde was held in the Na-
tional Art Museum of China, Beijing at almost the same time
(February 1989). While the avant-garde artists were still
fighting against the local tradition of culture at home, Gu
was confronted with a more complicated and comprehensive
cultural context overseas. When a Chinese artist crossed the
national border, he had more chances to deal with the issues
at a global level, but it could also be a painful or frustrat-
78 Quoted from David Cateforis, An Interview with Wenda Gu, in
Mark H.C. Bessire edited, Wenda Gu: Art from Middle Kingdom to
Biological Millennium, Cambridge, MA: the MIT Press, 2003, p.146.
3 The Discovery of the Centrality of Culture in Art: Wenda Gu
ing experience. This was particularly true in the 1980s when
Chinas links with the outside world were still limited.
The work featured live mice. Three hungry mice were
confined in three cages respectively, which were construct-
ed by following the models of Greek temples, while three
mousetraps contained poisonous food that would lead to
the mices suicide (Fig.3.33). Again, distorted Chinese
characters were displayed as background of these devices.
The artist called it his first bio-performance.79 When the
Norwegian Agriculture Department and local animal rights
groups protested after coverage of the work on the front page
of Norwegian newspapers, the three mice were released to
the field. The significance of this project seemed not only to
lie in a conflict about animals rights; it also suggested that
an internal confrontation of two different cultures with dif-
ferent values and perspectives illustrated. In a specific way,
it confirmed the necessity of adjustment or reorientation of
the goals, methods and strategies of commenting on a social
issue, or, in the final analysis, a cultural issue through art.
When the Chinese saw a mouse as a pest, or simply as an ob-
ject for experiment, the animal rights activists of the Western
countries considered it a life that should be protected like a
human being, not to mention that its image is always positive
and cute, e.g. Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse, the mascot
of Walt Disney Company.
For a Chinese contemporary artist, not unlike any non-
Western artist who came to the West and faced the presum-
ably more complex situation on the international arena of the
late 1980s, there were several options:
Keeping his/her cultural legacies in his mind and art, and
looking for motifs, inspirations and confidence from his/
her native cultural tradition, in order to participate in a
79 Authors Interview with Wenda Gu in his home, Brooklyn Heights,
New York, March 20, 2002.
3.3 DevelopmentAnalysis of Culture
Fig. 3.33 Wenda Gu, Three
and Three Others, installation,
detail of cage and mousetrap,
at the exhibition Neo-Tradition,
at Kunstindstrimuseum, Oslo,
Norway, 1989.
multi-cultural competition as a representative of local
culture.
Working continuously as a fighter with an antagonistic
attitude as s/he did at home, using any means and sources
from both his/her native tradition and Western culture,
fighting against the trends of contemporary art including
mainstream Modernism and Post-Modernism in order to
participate in a cultural and artistic battle as an opponent
of existing art trends.
Getting rid of the cultural heritage in his/her blood (mis-
sion impossible?), becoming involved in current trends
of Western art by studying and utilizing its vocabulary,
rhetoric and issues, in order to participate in mainstream
art as a newcomer from a peripheral area.
Struggling to be an artistic world citizen, keeping his/
her native tradition, learning to understand all cultures
and art from the West as well as the rest of world, know-
ing the strength and shortcomings of his/her native and
Western cultural traditions, transcending cultural barriers,
in order to participate in the construction of multi-culture
as an integral part of it.
Interestingly, most artists chose an eclectic route for their
art adventure in the New World, either retaining the na-
tive cultural elements while trying to enter the mainstream,
or participating in competitive contemporary art while
maintaining a stance of antagonism toward Western main-
stream art. Appropriation, site-specificity, impermanence,
accumulation, discursivity, hybridization, all the strate-
gies characterizing post-modernist art, according to Craig
89
Owens,80 were used by Chinese migr artists as cultural
strategies of relocation and engagement in a new, pos-
tmodern society.
In the beginning of his years of relocation, Wenda Gu,
like many artists who come from the peripheral areas, was
neither ready for any of the above options, nor was about
to embrace all of those options as cultural keeper, warrior,
mainstream surfer and multi-culture builder. He was prob-
ing, searching, experimenting. The radical and comprehen-
sive critique of culture was about to give way to a more mod-
erate approach and microcosmic point of view. The reasons
for this shift were complicated, but we may at least consider
several factors:
Moving from a still basically modernist battlefield to a
post-modernist sphere, Gu gradually realized that the
antagonist attitude, common in the art schools of Modern-
ism, might be no longer suitable to the situation he faced.
A critique of culture, if still necessary, must go to a deeper
level. Such an approach could be beneficial for both un-
derstanding a new culture and creating his new art. It was
because he wanted to deal with the issue of culture as an
organic entity through his life that the study of details or
parts would be the first phase of his new cultural journey,
as well as redefinition and reorientation of his art.
80 See Craig Owens, The Allegorical Impulse: Towards a Theory of
PostModernism, Charles Harrison & Paul Wood edited, Art in Theo-
ry 19001990: An Anthology of Changing Ideas, Oxford: Blackwell,
1992, p.1056.
90
Thanks to his study at home, Gu had learned a lot from
Western philosophy, especially modern analytic philoso-
phy represented by Wittgenstein. His analysis of material
in art could accord with the analysis of language, the main
approach of analytic philosophy, since to him art was
made of material, as philosophy was made of language.
The analysis of material could lead him from the level of
language to that of a medium.
Looking back on the critique of culture, essentially realized
in his critique of language, Gu found out that when he shifted
from the critique to analysis, the medium or object required
reconsideration,
A language would not have any value if it is divorced from the
material world. Its value is just like a currency bill, namely just
a means of exchange and transformation. It is not the world itself
at all.81
This thought led to his criticism of the conceptualism by
which he had been inspired when carrying out his critique of
language. Now he realized that presentation of predicament
of the communication between the language and the mate-
rial world by means of written language was a predicament
in itself. Conceptualism from Joseph Kosuth to Lawrence
Weiner has pushed language into a mere play of language
without involvement of any object. What an absurdity and
predicament in art methodology!82
Significantly, Gus art of critique of written language is
different from that of Kosuth and other conceptualists who
use written language as a medium, though Gu could be in-
spired by them in his experimental art of Chinese characters.
While Kosuth merely presented his concept that language
possesses meaning only in relationship to itself through
printed language, as in his One and Three Chairs (1965)
and One and EightA Description (1965), Gu launched
a critique of written language itself by his destruction of the
elemental units of this language. While Kosuth tried to re-
place objects with language, Gu kept a route of retreat that
still could lead to objects, since his ruined written language
remained associated with the signified, as we saw in his
(Changshen, Fig.3.17) and The Times of Totem and
Taboo (Fig.3.18).
3.3.1.1From Written Language to Materials
From written language to substantial material, from the
intangible to the tangible, Gu was about to plunge into a
material world, the only authentic world, as he called it.
He believed that the material world should be superior to
the world of language, the base on which languages and
culture arise and develop. Therefore, the material world is
the first nature, while the languages and culture are af-
81 Quoted from Wenda Gus letter to Li Xiaoshan, Dec. 1995, unpub-
lished.
82Ibid.
3 The Discovery of the Centrality of Culture in Art: Wenda Gu
filiated with it. A spiritual culture seems to come to terms
with a physical one.
In the early 1990s, Gu looked back his destructed written
language series when he was about to move from language
to materials. He recalled,
From 1982 to 1986, my art creation from error-words to pseudo-
words tried to convey the truth of our language. There was a
very interesting incident in 1982. When researching ancient seal
carvings, some of the ancient seal script characters seemed to me
incomprehensible. It changed my whole idea of language. Intui-
tively, I felt I had two kinds of eyes: the eyes of knowledge (lan-
guage) and chemical eyes (material eyes without understanding
of language). I could reach the unrecognizable seal script char-
acters by my chemical eyes (material eyes). When I later on tried
to establish the meaning of seal script, my material eyes were
gone. I was fooled by both ways. I felt the great separation of
language (knowledge) and material universe.83
This retrospective insight seems to point to the fact that Gu
had prepared for his later development by separating lan-
guage from the material world and then analyzing materials.
Going further, Wenda Gu coined a word Materialanalysis
and deciphered it in the same statement,
In 1989, I started my research of Materialanalysis in Oedi-
pus Refound series. As the time passed, it had brought me a
tremendous concern and doubt of our language that our whole
civilization had been building upon it. The essence of the world
or the material itself is the world other than any kind of human
language (knowledge). And the incomprehensible material uni-
verse has been mistakenly translated into our knowledge by our
language. Our entire civilization is a kind of fake knowledge
about the material universe directed by the language, and we
couldnt live without it.84
This distrust of language motivated the artist into his mate-
rial analysis. This analysis was necessary because for him
language was an unreliable representation of the material
world. Only through an artistic analysis of material it was
possible to reveal the essence of this world, the civilization,
and culture in which we lived. Again, his skepticism on lan-
guage was reflected in the same statement by his questioning
of the feasibility and necessity of creating a language system
to represent material world,
The first question: Are we able to establish a totally new lan-
guage system in order to represent material universe? The
answer is no, as long as humans biological body and chemical
mind are a part of this material universe.
The second question: Is it necessary to invent a new language
system? The answer is no. We ultimately live upon our exclu-
sive, artificial and illusionist language. Reconstruction of our
language is an absurd step. Just simply take a glance at historical
fact: the ancient Daoism created by Laozi only has several thou-
sand characters. Then it becomes the tome of translation so far.
83 Quoted from Wenda Gus statement on his Oedipus Refound #0:
The Forest of Language Death, unpublished.
84Ibid.
3.3 DevelopmentAnalysis of Culture
The further development of language from such classics leads
only to the distrust and confusion of the language.85
Having used Laozis extremely concise but profound text as
an example, Gu realized that the deconstruction of Chinese
language would not be possible or necessary for the creation
of a new language system. We could say Gus critique of
culture by means of the deconstruction of Chinese written
language prepared his development of the analysis of materi-
als. His skepticism about language began with early experi-
ences of learning to decipher seal script characters, as well as
with discussions of language by Russell and Wittgenstein. It
became complete when he moved from experimenting with
written language to seeking something more essential. Now
he believed that he had found the real, authentic world from
which everything derived. From this world, he might be able
to dig out what was directly related to our culture.
As for the term analysis, its meaning and distribution
are not easy to define. In mathematics and science, this term
refers to a method in which details or specifics are studied in
order to find the nature of elements or substances as well as
their relationships. For instance, in mathematics, it is a way
to deal with continuous change and certain general types of
processes that have emerged from the study of continuous
change. In physics and chemistry, analysis determines the
physical properties or chemical composition of samples of
matter. Gus artistic analysis meant focusing on artistic
media from which he trieed to extract the essence and mean-
ing of a medium, as well as the relation of media in a broader
cultural context. This was not a scientific research although
the idea was inspired by it in a sense. Rather, this analysis
is closer to historiography, anthropology and archeology be-
cause it sought for historical, philosophical and cultural con-
notations and interpretations of a medium or media.
Influenced by the materialism of minimal art, Gu made a
few non-human material works, including his earth art
executed in France and Japan and the work shown in New
York as well. In these works, he experimented with materi-
als or substance.
In 1990, he participated in an on-site art project De-,
along with three other Chinese artists, Yang Jiechang
(1956-), Gu Dexin (1962-), and Huang Yongping (1954-
), that was executed at Poitiers, France, and sponsored by
the French Cultural Ministry and Les Domaines de LArt,
(The Field of Art), an art organization. He implemented a
permanent burial land project in which he buried mono-
liths in this southern French village. Four pink marble
85
Ibid Laozi, (c. 604531 B.C.), Chinese philosopher, one of the
two founders of Daoism (another is Zhuangzi, , c. fourth century
B.C.). His (dao de jing, classic of the way and its power),
classic text of Daoism, consists of about five thousand characters. For
centuries, this text has been interpreted, paraphrased and translated into
thousands of tomes, which are a hundred thousands of times longer than
the original text in terms of Chinese characters.
91
stones, ten tons each, were inscribed with the birth date
of the city, the present time and population of the city, the
year of 102 B.C, when about one hundred thousand Roman
soldiers died in a battle at this location, and the date of
disappearance of the city. Then these four monoliths were
buried simultaneously four meters down in earth at the four
cardinal points surrounding the church, in the center of the
city, respectively. Gu mentioned in an interview that the
meaning of this project was that after they were complet-
ed, they disappeared.86 His intention to connect the work
with local history associated this work with United Na-
tions, which I will discuss later.
In 1991 Gu joined twenty-five artists in the exhibition New
York Diary: Almost 25 Different Things held at P.S. 1 Mu-
seum, Long Island City, New York. He presented two large
wall installations. One of them was titled Wet Green, Dry
Yellow, Scorched Black. He mounted three steel troughs in
horizontal registers, one above another, bent inside a corner
of the gallery. Green grass was planted on the top register,
and watered regularly to keep it vivid green. The second reg-
ister had living grass that did not get water and then turned
yellow after a while. The bottom one had yellow grass that
had been scorched with fire, and then transformed into black
substance. In appearance, this work looked not unlike the
early works of Donald Judd and Sol LeWitt. However, its
contents in the cold steel suggested something beyond the
Minimalisman experiment with materials, or more ac-
curately, bio-material or bio-substance. The natural pro-
cess of a living life and the non-natural treatment of life in
this work might have carried the implication of samsara, a
Sanskrit with the connotation of transmigration or palingen-
esis in Buddhism.
The critic Robert Morgan described Wenda Gus art as
formal conceptualism when he commented on Gus art
made in late 1980s and early 1990s, including Gus P.S. 1
piece. The art of Wenda Gu is a hybrid between formal
concerns and conceptual inquiry He has clearly under-
stood that art is primarily a process in order to investigate
worldly phenomena through a rigorous, yet poetic intermedia
format.87 Morgan pointed out an important factor, that is,
Gus management and delicate treatment of form. If we could
say Gu let his intuition dominate the formal structure in his
ink and deconstructed written language work in China, now
Gu seemed to have managed the formal factors with deep de-
liberation. This change could be considered his adjustment in
form toward what he believed was contemporary in Western
86 Quoted from David Cateforis, An Interview with Wenda Gu, in
Mark H.C. Bessire edited, Wenda Gu: Art from Middle Kingdom to
Biological Millennium, Cambridge, MA: the MIT Press, 2003, p.147.
87 Robert Morgan, The Formal Conceptualism of Wenda Gu, in the
catalogue Wenda Gu: Refound Oedipus Complex, Milan: Sigma Arte
S.R.L., 1992, p.20.
92 3 The Discovery of the Centrality of Culture in Art: Wenda Gu

Fig. 3.34 Wenda Gu, Vanish-

ing 36 Pigment Golden Section,
earth art project in a large group
project Exceptional Passage, left:
spreading red pigment; right:
36 red, rectangles, executed in
Fukuoka, Japan, 1991.

Fig. 3.35 Wenda Gu, Vanish-

ing 36 Pigment Golden Section,
earth art project in a large group
project Exceptional Passage, left:
the ditch with red rectangles was
buried again; right: the field was
restored to its original status,
executed in Fukuoka, Japan,
1991.

art, Minimalism particularly. This attempt was also in accord
with his shift from written language to materials and
from critique to analysis, because the latter needed more
meticulous and detail-oriented work, not unlike the process
of analyzing a substance in a chemical laboratory.
Another important example of his experiment on mate-
rial was his Vanishing 36 Pigment Golden Section, an
earth art project in a larger group project, Exceptional Pas-
sage, featuring five Chinese artists, Yang Jiechang (1956-),
Wang Luyan (1956-), Cai Guoqiang (1957-), Huang Yong-
ping (1954-) and Wenda Gu. The project was executed in
Fukuoka, Japan in 1991. Again, there were some features
of Minimalism in this project.88 In a field of the suburb of
Fukuoka, assistants used a bulldozer to dig a ditch 150m
(length)7.5m (width)1.3m (depth). The bulldozer did analytic orientation in the phase of analysis of culture.
not dig down to 3.236 meters, the intended depth in the
88That minimalism found a lot of resonance in Chinese contemporary
art, especially the art by those migr artists in the West, is a very inter-
esting subject, and deserves a further exploration. My observations at
this moment are: Chinese artists could have found Chan and/or other
metaphysical implications in minimalism. Instead of focusing on the
linguistic issue by the Minimalists, Chinese feel that there are some un-
speakable spiritual elements in those precise squares, cubes and grids.
The motto , (kong ji shi se, se ji shi kong, the
emptiness is the world, and the world is the emptiness) of Buddhism
seems to have given this observation a reasonable footnote. The cubic
room with a square ceiling window created by James Terrell in P.S.1 is
one of the best examples for this reading.
original plan, because water erupted. Then the artist spread
seventy kilograms of red pigment on the bottom of the ditch,
and made thirty six red rectangles each 3.2362m by using
a wooden frame, thus equaling a Golden Section, 1.618:1.
When spreading the pigment powder, the water gradually
came out, dissolving the powder and blurring the red shapes
(Fig.3.34). When finished, the ditch with thirty six red rect-
angles was buried again and the field restored to its origi-
nal status (Fig.3.35). Without bio-material as in his P.S.1
piece, the pigment powder here represented an objective
substance. As we will see later, powder and fluid become
major materials he preferred to use. The choice of the Golden
Section introduced for the first time a pro-scientific method-
ology and attitude in Gus art, which was significant for his
The large amount of red color used seems to point to the art-
ists experience of the Cultural Revolution. But now it would
not refer to the political revolution, but would imply excite-
ment, and to the intent to incite action, motion, fear, and
passion, as pointed out by Robert Morgan. Also, this color
distanced Gu from those Minimalist works in mood, atmo-
sphere, and also in spirit.
This period seemed to be an experimental or transitional
phase, in which the artist moved from the spiritual world to
the material world, from language to substance. From this
point on, he advanced toward the final frontierthe mate-
rial/substance of human beings.
3.3 DevelopmentAnalysis of Culture
3.3.2Biological SubstanceSubject and Object
In the material world, the substance of the human being is the
most complicated and significant material. A human being
is both a physical entity and a spiritual existence. Human be-
ings occupy the central position in culture because culture is
the sum of human activity. Any art using external objects or
substance always confronts an unbridgeable difference from
subjects of artthe artists and audience. Even Duchamps
ready-mades, which imply proximity to the artist and the
audience, are no exception. To Wenda Gu, an art using non-
human material was still an art of representation because
man was represented by an object external to him. The only
way of getting rid of any representation of the subject by
external objects was to appeal to the subjects corporeality.
Therefore, the analysis of culture ought to start with human
body material. Here human beings themselves were presented
as subject. Representation would be replaced by presentation,
or as the artist stated, subject represents subject. In a thesis
Gu wrote in 1995, and revised in 1998, the artist articulated
his concept of human body materials as art media:
pure human body materials have no element of visual or lin-
guistic illusion in themselves. they are the antithesis of art as
object exhibited in museums and galleries. they are as real as
the people who look at them and therefore can penetrate us
with a deep sense of spiritual presence. therefore i called them
silent-selves.
aside from social, political, sexual and religious considerations,
art historical significance lies in my elimination of representa-
tion in art. whereas art history has traditionally been about an
object represented through a medium, in my investigation of this
concept, the only materials that escape the notion of the art his-
torical object are those of the human body.89
This concept generates a new interaction between art cre-
ation and reception. When utilizing human body materials,
what the artist confronts were not lifeless objects; rather,
they were media containing previous existence. The bio-
logical properties not present in most media might generate
interaction with the artist, extending the space for interpre-
tation tremendously. Additionally, while contemplating the
artwork consisting of human body materials, the audience
work relationship would no longer be a one-way process.
Instead, the role of subject would shift back and forth, so the
appreciation of art became a more active, stimulating mu-
tual retroactivity. We could imagine that when an artwork
made of subjecthuman beings as the only subject of
the universe and all civilizations so farinstead of a non-
89Wenda Gu, face the new millennium: the divine comedy of our
times a thesis on the united nations art project and its time and en-
vironment, in Mark H.C. Bessire edited, Wenda Gu: Art from Middle
Kingdom to Biological Millennium, Cambridge, MA: the MIT Press,
2003, p.35. This essay had been written in lower-case words only, thus
the quotes remain intact to keep the original appearance.
93
human object is displayed in a museum or gallery, it would
become a mirror of the subject. The beholder would be
involved with it and experience it internally rather than ap-
preciating it externally.
According to Gu, particular human body materials were
highly charged with cultural and political significance and
taboos, and contained enormous meanings and myth.90
When describing the development of his art in this period,
Gu emphasized the superiority of human body material over-
all non-human media in art and culture as well.
Unlike any non-human materials, biological substance of human
beings carries, in itself, meanings of culture and history in terms
of conception. Every live individual has attributes of defined
politics, sociology, race, history, civilization and religion. The
personal is the political. That we use human biological substance
as a means of art creation eliminates the indirectnessthrough
objective media (various media beyond human body materials)
an artwork expresses and represents91
We might notice that the shift from written language to mate-
rial and then to corporeal media suggests the artists signifi-
cant adjustment in terms of cultural context. In the 1980s,
body art appeared as a new category in the language of
art criticism, inspired by performances that used the human
body as medium. Later, body materials also became the me-
dium of body art. Artistically, this could be seen as the ex-
tension of the boundaries of art, a continuation of the mod-
ernist experimentation. Most importantly, this new type of
art opened a new battleground in the socio-political field.
The human body, in some cases, became a vehicle that could
convey messages such as anti-racism and anti-discrimination
in gender, race or religion. This art of protest was one of
the most significant contextual factors that confronted many
migr artists of the 1980s, including Wenda Gu.
Danielle Chang, a critic, analyzed the similarity and dif-
ference between body art and Gus art of human body ma-
terials,
To speak of Gus work strictly as a metaphor for body politics
would be telling only half of the story. For himas for Kiki
Smith, Lorna Simpson, Robert Goberthe body is certainly a
battleground. Yet, in his work, the combatant strategy is con-
cealed from us. For all its emphasis on contemporary debates,
this art retains a rich non-polemical ambiguity. Gu uses body
material both as subject and medium, whereas Kiki Smith whose
art has often been mentioned in relation to his, works with non-
body materials to evoke human forms However, by selecting
actual bodily growth, Gu escapes the traditional artistic practice
of using a medium solely as a vehicle to convey representation.92
90
Ibid.
91
Quoted from Wenda Gus letter to Li Xiaoshan, Dec. 1995, unpub-
lished.
92 Quoted from Wenda Gu, face the new millennium: the divine com-
edy of our timesa thesis on the United Nations art project and its time
and environment, in Mark H.C. Bessire edited, Wenda Gu: Art from
Middle Kingdom to Biological Millennium, Cambridge, MA: the MIT
Press, 2003, p.35.
94 3 The Discovery of the Centrality of Culture in Art: Wenda Gu

This analysis revealed some important points. Basically, Gu

used real body materials while most body artists use their
own body as a medium or vehicle, or used chemical imita-
tion as substitute of body materials. However, both shared
something spiritual, that was, the emphasis is put on the role
body played as both the signifier and the signified. As the
signifier, the body was a medium in which the artist inject-
ed his/her comprehension of the social-political situation.
However, as the signified, the body itself carried historic-
cultural significance even before the artistic treatment. I feel
that this theoretical/spiritual coincidence relates to Amelia
Joness definition of body art. She wrote, body art practices
enact subject in passionate and convulsive relationships
(often explicitly sexual) and thus exacerbate, perform, and/
or negotiate the dislocating effects of social and private ex-
perience in the late capitalist, postcolonial western world.93
The first body material Gu selected was blood, particu-
larly, menstrual blood. Among all kinds of body fluids or
even body parts, menstrual blood is probably the most mys-
terious, enigmatic, and provocative in terms of body politics,
qualifying it as significant body material. Some body artists
had used tears, saliva, urine, sperm, or blood in feminist and
political statements, but Gu chose menstrual blood for a dif-
ferent purpose:
I am looking for a material without historical limitation, and
I think about menstruation. This is a material that exists when
human beings come to the world. It will be with us forever. It
is the purest and most creative blood. It is the greatest gift from
human kind.94

Menstrual blood is a fluid released from womens bodies

periodically. Physically, it indicates a process of bodily me-
tabolism, and a failure of possible conception, the unfulfilled
potential of life. Naturally its cycles are linked to the cy-
clic rhythm of the universe: ebb and flow of tide, wax and
wane of the moon. Sociologically and anthropologically, it
has been associated with many myths, enigmas and taboos in
both Eastern and Western worlds for centuries. Gus selection
might be considered an experiment that analyzed this spe-
cific body material and searched for its meaning in a broad
spherephysical, psychological, social, ethical, finally
cultural realms. It is an idea that could be associated with
Joseph Beuys concept of material as a carrier of personal
experience and history. However, it differs from Beuys con-
cept in that one material (felt or fat, etc.) is non-human while
the other (menstrual blood) is internal to humans.
The menstrual art project was conceived in 19881989
and was first shown at Hatley Martin Gallery, San Francis-
co, California in 1990 after collecting and preparing used
sanitary napkins and tampons. The exhibition was titled Two
93 Amelia Jones, Body Art/Performing the Subject, Minneapolis: Uni-
versity of Minnesota Press, 1998, p.1.
94 Wenda Gu, Art Talk, unpublished.
Fig. 3.36 Wenda Gu, Two Thousand Natural Deaths, installation,
detail of used sanitary tampons with written commentary by the con-
tributor, shown at Hatley Martin Gallery, San Francisco, California,
1990.
Thousand Natural Deaths, a reference to the two thousand
used sanitary napkins and tampons displayed in the show,
which, in turn, also referred to the same number of failures
of potential conception (Fig.3.36). The work was displayed
in pyramidal shapes against two parallel ten-foot high red
walls, four pyramids on each wall. The connecting wall at
one end is faced with red painted plastic cases which leaves
a window for used tampons or napkins and the written com-
mentary of the women who contributed them.95 In variable
versions, it was subsequently exhibited worldwide from
1990 to 1997.
After announcing his plan for this project on several occa-
sions, including openings of exhibition and college lectures,
Gu obtained used sanitary napkins and tampons from more
than sixty women from sixteen countries (Fig.3.37). The
95 Jo Hanson, Gu Wenda: Two Thousand Natural Deaths, Women
Artists News, Fall, 1990, p.12.
3.3 DevelopmentAnalysis of Culture
Fig. 3.37 Wenda Gu, Oedipus Refound #1: The Enigma of Blood,
detail of showcase with used tampons, written commentary by Monique
Sartor from Italy, and six Bibles, at Khan Gallery, New York, 1995.
collection process became an integral part of this materi-
al-analysis project. One box sent from Australia even car-
ried a story of how the sender argued with a postal official
concerned about hygienic issues, and her right to mail used
napkins. Gu received not only the most private materials
from the contributors but also their intimate experiences re-
corded in their letters or verses accompanying the contribu-
tions. Many of them contained references to the physical and
mental experience of their first menstruation, others touched
on their intimate feelings and thoughts about love, life, and
death. The first contribution of a used napkin, from a stu-
dent at the University of Washington in October 1989, for
instance, came with an expressive poem:
This is the residue of our fruitless attempts,
creating rhythmic movement of air
crawling along the contour of our bodies.
warm, and smooth touch of skin
nobody else but a man
I choose.
95
I only can send you a shell
of an embryo
that did not exist.96
Infused with emotional, extremely personal expressions of
the consciousness or subconsciousness of individual women,
Gus menstrual art pieces, sterilized and covered by red wax,
were displayed in showcases. With little worry about their
hygienic condition, the reaction to them from audiences was
more mental and psychological than physical. From the con-
tributors point of view, the displayed item was an object from
their bodies combined with their subjective experience. The
audience, on the other side, might recall personal physical
and mental experiences or listen to experiences from the
opposite sex. Thus, menstrual blood became a significant
object for material analysis, even cultural analysis, while re-
sulting from a purely natural process. The substance was pro-
duced and disposed of once a month by a single individual.
About half of the human beings have had or will have this
physical experience, but the experience of every individual
was extremely private and unique. The display of this mate-
rial gave audiences the opportunity to make empirical and
emotional connections with these individuals. Here Gu ex-
plored one of the most profound, personal, intimate and ta-
booed realms, and he intended to transform the intimacy and
privacy of a forbidden zone into a sublime moment about a
universal truth in a public arena. The sublime here referred
to the transcendence of material nature and mundane emo-
tions, recalling sacred rituals or ceremonies of sacrifice of
primitive tribes. Gus menstrual art forced the recognition
that menstrual blood was not a merely physical substance, but
more profoundly, a substance made of mysterious codes. It
carried intensive meanings and significance in the realms of
psychology, sociology, literature, ethics, philosophy, and, fi-
nally, culture. No wonder the show stirred art communities as
well as the public in various countries and different cultures.
When looking back at his menstrual work in 2002, the
artist realized that it was his first work that had directly con-
fronted a totally new and challenging situation, or, as we
would call it, resistance. As a result of this collision with
the human body, Western culture, with a long history of Ca-
tholicism and Christianity, had reacted, understandably, in a
resistant manner. The hegemonic discourse here was not a
socialist ideology; rather, it was the religious ideology that
has dominated the Western world for centuries. It was a coin-
cidence that when his first show of menstrual art was exhib-
ited at the Hatley Martin Gallery, San Francisco, California,
in 1990, an exhibition of photographs by Robert Mappletho-
rpe, a controversial photographer, had opened nearby. The
96 Kazuko Nakane, quoted from Wenda Gus Record: the Preactions
of Materials for the Participatory Installation 2000 Natural Deaths,
catalogue Wenda Gu: 2000 Natural Deaths, Hatley Martin Gallery, San
Francisco, California, 1990.
96
two exhibitions apparently had one thing in common, that
is, the provocation of a cultural and ideological battle. The
proposed exhibition of menstrual art had already been turned
down for various reasons by some museums. At this point,
Wenda Gus menstrual art shared the fate of the body artit
became a battle field of contemporary ideology and politics.
Fusing Western and Eastern philosophical thoughts, Gu re-
flected:
The philosophy in Asia is to treat human beings as part of
naturenot separate. In the West, we compete with nature. In
Buddhism, death and new birth are the same, and there is no
difference. The human being is just a little part of the universe.
A wink. In the West, people treat human beings as the center of
the universe. I like both. I do believe the ending is meaning-
lessthe Asian philosophy. And I enjoy the process of lifethe
western.97
When the artist embraced philosophies of the East and the
West, he also touched on one of the greatest taboos in both
hemispheres. In the West, menstruation and menstrual blood
were among the few taboos that had not been lifted. In the
East, where there were still a lot of taboos in culture (about
subjects such as death, sex life and power struggle, etc.), the
subject of menstruation remained concealed with myths or
superstitions. One such superstition was that the accident
of seeing a used napkin with menstrual blood by a man or
woman would lead to a bad luck for him or her, while touch-
ing it would cause more serious consequences.
The analysis of material turned out to be an analysis
of culture. As the artist himself claimed, This work has
illuminated through its confrontation with the audience and
institutions that any part of our body is no longer a mere part
of biological structure. It is already a man-made symbol of
society, history, culture, religion, gender, etc.98
Gus menstrual art and the controversy it evoked revealed
that this selection of material really touched one of the
most sensitive nerves of both Western and Eastern cultures.
Looking at reactions from different audiences is helpful in
comprehending its cultural impact and significance. When
exhibited in Hong Kong in 1992 and 1993, the reaction of
audiences from this hybridized society was typical.
According to Chen Huiying, a female reporter of Sing Tao
Daily, Hong Kong, the reaction from women and men was
significantly different. For some female viewers, the exhi-
bition was initially uncomfortable because the work publi-
cized extremely private objects, and in looking at them they
seemed to be peering into the privacy of another woman.
However, this feeling disappeared once the strong illumi-
nation in the gallery and showcases eliminated the sense of
private space and allowed them observe the work from dif-
97 Quoted from Janet Wiscombe, I-Ching and the Computer, dates
and source need to be checked up.
98
Quoted from Wenda Gu, A Letter to Li Xiaoshan, Dec. 1995, un-
published.
3 The Discovery of the Centrality of Culture in Art: Wenda Gu
ferent perspectives. For males, however, the first reaction
was always disturbing because traditionally men considered
menstrual blood filthy and alien to everyday life. Most of the
time men passed by, or looked from distance quickly, rather
than observing the work closely and reading the statements
by contributors.99
For two other female critics, Du Du and Dou Dou, the
experience of viewing this work was more complicated.
Du Du said, The audience approached the showcases and
looked at the work carefully first because they were curious
about what were in these unique boxes. However, they left
immediately without reading the statements when found out
it made of something unclean. The stereotype and value the
society provided prevented them from sharing the personal
experience of individual women. For them this bleeding
was entirely private and not for public display. I myself had
patience and read those statements word by word, and felt
extremely replenished afterwards. Dou Dou also had her
unique viewing experience. I communicated with those
contributors through the objects and texts they provided,
and observed the things in the transparent boxes in a pre-
determined distance. I felt less bloody, but a bit more ami-
cable and sympathetic. This installation separated properly
audience from contributors and contributions through lay-
ers of glass, so that each party had comfortable space for
breath and contemplation. Two Thousand Natural Deaths
is the title of the work, and it is the beginning of creation and
would not die, namely as an artwork it would not stop ex-
ploring and developing. This unique participation let us feel
the power of lifeevery time after the period, the body goes
back to normal status, and prepares for futures new life.100
These responses to the call from the menstrual art, in addi-
tion to rejections of the proposed exhibition by art institutions,
along with the work itself, formed a more comprehensive
and complete project of analysis of culture. The analysis
penetrated into something profound in different cultures and
suggested that this culture-oriented work was a challenge
to those cultures through its re-formation of art structure in
terms of subject and object. Furthermore, it opened an alter-
native approach for understanding taboos, ethics, feminism
and politics in various cultural circumstances.
Reading Gus retrospective words about the menstrual
work when answering the question so you werent trying
to be provocative is interesting because he did not expect
the controversy,
99 (Chen Huiying), (wei
sheng mian tiao kao yan wen hua min gan qu yu, Used sanitary nap-
kins and tampons tested sensitive cultural nerve), (Sing Tao
Daily), 2/2/1993.
100 (Du Du), (Dou Dou), :
(wo men yu nu xing zhou qi: gu wen da de zhuang zhi yi shu,
we and womens period: Gu Wendas installation art), (Mingpao),
Hong Kong, 3/3/1993, p.28.
3.3 DevelopmentAnalysis of Culture
I was not knowledgeable about the American environment, about
gender issues, about feminist issues, about religious attitudes
towards the body. I was purely thinking about being rebellious
and doing the work. But at the same moment, the Mapplethorpe
controversy hit. I look back now and think about how daring I
was and also how unknowledgeable I was about the American
environment.101
This face-to-face cultural confrontation was a valuable ex-
perience for Gu, although as he complained, it actually
blocked my career for several years.102
The artist also carried out another experiment in the
analysis of material while the first one was still on display.
Instead of human fluids, in this work he chose a specific part
from the human bodythe placenta, and placenta powder in
particular. The connection between these two experiments
seems to be the issue of life. The menstrual blood work, ti-
tled Two Thousand Natural Deaths, alluded to a failure of
possible conception, namely the termination of a potential
life, while the placenta theme referred to a larger cyclethe
birth of life. While the menstrual piece made an allusion to
the absence of pregnancy, the placenta tended to imply the
aftermath of pregnancy. Physiologically, a placenta provides
the nourishment and oxygen the fetus needs, and the elimi-
nation of its waste products. It is forced out by contraction of
the uterus shortly after the delivery of the fetus. The released
placenta is disposed of in some cultures but preserved as a
tonic medicine in others.
The work displayed at the Wexner Center for the Arts, the
Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, from July to Octo-
ber 1993 titled Oedipus Refound #3: Enigma beyond Joy
and Sin, was made of this material (Fig.3.38). Along with
works by Xu Bing, Wu Shanzhuan and Huang Yongping, all
Chinese artists currently living in the West, Gus work was
part of the exhibition Fragmented Memory: The Chinese
Avant-Garde in Exile. The work consisted of dried human
placenta powder, categorized as healthy, abnormal, and in these countries for centuries as a tonic medicine. Gu
stillborn babies, placed on three extremely elongated steel
beds, each holding five twin-size mattresses placed end to
end. An identical bed, the second in the row of four, was
empty to signify abortion. This bed, when audiences real-
ized its allusive meaning, tended to cause a strong reaction.
Hanging above the beds was a canopy-like device, on which
a sheet marked with virgin blood and sperm from a first epi-
sode of intercourse was stretched.
Compared to the Two Thousand Natural Deaths, this
installation looked more like a Minimalist piece in terms
of appearance and atmosphere. Although the former was
displayed in the form of coffin-like showcases, evoking
a suggestion of Minimalism, its red color and emotional
101 Quoted
from David Cateforis, An Interview with Wenda Gu, in
Mark H.C. Bessire edited, Wenda Gu: Art from Middle Kingdom to
Biological Millennium, Cambridge, MA: the MIT Press, 2003, p.148.
102 Ibid. p.147.
97
texts undermined such association to a degree. In the Oe-
dipus Refound #3: Enigma beyond Joy and Sin, however,
one could see more influences of Minimalism: cold metal
material, dark metallic and bright white colors, hard-edge
straight lines, etc. The audience, nevertheless, did not read
it a Minimalist workwhy? Two factors could account for
this, its grand dimensions and the spirituality behind the
ritual-like solemnity. Viewers noticed that the works of this
exhibition were all large in size. Huang Yongping made a
huge net (about 45 feet in length) in his Human-Snake
Plan (Fig.3.39), while Xu Bings installation Cultural
Negotiation consists of tremendously large table, about
2512 feet, on which he put hundreds of copies of his
pseudo-character books (Fig.3.40). Wu Shanzuan as-
sembled a shop-like installation Missing Bamboo which
had hundreds of toy pandas for sale (Fig.3.41). This fas-
cination with grand scale could be traced back to Chinese
aesthetics of monumentality, reflected in architecture such
as the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, and Ten Great
Buildings constructed during the 1950s. The grandeur and
the sublimity in these architectural works could be seen as
the incarnation of ideology of an imperial nation and its
populous subjects.
Again, Gus analysis of material touched a sensitive
nerve. Unlike his menstrual piece, which generated hostil-
ity in both the West and the East, this piece was treated
differently in the West and in Asia. A Wexner Center audi-
ence might focus on the placenta powder and wonder how
such an object could be found and displayed here,103 while
ignoring the traces of sexual life above. S/he might not
know that this piece could pose a dilemma when shown
in another context. An audience in China, Korea and some
other Asian countries, however, might ignore the placenta
powder because placenta powder has been used popularly
acknowledged that he himself consumed placenta powder
during his childhood. At the same time, the audience from
the Eastern world might feel uncomfortable about the sheet
above with virgin blood and sperm. For most of the Asian
audience, any trace of intimate activity ought to be kept
in a private rather than public space. Again, social taboos
haunted this exhibition.
Significantly, Wenda Gu later named his body materials
work along with his early deconstructed written language art
as the Oedipus Refound series. This, I believe, reinforced
the cultural connotation in these works. The menstrual piece,
the Two Thousand Natural Deaths, was renamed Oedi-
pus Refound #1: The Enigma of Blood, when it traveled in
USA, Poland, Hong Kong, and Australia. The first placenta
piece was titled Oedipus Refound #2: The Myth of Birth
103 In fact, the artist collected the placenta powder through a friend
who worked in a maternity hospital in China.
98 3 The Discovery of the Centrality of Culture in Art: Wenda Gu

Fig. 3.38 Wenda Gu, Oedipus

Refound #3: Enigma beyond Joy
and Sin, installation, Wexner
Center for the Arts, the Ohio
State University, Columbus,
Ohio, 1993.

Fig. 3.39 Huang Yongping,

Human-Snake Plan, installa-
tion, Wexner Center for the Arts,
the Ohio State University, Colum-
bus, Ohio, 1993.
3.3 DevelopmentAnalysis of Culture
Fig. 3.40 Xu Bin, Cultural
Negotiation, installation, Wexner
Center for the Arts, the Ohio
State University, Columbus,
Ohio, 1993.
Materials, shown in the Silent Energy exhibition at the Mu-
seum of Modern Art in Oxford, England, 1993. With added
virgin blood and sperm from a first episode of intercourse
to a sheet, the installation displayed at the Wexner Center
in 1993 was called Oedipus Refound #3: Enigma beyond
Joy and Sin. Consequently, he retitled his pseudo-Chinese
character works as Oedipus Refound #0: The Forest of Lan-
guage Death.
In a typewritten statement Gu submitted as a supplemen-
tary document to his proposal for the Wexner Center piece,
the artist expressed his intention of reinterpreting this Greek
myth,
This series of works has been dedicated to her, to him, to us, and
to our times. The Oedipus myth is one of the most representative
ancient allegories about our being, nature and knowledge. This
series of works is intended to define us: we are the modern Oedi-
pus caught in a modern enigma. From our blind indulgence since
99
ancient Oedipus times we are still looking, our knowledge is
still expanding, and the chaotic enigma of the modern Oedipus
still continues104
The conflict between knowledge and ignorance seemed to
be the major theme in Gus Oedipus Refound series, as I
discussed in Gu Wendas Oedipus, a catalog essay for the
exhibition Fragmented Memory: The Chinese Avant-Garde
in Exile:
104
Wenda Gu, Statement on the Oedipus Refound series, 1993, un-
published. Later this statement was included in his essay face the new
millennium: the divine comedy of our times, 1995. This essay was
revised in 1998, and included, in the title face the new millennium: the
divine comedy of our timesa thesis on the united nations art project
and its time and environment, in Bessire, Mark H.C. edited, Wenda
Gu: Art from Middle Kingdom to Biological Millennium, Cambridge,
MA: the MIT Press, 2003, pp.3041. The quotation here can be found
in p.35.
100
Fig. 3.41 Wu Shanzhuan,
Missing Bamboo, installation,
Wexner Center for the Arts, the
Ohio State University, Columbus,
Ohio, 1993.
To the artist the most significant revelation of the Oedipus story
as told in Sophocles tragedy comes from its theme of conflict
between knowledge and ignorance. Being totally unaware of the
identity of the man and the woman he met, Oedipus killed his
father and married his mother in an ostensibly normal way
based on his instincts and behavioral imperatives. For the artist,
the conflict of knowledge and ignorance in Oedipus is an alle-
gory for the reality of human existence, where the unknowing
is more essential in nature than the knowing.105
As I mentioned in a previous section, the artist was inspired
by different perspectives of Russell and Wittgenstein in
creating his destructed written language work (3.2.2.). The
significance he refound from the myth of Oedipus proveed
that his focus was on mans knowledge and ignorance, and
the role of language in this antithesis. We can say that this
was Gus reinterpretation of the myth in classical meaning.
As the new title The Forest of Language Death indicated,
the artist realized that the incompetence of language to reach
the essence of nature legitimated his deconstruction of it in
terms of discursive revolution. The artist found that behind
the ignorance of Oedipus had laid the tragic fate of language.
Gus body material art, however, reflected his reading of the
myth based on modern scholarship. I continued the discus-
sion in the same essay,
105Zhou Yan, Gu Wendas Oedipus, in catalog of the exhibition
Fragmented Memory: The Chinese Avant-Garde in Exile, Columbus,
Ohio: Wexner Center for the Arts, The Ohio State University, 1993,
p.20.
3 The Discovery of the Centrality of Culture in Art: Wenda Gu
In modern times, Oedipus became a central symbol in Sigmund
Freuds psychoanalytic theories of the human subconscious, and
the action of the tragedy was reinterpreted as a metaphor for
an unconscious sexual desire for the mother combined with the
hatred for the father. Sexuality came to the fore in the associative
references of the classical story, and this too has had implica-
tions for Gu Wenda and his work. Gu has continued to investi-
gate questions of materials and human essence and has sought
ways to encompass these qualities in his work, but he has shifted
his focus to issues of sexuality and associated social taboos.106
This shift, I should stress, pointed to a large goal, namely,
cultural analysis. What Gu sought in the enigma of blood, the
myth of birth materials, and the enigma beyond the joy and
sin through his Minimalism-like devices and installations
was the sedimentation of different cultures in the guise of
sexuality and unlifted taboos.
3.4ReinforcementSynthesis of Culture
3.4.1Approach to Synthesis: the United
Nations and Forest of Stone Steles
After a long meditative period, Wenda Gu enthusiastically
launched an extremely challenging and highly ambitious art
project beginning in 1992. This ongoing, worldwide art proj-
106 Ibid. p.21.
3.4 ReinforcementSynthesis of Culture
ect was entitled United Nations. Compared to his previous
works, a distinctive difference of this project was its positive
orientation toward tolerance and understanding, not his usual
focus, wittingly or unwittingly, on conflicts. On the other
hand, conflict and confrontation could not be entirely avoid-
able because of the unpredictable consequences of the execu-
tion and exhibition of the work, as seen in the Interpol show
in 1996, discussed in the prelude (1.1.). Gu planed to collect
human hair from approximately twenty countries chosen for
their historical, cultural and political importance and then
make installations on site. Between 1993 and 2004, the proj-
ect had already traveled to five continents. By using the real
hair of the local population, Gu created monumental instal-
lations and land art to capture each countrys identity based
on its historical and cultural contexts. Each installation was a
national segment of the entire United Nations project.
This piece worked as a new phase in Gus cultural jour-
ney, the synthesis of culture, which he arrived at after two
previous and necessary phases, the critique and the analysis
of culture.
The critique of culture was a phase that motivated his in-
terest and courage about the question of culture. This was not
surprising for a Chinese avant-garde artist of the 1980s who
was involved, along with the countrys intelligentsia, in the
campaign that reacted to the cultural crisis of that decade.
With his concern about cultural issues, Gu confronted his
native culture directly. This confrontation forced him to deal
not only with the culture that he inherited, but also enabled
him to look at it through critical eyes. Gu sustained his atten-
tion to cultural issues when he found these issues pertinent
and crucial as an artist who was loaded with a heavy cultural
burden, and who needed a way out.
The analysis of culture reflected his relocation and settle-
ment when he moved to an international stage and confront-
ed entirely different cultures. He found an effective medium
for his analysishuman body material. When todays art
became more and more economically, historically and politi-
cally involved in the real world, individuals became, through
their body, more and more bound to their cultural context,
including their economical, historical and political settings
and traditions. Analyzing particular human body materials
turned out to be an appropriate approach to the essence of
culture because these materials, as we have seen from Gus
choice of menstrual blood and placenta powder, are always
submerged in cultural meaning and significance.
When the critique paved way for his cultural journey, and
the analysis provided it with facilities and directions, the
synthesis of culture became an understandable and neces-
sary phase of the journey. Synthesis would not erase differ-
ences or blur definitions of varied cultures. On the contrary,
it would recognize and respect those differences and diversi-
ties that have existed for centuries and even millennia. All of
these, however, would be considered as integral parts of the
101
United Nations, a symbol of the great synthesis of culture.
As the artist claimed, this would be a utopia which probably
can never exist in our reality but will be fully realized in the
art world.107
Up to the year 2003, Wenda Gu had exhibited nineteen
monumental installations of the project United Nations in
countries and regions around the world, among them Poland,
Netherlands, Italy, Israel, USA, England, Sweden, Russia,
South Africa, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Canada, China, France,
South Korea, and Australia. Here is the chronological list of
these installations,
1993 United NationsPoland Monument: Hospitalized His-
tory Museum, Lodz, Poland.
1994 United NationsItaly Monument: God and Children,
Milan, Italy.
United NationsHolland Monument: V.O.C. W.I.C.
Otterlo, Netherlands.
1995 United NationsUSA Monument #1: Post-
cmoellotniinaglpiostm,New York, USA.
United NationsIsraeli Monument: the Holy Land,
Tel Aviv, Israel.
1996 United NationsUSA Monument #2: Dreamerica,
New York, USA; Seoul, South Korea.
United NationsSweden and Russia Monument: Inter-
pol, Stockholm, Sweden.
United NationsBritain Monument: the Maze,
London, England.
1997 United NationsTaiwan Monument: the Mythos of
Lost Dynasties, Taipei, Taiwan.
United NationsHong Kong Monument: the Historical
Clash, Hong Kong, China.
United NationsAfrica Monument: the World Praying
Wall, Johannesburg, South Africa.
1998 United NationsChina Monument: Temple of
Heaven, New York, USA; Monterey, Mexico; Seattle,
USA; Canberra, Australia; Hong Kong, China.
United NationsVancouver Monument: the Metamor-
phosis, Vancouver, Canada.
1999 United NationsBabel of the Millennium, San Fran-
cisco, USA.
2000 United NationsMan and Space, Kwangju, South
Korea; Nigata, Japan; Chengdu, China; Seoul, South
Korea; Singapore, Singapore.
United NationsGreat Wall of the Millennium, Buf-
falo, USA; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Athens, Ohio,
USA.
United NationsTemple Exoticisms, Lyon, France.
2001 United NationsAustralia Monument: Epnagcliif-
sihc, Canberra, Australia.
2003 United NationsUnited 7561 Kilometers, Denton,
Texas, USA; Kansas City, USA; Portland, Maine, USA.
The documentation is from united nations Exhibition History, Mark
H.C. Bessire edited, Wenda Gu: Art from Middle Kingdom to Biologi-
cal Millennium, Cambridge, MA: the MIT Press, 2003, pp. 42-43.
107 Wenda Gu, face the new millennium: the divine comedy of our
timesa thesis on the united nations art project and its time and en-
vironment, Mark H.C. Bessire edited, Wenda Gu: Art from Middle
Kingdom to Biological Millennium, Cambridge, MA: the MIT Press,
2003, p.30.
102
During this period, Gu also spent about ten years on an-
other important undertakinghis Forest of Stone Steles:
Retranslation and Rewriting of Tang Poetry (19932003).
This was also a large project involving the translation and re-
translation of Chinas ancient poetry, in which the texts were
inscribed on fifty large-scale stone steles, and, ink rubbings
were made from the steles. Unlike the United Nationsan
attempt at synchronic as well as diachronic interaction with
different cultures from the standpoint of diasporathe For-
est of Stone Steles was about to converse with the English
world from the position of a native Chinese with his inheri-
tance of Chinese history, literature and art.
The text on the steles included the original Tang poems,
English translation, a phonetic retranslation back to Chinese
from English, and finally, the artists own English translation
from the phonetic English-Chinese poems. When inscribed
on the stone stele, a typical Chinese type of documentation
of ancient time, with the phonetic English-Chinese text in
the largest font size, the work looked very much like a regu-
lar stele that one would see at royal cemeteries, temples,
residences, and official buildings. However, the huge differ-
ence between the original poem and final text of transla-
tion seems to suggest that misunderstanding or even distor-
tion is natural in cultural exchange, a reality the synthesis
of culture could never ignore. We could say that Forest of
Stone Steles was supplementary to the United Nations,
in revealing another truth of the synthesis of culture. And
also it is an independent work because it concentrates on
Chineseness, Chinese identity, or the Chinese cultures role
in the synthesis of culture, an issue the United Nations
did not intentionally address.
3.4.2Theoretical Preparation: Concept,
Strategy, and Methodology
As mentioned earlier, when facing four options as a Chi-
nese artist who moved to the West in the late 1980s, Wenda
Gu was not ready to embrace any of those optionsculture
keeper, warrior, mainstream surfer and multi-culture build-
erimmediately. After several years of artistic and cultural
adjustment and his experiments in analysis of culture,
the artist had gradually found and focused on his primary
goalto be a multi-culture builder. This meant that he would
struggle to be an artistic world citizen. He needed to honor
his native tradition and also try to understand the cultures
and art from the West and the rest of the world. Furthermore,
he needed to know the strength and shortcomings of his na-
tive and other cultural traditions. He hoped that eventually
he could surmount cultural barriers and communicate with
different cultures in a multi-cultural context by means of a
synthesis of culture.
3 The Discovery of the Centrality of Culture in Art: Wenda Gu
In Chinas avant-garde movement launched in mid-
1980s, there were some vanguards of artists identified as
philosophical or scholastic by critics, because these art-
ists thought and wrote like a quasi-philosopher or scholar
besides their artistic activities. Wenda Gu was categorized
in this group. To convey his ideas and thoughts, Gu wrote
essays on literati art, Modernism and Conceptualism, etc. He
used unreasonable and non-conventional punctuations, as
well as homophonic characters, and even dismantled some
characters in his essay (fei chen shu de
wen zi, non-narrative/accountable Chinese characters,
Fig.3.19) to explain his experiment of destruction of written
language. Because of his special treatment of language, the
essay itself became non-narrative/accountable (see 3.2.3).
In Gus mind, the textual work became gradually an integral
part of his art, rather than an explanation of it.
In 1995, Gu drafted a long essay (about twelve thousand
English words), titled The Divine Comedy of Our Times:
a thesis on United Nations art project and its time and en-
vironment. This long essay explained his thoughts on the
ongoing project United Nations, and at the same time, sys-
tematically revealed the concepts of his art of this period.108
This is definitely the longest and the most detailed state-
ment Gu has made in his career. The divine comedy was
inspired by Divina commedia, written by Dante Alighieri, an
Italian poet of the Medieval period. Divided into three major
sectionsInferno, Purgatorio, and Paradisothe narrative
traces the journey of Dante from darkness and error to the
revelation of the divine light, culminating in the beatific vi-
sion of God. Gu used divine comedy, I believe, as a meta-
phor of journey that led humankind of modern times to a
universal harmony through the process of trial and error.
This essay recounted the initiative of his project United
Nations, and most importantly, articulated his thoughts on
the art of his next phase, thus becoming a valuable footnote
for his synthesis of culture. For this reason, a discussion
of this strategic text will provide us a special perspective to
comprehend his art of the 1990s and early 2000s.
A project that would travel widely and be shown in vari-
ous continents, countries and cultures was a great opportu-
nity as well as a great challenge. For Wenda Gu, interest-
ingly, the resources of this strategy could be found in Chinas
history.
First, Confucius (551479 B.C.) traveled to various
states, promoting his concepts of governing and publiciz-
108
This essay had been written in lower-case words, and distributed,
in a typed form, among critics and curators in 1995 (see Appendix
B). The artist revised and shortened it into a six thousand-word essay
in 1998, which was included, in the title face the new millennium: the
divine comedy of our timesa thesis on the united nations art project
and its time and environment, in Mark H.C. Bessire edited, Wenda Gu:
Art from Middle Kingdom to Biological Millennium, Cambridge, MA:
the MIT Press, 2003, pp.3041.
3.4 ReinforcementSynthesis of Culture
ing doctrines of Confucianism twenty-five hundred years
ago. Confucius was born and lived during a chaotic period
of Chinas history, the Spring and Autumn Annals and War-
ring States (722481 B.C.), within Zhou dynasty (1028221
B.C.). He was knowledgeable and also obsessed with the
etiquettes and rituals, along with the essential morality and
ruling discourse of the early Zhou period. He believed that
these valuable heritages had been almost entirely forgotten
in his time. Confucius lived in the State of Lu, but disap-
pointed with the ruler of Lu. He had traveled to the states
of Zhou, Qi, Wei, Chen, Chu, and for a brief time stayed in
Song, Cao and Zheng. He tried to persuade the rulers that the
rituals and etiquette of the Zhou dynasty and his own theory
of benevolent governing strategy were critical to the stabil-
ity of states. Basically, his efforts failed because of the wars
and chaos among the states, and he returned to the State of
Lu after his fourteen-year odyssey. However, his endeavor,
hardship, suffering and tenacity during this journey became
an inspirational experience for subsequent generations who
have also struggled for their causes and ideals. Furthermore,
Confucianism, based on Confuciuss thoughts and principles
about morality, governance, and social order, became one of
the most dominant discourses in Chinas history.
In the early twentieth century, the Red Army, led by the
communist leaders, including Mao Zedong (18931976),
Zhu De (18861976), Zhou Enlai (18981976), Wang Jiax-
iang (19071974), and Zhang Guotao (18971979), among
others, walked about seventy-seven hundredmiles and went
through fourteen provinces to escape the pursuit of the
Kuomintang army from 1934 to 1936.109 In the end, only
about one tenth of the soldiers survived and arrived at Yan-
an of Shaanxi province, where the Red Army established its
base area. Although this Long March was a very difficult
and sacrificial journey in the history of the Communist Party,
Mao and his comrades still considered it a manifesto, a pro-
paganda team, and a sowing machine, as Mao proclaimed.
The manifesto meant that the Red Army announced via
this march that it was a force nobody could defeat; the pro-
paganda team referred to spreading the communist ideol-
ogy during the march, while the sowing machine stood for
planting the seeds of communism in the areas the Red Army
went through.
Regardless of the distinct purposes of these two jour-
neys, their strategy of traveling and advocating/marketing
was inspirational to Gu. For the artist, his journey to vari-
ous continents, countries and cultures was not only artistic
incarnation of his trans-cultural ideals, but more importantly,
109The seventy-seven hundred miles, or twenty-five thousand li in
Chinese measure system, is claimed officially. However, the actu-
al miles the Red Army walked is still in question. According to two
American adventurers who followed the road map of Red Army and
walked through in 2003, the length of Long March was less than five
thousand miles.
103
he wanted it to touch something profound in these cultures.
He wanted to travel and exhibit in order to have an entirely
new experience in the contemporary, multi-cultural world.
This appropriation of the strategy was intentional because
Gu needed precedents for his ambitious art plan. At the same
time, it was natural because the journeys of Confucius and
the Red Army, significant to Chinas history and hegemonic
discourses, were set in the collective memory of Chinese
people. What Gu was not aware of in the beginning was that
his journey of synthesis of culture, the project United
Nations particularly, was not unlike the Confuciuss long
odyssey, which was marked by countless confrontations, dis-
putes, and even frustrations. In fact, without these trials and
challenges, the tale of Confucius would not have become the
ultimate saga of Chinese history, and his determination and
persistence would not be a model for later generations.
Basically, there were four separate but overlapping
themes Gu addressed in his long essay: the concept of oth-
erness/alienation/difference and the ideal of bio/geo/cultur-
al fusion; subject represents subject, a methodological tac-
tic; nature and culture, and hair and language; and cultural
identitythe individual, the national and the universal.110
THEME ONE: The concept of otherness/alienation/dif-
ference and the ideal of bio/geo/cultural fusion
Gu summarized the concept, strategy, and methodology
as four formulas,
#1 the entire project is divided into two parts: national monu-
ments and the united nations final monument.
#2 each national monument is divided into two parts: local peo-
ples hair and local historical context (concept).
#3 it provides physical contact, interaction, integration, and con-
frontation with the local population (collecting hair) and their
cultural histories (conceptual reference). instead of imagining
or reading about cultures and then working from that informa-
tion in the private studio, i strongly believe that actual physical
experiences are far more authentic and important than literary
interpretations.
#4 i as an initiator and executor. my bio/geo/cultural identity
becomes the device that shapes the cultural dialogues, confronta-
tions, and possible battles. this position constantly creates who
i am to who i am not whenever i am buried in a monument
with the exception of the united nations china monument. it also
provides an international expatriate for everyone to relate to in
every corner of our planet.111
Reconciliation was not the first emphasis of this project;
rather, it would reveal differences, and bring about other-
110
This discussion is based on the revised text published in Bessires
book, rather than the 1995 version.
111
Wenda Gu, face the new millennium: the divine comedy of our
timesa thesis on the united nations art project and its time and envi-
ronment, Mark H.C. Bessire edited, Wenda Gu: Art from Middle King-
dom to Biological Millennium, Cambridge, MA: the MIT Press, 2003,
pp.3132. To keep the appearance of the original text, the quoted text
remains all lower-case. And, the word buried here does not refer to
being buried physically, rather, it is a metaphor, meaning my bio/
geo/cultural identity beneath/behind the monuments.
104
ization, as Gu called it. This process of otherization was
dual: on the one hand, the identity of the local race and its
culture is being otherized by me as the stranger; but my
own identity is being otherized and in so doing merges with
the strangers and their culture on the other.112
A useful elucidation of the concept the other or other-
ness can be found in Homi Bhabha. In his The Other Ques-
tion: Stereotype, Discrimination and the Discourse of Colo-
nialism, Homi Bhabha discussed the other with analysis
of stereotype and stereotyping. The other referred to This process would reveal differences, alienate the involved
certain groups that are defined in colonial or even post-colo-
nial society to maintain order. The process of defining the
other was an ideological or discursive operation employing
stereotyping. It was the stereotype that constructed the
other, which fixed identity of groups as the other through
a strategy of stereotypization and repetitive stereotypiza-
tion, according to Homi Bhabha.113
In another essay, Homi Bhabha elaborated a concept the
foreign or foreignness, which could be taken as a foot-
note to the concept of the other or otherness.
I am more engaged with the foreign element that reveals the
interstitial; a mode of meaning that insists through the textile
superfluity of folds and wrinkles; and crucially, becomes the
unstable element of linkage, the indeterminate temporality of
the in-between, that has to be engaged in creating the condi-
tions by which, in the words of Salman Rushdies great novel of
migrant hybridity, The Satanic Verses, newness comes into the
world. The foreign element destroys the originals structure
of reference and sense communication as well, as Rodolphe
Gasche, the literary theorist, has written. It does this not simply
by negating the claim of the original to authenticity, but by turn-
ing the temporality of firstness or primogeniture upon which
authority rests, into a site of disjunction and dissemination. The
foreignness of cultural translation signifies successive cultural
temporalities that are preserved in the work [of history] and at
the same time canceled. The nourishing fruit of the histori-
cally understood contains time as a precious but tasteless seed.
(Benjamin)114
The reason I have quoted this long paragraph is that it pro-
vides the concept of the foreign or foreignness with more
positive significance, compared to his analysis of the other
or otherness. Without such a positive understanding, art-
ists like Gu might not feel comfortable using these concepts
in their art and texts. The other or otherness, like the
foreign or foreignness, is not only an alternative to con-
temporary culture and art, but, most importantly, it is the
newness that comes into the world and will alter the world.
112
Ibid. p.32.
113
See Homi K. Bhabha, The Other Question: Stereotype, Discrimi-
nation and the Discourse of Colonialism, in The Location of Culture,
New York: Routledge, 1994, pp.6684.
114
Homi K. Bhabha, Beyond the Pale: Art in the Age of Multicultural
Translation, Whitney Museum of American Art: 1993 Biennial Exhi-
bition, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York, 1993, pp.6970.
3 The Discovery of the Centrality of Culture in Art: Wenda Gu
Gu might or might not have read Homi Bhabha, but the
concept of the other appeared often in criticism and re-
search texts was familiar to him. Although inspired by this
notion, Gus otherness and otherization were concepts
with more active connotations. In Homi Bhabha otherness
was constructed by stereotype and certain groups were
saddled with it as their identity. However, Gus otherness
was product of interaction between the artist and local peo-
ple with their culture. Otherization was an active process.
parties, and create new identities. It would invoke a cultural
and psychological paradox: when viewing the monument
made of their hair connoting the historical heritage of their
native country, the local audiences might experience a deep
sense of national pride, but also might feel intruded upon
in terms of cultural heritage.
Nevertheless, while individual monuments exposed dif-
ferences, and produced otherness, the ongoing project
continuing across borders and into continents could also be
interpreted as biological, geographic and cultural fusion, as
the artist claimed,
there is the contrast between this singular body material, hair
and plural racial identities throughout the whole project; and
yet, this single material will be transformed into multi-cultured
hair. i called this a great simplicity which will transcend to a
universal identity.
the united nations national monuments are not totally separate
entities. they are like a chain with each successive monument
building upon the previous ones. each becomes more complex
and diverse eventually reaching a finalization that will unite all
of the national monuments.115
Biologically, human hair collected from various nations and
integrated into the work would become a multi-racial entity.
Geographically, the successive execution across continents
and countries would bridge geographic divisions. Cultur-
ally, the interaction between the artist and involved people of
each country or region with their diverse cultural heritages
would generate a great melting pot of inclusive universal
identity.116
THEME TWO: subject represents subject, a methodolog-
ical tactic
This theme was not exclusive to the United Nations
project; instead, it guided all of Gus work consisting of
human body materials. As I discussed in the previous sec-
tion (Sect.3.3.3.), this concept emerged when he created his
115
Wenda Gu, face the new millennium: the divine comedy of our
timesa thesis on the united nations art project and its time and en-
vironment, Mark H.C. Bessire edited, Wenda Gu: Art from Middle
Kingdom to Biological Millennium, Cambridge, MA: the MIT Press,
2003, pp.3233.
116 Ibid.
p.38. By melting pot Gu meant a blended geo/national/
cultural identity, while the universal identity reflected on his uni-
fied national monuments for the final ceremony of the united nations
project.
3.4 ReinforcementSynthesis of Culture
first work with human body material, menstrual blood. In a
catalog essay Gu Wendas Oedipus, I wrote,
The separation or opposition between subject and object melts
in the shared experience of viewers and those who contributed
the original material, and in the shared identity of the physical,
psychological, and spiritual.117
In his work about menstruation, Gu thought about concepts
of presentation and representation, and the relationship
of subject and object. At that time he thought that art
using non-human material was still an art of representation
because man was represented by object(s) external to him.
To eliminate representation of subject by external objects
meant appealing to the subjects corporeality. In his thesis
face the new millennium: the divine comedy of our times,
he attempted to explore deeper contemporary achievements
in biology and genetics to strengthen his notion about sub-
ject representing subject. The trend of research pointing in-
ward to the human body suggested that body materials con-
tain many more myths, potentials and connotations than we
have been aware of. According to Gu,
history tells us that we as humans are the center of the uni-
verse. from this standpoint, human research and knowledge are
directed outwards; we manipulate, even mistreat everything
from our human-centric position. lately, our outward intention
has generated crisis besides benefits; looking inward became a
trend, reaching back to our body, a great unknown myth. the
material and substantial world is authenticity and priority;
human knowledge is always secondary to the body.118
The most authentic subject is inside the subject. Biologically,
humans DNA contains all information and codes of human.
Even if this information and these codes could be deciphered
in todays technology, enigmas would remain. Moreover,
human body substances are full of significance, cultural con-
notations, history and civilization, as Johnson Chang pointed
out. Gu quoted Changs remark in his thesis,
Unlike the use of other impersonal materials, human substance
in itself has rich cultural and symbolic connotations. As such,
not only does it refer to the work as signifier but is itself the
signified.119
117
Zhou Yan, Gu Wendas Oedipus, catalogue of the exhibition
Fragmented MemoryThe Chinese Avant-Garde in Exile, Columbus,
Ohio: Wexner Center for the Arts, the Ohio State University, 1993,
p.21. This text was also quoted in Wenda Gus face the new millen-
nium: the divine comedy of our timesa thesis on the united nations
art project and its time and environment, Mark H.C. Bessire edited,
Wenda Gu: Art from Middle Kingdom to Biological Millennium, Cam-
bridge, MA: the MIT Press, 2003, pp.35.
118 Wenda Gu, face the new millennium: the divine comedy of our
timesa thesis on the united nations art project and its time and en-
vironment, Mark H.C. Bessire edited, Wenda Gu: Art from Middle
Kingdom to Biological Millennium, Cambridge, MA: the MIT Press,
2003, p.34.
119 See ibid. p.34.
105
This way of combining two into one, an ancient Chinese
philosophical concept further developed by Yang Xianzhen
(18961992), a Chinese Marxist philosopher,120 provided a
solid theoretical foundation for Gus concept of subject rep-
resenting subject.
If an item could be a signifier, a form of significance,
while the item itself is full of significance as the signified
was, the assumption that this item could represent itself
would become lucid and logical. When a human body ma-
terial, say human hair, signifies peoples personality, their
inheritance, and the historical context in which the people
live, this also becomes a matrix of biological information,
geographic properties, and genetic code. Wenda Gu articu-
lated this point in his thesis:
the human body myth is as equally infinite as the universal myth.
hence, human body material is a signifier which does not nec-
essarily need languages assistance to convey certain meanings
as most non-human materials do. when human body materials
are reincarnated as an art creation, the significance comes from
the inside of the body materials. the difference between using
human body materials and non-human objects creates oppos-
ing definitions, such as internal versus external. the human
body materials internal definition parallels the viewers psy-
chological and physical conditions. when viewers behold the
works with human body materials, they are literally encounter-
ing themselves. on the contrary, non-human objective materials
are inherently distanced from viewers. this psychological and
physical gap therefore needs linguistic assistance to create a
bridge between the object and subject, between inhuman objec-
tive material and the viewing audience.121
I believe that Gus concept subject representing subject
was an intelligent tactic. It opened a new perspective in
terms of artistic methodology. This tactic differentiated him
from traditional artists of representation, as well as body art
and performance artists. While the former used objects rep-
resenting objects, the latter used their own bodies as object
representing the subject, from the beholders point of view.
Only human body materials could be a universal subject,
which conveys the subjects biological, geographical and
cultural information and significance, and at the same time,
120
The proposition combining two into one (,he er er yi)
was put forth first by Fang Yizhi (16111671), a scientist, statesman
and thinker of the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, in his book
(dong xi jun, Equilibrium of the East and the West). This propo-
sition is, in fact, another way of expressing the unity of opposites, a
dialectic concept derived from Daoism, and the Yin and Yang theory of
ancient times. Yang Xianzhen attempted to supplement Maos one di-
viding into two ( yi fen wei er) in philosophy by his reading
of Fang Yizhis proposition, and to correct the radical tendency in the
class struggle of the 1950s and 1960s in politics. This was criticized by
leftist critics as rightist philosophy that was against Maos reading
of the law of the unity of opposites, or materialist dialectics.
121 Wenda Gu, face the new millennium: the divine comedy of our
timesa thesis on the united nations art project and its time and en-
vironment, Mark H.C. Bessire edited, Wenda Gu: Art from Middle
Kingdom to Biological Millennium, Cambridge, MA: the MIT Press,
2003, p.36.
106
it possesses universality by getting rid of individuality, that is
inherited in the art by body art and performance artists. This
way an authentic self-contained subject could be grown
up and become mature naturally.
THEME THREE: nature and culture, and hair and lan-
guage
Again, this theme has its origin in Gus previous work
and thought. In the 1980s, Gu created his works with de-
structed Chinese written language. He explored the relation-
ship of first nature and second nature, namely for him
truth/reality versus language. Language as the second nature
could not catch up with truth/reality as the first nature. Lan-
guage was unable to reach the essence of the first nature (See
3.2.2.). Through making fake ancient Chinese seal-script (
, zhuan zi) in his United Nations, Gu dug deeper in
this subject:
a double concept game is played by faking ancient chinese seal
script, the oldest form of chinese language which was codified
by the first emperor of china, qin shi huang. it is unreadable for
both chinese and non-chinese; it is also unidentifiable whether
the script is real or fake to both chinese and non-chinese audi-
ences. the concept of the unidentified chinese language could be
translated by chinese as the mythos of lost history; it can also
be interpreted by non-chinese as misunderstandings of exotic
culture. in general, the miswritten language symbolizes mis-
understanding as the essence of our knowledge concerning
the universe and material world. yet, the pseudo-scripts help us
reach infinity and eternity by imaging the universe which is out
of reach of human knowledge (language). furthermore, faking
language is a way to express fear, anxiety, and a distrust of our
knowledge, and places human languages in a predicament of
absurdity and irony.122
In the 1980s, Gu was inspired by the fact that modern Chi-
nese readers could not read the ancient Chinese seal-scripts
without special training, which invoked his deconstruction
of Chinese written language. Now he went back to the seal-
script, but this time he created fake seal-scripts on knitted
hair to further question language as an approach to the es-
sence of culture. This double conceptual gamethe unread-
able and the unidentifiablemight be a metaphor suggesting
that while language as a product of culture might be unable
to convey meaning, human hair itself as a product of nature
could carry significance. As we could see, this theme has
overlapped with the previous one, deepening the previous
theme in terms of art ontology. If human body materials
could be the genesis and end-product of significance, they
would be the signified and the signifier, thus as subjects they
could represent themselves. In addition, this theme overlaps
with next one. When hair was used to knit those fake char-
acters, its individual, national and universal connotation was
knitted into the work, thus blended them into a much more
comprehensive entity, a cultural hybrid.
122Ibid. pp.3839. In fact, seal script is not the oldest form of Chinese
language. Scripts on bones and toitoise shells, and scripts on bronze
vessels as well, were invented prior to seal scripts.
3 The Discovery of the Centrality of Culture in Art: Wenda Gu
THEME FOUR: cultural identitythe individual, the na-
tional and the universal
Hair and hairstyle are highly individual matters. Kim
Levin mentions individuality of hair when she commented
on Gus Italian monument of the United Nations,
as psychoanalysts well know, the most innocuous remark
about a beard, mustache, or hairstyle is a loaded and coded com-
ment from which can be deciphered all manner of information
about libido, superego, and sexuality.123
At the same time, an individuals hair is loaded with ethnic,
religious, historical, ethical, or in general, cultural signifi-
cance, as Gu remarked in his thesis:
for some native americans hair was and still is considered as the
location of the soul and a vital human force. saints locks are
considered holy relics, worshipped and preserved by the catholic
church. if hair is shorn or cut it implies renunciation and sacri-
fice. in some cultures, and historical periods it has represented
a challenge to social limits and laws constituting the state orga-
nization (american hippies and beatniks).124
The issue of identityindividual, national or cultural iden-
tity confronted Gu when he moved to the international stage
of art. This was not surprising for non-Western artists with
deep roots in their native culture. Coping with these new
challenges was difficult but also stimulating for, in Gus
case, he was provoked to contemplate its implications for his
own work and find a new contextual meaning.
When asked, How, if at all, is your identity as an Asian
artist reflected on your work? Gu tried to blur the boundary
between his cultural identity and that of others, a stance that
might indicate his anxiety about this complicated issue,
I dont think my Chinese identity is the most important element
in my work. I certainly dont want to use my art to deliberately
appeal to exotic perception of Chinese culture. Generally speak-
ing, the classical notion of cultural identity is no longer relevant.
Identity is a more psychological condition in which the complex
racial, gender, political and social parameters of a culture are
internalized individually.125
As a non-native-Western artist, Gu always faced the question
of cultural identity with interviewers, audiences, and critics.
The so-called classic notion of cultural identity was for Gu
a notion of the modernist period.
Interestingly, Chinese identity became a hot issue in the
1990s in China as well as overseas. Two representative stud-
ies of this problem are The Living Tree: The Changing Mean-
123 Kim Levin, Splitting Hairs: Wenda Gus Primal Project and Mate-
rial Misunderstandings, in United nationsItalian Division (not pub-
lished), quoted from Gus face the new millennium: the divine comedy
of our timesa thesis on the united nations art project and its time and
environment, Mark H.C. Bessire edited, Wenda Gu: Art from Middle
Kingdom to Biological Millennium, Cambridge, MA: the MIT Press,
2003, p.38.
124
Bessire (2003, p.38).
125
Quoted from Asian Artists in America, an interview of Wenda Gu
by Carol Lufty, Atelier, Tokyo, Japan, Nov. 1996, p.50.
3.4 ReinforcementSynthesis of Culture
ing of Being Chinese Today, edited by Tu Wei-ming, and Ben
Xus Disenchanted Democracy: Chinese Cultural Criticism
after 1989.126 Tu implied that overseas Chinese might play
an effective role in constructing a new vision of Chinese-
ness more in tune with Chinese history and in sympathetic
resonance with Chinese culture.127 Xu explored in his book
the crisis of national identity in the Postmodern-Postcolonial
context and Postsocialist-Postcolonial condition through his
research on Chinese cultural criticism in the 1990s.
Instead of focusing on his Chinese identity, Gu now
seemed to suspend it in order to deal with his cross-cultural
art project. Perhaps an image of world citizen was more suit-
able to these projects. He realized that Chineseness had usu-
ally been considered as an exotic factor in todays art from,
say, Western modernist point of view, not unlike what other
non-Western arts had experienced. To him, a Tahitian figure,
an African mask, or an Algerian woman had been the object
of exotic perception by modernists and their followers. Such
a gaze at non-Western culture was based, to a degree, on the
assumption of hierarchy of culture. A multi-cultural point
of view was based on the equality of all civilizations, all
existing cultures particularly. This was, unfortunately, still
an ideal goal, since the ideology of cultural hierarchy had a
long-term history and a powerful economical basis, which
was hard to alter in a short period. Samuel Huntington pre-
dicted in 1993 that the clash of civilizations rather than that
of ideologies or economics would be the new pattern of con-
flict dominating global politics when the Cold War ended.
This prediction implied that a conflict at a profound level in
the post-Cold War world could be more severe and critical
than most people expected.128
civilization-consciousness is increasing; conflict between civ-
ilizations will supplant ideological and other forms of conflict
as the dominant global form of conflict; international relations,
historically a game played out within Western civilization, will
increasingly be de-Westernized and become a game in which
non-Western civilizations are actors and not simply objects;129
126 Tu Wei-ming, edited, The Living Tree: The Changing Meaning of
Being Chinese Today, Stanford, California: Stanford University Press,
1994. Ben Xu, Disenchanted Democracy: Chinese Cultural Criticism
after 1989, Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1999.
127
Tu Wei-ming, Cultural China: The Periphery as the Center, in The
Living Tree: The Changing Meaning of Being Chinese Today, Stanford,
California: Stanford University Press, 1994, pp.134.
128
Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations? Foreign Af-
fairs, Vol.72, No.3, Summer 1993, pp.2249. The author extended
his thoughts of this essay into a book, The Clash of Civilizations and
the Remaking of World Order, New York: Touchstone, 1996. The term
and concept of clash of civilizations had been widely spread, com-
mented and criticized as well since 1993. See The Clash of Civiliza-
tions? Asian Responses, edited by Salim Rashid, published in Karachi:
Oxford University Press (Oxford, New York), 1997.
129Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations? Foreign
Affairs, Vol. 72, No. 3, Summer 1993, p.48.
107
This proclamation of a new scenario of conflict in the post-
Cold War era was a serious warning to those who still lived
in Cold War ideology. Furthermore, it warned of a more se-
vere and profound confrontation between civilizations of the
West and the non-West. In addition, in this new form of con-
flict non-Western civilizations would become active agents
instead of passive objects.
Artistically, Gu believed that we could at least communi-
cate with various cultures instead of just confronting them.
He tried to transcend identity based on a single culture and
to create an art of multi-cultural inclusion. Gus idealist or
somewhat utopian ambition, already visible in his Chinese
stage, seemed to have led him to the third stage, which I
called synthesis of culture.
Thus Gu offered his artistic approach to what he called
universal identity. He borrowed the word hair-itage
from James Servin, a reporter with the Associated Press, who
reviewed Gus hair art in an article titled Global Hairballs:
Sculpture Celebrates Culture of Nations, in the Palm Beach
Post, and used it as a term to describe the heritage of his
United Nations project. He claimed:
the projects diverse journey brings one single nations identity
(one national monument) to the identities of multiple nations (as
many as twenty national monuments) to human universal identity
(unified national monuments for the final ceremony of the united
nations project). this human body outgrowth or waste through-
out the united nations project becomes the great human hair-
itage. it becomes a geo/national/cultural identity melting pot.130
This would not be a singular and unifying identity derived
from the sum of discrepancies, instead, it would be a compre-
hensive and synthetic identity. After many different national
identities with their legacies and traditions had been integrated
into an artistic entity, the result would be a heterogeneous
synthesis with entirely new meanings and significance. Cit-
ing Time magazines cover story in 1994 that predicted the
emergence of a new racial mixture of Mid-Eastern, Italian,
Africa, Vietnamese, Anglo-Saxon, Chinese and Hispanic
ethnicities in the United States,131 the artist anticipated that
his United Nations project would generate a brave new ra-
cial identity by blending hair from heterogeneous ethnicities.
This idealistic project was, of course, conceived and im-
plemented by an artist whose national inheritance was in his
blood and his Chineseness in his mind, thus his perspective
and means of execution of the project were not universal.
The project became an active and continuous interaction be-
130
Wenda Gu, face the new millennium: the divine comedy of our
timesa thesis on the united nations art project and its time and en-
vironment, Mark H.C. Bessire edited, Wenda Gu: Art from Middle
Kingdom to Biological Millennium, Cambridge, MA: the MIT Press,
2003, p.38.
131 See cover story The New Face of America: How Immigrates Are
Shaping the Worlds First Multicultural Society, Times, special issue,
Fall 1993.
108 3 The Discovery of the Centrality of Culture in Art: Wenda Gu

tween one culture, represented by Gu, and a range of world

cultures, despite the fact that Gu became more internation-
al as he became more familiar with Eastern and Western
heritages after moving to the West. The Chinese identity
in Gus art became an integral part of world cultures. This
Chineseness is especially incarnated in his stone tablet
work Forest of Stone StelesRetranslation and Rewriting
of Tang Poetry (19932003).
Gao Minglu identified what he called Gus universal-
ism in his essay Seeking a Model of Universalism: The
United Nations Series and Other Works. This universal-
ism, he claimed, could be traced back to the artists early
ink painting:
Gu regards landscape as part of the universe and human body.
Many of his works describe the human body as nature, with
its hair, bones, and veins closely intertwined with forests and
rivers; thus, in the work, man and nature share the spirit of the
universe.132

If we can say that nature occupied the center of Gus univer-

salism in the 1980s, now his universalism became more
cultural, a transformation of thought in which he attempted
to integrate cultural heterogeneities and, at the same time,
transcend them.

3.4.3Execution, Exhibition, and Interaction

of United Nations

The monuments of the United Nations could be divided

into three kinds. The first kind is work designed exclusively
for one country or region. The material was collected from
people of this country or region, and the work was execut-
ed and displayed as site-specific. This type included Polish
(1993), Italian (1994), Dutch (1994), American (1995), Is-
raeli (1995), Britain (1996), Taiwanese (1997), Hong Kong
(1997), Canadian (1998), French (2000), and Australian
(2001) monuments. This kind of monument basically fulfills
the definition of national monument.
A few of these monuments were representative of this
kind of national monument. The United NationsPo-
land Monument: Hospitalized History Museum, a site-
specific installation executed and displayed at the History
Museum of Lodz and the Artists Museum, Lodz, Poland, in
October 1993, was the first monument of the entire project
(Fig.3.42). It was actually part of the international exhibi-
tion, the 4th Construction in Process. The hair, collected
from local barbershops, was spread over the hospitalized
132 Gao Minglu, Seeking a Model of Universalism: The United Na-
tions Series and Other Works, in Mark H.C. Bessire edited, Wenda Gu:
Art from Middle Kingdom to Biological Millennium, Cambridge, MA:
the MIT Press, 2003, p.22.
Fig. 3.42 Wenda Gu, United NationsPoland Monument: Hospital-
ized History Museum, installation, birds-eye view, at the History Mu-
seum of Lodz, Lodz, Poland, 1993.
museum, including the exhibition space and staircase. In
the corner of the hall was a table full of books, surrounded by
four chairs covered with white bed sheets. On two cribs were
twenty-four locks of female hair lined up with white sheets
as ground. Books about history, religion, literature and pol-
itics were spread on floor. Thus, the history museum was
transformed into a hospital-like space. The atmosphere
was solemn and somehow oppressive. The installation, how-
ever, was shut down the afternoon of opening day because
it evoked sad memories for local audiences, especially for
older citizens who suffered from Nazi occupation. The larg-
est Jewish cemetery in the world was located in Lodz and
nearby were World War II concentration camps. The combi-
nation of this hair installation and local history had generated
complicated significance. As Gao Minglu observed, The
symbolic meaning is logically perfect for Gu in a theoretical
way, but it is also logically unacceptable for the local audi-
3.4 ReinforcementSynthesis of Culture
Fig. 3.43 Wenda Gu, United
NationsIsrael Monument: Holy
Land, land piece, distant view,
Mitzpe Ramon Desert, Israel,
1995.
Fig. 3.44 Wenda Gu, United
NationsIsrael Monument:
Holy Land, land piece, detail of
the rock with glued Israeli hair,
Mitzpe Ramon Desert, Israel,
1995.
ence who are faced with an emotionally challenging memory
of the citys history.133
If the hospital-like space of the Polish monument reflect-
ed the distance between Gus utopian idea and the local audi-
ences memory of their suffering years, the Israeli monument
shortened the distance through its references to land art and
the intensive dialog between the artist and the local commu-
nity. This work, United NationsIsrael Monument: Holy
Land, part of the exhibition 5th Construction in Process,
was implemented and displayed permanently in Mitzpe
Ramon Desert, Israel in 1995 (Fig.3.43). The hair of Israe-
lis was glued to thirty massive pink rocks, four tons each
in weight, quarried from Jerusalem (Fig.3.44). These rocks
were lined up on the desert. Its symbolic meaning pointed
to the impact of the Diaspora on Jewish life and culture. A
desert was a symbol of exile, of wandering, or homelessness
in traditional Chinese literature, particularly poetry. At the
same time, a desert was also associated with a battlefield in
ancient Chinese history and literature. Partly covered by hair
that lost its individual identity, these rocks displayed an end-
less story of Diaspora and struggle for survival in this holy
133 Gao Minglu, ibid. p.27.
109
land, a story interpreted by Gu with his Chinese rhetoric in
mind. When a Tel Aviv newspaper revealed Gus plan for
the project, the reaction of readers was poignant. Some Is-
raeli readers wrote to the newspaper to express their discon-
tent. There was even a protest when Gu arrived at the Tel
Aviv airport. This plan recalled their painful experience dur-
ing the Nazi periodJewish prisoners in the concentration
camps had their hair shaved off by Nazi soldiers. This time,
Gu attempted to talk with his audience rather than give up
his plan. An Israeli reporter from Haifa interviewed the art-
ist in an international call, and published a three-page report
to explain the artists concept and intent. Furthermore, the
Speaker (Chair) of Knesset (Israeli Parliament) had a half-
hour phone conversation with Gu to discuss his installation,
a conversation aired on Israeli radio. Because the Knesset
and the Israeli people finally accepted the plan it was execut-
ed and installed.134 Gus approach and reasoning are worth
reading:
134 For the communication and resolution, see (Xu Gan),
(gu wen da de lian he guo, Gu Wendas United
Nations), (mei shu guan ca, Art Observation), Beijing,
China, issue 3, 1996, pp.3940.
110 3 The Discovery of the Centrality of Culture in Art: Wenda Gu

I had a half-hour dialogue with the chair of the Israel Parliament

on a popular radio station. I said I was sensitive about the Jews
tragic experience. I was born in Shanghai. At one point when the
Jews were escaping from Europe during the Second World War,
there was no other country that would open their doors to them,
but they went to China. I know this history in Shanghai. So my
purpose in making this work was not to try and refer to the Jews
tragic experience. United Nations is a utopian idea; it is a great
idea, but without Jewish hair, it would be incomplete. So finally
I convinced them, and I did my project in the desert.135

When asked about the confrontation between Israeli and Pal-

estinians, Gu claimed that he was not primarily concerned
about this controversy and had not attempted to inject his
work with tension and antagonism. Rather, he claimed he
had tried to explore something spiritual and classical in the
Jewish heritage because hair was one of objects of worship
in ancient Jewish religion. Samson, the biblical hero in the
Old Testament, received almighty power from his hair. When
his hair was cut in a sex-trap, he became powerless.
However, hair in todays political context became a symbol of
the Jews anti-Nazism, so the general public understood the
work from perspective of politics or sociology. This caused mis-
understanding. A misunderstanding seems inevitable. No matter
what you want to express, your work will be misunderstood to
a degree depending on the given historical period and society.
I believe that written histories of civilization can be seen as
histories of misunderstanding. It does not mean we should get
rid of this misunderstanding. Rather, it is an important spiritual
phenomenon of humans by which we may be able to balance
our spirit.136

Accordingly, Gu considered the misunderstanding of the

audience part of his work. Though it was different from or
sometimes countered the intention of his project, it rein-
forced the significance of the work and enriched it in terms
of contextual reading. Because Gu was genuinely curious,
respectful, and flexible, he turned potential negative public
reactions into enrichment of the installation. In the same dia-
log, he recalled a particular involvement in local history and
religion. When he arrived in Jerusalem, he found out that
the city was built of a kind of pink granite. Thus he chose
pink granite as the ground for the hair. The work looked
as a micro version of Jewish way of lifethe granite stood
for their land, while the hair represented their life or way of
life, a spiritual symbol of Jews. When the work was placed
135
Quoted from David Cateforis, An Interview with Wenda Gu,
in Mark H.C. Bessire edited, Wenda Gu: Art from Middle Kingdom
to Biological Millennium, Cambridge, MA: the MIT Press, 2003,
pp.149150.
136 Xu Gan, ing an uncanny visionary atmosphere. On the floor, a path
(guan yu ren fa zhuang zhi lian he guo yu gu wend a de dui hua,
dialogue with Gu Wenda on his hair installation United Nations),
(jiang su hua kan, Jiangsu Pictorial, monthly), issue 1,
1998, p.18.
Fig. 3.45 Wenda Gu, United NationsItaly Monument: God and
Children, installation, Milan, Italy, 1994
in desert that was hardly accessible, it became more mysteri-
ous, eternal and monumental.137
The Italian monument was the exhibition in which Gu
touched for the first time the sensitive nerve of dominant
Catholicism. The installation United NationsItaly Mon-
ument: God and Children was constructed as a temple
in Venice and then transported and exhibited in Milan after
completion in the fall of 1994 (Fig.3.45). The hair in this
temple was collected in six months from a Milan fashion
school, military bases in Venice, and inhabitants of the Vati-
can. The major part of the monument was a metamorphic
Roman column made of hair. The column was hollow, and
the hair from Vatican inhabitants was scattered on the floor
inside (Fig.3.46). Around the column he hung from the ceil-
ing curtains made of glued hair that was translucent, suggest-
leading to the column was paved with about one hundred
137 Ibid. pp.18-19.
3.4 ReinforcementSynthesis of Culture
Fig. 3.46 Wenda Gu, United NationsItaly Monument: God and
Children, installation, detail of Roman Column, Milan, Italy, 1994.
bricks of hair. When Gu created his dim and dark-brown
temple at this center of Catholicism, he entered a forbid-
den zone. His enigmatic statement made Italian viewers un-
easy. Was he criticizing Roman heritage and Italian Catholic
culture? The artist had observed the responses of Italian au-
diences to this piece,
even though i am the creator of this local monument, i remain a
constant stranger to all the local races and their histories and cul-
tures. this brings up a unique psychological complex: when the
local audience is proud of my efforts regarding their race and its
legacy, i receive absolute admiration and praise. however, at the
same time they see me as a foreign intruder which automatically
distances me from them. thereby setting up my effort as an
attack upon something which is their own.138
138 Wenda Gu, face the new millennium: the divine comedy of our
timesa thesis on the united nations art project and its time and en-
vironment, Mark H.C. Bessire edited, Wenda Gu: Art from Middle
Kingdom to Biological Millennium, Cambridge, MA: the MIT Press,
2003, p.41.
111
This experience was an incarnation of his concept of oth-
ernization. As I discussed in the previous part, otherniza-
tion was for Gu a two-edged sword: on the one hand, the
identity of the local race and its culture is being otherized
by me as the stranger; on the other, my own identity is
being otherized and in so doing, merges with the strang-
ers and their culture. This two-way othernization was the
most significant experience for both the artist and the audi-
ence. The work itself thus was enriched in this process by
cultural confrontation and the interaction of historical per-
spectives.
The second kind of monument was the work that in-
volved, in terms of contrivance, material or place of exhibi-
tion, more than one country or region. Among these were
USA Monument #2 (1996, displayed in USA and in South
Korea), Sweden and Russia Monument (1996, featuring
artists from two countries), Africa Monument (1997, af-
fecting the whole continent), and China Monument (1998,
exhibited in the USA, Mexico, Australia, and Hong Kong).
This kind of work might be classified as transnational mon-
ument, meaning an effort to bring elements and legacies
together from different nations and cultures.
As discussed in the prelude, Swedish and Russian Con-
frontational Division: Interpol (to keep consistency with
the rest of the series, its title was later changed to Swedish
and Russian Monument: Interpol later in Gus documents,
such as exhibition history,139 resume etc.) exhibited at
the Fargfabriken Center for Contemporary Art and Architec-
ture, Stockholm, Sweden in 1996, was a representative of
this multiple-nation kind of monument (Figs.1.2, 1.3, 1.6,
1.7). While the first kind of monument in the past always
involved a single country or region, the second kind usu-
ally focused on the current culture of multiple countries. The
Sweden and Russia Monument became a victim of as well
as a witness to a cultural war, as the artist described it.
Ironically, this confirmed that his utopian hope of reconcili-
ation through art sometimes had a dystopian consequence.
Gus role as an in-between, a concept Homi Bhabha uses
to refer to the awkwardly interstitial status of a person, a
group or a race between opposite parties, was apparent in
the exhibition and its destruction. This piece also proved that
in a multi-national monument there were more chances to
have more than one culture involved, thus enriching or even
redirecting the significance of the work.
In his thesis Face the New Millennium: The Divine
Comedy of Our Times, Gu thought that in the process itself,
there were greater depths to explore including an intriguing
139 See Exhibition History and Bibliography in Mark H.C. Bessire
edited, Wenda Gu: Art from Middle Kingdom to Biological Millennium,
Cambridge, MA: the MIT Press, 2003, p.214.
112
idea that came to me.140 As we already saw in the prelude
of this dissertation, his Swedish and Russian Monument:
Interpol indeed provoked a cultural war, raising some se-
rious questions about cultural exchange and confrontation,
and adding invaluable significance from the whole process
of design, execution, exhibition and subsequent debate. From
this case, we found that, when Wenda Gu was selected by a
participating Russian artist, his original plan was to promote
his ideas of reconciliation and integrity through different cul-
tures, while attempting at the same time to reveal the reality
of existing disparities and disagreements. However, when
he sensed collision and smelled the gunpowder of cultural
dispute while preparing the exhibition, he added a surface-
to-air missile to his installation as a hint of using military
action to control the cultural battle. Even at this stage, he
still intended to consider his project a significant expression
of a confrontation and collaboration between the East and
the West. At the opening, this work became a target of de-
structive Happening, which went far beyond the artists
expectation, and its significance was dramatically redirected
toward an exposure of an uncompromising conflict between
the East and the West. Finally it revealed the crucial role Gu
played as an awkward in-between and interstitial in this
cultural war.
The last kind of hair monument might be called interna-
tional or trans-cultural monument. This type did not have
any nations name in the title, neither a single nation nor mul-
tiple nations. They were Babel of the Millennium (1999,
San Francisco, USA, Fig.3.47), Great Wall of the Millenni-
um (2000, Buffalo, New York; Knoxville, Tennessee; Ath-
ens, Ohio, USA), Man and Space (2000, Kwangju, South
Korea; Nigata, Japan; Chengdu, Sichuan, China, Fig.3.48;
Seoul, South Korea; Singapore, Singapore), Temple of Ex-
oticisms (2000, Lyon, France, Fig.3.49) and United 7561
Kilometers (2003, Denton, Texas, Fig.3.50; Kansas City,
Missouri; Portland, Maine, USA).
Although these works were different in location, layout,
and modes of execution, they shared something significant.
With no specific nations and cultures involved, they opened
potentials and possibilities to the maximum. From the artists
point of view, they could convey effectively his concepts of
universalism and ongoing. When asked how the Unit-
ed Nations evolved over the decade that youve been work-
ing on it? Gu explained his notion of ongoing,
I think that the world is dramatically changing, so Ive set up
many of my projects as ongoing. Ongoing means the work is
not finished; it still continues. Ongoing means open to the new
environment, new situations, new times. So the work has been
140 Wenda
Gu, face the new millennium: the divine comedy of our
times a thesis on the united nations art project and its time and en-
vironment, Mark H.C. Bessire edited, Wenda Gu: Art from Middle
Kingdom to Biological Millennium, Cambridge, MA: the MIT Press,
2003, p.39.
3 The Discovery of the Centrality of Culture in Art: Wenda Gu
changing all the time, accordingly.141
Originally Gu hoped to create a final ceremonial monument
in New York, the city with the most diverse races and cultures
in 2000. When the chances for more monuments around the
world kept coming, the conclusion of the United Nations
was postponed and no fixed date for it was set. This was
another indicator of the nature of openness and inclusiveness
of this ongoing project.
Another shared feature in the third kind of monuments,
also true of a few the second kind, was their use of multi-lin-
gual pseudo-characters. While his early monuments consist-
ed mostly of hair locks, hair bricks, hair curtains, or simply
scattered hair, these late transnational pieces contained more
fake English, Arabic, Hindi and Chinese characters, knitted
into large-scale hair curtains.
This change was interesting because it raises a question:
if he tried to escape from the snare of language when he
started his analysis of material, why did he return to writ-
ten languages, even though they were fake?
For Gu, those fake written language characters on the hair
curtains had a conceptual connotation, that is, while the audi-
ence was lost in reading these apparently native languages,
the works provided them an opportunity of either keeping
themselves self-contained, or opening up to other cultures.
In an e-mail, Gu explained the concept of his fake characters
of four different languages:
(when) juxtaposing and interweaving of pseudo-english, chinese,
hindi and arabic languages, it introduces not only the misunder-
standings within a single culture, but on one side symbolically
unveils the conflicts of co-existence of bio/geo/cultural mul-
tism (pluralism?); on other side, multism isnt the new thing
after centuries of bio/geo/cultural exchange. the truth is there
isnt purity in the world. it is indeed, a fantasy of self aware-
ness and the fear of losing self in a classical term of original-
ity. however, learning other culture doesnt just enrich self, but
simultaneously otherize self as well. so face this co-existence
of fake languages, english speakers cant read english, chinese
people wouldnt recognize chinese, etc. in fact, (one usually)
risks losing self originality and history to reconstruct self by
opening self up to be influenced by others, or maintain virtual
purity by refusing others influences. this is not a new issue,
but it is intensified in our daily practice in our era. therefore the
multi-pseudo-language-coexistence prays for our future.142
So for Gu the creation and usage of fake written languages
was for the purpose of revealing that in a world of different
languages, and different cultures, we could be enriched and,
at the same time, lose our identity in otherization.
Although Gu attempted to inject his concept into those
fake characters, Gao Minglu implied when he commented on
141 Quotedfrom David Cateforis, An Interview with Wenda Gu, in
Mark H.C. Bessire edited, Wenda Gu: Art from Middle Kingdom to
Biological Millennium, Cambridge, MA: the MIT Press, 2003, p.148.
142 E-mail to Zhou Yan, Nov. 13, 1998. The text was all written in low-
er-case, and words within parentheses were by the author.
3.4 ReinforcementSynthesis of Culture 113

Fig. 3.47 Wenda Gu, United

Nations Babel of the Millen-
nium, installation, upward view
from inside the Babel, San
Francisco Museum of Modern
Art, San Francisco, California,
USA, 1999.

Fig. 3.48 Wenda Gu, United

NationsMan and Space,
installation, Chengdu, Sichuan,
China, 2000.

Fig. 3.49 Wenda Gu, United

NationsTemple of Exoticisms,
installation, Lyon, France, 2000.
114
Fig. 3.50 Wenda Gu, United
NationsUnited 7561 Kilo-
meters, installation, birds-eye
view, the University of North
Texas Art Gallery, Denton, Texas,
2003.
Gus United Nations that this pictorial treatment of hair
weakened, to a degree, the power of hair as both signified
and signifier,
In a number of works from the United Nations series, he uses
hair to form meaningless words on transparent curtains. On the
top, these plain curtains, which resemble graceful calligraphic
and ink and wash works, create three-dimensional temple-like
spaces. The viewers, overwhelmed by the solemn and harmo-
nious atmosphere, do not have the same disquiet feeling they
might have had when seeing the hair before it is formed into
characters. Another dislocation has been enacted here by Gu, by
forcing the viewers to fall into his aesthetic trap, or to jump
into what he calls the process of aesthetic expression (shen
mei chen shu). In the meantime, the real speaker, namely the
local dialect of the local subject (the hair), is forgotten. The
voice of the hair, the real subject, is subordinate to the aes-
thetic expression and pictorial design; this has been hidden in
the cultural symbol Thus, aesthetic expression gives rise to
the disappearance of the real subjectthe hair.143
This analysis is perceptive, because Gu seemed to have vac-
illated between so-called conceptual expression and aes-
thetic expression in the development of his art of the 1990s.
In fact, a concept-oriented Gu had never given up his fas-
cination with aesthetic expression, and always related it to
the notion of intuition, one of the fundamental concepts in
his destructed language art. Interestingly, after he had de-
structed Chinese characters in the 1980s, Gu now attempted
143 Gao Minglu, Seeking a Model of Universalism: The United Na-
tions Series and Other Works, in Mark H.C. Bessire edited, Wenda Gu:
Art from Middle Kingdom to Biological Millennium, Cambridge, MA:
the MIT Press, 2003, p.28.
3 The Discovery of the Centrality of Culture in Art: Wenda Gu
to reconstruct a kind of universal language. This could be
interpreted as a return as well as a development. By re-
turn, I mean it seemed difficult for him not to be tempted
by the charm of written language. And development refers
to his extension from the Chinese form to other forms of
written language. I believe this was a strategic compromise
in terms of his language revolution as well as his utopian
universalism. Continuing his distrust in language because of
its lack of capability of reaching truth, Gu created pseudo-
characters again in the United Nations. However, the spirit
of the critique of culture was no longer central to them when
Gu moved his focus from critique to analysis, and eventu-
ally to synthesis. Rather, they seemed to have served as a
metaphor of reconciliation of different or even confronta-
tional nations, races and cultures. Accordingly, the decon-
structive nature of his language art of the 1980s gave way
to reconstruction; therefore, the aesthetic expression pre-
vailed over conceptual expression. In addition, this new
aesthetic emphasis in his multiple-nation and trans-culture
monuments could be seen as his reaction to criticisms of
shocking-value-centered and provocation-only-art, evi-
dent in reaction to his phases of critique of culture and
analysis of culture. If the audience ignored, wittingly or
unwittingly, the critical essence contained in the characters
of fake written language, they would find the monument a
spectacular and appreciatory piece in terms of visual effect
and artistic power, in other words, a visually attractive and
overwhelming work.
The synthesis of culture was not merely a combination of
diverse elements of culture; rather, it carried the spirit of cul-
3.4 ReinforcementSynthesis of Culture
Fig. 3.51 Forest of Stone Stele of
Xi-an, Gallery 3, built in the Song
Dynasty in the eleventh century,
Xi-an, Shaanxi province, China.
tural critique and the achievement of cultural analysis, both
from the artists previous art practice. The links between the
third stage and the previous stages were many. First, when
installing various monuments, his preparation for each
sub-project always involved research on the history of poli-
tics, economy, religion and military affairs of the designated
country or region. Specifically, histories of colonialism, feu-
dal dynasties, and cultural confrontation were primary con-
cerns of his research and critique. From the sub-issues each
national monument dealt with, we gather both the power of
critique and the effort of integration. Secondly, human hair
was obviously a new link in the chain of selected human
body materials, which he called the found subjects, ver-
sus Duchamps found objects. Human hair, like menstrual Chineseness, Chinese identity, or the role of Chinese culture
blood and placenta powder, was again a medium soaked with
meanings of human history, religion and convention.
Symbolically as well as realistically, Gus hair project
was an effort to reunify art and its spectators, and to integrate
art and the real world because finding hair for each instal-
lation connected the artist and the local community. Physi-
cally, rather than just representatively (as in representational
art), or symbolically (as in abstract art), the participants from
each local community became part of the artwork by the
contribution of their hair. As both spectators and elements of
the work of art, they brought audience and creator together
in a more profound and authentic manner.
115
3.4.4Forest of Stone Steles: Dialog Between
Chinese and English Worlds
While the United Nations concentrated on the interaction
between the artist and the audience, between art projects and
the culture, and between history and contemporary context
of the nation(s) and/or local communities, it did not wittingly
touch the one of the essential natures of this interaction, that
is, that misunderstanding or even distortion was natural
in cultural exchange. We could say that the work Forest of
Stone Steles was a supplementary work, in terms of reveal-
ing another truth in the synthesis of culture. Or we could
say it was an independent work because it concentrated on
in the synthesis of culture, an issue that was hidden, inten-
tionally or unintentionally, in the United Nations.
The idea Forest of Stone Steles: Retranslation and Re-
writing of Tang Poetry grew from the artists reflection on
stone stele, an ancient type of Chinese historical documenta-
tion and calligraphic art. Not unlike the Hammurabi Stele,
the relief with law code carved by Babylonian sculptors in
the eighteenth century B.C., stone steles in China document-
ed historical events and also carried legislative texts. They
differed, however, in one respect. The Babylonian stele had
figurative images and textual inscription, but Chinese steles
were predominantly text with few decorations. About thir-
teen hundred years ago, during the Tang dynasty, this type of
historical documentation was supplemented by calligraphic
art. Though from the beginning the steles were carved in an
ancient mode of Chinese written language (seal script pri-
116
Fig. 3.52 Yi Shan (Mt. Yi) Stele, seal-script, calligraphy by Li Si,
Qin dynasty, third century B.C., original stele was destroyed, this is
the Song dynasty (993 A.D.) carving based on original rubbing, 85
13/1633 1/16in., at the Forest of Stone Stele of Xi-an, Xi-an, Shaanxi
province, China.
marily with a kind of calligraphic elements), the calligraphy-
centered stele did not appear until the Tang dynasty when
poetry, calligraphy, and stele inscription reached their high-
est stage of development in Chinas history. Gradually, the
stone stele became a unique art as its documentary function
declined and literary references, mostly poetry, became the
primary texts. Accordingly, calligraphy played more impor-
tant role in these inscriptions. The Forest of Stone Stele
of Xi-an, built in the Song Dynasty in the eleventh cen-
tury, located in Xi-an of Shaanxi province, the capital city
for more than ten dynasties, including the Tang, became the
most well-known collection of stone steles (Fig.3.51). Com-
bining documentation, literature and calligraphy, the stone
stele was a unique carrier of Chinese culture and artistic dis-
3 The Discovery of the Centrality of Culture in Art: Wenda Gu
course. The solemnity of its appearance suggested its author-
ity, and the durability, and solidity of the medium provided it
with a sense of historicity and authenticity. The ink rubbings
from such steles became valuable and were collected, while
students copied them to learn or improve their calligraphy
(Fig.3.52). Teachers treated the rubbings as textbooks of his-
tory and culture, so the stone steles functioned as vehicles of
Chinese heritage and inheritance, especially before printing
was invented.
It was said that stone steles appeared first in the home-
town of Confucius, Qufu, State of Lu, in todays Shandong
province. This story seems to suggest that from its very be-
ginning the stone stele carried cultural significance. Wenda
Gu was aware of the comprehensive role the stone steles and
their ink rubbings had played in history. He wrote:
Through dynasties and generations, the Chinese have inherited
and learned their history and culture from artistic ink rubbing
pieces and books. Although the most ancient and original cal-
ligraphic hand scripts have been lost, these fine engraved stones
still exist. Therefore, they are extremely important for archae-
ologists, historians, artists, etc. to study in order to know Chinas
history and culture.144
Based on this awareness, Gu chose the stone stele, in addi-
tion to his hair art project United Nations, as a medium
for his continuing experiment on the synthesis of culture. It
seems that this medium was crystallized in Chinas culture,
so it became a typical and unique vehicle of Chineseness.
This thought became clearer and clearer when Gu had con-
ceived and executed his United Nations. When his work
played a dual role of victim and witness of a cultural war
in Sweden, an intruder of Polish history of Nazi occupation,
and a double identity in his American Monument, the Chi-
neseness functioned as a spirit in his art, thought, and even in
the reaction of the audience.
In fact, the subject of Chineseness has been given more
attention and discussed widely by Chinas art circles as well
as by critics from the West in the 1990s. While Chinese art-
ists had more chances to make and exhibit their art in the
international art space in the 1990s, the notion of Chine-
seness, or Chinese identity as defined by some critics,
appeared more frequently in critical essays and conference
papers, and impacted on the Chinese artists accordingly. In
the catalog of the exhibition Inside Out: New Chinese Art,
edited by Gao Minglu in 1998, for example, the notion of
Chineseness, or Chinese identity was mentioned and/
or discussed seven times in four essays.145 Although deal-
144 Wenda Gus e-mail to Zhou Yan, Nov. 13, 1998.
145
See Gary Garrels and Colin Mackenzie, Introduction, Leo Ou-
Fan Lee, Across Trans-Chinese Landscapes: Reflection on Contempo-
rary Chinese Cultures, Chang Tsong-Zung, Beyond the Middle King-
dom, and Victoria Y. Lu, Striving for a Cultural Identity in the Maze
of Power Struggles: A Brief Introduction to the Development of the
Contemporary Art of Taiwan, in Gao Minglu, edited, Inside Out: New
3.4 ReinforcementSynthesis of Culture
ing with different issues from different points of view, there
was one thing in common, that is, the term Chineseness
or Chinese identity was regarded a highly comprehensive
and dynamic concept. As Hou Hanru, a Paris-based Chinese
critic, pointed out in the same catalog:
cultural identity is a shifting process. It goes beyond the
traditional identity of nation and community. It is a process of
negotiation between the individual and all kinds of historical
presumptions.146
While the Chinese identity had never been seriously ques-
tioned before the nineteenth century, and thus seldom be-
came an issue, the modernization and industrialization of the
West challenged this central kingdom147 for the first time in
the mid-nineteen century when the Opium War broke out. In
the twentieth century the Chinese asked repeatedly if China
would collapse when several islands and provinces were
occupied by the Western superpowers, when the Japanese
invaded, and when the Civil War burst forth. After the self-
isolated years from the 1950s to 1970s, Chinese had re-raised
the question of Chinese identity as the Cultural Fever be-
came the most significant cultural phenomenon of the 1980s.
While the questioning of the 1980s focused on whether or
not China would be able to catch up with the West and what
role Chinese tradition would play in the modernization, the
economic boom of the 1990s stimulated the Chinese rethink
Chinas identity, or Chineseness. Now the focus became
Chinas place on the international stage, and what role China
would play in globalization.
It was in this context that Gu attempted to reconsider his
anti-traditional stance he took in the 1980s, as he moved
from the analysis of culture to the synthesis of culture.
The Forest of Stone Steles: Retranslation and Rewriting of
Tang Poetry, I believe, was the result of his reconsideration.
In the beginning, Gu planed to have fake Chinese characters,
mainly seal script type, plus English, Hindi and Arabic char-
acters carved in steles, not unlike those on the hair curtains of
United Nations. Continuing his reconstruction of Chinese
characters, Gu had them carved on stone steles, the unique
vehicle of Chinese culture, along with the characters of the
other three fake languages. With its appearance of solem-
nity and sense of authority, representing aspects of Chinas
Confucianism, the stone stele became a natural trademark of
Chinese Art, exhibition catalog, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University
of California Press, 1998, pp.12, 13, 14, 41, 72, 74, 169, respectively.
146
Hou Hanru and Gao Minglu, Strategies of Survival in the Third
Space: A Conversation on the Situation of Overseas Chinese Artists in
the 1990s, Gao Minglu, edited, Inside Out: New Chinese Art, exhibi-
tion catalog, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press,
1998, p.185.
147 The Chinese characters of the name China mean literally
the central kingdom or central empire.
117
Chineseness. However, in these steles all four languages and
their cultures became integrated.
To simplify or to clarify his intent, Gu reduced the lan-
guages to two, Chinese and English. If we could say that
the incarnation of the synthesis of culture was expressed
through the interaction of various cultural heritages in the
United Nations, now it was embodied in the reciprocal
movement of two major languages that stood for two cul-
tures in the Forest of Stone Steles: Retranslation and Re-
writing of Tang Poetry.
Gu selected Tang poetry, one of the quintessential classics
of Chinese literature, as the text or object for his synthesis.
He selected poems, found their corresponding translations in
Witter Bynners The Jade Mountain: A Chinese Anthology
Being Three Hundred Poems of the Tang Dynasty (1929),
and then re-translated them back into Chinese phoneti-
cally. Finally, the artist re-translated the phonetic Chinese
version of Bynners translation into English based on the
meaning of nonsense-like lines of this phonetic Chinese
version.
The work consisted of fifty stone steles, each 75inches
in length, 43 inches in width, 8inches in thickness, and
1.3tons in weight, dimensions similar to that of stone steles
in front of a royal cemetery, a Buddhist temple, or an ancient
government office complex. For the reason of safety, these
huge, heavy steles are usually displayed horizontally, instead
of vertically, as a regular stone stele does (Fig.3.53). This
layout, however, provided alternative grandeur and monu-
mentality because it required vast space in horizontal dimen-
sion. Accordingly, fifty ink rubbings were made from these
steles, each 71inches in length and 38inches in width, usu-
ally hung on four walls surrounding the steles when exhib-
ited. Each stele contained a poem by a famous Tang (618
906A.D.) poet, such as Li Bai (701762), Du Fu (712770),
Wang Wei (701761), among others; an English translation
by Witter Bynner; a phonic retranslation back into Chinese
characters; and a poem by Wenda Gu, based on the third ver-
sion of the poem. The poems, translations and re-translations
were inscribed on the steles by hand (Fig.3.54). And all ste-
les were carved at Xi-an, Shaanxi province, China, the city
where the Forest of Stone Steles of Xi-an (Fig.3.51), the
most comprehensive collection of thousand-year old calli-
graphic stone steles, is located.
Interestingly, one of poems Gu selected for this work ap-
peared on the fifth stele, was (bo qing huai, moor
on the Qinhuai Canal, A Mooring on the Chin-Huai River
in Witter Bynners translation), written by poet (Du
Mu, 803852).
,
In Witter Bynners translation, this poem reads,
Mist veils the cold stream, and moonlight the sand,
118 3 The Discovery of the Centrality of Culture in Art: Wenda Gu

Fig. 3.53 Wenda Gu, Forest of

Stone Steles: Retranslation and
Rewriting of Tang Poetry, fifty
stone steles, 7543 8 in.
and 1.3tons each, and fifty
ink rubbings from these steles,
7138in. each, at the National
Gallery of Australia, Canberra,
Australia, 2001.

As I moor in the shadow of a river-tavern, it read most likely as a less beautiful and low-quality poem
Where girls, with no thoughts of a perished kingdom,
(even not a poem because of its lack of rhymes). Therefore,
Gaily echo A Song of Courtyard Flowers.148
he transformed it into a meaningful English poem,
The first time Gu used this poem in his destructive Chinese Secret emissary De Meng, powered by horses hoof, is on his
language in the 1980s was to underscore the sad mood of the way to Tu Zhe Mountain. Ten counties can be occupied within
poem, implying a relationship to the current cultural crisis days.
(see 3.2.3). The selection of this poem in his Forest of Stone Horrifying killing in ghostly woods; bloody will to conquer
Tawen under the sun.
Steles, along with other forty-nine poems, probably carried Two triumphant, brave warriors leading the troops suddenly
fewer sentimental implications than the first time. Instead, it attack and furiously sweep the north. Auspicious snow sparkles
functioned more like a formal element subject to language on golden shields.
transformation. Oh! Reward the army with bounties and surround the campfire
at the De Fu Lou Temple.
Further, let us see what would happen when Gu re-trans-
lated Witter Bynners version back to Chinese phonetically If a reader read it seriously, he might have been misled by this
(pinyin in parenthesis may work as a reference of sound). manipulation. It was not intended as a poem regardless of
,, what the reader might have thought. It simply demonstrated
(mi shi ti wei, er shi ri ke de shi jun an, de meng lai tu zhe shan.) how a language transformation could cause such a dramatic
,, distortion or misunderstanding. After three transformations,
(e sha mo lin, zhi xue duo fu, ri fu ta wen.) a Tang poem with a sad mood and a hint of crisis was meta-
,,
(huai ge er shi, hui shi nu sao tu fa bei. rui xue di jin dun,) morphosed into four-line meaningful non-sense! When
!, these nonsenses were inscribed seriously and delicately on a
(gai lie kou. o! shang gou huo, kao jia de fu lou si.) stone stele, a surface usually for classic poetry, government
There were a variety of characters that could be selected for announcement or historical document, and displayed sol-
each syllable in Bynners translation. Gu tended to choose emnly in a museum gallery, a sense of absurdity was added
those that might be able to make his retranslation meaning- and it was not hard to feel for audiences.
ful, which, I believe, was intended to reveal the flexibility of Translation for Wenda Gu was a process of misunder-
such a play, a play of transformation of languages, although standing that was reasonable and inevitable, thus natural.
In the work the original poem needed to be understood by
tracing back to the context of A Song of Courtyard Flow-
148 Witter Bynner, translated, The Jade Mountain: A Chinese Anthol-
ers, otherwise, the sad mood could not be felt or would
ogy Being Three Hundred Poems of the Tang Dynasty (618906), make little sense to readers. To highly educated Chinese,
New York: Alfred A Knopf, Inc. published, 1929, 8th printing, 1960,
p.176. this reading was supposed to be natural since they knew
3.4 ReinforcementSynthesis of Culture 119

joke. However, Gu put this joke in the center of the stele,

and used the largest-size font to confuse his audience, or,
in other words, to complicate this confusion. Interestingly,
readers could read an English end-product of this process of
transformation. Without previous reading, this four-line text
might still make some sense to readers, although it was by
no means a beautiful verse. However, as the final product
of the transformation, it sounded a bit weird, awkward, or
even contradictory in terms of the content, mood and style
(if there was a style in that final product), compared with
the original poem.
Although not specifically referring to this work, Gus
explanation of cultural migration seems to be a suitable
alternative footnote to his re-translation,
The classic definition of cultural migration is the transportation
from one to the other. The future cultural migration is more com-
plex. The formula is like this: one exports something to the other
and then imports it back in a completely altered state. It never
remains the same thing once it has been digested, interpreted,
consumed, and used by the receiver.149

Therefore, the synthesis here was neither a smooth ex-

change of two languages, nor an understandable transforma-
tion from one to another. Instead, it was an experiment of
unequal reciprocity of two of the most popular languages
that had revealed misunderstanding as a norm in cultural
interaction. Because of the unique appearance of the stele
medium and construction, mainly Chinese characters, the
synthesis seemed to be directed somehow to a basis of the
Chineseness, an artistic statement of Chinese cultures role
and position in the process of cultural synthesis.

Fig. 3.54 Wenda Gu, Forest of Stone Steles: Retranslation and Re-
writing of Tang PoetryA Farewell to Meng Haoran On His Way to
Yangzhou, by Li Bai, rubbing from the stele, 7138in., made in Xi-
an, Shaanxi, China, 2000.

the origin and implication of the song. When translated into

English, a footnote became necessary because English read-
ers, even highly knowledgeable, might not have known the
context. Therefore, in the stone stele, the proper reading of
the poem became very difficult. However, when Gu re-
translated this English version back to Chinese (some
of characters had been reconstructed) phonetically, the text
became much less readable, thus making much less sense
to both Chinese and English readers. When you read it in
149 Quoted from Jennifer Way, Symposium PostscriptTransnation:
Chinese, a few characters of which required your guess, it
sounded extremely awkward, though every English sound Contemporary Art and China, from Mark H.C. Bessire edited, Wenda
Gu: Art from Middle Kingdom to Biological Millennium, Cambridge,
had its Chinese counterpart. It seemed to be nothing but a MA: the MIT Press, 2003, p.209.
 Conclusion
I believe the exhibition and incident of the InterpolA
Global Network from Stockholm and Moscow in Stockholm,
Sweden, 1996, was both a special and representative case
revealing Wenda Gus ambition, ideas, and frustration. It
reflected the complexity of cultural exchange, especially
in a new era when the West and the East re-engaged after
decades of separation. In addition, it was a comprehensive
experience for the artist because it showcased the spirit of his
critique of culture, displayed the continuity of his analysis
of culture, and demonstrated the concept of the synthesis of
culture. As a revelatory moment in the maturation of Wenda
Gus thought and art, it was unique, rich in disputes, frus-
trations, and disappointments, but also in excitements and
achievements. Despite the problems of this event it neverthe-
less incarnated Gus ideal, and provided us with a profound
understanding of the challenge of cultural interaction, and
complicated role he played as the interstitial.
The idea of syllogism of critique, analysis, and synthe-
sis of culture in my investigation is, in fact, a concept that
was inspired by Hegels syllogism: the positive, the nega-
tive, and the unity of the positive and the negative, a process
Absolute Idea realizes itself.
Hegel explained his definition of syllogism in his philo-
sophic works, for example, the following passage from his
Science of Logic:
One is the positive, the other the negative, but the former as
the intrinsically positive, the latter as the intrinsically negative.
Each has an indifferent self-subsistence of its own through the
fact that it has within itself the relation to its other moment; it is
thus the whole, self-contained opposition. As this whole, each is
mediated with itself by its other and contains it. But further, it
is mediated with itself by the non-being of its other; thus it is a
unity existing on its own and it excludes the other from itself.1
Marx was one of Hegels followers in terms of dialectics.
While Hegel applied his syllogism in logic, philosophy, or,
1 Hegels Science of Logic, translated by A.V. Miller, London: George
Allen & Unwin Ltd. 1969, p.431. The italic words are as they are in
the book.
Z. Yan, Odyssey of Culture, Chinese Contemporary Art Series,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-662-45411-4_4, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015
4
more generally speaking, spiritual field, Marx treated the
syllogism as a law of societal development, or a process of
revolution, thus applying it more practically than theoreti-
cally. In addition, while Hegel accepted the inclusiveness of
two opposites, Marx emphasized the property of negation in
two opposites, namely, the part of the critique that has been
emphasized.
Though not parallel to Hegels syllogism, the concept of
critique, analysis, and synthesis of culture suggests that it is a
process of idealistic development. The relation of the critique
and the analysis in my syllogism does not exactly equate with
the positive and the negative in Hegels syllogism, since they
are more likely supplementary rather than opposites to each
other. While the critique functions as the starting point, it
paves the way for the analysis. In turn, the analysis deepens
the critique by providing the critique with a more substan-
tial and scientific basis. In this sense, this syllogism is
closer to Hegel than to Marx, who claimed the negation was
more crucial in the relationship of two opposites. However,
when Gu presented his art in various cultural contexts, he
was closer to Marx since this act was not simply a spiritual
meditation or flow of thoughts, but a down-to-earth artistic
and cultural practice.
The most intriguing question is how to define the synthe-
sis of culture, the third phase. In Hegels syllogism the third
phase is the unity of two opposites at a higher level, even
though the two opposites retain their own identities. In the
model Ive drafted for Wenda Gus case, the third phase is a
higher level of the sum of two previous phases. While keep-
ing the critical spirit and analytic methodology, the synthesis
tried to build an ideal unity that would overcome the radi-
calism and lack of general/overall perspective that marked
in the first two phases. More importantly, the synthesis at-
tempted to create something that was based on the first two
but had never existed before, namely, a new mode of the co-
existence of cultures. While not guaranteeing the absolute
purity of the synthesis, this co-existence allowed impurities,
encouraged differences, and did not deny confrontations and
disputes. It was a unity that recognized heterogeneity but
121
122
encouragedpeaceful co-existence and even reconciliation.
In this sense, we may be able to say that the synthesis was
an artistic incarnation of an ancient Chinese philosophical
proposition, that is, combining two into one.2
As no theoretical schema fits its object perfectly, the syl-
logism of critique, analysis, and synthesis is by no means
the perfect framework for Gus art and thoughts, not to men-
tion that he is still creating and keeps challenging the public
modes as well as his own. The syllogism, however, provided
me a logical mode by which I could comb the complicated,
sometimes intertwined threads of Gus art and thoughts.
And the issue of culture, I am certain, is absolutely critical
and crucial in his odyssey both at home and abroad. In
other words, it is a spirit that has haunted but also inspired
him in his life and art. This certainty can be found in the
early years of his development when his grandfather culti-
vated him in tradition, and Lu Yanshao, his graduate advi-
sor, taught him authentic Chinese painting. Further, from the
Cultural Fever to his critique of written language, from his
relocation to his analysis of cultural substances, and from
the cultural confrontations he has faced to the acceptance of
his United Nations project in country after country, Gus
thoughts on the issue of culture have persisted, developed,
and deepened.
How to estimate the role that Chineseness, and Chinese
culture played in this syllogistic proposition is another
question we might ask. In the phase of critique, Chinese cul-
ture was basically an object of the critique. It functioned as
a catalyst that had stimulated the artists enthusiasm on the
issue of culture, and provided a platform for him to launch a
battle against tradition at the discursive level. While the issue
of identity was not the main concern, Chineseness worked as
an agent of heritage from the opposite side. In the phase of
analysis, Chineseness and Chinese culture were hidden in a
relatively neutral method. However, the inevitable discrep-
ancies of different cultures still surfaced when some body
materials had been analyzed. Gu seemed to take a defen-
sive position to elucidate his body material art while the
Chinese identity as a potential subject was still underneath.
Up to the third phase, the synthesis of culture, Chineseness
and Chinese culture occupied a critical position no matter
what the artist intended to do. Although he attempted to
work as a world citizen in his United Nations project,
his inherent Chineseness was injected into those monuments,
especially when addressing the historical and contemporary
context of diverse nations and cultures. The artists, critics,
and even the audience who become involved in his projects
always reminded him wittingly or unwittingly of his cultural
inheritance as we saw in the exhibition and incident of the
InterpolA Global Network from Stockholm and Moscow
2As for the proposition combining two into one (, he er er yi ),
see the footnote 120, chapter 3.
4Conclusion
in Sweden. Nevertheless, in Gus Forest of Stone Steles:
Retranslation and Rewriting of Tang Poetry, the cultural
identity surfaced, and Chinese culture became a platform
on which he tended to explore the norm of the synthesis of
culture through several reciprocal transformations of two of
the most popular languages.
Claude Levi-Strausss The Elementary Structures of Kin-
ship (1949), especially his arguments on nature and culture,
is pertinent, and definitely helpful to us in understanding
Gus art. Levi-Strauss discussed the prohibition of incest or
the incest taboo in the books introduction. He argued that
previous theories on this issue concentrated on one side of the
phenomenon of incest: either focusing on the aspect of nature
or that of culture, resulting in the separation of culture from
nature, or a nature/culture opposition. Levi-Strauss argued,
The prohibition of incest is in origin neither purely cultural nor
purely natural, nor is it a composite mixture of elements from
both nature and culture. In one sense, it belongs to nature, for
it is a general condition of culture. Consequently, we should not
be surprised that its formal characteristic, universality, has been
taken from nature. However, in another sense, it is already cul-
ture, exercising and imposing its rule on phenomena which ini-
tially are not subject to it. The prohibition of incest is where
nature transcends itself.3
In fact, Jacques Derridas reading of Levi-Strauss led him to
a similar conclusion, that writing or language in general
is universal while also culturally variable. For Derrida, lan-
guage is always taken as natural or as being common
sense, but it was thoroughly institutionalized at the same
time. Institutions, a cultural agent, have historically imposed
powerful interpretations on our everyday reading and writ-
ing practices.4
Reading of Levi-Strausss and Derridas analysis of na-
ture and culture can help in comprehending Gus art. When
dealing with confrontation fomented by the menstrual work,
Gu, in fact, faced a dilemma of universality vs. peculiarity,
or nature vs. culture. The taboo of menstruation seems to
be universal, namely, it possesses prohibiting significance
inherent in many ethnics and civilizations, while different
cultures have different conventions and myths regarding
this taboo. By challenging this taboo from outside a given
culture, the contemporary Western culture in this case, Gu
3Claude Levi-Strauss, The Elementary Structures of Kinship, 1949, re-
vised edition translated from the French by James Harle Bell and John
Richard von Sturmer, Boston: Beacon Press, 1969, pp.2425.
4
Derridas discussions on writing or language can be found in his Of
Grammatology, mainly Part I Writing before the Letter, see Jacques
Derrida Of Grammatology, translated from French by G. C. Spivak,
The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1976, pp.193, and his essay
Structure, Sign, and Play in the Discourse of Human Sciences, in The
Structuralist Controversy: The Language of Criticism and the Science
of Man, edited by Richard Macksey and Eugenio Donato, The Johns
Hopkins University Press, 1972, pp.247265.
Conclusion
might fall into a trap, as the resistance he encountered in
some Eastern countries, because of the universality of the
taboo. However, challenging it as a natural prohibition
from within a culture, again the contemporary Western cul-
ture, also placed the artist in an awkward situation, as we can
see in the fact that this work had been read in the West as
an intrusion into a female-intimate field by a non-Western
male. What Gu had confronted here was an ideology with
the peculiarly cultural context behind it. Therefore, the taboo
of menstruation is both universal, thus natural, and pecu-
liar, thus cultural, a truth revealed by Gus menstrual art.
Furthermore, when Gu differentiated culture, the second
nature as he called it, from nature, the first nature, in his
written language art, the language was considered a prod-
uct of culture, which might not be able, in the final analysis,
to reach the truth, an alias of nature in his thinking. This
brought about another kind of chasm between nature and
culture. The solution Gu has chose was to appeal to intuition
or instinct, close to an epiphany, a very oriental or Chan
Buddhist strategy or methodology. Although intuition or in-
stinct is a natural property of human beings, its utilization
in approach to truth is a cultural behavior, thus this solution
is authentically cultural. Gus methodology here exemplified
the unity of nature and culture.
Jacques Derrida has raised a concept of supplement or
supplementarity. He defined supplement as a replace-
ment of something missing or absence of something
in the whole, the entire structure. At the same time, this
supplement is an addition that adds something new to the
whole, to the structure itself, but is still outside of the struc-
ture.5 In the relation of nature and culture in Derridas terms,
5
Jacques Derrida analyzed the relation of writing and speech in terms
of semiology. The graphic signwritingstands in for the phonemic
signspeech. It is, therefore, the sign of a sign, while the oral sign
is the sign of the thing. Writing is then supplementary. Even the oral
sign is supplementary, since it exists as supplement to the real world.
The graphic sign of writing is particularly supplemental because it is
a supplement to a supplement, a sign of a sign. In Of Grammatology,
Derrida argued that writing should not be subordinated to speech, and
this subordination is nothing more than a historical prejudice. He argued
further that to define a graphic sign is to define any sign. Every sign is
a signifier whose signified is another signifier. According to Derrida,
we can think of the origin as a place where there is no originary, only a
supplement in the place of a deficient originary. It is deficient for this
reason. We can think of the supplement as a surplus, something extra
added to the whole and outside of it. But if the whole is really the whole,
then nothing can be added to it. If the supplement is something and not
nothing, then it must expose the defect of the whole, since something
that can accommodate the addition of a supplement must be lacking
something within itself. Derrida called this the logic of the supple-
ment. And the world consists of chain of supplements. There are
two points in this supplementarity. First, it is a replacement, which
replaces something missing or absence of something in the whole.
Second, it is an addition, which adds something new to the structure
itself but is still outside of it. The analysis of supplementary can be
found in Derridas Of Grammatology, translated by G. C. Spivak, Bal-
timore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1976, see Section2
123
culture would be supplemental to nature. As the whole, na-
ture is a structure that misses something in the center. Cul-
ture, derived, evolved and developed from nature, works as
a supplement to hold the place of this missing something,
and definitely adds to the structure, but still exists on its own.
When discussing the relation of the United Nations and
the Stone Forest of Stone Steles, I mentioned that the lat-
ter was a supplemental work in terms of revealing another
truth in the synthesis of culture, that is, misunderstanding
is a norm of cultural interaction. Though the Chineseness
in the Forest of Stone Steles made it independent from the
United Nations, it worked still as a kind of supplement to
its enrichment in Gus multi-culturalist ideal that was fulfilled
mostly in the United Nations. When the United Nations
focused on relation and interaction of different cultures, the
Forest of Stone Steles raised issue of cultural identity that
was missed, or at least, relatively invisible in the United
Nations.
Going one step further, the synthesis of culture itself
could be seen as a supplementary with deficiencies. It was
subordinate to the cultural journey and was supplemented by
the critique and the analysis of culture. Through this chain
of supplements, the cultural journey had been enriched and
became a comprehensive and progressive project with a
dynamic structure. As a structure with deficiency, there was
always room for supplements in this project, thus it was
a project structurally open to on-going replacement and
addition.
If we go back to the syllogism, we can see an interest-
ing picture. The first phase, the critique of culture, could be
considered the negative, while the second phase, the analysis
of culture, was the positive. Unlike Hegels syllogism, the
negative came first here, and the positive second, because
in the given context of the 1980s China, the critique was a
natural action for Hermeneutics School scholars and their
followers. Gus reaction to the cultural crisis of the 1980s,
based on the collective subconsciousness on which the Cul-
tural Fever rests, could be seen as natural, since it was then
considered universal. When he relocated to the West, his re-
action to international culture and art was more cultural
because it depended more on individual choice and action.
When moving to his third phase, a unity of the negative and
the positive emerged, resulting from the synthesis of cul-
ture supplemented by the critique of culture and analy-
sis of culture. Accordingly, the separation of nature and
culture in the first two phases had been bridged because
an artistic utopia, universal and culturally specific, has being
built.
That Dangerous Supplement pp.141164, and Section4 From/Of
the Supplement to the Source: The Theory of Writing, pp.269316, all
in Part II, Nature, Culture, Writing.
124 4Conclusion

The cultural journey is a lifetime cause for Wenda Gu. ciliation coexist, which is the source of dynamics for cultural
Although located in the third stage of the syllogism, the critique, analysis, and synthesis. As an imperfect structure,
synthesis of culture as a chain of this cultural structure will Wenda Gus art will be open for supplements. Keeping his
always entail a supplement because this synthesis can never enthusiasm and obsession with the concern for cultural is-
be a perfect solution for all confrontations, as we saw in Gus sues, Gu will continue to build his artistic and cultural utopia
United Nations. Furthermore, in todays context of global- on the basis of his Chinese inheritance, multi-cultural per-
ization the geopolitical and geo-cultural collision and recon- spective, and existential experience.
 Supplement: Forest of Stone Steles
Translation Within and Between
Cultures
77 In a context of globalization and post-colonialism,
translation with and between cultures becomes more
frequent and critical. Wenda Gu exhibited his thoughts
on this issue in his installation work Forest of Stone
Steles. Using a form of traditional Chinese documen-
tation and calligraphy, Gu selected and re-interpreted
Chinese Tang poetry by means of three-stage trans-
lationsChinese to English, English to Chinese, and
finally Chinese back to English. When translation
became a crucial means of communication in todays
multi-culturalist world, which in turn became an issue
for contemporary culture and art. The work revealed
that translation is a process of misunderstanding, or
re-interpretation based on a translators intention,
understanding and cultural heritage.
Wenda Gu (1955), a Chinese artist who settled in New York
in 1988, and lives mainly in Shanghai now, made a visual
statement about translation within and between cultures in
his work Forest of Stone Steles: Retranslation and Rewrit-
ing of Tang Poetry (19932005). This was a large project
involving the translation and re-translation of Chinas an-
cient poetry, in which the texts were inscribed on fiftylarge-
scale stone steles, from which ink rubbings were made. Its
purpose was to explore the relationship of the original and
the interpretations of written text, poetry in this case, with-
in and between cultures, and to converse with the English
world from the perspective of a native Chinese profoundly
affected by Chinese history, literature, and art.
In a context of globalization and post-colonialism, trans-
lation with and between cultures becomes more frequent
and critical. An example from the novel Things Fall Apart
by Chinua Achebe, a notable Nigerian novelist, illustrated
the complicity of interpretation/translation in colonial/post-
colonial context.
Mr. Smith said to his interpreter: Tell them to go away from
here. This is the house of God and I will not live to see it des-
Z. Yan, Odyssey of Culture, Chinese Contemporary Art Series,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-662-45411-4, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015
ecrated. Okeke interpreted wisely to the spirits of Umuofia: The
white man says he is happy you have come to him with your
grievances like friends. He will be happy if you leave the matter
in his hands.1
Translation, interpretation in this case, is not merely literally
linguistic transformation; rather, it is a mixture of different
conventionsetiquette, custom, hierarchy, religion, and so
onin this transformation.
The artist himself can be seen as another good example
of how a diaspora artist lives in and communicates in a
translational world. Wenda Gu moved to and settled at New
York in the end of the 1980s, traveling from there to other
countries in the 1990s.2 Up to the twenty-first century, he
has flied more frequently between China, North America,
Europe, and other continents. All travels and art making in
his native country and the rest of the world have provided
him, a Chinese diaspora, with experience of communication,
confrontation, and negotiation within and between cultures.
When discussing the concept of his Forest of Stone Steles,
Wenda Gu said,
My Forest of Stone Steles project was created at the turning
point of the twentieth century to the 21st century under the pres-
ence of different political, social and scientific exchanges and
clashes between cultures. (It) reflects the changing world of
cultural import and export, cultural assimilation and alienation
from each other, and consummation (should be consumption
here.Zhou) of one culture by another.3
1
Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart, 1958, London: Heinemann, 1976
edition, p.134.
2
As for Wenda Gus art in his China and western periods, see main text
Chapter 3, The Discovery of the Centrality of Culture in Art: Wenda
Gu.
3
Wenda Gu, Forest of Stone Steles, Retranslation and Rewriting of
Tang Poetry, 19932005, catalogue of the exhibition Translating Visu-
alityWenda Gu: Forest of Stone Steles, Retranslation and Rewriting
of Tang Poetry, Guangzhou, China: Lingnan Fine Arts Publisher, 2005,
pp.286287.
125
126 Supplement: Forest of Stone StelesTranslation Within and Between Cultures
While exchanges and clashes happened mostly on the level
of language, the cultural import, export, assimilation, alien-
ation, and consumption took place essentially in a concep-
tual way; in other words, all these interactions within and
between cultures were, in a sense, ones of different lan-
guages saturated with convention, heritage, and history of
various civilizations. Translation, similar to the interface of
a computer system, became a platform where understand-
ing vs. misunderstanding, interpretation vs. re-interpretation,
and conflict vs. negotiation occur in a conceptual, sometimes
dramatic way. It is to me why the artist has been obsessed
with the issue of translation for more than a decade.
The text on the steles included the original Tang poems,
English translations, a phonetic retranslation back to Chinese
from English, and finally the artists own English transla-
tion from the phonetic Chinese poems. When inscribed on
the stone stele, an old Chinese type of documentation, with
the phonetic English-Chinese text in the largest font size, the
work very much resembled a regular stele that one would
see at traditional royal cemeteries, temples, residences, and
official buildings in China. However, the great difference
between the original poem and the final text of translation
seems to suggest that misunderstanding or even distortion
is natural in such process, a reality a student of culture
should never ignore.
That misunderstandings or even distortions were natu-
ral in cultural exchange was a new issue for Wenda Gu.
Just as communication between people from different back-
grounds often led to confusion, misunderstanding, and frus-
tration, the translation of a classic text from one language to
another, each a cultural embodiment, would never be as easy
and smooth as the transformation of electricity from 110V
to 220V via a transformer.4 As pointed out by Stephen Bann,
the search for meaningthe process that is commonly
called interpretationis a virtually limitless one, which
can be terminated only by the atrophy of the individual
subjects desire to know.5 Readers/audiences continuous
search for meaning of a text makes interpretation with mis-
understanding a limitless process, so that the text will be en-
riched with unexpected meaning. It is this that has fascinated
the artist and motivated his exploration of translation in the
past decade, which is, in a sense, not unlike Harold Bloom,
the scholar of Romantic poetry, who was fascinated with
misreading Freud in his notable book A Map of Misreading
(1975).6
4
American tourists or businessmen who visit China need to bring a
transformer for recharging batteries of their cell phone, digital camera,
etc., as the Chinese use 220V electricity for their electrical facilities,
and vice versa.
5
Stephen Bann, Meaning/Interpretation, Critical Terms for Art His-
tory, Chicago & London: The University of Chicago Press, p.87.
6
Harold Bloom, a professor at Yale University since 1955 and at New
York University since 1988 as well, read Freuds repression a defensive
The idea of Forest of Stone Steles: Retranslation and Re-
writing of Tang Poetry grew from the artists reflections on
stone steles, an ancient type of Chinese historical documen-
tation and calligraphic art. Similar to the Hammurabi Stele,
law code relief carved by Babylonian sculptors in the eigh-
teenth century b.c., stone steles in China documented his-
torical events and also carried legislative texts. They differ,
however, in one respectthe Babylonian stele usually con-
tained figurative images and textual inscriptions, but the his-
torically numerous Chinese steles were predominantly text
with few figurative decorations. During the Tang Dynasty,
about thirteen hundred years ago, this type of historical doc-
umentation was supplemented by calligraphic art. Although
the steles were initially carved in an ancient mode of Chinese
(seal script primarily with a few calligraphic elements), the
calligraphy-centered stele did not appear until the Tang Dy-
nasty, when the art of poetry, calligraphy, and stele inscription
reached their peak of development in China. Gradually, the
stone stele became a unique art, as its documentary function
declined and literary references, mostly poetry, became the
primary texts. Accordingly, calligraphy played a more im-
portant role in these inscriptions. The best known collection
of stone steles was the Forest of Stone Stele of Xi-an, now
Museum of Forest of Stone Steles of Xi-an, built in the
Song Dynasty in the eleventh century and located in Xi-an,
Shaanxi, the capital for more than ten dynasties. Combining
documentation, literature, calligraphy, and seal inscription,
the stone stele was a unique carrier of Chinese cultural and
artistic discourse. The solemnity of its appearance suggests
its authority, and the durability and solidity of the medium
implies venerability and authenticity. The ink rubbings from
such steles became available after rice paper was invented in
the Yuan Dynasty (12711368). The ink rubbings were valu-
able because they were simply like modern Xerox copy that
were conveniently used as textbook of history and culture,
and students copied them to learn and improve their callig-
raphy. Therefore, inscribed stone steles, like bamboo slips,
silk and paper, became a crucial conduit of Chinese culture,
especially before printing was invented.
It is said that stone steles appeared first in the hometown
of Confucius, Qufu, State of Lu, in todays Shandong prov-
ince. This allegation seems to suggest that from its very
beginning the stone stele carried cultural significance be-
cause Confucius and his thoughts are usually considered as
representative of Chinese culture and discourse. Wenda Gu
was aware of the comprehensive role the stone steles and
their ink rubbings had played in history. He wrote:
process by which we try to keep instinctual representations (memories
and desires) unconscious, as a means/approach up onto the heights of
sublimity, the ego's exultation in its own operations, in his A Map of
Misreading (New York: Oxford University Press 1975). This intention-
al misreading is a typical interpretation of a text, which shows how far
we could go in interpretation in terms of misreading/misunderstanding.
Supplement: Forest of Stone StelesTranslation Within and Between Cultures
Through dynasties and generations, the Chinese have inherited
and learned their history and culture from artistic ink rubbing
pieces and books. Although the most ancient and original cal-
ligraphic hand-scripts have been lost, these fine engraved stones
still exist. Therefore, they are extremely important for archae-
ologists, historians, artists, etc. to study in order to know Chinas
history and culture.7
Based on this awareness, Gu chose the stone stele to address
his understanding of cultural identity and the interaction of
cultures. It seemed that this medium was crystallized in Chi-
nas culture, so it became a common and also unique vehicle
of cultural identity.
In his stone stele work, Gu attempted to reconsider the
anti-traditional stance he took in the 1980s when he decon-
structed Chinese written language on rice paper in China.
Initially, Gu planned to create Chinese characters, mainly
seal script type, plus English, Hindi, and Arabic characters
carved in steles, not unlike those on the hair curtains of the
United Nations, his ongoing project from the early 1990s
to the present. Continuing his reconstruction of Chinese
characters, Gu had them carved on stone steles, the unique
vehicle of Chinese culture, along with characters of the other
three fake languages. With its appearance of solemnity and
sense of authority, representing aspects of Chinas Confu-
cianism, the stone stele became a natural trademark of Chi-
neseness. However, in these steles, all four languages and
their cultures became integrated.
To simplify or to clarify his intent, Gu reduced the lan-
guages to two, Chinese and English, the languages that have
the most users in the world.8 He selected Tang poetry, one of
the quintessential classics of Chinese literature, as the text or
object for his translation and retranslation. From the poems
he selected, Gu found their corresponding translations in
Witter Bynners The Jade Mountain: A Chinese Anthology
BeingThree Hundred Poems of the Tang Dynasty (New
York: A. A. Knopf 1929), and then retranslated them back
into Chinese phonetically. Finally, the artist retranslated
the phonetic Chinese version of Bynners translation into
English based on the meaning of nonsense-like lines of
this phonetic Chinese version.
The work consisted of 50stone steles, each 75inches
in length, 43inches in width, 8inches in thickness, and
1.3tons in weight, dimensions similar to that of stone ste-
les in front of royal cemeteries, Buddhist temples, or ancient
government office complexes. For safety reasons, these
huge, heavy steles were usually displayed horizontally in
an exhibition space, instead of vertically as a regular stone
7 Wenda Gus e-mail to Zhou Yan, Nov. 13, 1998.
8 While Mandarin speakers are nearly 1.12billion, English speakers
are about 408millions, followed by Spanish (320million), Russian
(285million) and French (265million), etc. see website http://www2.
ignatius.edu/faculty/turner/languages.htm, available on September 1,
2005.
127
stele does. This origination, however, added to the impres-
sion of grandeur and monumentality because it required vast
space in horizontal dimension. Accordingly, fifty ink rub-
bings, each 71inches in length and 38inches in width, were
made from these steles, and usually were hung on the four
walls surrounding the exhibited steles. Each stele contained
a poem by a famous poet Tang (618906 a.d.), including
(Li Bai, 701762), (Du Fu, 712770), (Wang
Wei, 701761), among others, an English translation by Wit-
ter Bynner, a phonic retranslation back into Chinese charac-
ters, and a poem by Wenda Gu, based on the third version of
the poem. The poems, translations and retranslations were
inscribed on the steles by hand. And all steles were carved
by professional stele inscribers under directions of art faculty
and museum experts, at Xi-an, Shaanxi province, China, the
city where the Forest of Stone Steles of Xi-an, the most
comprehensive collection of thousand-year-old calligraphic
stone steles, is located.
A good example of poems Gu selected for this work ap-
peared on the fifth stele. It was (bo qing huai,
Moor on the Qinhuai Canal, A Mooring on the Chin-Huai
River in Witter Bynners translation9), written by poet
(Du Mu, pp.803852).
,
,
This is a poem that used what the poet saw and heard to
invoke a sense of a dynasty in crisis. The poem described
that the poet moored at a tavern by moonlight on the bank
of the Qinhuai Canal in Todays Nanjing, Jiangsu province.
He heard a song from another side of the river and felt that
people there were still enjoying their lives while the dynasty
approached its crisis. The song is titled, A Song of Court-
yard Flowers. It is a sensual and alluring piece written by
Chen Shubao (known as Chen Houzhu, meaning the second
emperor of Chen, 553604), who was the emperor of the
weak Chen Dynasty (reign, 573589). Although this song
celebrated the beauties of the royal court, his advisors sensed
the decadence and the impending destruction of the dynasty.
The Sui Dynasty ended Chen Houzhus seven-year reign
(582589). The song, A Song of Courtyard Flowers by
Chen Houzhu, was understood by following generations as
the sound of subjugation of a country.10 Two and half cen-
9
Notice the difference of phonetics in characters : qin huai vs.
chin huai. The former is pinyin, used in mainland China since the 1950s,
while the latter, Wade-Giles, a system produced by Thomas Wade in the
mid-nineteenth century, and reached settled form with Herbert Giless
Chinese-English dictionary of 1912.
10 There is music in ancient China, as A Song of Courtyard Flowers,
that poets can fill with their own words, so when the melody remains,
128 Supplement: Forest of Stone StelesTranslation Within and Between Cultures
turies later, Du Mu wrote his Moor on the Qinhuai Canal
when the Tang Dynasty was suffering from its own crisis.
When people sang A Song of Courtyard Flowers, Du Mu
sensed that the Tang Dynasty was also on the eve of a crisis.
In the ears of the poet, this song recalled the decadence and
destruction of a dynasty, causing anxiety and worry for the
present. Interestingly, A Song of Courtyard Flowers was
first interpreted by Tang singers, then Du Mu reinterpreted
it in his poem. Now the ongoing project continues in the
twentieth century, although the means of interpretation here
is translation instead of appropriation.11
Reinterpretation by means of citation of previous, mostly
ancient, poetry, songs, and other written text, even histori-
cal events and cultural convention is a very common prac-
tice in Chinese poetry. It is called (yong dian, literary
quotation) in Chinese. In fiftypoems Gu used in his stone
stele work, we can find many similar quotations. For ex-
ample, Wang Weis On the Mountain Holiday: Thinking
of My Brothers in Shan-Tung cited a holiday convention,
that is, carrying dogwood when climbing a mountain in
Double-Ninth Festival, to express the poets homesick feel-
ing; Wang Zhihuan used the ancient song Breaking off a
Willow Branch in his poem Beyond the Border: A Song
of Liang-chou to convey his lamenting sentiment; Zhang
Hus She Sings an Old Song applied the old song He
Manzi to express the mood of the lonely and mortified life
of a court maid. This type of quotation became a practical
interpretation of the existing text, and the text cited is always
injected with new meaning and significance, adding creative
interpretation to the translation. In the case of A Mooring
on the Chin-Huai River, A Song of Courtyard Flowers of
about two hundred fifty years ago was sung and sounded like
a knell of a dynasty in the poets ears.
In Witter Bynners translation, this poem reads,
Mist veils the cold stream, and moonlight the sand,
As I moor in the shadow of a river-tavern,
Where girls, with no thoughts of a perished kingdom,
Gaily echo A Song of Courtyard Flowers.12
Translation of poetry is a very difficult, if not the most dif-
ficult, work for a translator. In Chinese translation theory,
(xin), (da), and (ya) are three criteria of translation,
raised by (Yan Fu, 18541921), a famous translator,
thinker, and educator, in the introduction of his translated
contents may differ, although the mood is similar. The piece A Song
of Courtyard Flowers filled by Chen Houzhu became well known be-
cause of his licentious and sensual lifestyle and short-term reign, so
citation of the song with this title in later literature usually refers to the
one he filled if not specified.
11
In fact, Wenda Gu interpreted this poem in his work of the 1980s,
and Ill discuss it later.
12 Witter Bynner, translated, The Jade Mountain: A Chinese Antholo-
gyBeing Three Hundred Poems of the Tang Dynasty (618-906), New
York: Alfred A Knopf, Inc. published, 1929, 8th printing, 1960, p.176.
work (tian yan lun, Evolution and Ethics, by Thom-
as Huxley in 1894) in 1896. means faithful to the original
text; requires clear, coherent, and fluent communication
of ideas; while refers to the usage of refined and exquisite
words, or literary elegance, in translation. Therefore, while
(ya) is basically a requirement for the translation, (xin) and
(da) are requirements that define the relationship of the
translation and the original text. Yan Fus criterion is about
translation in general, but the translation of poetry is more
difficult than the translation of novel or scientific texts.
The poem is a (qi jue), a four-line poem with seven
characters (thus seven syllables) to a line and the strict tonal
pattern and rhyme scheme. All these requirements, except
for lines (four of them in this case), were not met in Bynners
translation, which to me are very difficult to achieve, as there
are no four-tones in English as in Chinese and there are one
or more than one syllable in an English word. However, the
translation is very good in coherence, fluency, and exquisite-
ness, that is, it met two principles, and . The critical
part, its authenticity, needs further discussion.
The English for the first line (yan long
han shui yue long sha) is mist veils the cold stream, and
moonlight the sand, which was translated completely, be-
cause each character had its English counterpart. Only one
thing needs to be mentioned: the character (yan) refers to
mist and smoke, thus one may smell smoke of gunpowder
from the original, although it is not absolutely necessary for
a reader. The word mist sounds indeed more romantic than
the character . And, the verb veil is excellent because
the character means shroud, hover over. The word
veil conveys a misty and somehow oppressed ambience
produced by air (mist and/or smoke here) and light (moon-
light).
The second line (ye bo qin huai jin jiu
jia) is translated into as I moor in the shadow of a river-tav-
ern. Only three characters, (bo, moor) and (jiu
jia, tavern) can be found in Bynners text. (ye, night),
(qin huai, Qin Huai Canal), (jin, close, near)
were ignored, while I and the shadow were added
to make the line more fluent in English. The phrase in the
shadow here was creative, as the Chinese means
being close to the tavern, which made up to a degree for
the omission of the character (night). Interestingly, while
the poem omitted the subject, as Tang poetry usually did, the
English version needed a subject, I, to complete the whole
poem.
Where girls, with no thoughts of a perished kingdom is
the translation of the third line (shang n bu
zhi wang guo hen). Basically, this was a literal translation
since every character was translated and the meaning of the
original was conveyed, although (shang n) was inter-
preted as female singer instead of simply girl(s), in gen-
eral. There is no specific quantity in the Chinese word
Supplement: Forest of Stone StelesTranslation Within and Between Cultures
(shang n), which may indicate that who sing(s) is more im-
portant than how many people sing. Or it may leave room for
readers imagination, as singing by one person or by a group
of persons would be very different in mood and effect. Per-
haps, Bynner used the plural to stress the ambience of peace
and prosperity. We can see the difference between Chinese
and English here: the former conveys ambiguity at a degree
whereas the latter accuracy. While we can add an adjective to
define quantity in Chinese as needed, English has no room
for such ambiguity. It might be why some people consider
English more scientific and Chinese more poetic. Still, there
is something that is very hard to transform, namely, the char-
acter . This is a highly emotional character and can be seen
as the highlight of the poem. It means eternal regret and
mortification, which is, in this case, a collective psycho-
logical impact caused by the subjugation of the kingdom, and
this inherited impact can even be felt for generations. This
sentiment is hard to sense from the word thoughts in Byn-
ners text.
The last line, (ge jiang you chang hou on the Qinhuai Canal purposely. The selection Gu made is
ting hua), was translated beautifully into gaily echo A Song
of Courtyard Flowers. Again, only four characters,
(chang, sing) and (hou ting hua, A Song of Court- in general. Its implication could be read as a tocsin of cul-
yard Flowers), were transformed here. The words gaily and
echo are exquisite translations, conveying effectively the
joyful atmosphere, although there are no literal counterparts
in the original. What the translation omitted were three char-
acters (ge jiang) and (you). The former means an-
other side of the river, whereas the latter means still. If we
could say that the omission of the phrase another side of the
river did not hurt much, the adverb still would be a word
that plays an important role in the poem, because sing and
still sing convey a very different emotion and mindset.
Having compared the original and the translation, we
can see the obvious difference between the two versions.
The most difficult part, the authenticity of translation, was
handled responsively, so the Bynners version transferred the
basic description and message of the original. However, this
effort still left disparities between two texts that are hardly
possible to erase. Technically, the formal beauty of the four
seven-character lines, tonal pattern, and rhyme scheme of the
original disappeared in the translation. The subtle elements,
such as the sentiment of eternal regret and the anxiety ex-
pressed through a few key characters, are not easy to feel in
the translated text.
If Bynners translation had unwittingly lost something of
the original, Wenda Gu intentionally gets rid of something
in his retranslationfrom Bynners English version back to
Chinese. It was the second time Gu used this poem in his art.
In the 1980s, Gu used this poem in his destructive Chinese
language work, underscoring the sad mood of the poem and
implying a relationship to the current cultural crisis through
his deconstruction and reconstruction of Chinese characters.
129
The work he made in 1986 was titled
,,,,,,, (wo
shu xie de tang shicuo zi, lou zi, fan zi, mei shu zi, fang
song zi, wu yi zi, dao zi, yi zi, Tang poetry in my callig-
raphywrongly written, missed, reversed, artistically calli-
graphic, Song-dynasty style typefaced, meaningless, upside-
down, and homonymous characters, Figure51). This long
title actually describes most of the methods Gu applied in
the work. The destruction was three-fold. First, the charac-
ters were destructed, reconstructed, or simply repositioned.
Second, the format of the calligraphy is subverted through
inconsistent types of characters and accidental ink blots. Fi-
nally, the poetry becomes hardly readabledeconstructed
because of various treatments of the characters, as well as
three intentionally omitted or missed characters (there are
28characters in the original poem).
An analysis of the mood in this poem revealed additional
insights into Gus intention. Unlike his Stone Steles, which
include fifty Tang poems, this piece selected Du Mus Moor
significant because this poem carries references to a crisis
and warns of the immediate danger to a dynasty, or a culture
tural crisis, while this artistic destruction of the characters
calligraphic and poetic structures functioned as a forecast of
destruction and reinforced greatly the power of its critique
of culture. In the 1980s, when Chinese intellectuals were
rethinking and criticizing their native culture, Gus decon-
struction echoed the imperative of cultural revival through
his black-humor-like sentiment and radical means.
However, the selection of the same poem in his Forest of
Stone Steles, along with other forty ninepoems, probably
carried fewer sentimental implications than the first time.
When Gu confronted at home in the 1980s the stubborn tradi-
tion that to him needed to be shaken and deconstructed, he
injected his critique into art, as he did in this piece made in
1986. In the 1990s, however, Gu faced and acted in a global
context where his predicament was no longer caused by a con-
vergence of historical elements from one single culture; rather,
it was like a chess play on a check-board, which consisted of
different cultures and run synchronically and diachronically as
well. Translation became a critical means of communication,
which in turn became an issue for todays multi-culturalism.
An analytic experiment, instead of antagonistic critique, could
be strategically feasible and effective. Therefore, his Stone
Steles piece functioned more like a formal element or subject
to language transformation, rather than an object of the de-
struction of written language, calligraphy, and poetry.
Let us see what happened when Gu retranslated Wit-
ter Bynners version back to Chinese phonetically (pinyin in
parenthesis may work as a reference of sound).
,,
(mi shi ti wei, er shi ri ke de shi jun an, de meng lai tu zhe shan.)
130
,,
(e sha mo lin, zhi xue duo fu, ri fu ta wen.)
,,
(huai ge er shi, hui shi nu sao tu fa bei. rui xue di jin dun,)
.!,.
(gai lie kou. o! shang gou huo, kao jia de fu lou si.)
Gu retranslated Bynners version by intentionally getting
rid of its meaning, namely, the second Chinese version of
Du Mus poem was only the signifier, phonetic portion of
the English version. There were a variety of characters that
could be selected for each syllable in Bynners translation.
Gu tended to choose those that might be able to make his
retranslation meaningful, which I believe was intended to
reveal the flexibility of such a play of the transformation of
language, in spite of the fact that it now became a less beau-
tiful and refined poem. In a strict sense, this is not even a
classic Chinese poem because it lacks rhymes and has more
than sevencharacters in each line.
We can find such flexibility in the first line of this sig-
nifier-transformation. In Bynner, the first line reads, Mist
veils the cold stream, and moonlight the sand. Gus retrans-
lation became ,, be natural, as they know the origin and implication of the
(mi shi ti wei, er shi ri ke de shi jun an, de meng lai tu
zhe shan). A retranslation might be very different:
,, (mi si te wei er shi, not have the knowledge of the context. Therefore, with no
de ke de si jun an, de meng lai de shan). On the one hand,
both phonetic translations are far from the phonetics of the
English version, not unlike the Chinese words (dou
fu) and (ke tou) that are phonetically translated into
Tofu and kotow or kowtow, respectively in English.
On the other hand, this signifier-transformation essentially
lost the authenticity of the English version. It became a fake
version of the original Chinese poem; in other words, it cre-
ated an entirely new text, which has nothing to do with
Du Mus A Mooring on the Chin-Huai River, and became
unrecognized as a classic poem.
Interestingly, Gu retransformed this Chinese version
back into a meaningful English poem, namely, he at-
tempted to transfer the phonetic-English Chinese text at the
level of the signified, as a translator usually does.
Secret emissary De Meng, powered by horses hoof, is on his
way to Tu Zhe Mountain. Ten counties can be occupied within
days.
Horrifying killing in ghostly woods; bloody will to conquer
Tawen under the sun.
Two triumphant, brave warriors leading the troops suddenly
attack and furiously sweep the north. Auspicious snow sparkles
on golden shields.
Oh! Reward the army with bounties and surround the campfire
at the De Fu Lou Temple.
To prove the flexibility of the retranslation, I would like to
retranslate the version of my one-line of phonetic-English
Chinese poem, ,,
(mi si te wei er shi, de ke de si jun an, de meng lai de
Supplement: Forest of Stone StelesTranslation Within and Between Cultures
shan), into English. It reads Mr. Wales, virtue can make the
four gentlemen calm, and can seize Mt. Meng Lai De. It
sounds even less meaningful than Gus text.
If a reader reads these seriously, he might have been mis-
led by this manipulation. It was not intended to be a poem
regardless of what the reader might have thought. It simply
demonstrated how a language transformation could cause
such a dramatic distortion or misunderstanding. After three
transformations, a Tang poem with a sad mood and a hint of
crisis was metamorphosed into four-line meaningful non-
sense! When these nonsenses were inscribed seriously and
delicately on a stone stele, a surface usually for classic po-
etry, government announcement, or historical document, and
displayed solemnly in a museum gallery, audiences would be
struck by the absurdity.
Translation for Wenda Gu is a process of misunderstand-
ing that was reasonable and unavoidable, thus natural. Du
Mus original poem needs to be understood by tracing back
to the context of A Song of Courtyard Flowers. Otherwise,
the sad mood could not be felt or would make little sense to
readers. To an educated Chinese, this reading is supposed to
song. When translated into English, a footnote became nec-
essary because English readers, even highly educated, might
footnotes, the proper reading of the poem in the stone stele
became very difficult. However, when Gu retranslated this
English version back to Chinese (some of the characters
had been reconstructed) phonetically, the text became much
less readable, thus making much less sense to both Chinese
and English readers. When you read it in Chinese, a few
characters require guessing, thus it sounded extremely awk-
ward, although every English sound had its Chinese coun-
terpart. It seemed to be nothing but a joke. However, Gu put
this joke in the center of the stele and used the largest-
size font and traditional Chinese characters13 to confuse
his audience that even further complicated the confusion.
Interestingly, readers could find an English end-product to
this process of transformation. Without previous reading,
this four-line text might still make some sense to readers,
although it was by no means a beautiful verse. However, as
the final product of the transformation, it sounds weird, awk-
ward, or even contradictory in terms of content, mood, and
style (if there was a style in that final product), compared
with the original poem.
After the discussion of the technical or linguistic part of
translation in Gus work, I would like to discuss the cultur-
al significance of this work. Although China is not a post
colonial society, the communication between the Chinese
13 When a classic text comprises of traditional Chinese, a modern text
is usually written/printed in simplified Chinese in mainland China, the
result of reform of written Chinese of the 1950s.
Supplement: Forest of Stone StelesTranslation Within and Between Cultures
and Western cultures can be seen as a post-colonial episode.
When translations of western texts in the humanities, sci-
ences, and social sciences became a national endeavor be-
ginning in the mid-nineteenth century, these acts represented
one-way driving.14 In other words, few Chinese texts have
been translated into English except for those limited disci-
plines for limited readers, such as in literature, medicine, and
philosophy. These were primarily ancient scholastic texts, in
contrast to the numerous modern and contemporary English-
to-Chinese translations. This imbalance might have affected
Gu when he chose Chinese text as the original for his trans-
lation and rewriting.
According to Homi Bhabha, the major figure of postcolo-
nial theory, culture as a strategy of survival is both transna-
tional and translational.15 In the context of transnational and
translational culture, The pact of interpretation is never sim-
ply an act of communication between the I and the You des-
ignated in the statement. The production of meaning requires
that these two places be mobilized in the passage through a
Third Space,16 The concept of the Third Space here
is crucial for us to understand todays translational culture.
This Third Space is a space that is between or crosses over
the I and the You, the Self and the Other, referred more than a hundred years. No final answer has been pro-
by Homi Bhabha to the inter and the in-between. It is
in this space that we will find those words with which we
can speak of Ourselves and the Others. And by exploring
this hybridity, this Third Space, we may elude the politics
of polarity and emerge as the others of our selves.17 What
interested me here is that the cultural exchange between
China and the West is not unlike the communication what
Bhabha called transnational and translational one. In the
case of translation of texts from both cultures, the imbalance
I mentioned above suggests the position of the Self and
the Other that two cultures situate respectively. The Third
Space is to me not a physical or geographical rather than
14
(Yan Fu, 18541921), the translator who set up three princi-
ples of translation, (xin), (da), and (ya), was representative of
these one-way drivers in Chinas history of translation. Besides
(tian yan lun, Evolution and Ethics, by Thomas Huxley in 1894),
translated in 1896, he also translated The Study of Sociology (1873) by
Herbert Spencer (1902, Chinese title , qun xue yi yan), The
Wealth of Nations (1776) by Adam Smith (1902, , yuan fu), On
Liberty (1859) by John Mill (1903, , qun ji quan jie lun),
A History of Politics (1900) by Edward Jenks (1904, , she
hui tong quan), A System of Logic (1836) by John Mill (1905,
, mu le ming xue), The Spirit of the Law (1748) by Montesquicu
(1909, , fa yi), and Primer of Logic (1870) by William Jevons
(1909, , ming xue qian shuo).
15
See Homi Bhabha, Post-Colonial Criticism, in Redrawing the
Boundaries, edited by Stephen Greenblatt and Giles Gun, New York :
Modern Language Association of America, 1992, pp.437465.
16 Homi Bhabha, Cultural Diversity and Cultural Differences, in The
Post-Colonial Studies Reader, edited by Bill Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths,
and Helen Tiffin, London & New York: Routledge, 1995, p.208.
17 Ibid. p.209.
131
psychological space. In a merely oppositional circumstance,
effective communication is unlikely to happen because of
lack of this space. Thus engagement and involvement are
necessary because they create room in-between and the
inter for hybridity.
The history of translations of Western learning into Chi-
nese was, in fact, a process of the introduction of Western
discourse into the Chinese discursive system. In general, it is
part of the proliferation of Western discourse and culture in
the context of colonization. Like other colonies, it is true that
Western culture in this process acted as the superior power.
However, China has never been a totally colonized nation;
furthermore, Chinas long history, living culture and ideol-
ogy act both as an absorbent agent and a resistant. This is
why there has been a debate and a seesaw battle since the
late nineteenth century between whole-sale westernization
and revival of Chinese culture. The translation of Western
learning is just similar to the translation of Chinese classic
into modern Chinese, because both are considered cultural
processes by Chinese intellectuals. Therefore, the question
of what structureChinese, Western, or a new systemthe
translated text should be set has haunted the Chinese for
vided yet. This process of translation, absorption, resistance,
debate, and seesaw battle is what Homi Bhabha called the
process of the enunciation of culture as knowledgeable,
authoritative, adequate to the construction of systems of
cultural identification.18 It produced new meaning for texts
from both cultures in this cultural translation. As a diaspora,
Wenda Gu settled in New York and has traveled frequently
in the West, his native country, and rest of the world in more
than a decade. When drifting in his native culture and cul-
tures of the rest of the world, especially Western culture, he
has experienced being in-between and living in a Third
Space that generated hybridity while enforcing his cultural
identity.
Roland Barthes pointed out the complexity of a text in his
famous essay The Death of the Author,
We know now that a text is not a line of words releasing a single
theological meaning (the message of the Author-God) but a
multi-dimensional space in which a variety of writings, none of
them original, blend and clash. The text is a tissue of quotations
drawn from the innumerable centers of culture.19
When Barthes discussed the death of the author, he stressed
the importance and significance of the interpretation of the
text. Writing thus becomes a dynamic process and reading
the text starts a new life of the writing from the moment of
the completion of writing. Translation, therefore, becomes
18 Ibid. p.206.
19Roland Barthes, The Death of the Author, in The Death and Res-
urrection of the Author? edited by William Irwin, Westport, Connecti-
cut and London: Greenwood Press, 2002, p.6.
132 Supplement: Forest of Stone StelesTranslation Within and Between Cultures

a way of interpretations of the text. Thus not only a written

revealing misreading/misunderstanding as a norm in cultural
text but also a translation of the text becomes part of multi-
interaction. Because of the unique appearance of the stele
dimensional space. In Du Mus poem, an ancient song A
medium and construction, mainly Chinese characters, the
Song of Courtyard Flowers was cited and interpreted as a
translation and retranslation of Gus work functioned as
knell of the Tang Dynasty for him and his contemporaries.
a continuation of the Forest of Stone Stele of Xi-an, and
Wenda Gu implied a cultural crisis when he chose this poem
a contemporary interpretation of the Forest of Stone Stele
to construct his destructive work in the 1980s. All transla-
of Xi-an in a greater, global context. Therefore, it seems to
tions so far were executed within Chinese culture. Now in
be posited as a visual statement of Chinese cultures role and
his Forest of Stone Steles: Retranslation and Rewriting of
position in the post-colonial world.
Tang Poetry of the 1990s, the phases of ChineseEng-
lishChineseEnglish created this kind of space in a
Written in 2006.
broader context, namely between two cultures, in which a
variety of writings, none of them original, blend and clash.
When he chose a Chinese text as the original, his starting
point was his native culture. While he selected classic po-
etry as the text-to-be-translated, he was, in some degree, a
Chinese culturalist because he believed that the classic Chi-
nese literature text possessed the potentials for becoming a
modern text in translation, a way of interpretation. Tensions
and possibilities coexisted in this four-phase translation. Ac-
cording to Barthes, however, none of the varieties of writing
in this process is original; thus, they are equal in value. They
blended and crashed, and when the author of the poem died,
all translations became interpretation and added new mean-
ing and significance to the writing. This addition was made
of literal translation, phonetic translation, and again literal
translation. The final product was a new fabrication of the
text and its interpretation, a tissue of quotations drawn from
the innumerable centers of culture. The work thus became,
while drifting between cultures, the realization and confir-
mation of Gus cultural identity. This realization and confor-
mation was accomplished in the process of the transforma-
tion and reinterpretation of the text of his native culture and
literature, in addition to its interaction with the culture of the
English language.
Although not specifically referring to this work, Gus
explanation of cultural migration seems to be a suitable
alternative footnote to his re-translation,
The classic definition of cultural migration is the transportation
from one to the other. The future cultural migration is more com-
plex. The formula is like this: one exports something to the other
and then imports it back in a completely altered state. It never
remains the same thing once it has been digested, interpreted,
consumed, and used by the receiver.20

Therefore, the translation here was neither a smooth ex-

change between two languages, nor an understandable trans-
formation from one to another. Instead, it was an experiment
of unequal reciprocity of two of the most popular languages,

20 Quoted from Jennifer Way, Symposium PostscriptTransnation:

Contemporary Art and China, from Mark H.C. Bessire edited, Wenda
Gu: Art from Middle Kingdom to Biological Millennium, Cambridge,
MA: the MIT Press, 2003, p.209.
 Afterword
As a comprehensive project, this book investigates Wenda
Gus art from the late 1970s to the early 2000s. It consists
mainly of my doctoral dissertation supplemented by an ar-
ticle entitled Forest of Stone StelesTranslation within
and between Cultures, both completed in 2005. The sup-
plemental article was written by the suggestion of Professor
Stephen Melville, my academic advisor. He encouraged me
to expand the part of my dissertation, Forest of Stone Ste-
les: Dialogue between Chinese and English Worlds, into
an independent article, so that I could deepen the issue of
translation that is significant, but was only briefly touched
on in the dissertation because it did not allow scrutiny into
such a specific issue.
I am grateful to Springer Publishing for making this pub-
lication possible. I would like to point out, though, that the
art and cultural scenarios have changed greatly since the
Z. Yan, Odyssey of Culture, Chinese Contemporary Art Series,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-662-45411-4, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015
completion of the dissertation; even Wenda Gu, the protago-
nist of this book, has returned to China, his native country,
and worked there mostly after his overseas art adventure of
nearly two decades. This part of his career, not covered in
this book, will need further investigation in the future.
Also, for the English readers of the early 2000s, I had
written a whole chapter, again suggested by Professor Ste-
phen Melville, to discuss the Cultural Fever and the Avant-
Garde Movement of the 1980s, to provide a substantial con-
text for Gus life, thoughts, and art. It is necessary because
the majority of readers from the English world did not have
access to that context yet. To be faithful to the history, I left
the text intact.
Zhou Yan, August 2014.
133
 Appendix A: Chronology of WENDA
GU ()
1955 Born in Shanghai. The third child of the family,
with sister (Gu Wenxian) and brother
(Gu Wenyuan).
1969 Started painting revolutionary posters in middle
school; learned painting from his art teacher, Du
Chunlin; and studied waters painting of moun-
tains, one of the special motifs of Chinese ink
painting, from Xu Genrong, Dus friend.
1974 Studied at the Shanghai Arts and Crafts School,
a specialized secondary school, with specialty on
woodcarving.
1976 Graduated from the Shanghai Arts and Crafts
School, and was assigned to the Shanghai Wood-
carving Factory. In spare time, learned callig-
raphy and seal carving from his colleague, Cao
Jianlou.
Gu Jianchen (), born in 1897, Wendas
paternal grandfather, a well-known playwright in
the 1930s, passed away in Shaoxin county, Zhe-
jiang province, without family members around
after suffering from persecution during the Cul-
tural Revolution.
1979 Entered graduate program at the Zhejiang Acad-
emy of Fine Arts, Hangzhou, Zhejiang province,
with no bachelors degree, and studied traditional
Chinese ink painting, directed by the old master,
Lu Yanshao (19091993).
Featured in Shanghai Art Exhibition, Shanghai
Art Museum, Shanghai, China.
1981 Attained M.F.A. degree, and joined the faculty in
the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts.
198183 Studied oil painting.
1984 Featured in the Exhibition of Work by Mid-aged
and Young Faculty of the Zhejiang Academy of
Fine Arts, Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China.
1985 The essay (yi shu bi ji, notes on
art), written on August10, 1985, published in
(hua lang, Art Corridor, quarterly), Chang-
sha, Hunan province, 1987, issue 2.
Z. Yan, Odyssey of Culture, Chinese Contemporary Art Series,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-662-45411-4, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015
Featured in the New Ink Painting Invitational
of All China, Wuhan Exhibition Center, Wuhan,
Hubei province, China.
Featured in the National Art Exhibition of Sports,
National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China.
Featured in Selected Contemporary Ink Painting
from China, Japan.
1986 The article (fei chen shu de
wen zi, non-narrative/accountable Chinese
characters), published in (mei shu
si chao, Art Trends, bimonthly), Wuhan, Hubei
province, 1986, issue 4, pp. 3236.
A solo show Wenda Gus Art was held at Xian
Artists Gallery, Xian, Shaanxi province, China.
Selected for the Sixth National Art Exhibition of
China, National Art Museum of China, Beijing,
China.
Participated in an avant-garde show, The Last
Show of 1986, Hangzhou Cultural Center, Hang-
zhou, Zhejiang province, China.
Featured in National Calligraphy Exhibition of
China, National Art Museum of China, Beijing,
China.
(Gao Minglu) discussed Wenda Gus lan-
guage series in his(li xing hui hua,
the rationalist painting), (mei shu, Fine
Arts), Aug. 1986, pp.4147, Beijing, China.
(Zhang Zhiyang),
(shen mi yu ju chilun
ge wend a de guan zhong he ping lun jia, mystery
and refusalcomments on Wenda Gus audience
and critics), (mei shu si chao, Art
Trends), April, 1986, pp.2731, Wuhan, Hubei,
China.
(Yi Ying),
(kun huo yu zhui qiu, puzzlement and
pursuanceon Wenda Gus painting),
(zhong guo mei shu bao, China Fine Arts,
weekly), no. 17, 1986, Beijing, China.
135
136
(Liu Xiaochun), Gave a tour lecture at University of Minnesota,
(guan yu gu wend a xi an zhan lan,
report from Wenda Gus exhibition),
(zhong guo mei shu bao, China Fine Arts,
weekly), no. 33, 1986, Beijing, China.
1987 (Peng De), (gu wend a su Worked as a visiting artist and associate profes-
jie, reading Gu Wenda),
(mei shu si chao, art trends, bimonthly),
Wuhan, Hubei province, issue 3, 1987, p.20.
Left China for San Francisco, California, USA.
Received grant from the Canada Council for Vis-
iting Foreign Artists, and worked as a residential
artist at York University, Toronto.
The Dangerous Chessboard Leaves the Ground,
solo installation exhibition, at University Art
Gallery, York University, Toronto, Canada.
Featured in Chinese Calligraphy Today, Japan.
Wisdom Comes from Tranquility, a large size
tapestry, selected for the exhibitions Contem-
porary Tapestry of China, Shanghai Exhibition
Center, Shanghai, China, and the 13th Interna-
tional Biennial Tapestry, Musee Cantonal des
Beaux-Arts, Lausanne, Switzerland.
The Second German National TV produced doc-
umentary video Wenda Gus Art.
1988 Moved to and then settled at New York City,
USA.
Xu Gan, Vanderbilt University student, com-
pleted his masters degree thesis Wenda Gu: His
Art and His Time.
1989 Selected as an Asian participant for the interna-
tional exhibition Neo-Tradition, at Neodenfjeld-
ske Kunstindstrimuseum, Norway; the participat-
ing work Three and Three Others involved live
mice suicide performance, the performance plan
canceled after protests from Norwegian Agricul-
ture Department and local animal rights groups
when the plan was revealed in Norwegian news-
papers.
Featured in Blackness, Hanart Gallery, Taipei,
Taiwan; Hanart T Z Gallery, Hong Kong.
Featured in 9th Annual Birren, SAA Gallery,
Connecticut, USA.
The documentary photographs of Three and
Three Others entered the first
national avant-garde exhibition China Avant-
Garde, National Art Museum of China, Beijing,
China.
1990 Featured in project De-, made a permanent burial
land art piece, Poitiers, France, sponsored by
French Cultural Ministry and Les Domaines de
LArt, art organization.
Appendix A: Chronology of WENDA GU ()
Washington University, San Francisco Art Insti-
tute, Ohio University, University of California at
San Jose, Minneapolis College of Art and Design,
Minneapolis Art Institute.
sor at Department of Studio Arts, University of
Minnesota, Minneapolis.
Granted as Honorary Citizenship of the State of
Minnesota by Minnesota governor Rudy Per-
pich.
Jason Kuo, professor of Williams College
(University of Maryland currently), presented
Wenda Gus Art and His Time at CAA (Col-
lege Art Association) Annual Conference in San
Francisco.
Solo exhibition, DP Fong Gallery, San Jose, Cali-
fornia, USA.
Solo exhibition, installation Red Black White
Desert, as official program of Los Angeles Fes-
tival 1990, at University Art Museum, California
State University, Long Beach, California, USA.
Started ongoing art project Two Thousand
Natural Deaths, renamed as Oedipus Refound
#1: The Enigma of Blood later, with materials
of used tampons, sanitary napkins and personal
stories of menstruation contributed by 60women
from 16countries.
Solo exhibition, Two Thousand Natural Deaths,
curated by Peter Selz and Catherine Cook, at
Hatley Martin Gallery, San Francisco, California,
USA;
The project Two Thousand Natural Deaths was
declined by the Art Museum, California State
University, Long Beach, which led to a pro-
test letter, signed by critics and art historians
Peter Selz, David Wright, Bill Berkson, Robert
McDonald, and others, and published on the Los
Angeles Times, later on the
News Letter of IACA (International Art Critics
Association) American Branch.
1991 Featured in China Avant-Garde, Asian American
Art Center, New York, USA;
Featured in the group exhibition New York Diary:
Almost 25 Different Things, PS1 Museum, New
York City, USA, with the installation work titled
Wet Green, Dry Yellow, Scorched Black.
Vanishing 36 Pigmented Golden Sections, a
permanent burial land work, as part of the group
project Exceptional Passage, at Fukuoka, spon-
sored by Fukuoka Art Museum and Museum City
Project, Fukuoka, Japan.
Appendix A: Chronology of WENDA GU ()
1992 Solo exhibition, included early deconstructed
written language work and Oedipus Refound
#1: The Enigma of Blood, Hong Kong Arts
Centre & Hanart
T Z Gallery, Hong Kong.
Solo exhibition Metaphysics, Enrico Gariboldi
Arte Contemporanea, Milan, Italy; Exhibition
and lecture at Wallace Anderson Gallery, Bridge-
water State College, Bridgewater, Massachusetts,
USA.
Featured in two-person exhibition Desire for
Words, Hong Kong Art Centre;
Oedipus Refound #1: The Enigma of Blood
included in the exhibition Conversations, at the
Artists Museum, Lodz, Poland.
Featured in Signals, at Gallery Korea, New York
City.
1993 Solo exhibition, Hanart T Z Gallery, Hong Kong;
Steinbaum Krauss Gallery, New York, USA; Art
Space, Ontario, Canada.
Featured in Semblances, Ise Art Foundation,
New York, USA.
Featured in Fragmented Memory: Chinese
Avant-Garde in Exile, curated by Judy Andrews
and Gao Minglu, displayed work Oedipus #3:
Enigma beyond Joy and Sin with materials of
human placenta and placenta powder, after the
original plan, Oedipus Refound #1: The Enigma
of Blood was declined, at Wexner Center for the
Arts, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
Featured in Silent Energy, featured the work
Oedipus #2: the Enigma of Birth, after the
original plan, Oedipus Refound #1: The Enigma
of Blood was declined, at the Modern Art
Museum, Oxford, England.
The work Oedipus Refound #1: The Enigma of
Blood joined the exhibition Chinas New Art,
Post-1989, Hanart T Z Gallery & Hong Kong Arts
Centre, Hong Kong; then the work selected to the
exhibition Mao Goes Pop, toured from Museum
of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Melbourne Inter-
national Festival 1993, Melbourne, to Art Gallery
of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
Started ongoing global project United Nations,
mainly used human hair as medium, designed
with more than 20 divisions/monuments being
constructed in various nations around the world.
First United Nations monument United
NationsPolish Monument: Hospitalized His-
tory Museum joined the international biennial
4th Construction in Process, and was dismantled
after the opening night, because of its provoca-
tive comment on the citys history, at The His-
tory Museum of Lodz, Poland.
137
1994 Solo installation exhibition, displayed Oedipus
Refound #3: Enigma beyond the Joy and Sin, at
Art Gallery, and gave a lecture at the Department
of Art, the University of Rhode Island, Kingston,
Rhode Island, USA; same work at Berlin Shafire
Gallery, New York City, USA.
United NationsItalian Division, renamed
United NationsItalian Monument: God and
Children later, shown at Enrico Gariboldi Arte
Contemporanea, Milan, Italy; Monique Sartor
and Kim Levin contributed catalog essays.
United NationsDutch Monument: V.O.C.-
W.I.C. and Oedipus Refound #2: The Enigma of
Birth shown at the international exhibition Heart
of Darkness, at the Kroller-Muller Museum, the
Netherlands; The article On Defense of Using
Body Materials in Art Creation included in the
catalog Heart of Darkness;
Featured in Flesh and Ciphers, Here Foundation,
New York, USA.
Featured in Site-Action, The Artists Project and
The Artists Museum, Poland;
Featured in Art in China, Art Gallery of Western
Australia, Perth, Australia.
1995 Wrote a thesis on the project United Nations,
titled The Divine Comedy of Our Times: a the-
sis on the United Nations art project and its time
and environment (see AppendixB) and a short-
ened version of it was published in the Italian
magazine DArts.
The doctoral dissertation Shape of Ideas: Mini-
malization as the Structural Device in Selective
Works of Samuel Beckett and Wenda Gu, by Xu
Gan, completed at the Ohio University.
A Masters thesis Install the Global Culture:
Wenda Gus Installation Project United Nations
Transcends the East-West Culture, by Jenny
Lee, completed at FIT in New York City.
Oedipus Refound #3: Enigma beyond Joy and
Sin shown at Alternative Museum, New York,
USA.
Oedipus Refound #1: Enigma of Blood (The
Human Body Shop #1) shown at In Khan Gal-
lery, New York City, USA.
United NationsAmerican Monument: Post-
Cmoellotniinaglpiiiostm shown at the Space
Untitled, New York, USA; an interview was con-
ducted on site by the Associated Press, PBS, and
the Voice of America.
Featured in Chinas New Art, Contemporary Art
Center, Santa Monica, Barcelona, Spain.
United NationsIsrael Monument: Holy
Land, land art, as part of project 5th Construc-
tion in Process, Mitzpe Ramon Desert, Israel.
138
Featured in Chinas New Art 19891994, Van-
couver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada.
Featured in 46th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy.
Featured in Twentieth Century Chinese Painting,
Hong Kong Art Museum, Hong Kong.
Featured in New Art in China, University Art
Museum, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon,
USA.
1996 United NationsUSA Monument #2: Dreamer-
ica, Steinbaum Krauss Gallery, New York City,
USA.
United NationsBritain Monument #2: the
Maze, Angel Row Gallery, Nottingham, Cam-
erawork, London, England.
The Mythos of Lost Dynasties, Binet Gallery,
Tel-Aviv, Israel.
United NationsSwedish and Russian Con-
frontational Division: Interpol (subtitle changed
to Swedish and Russian Monument: Interpol
later), in the exhibition InterpolA Global Net-
work from Stockholm and Moscow, the work
was destroyed by Alexandr Brener, a Russian art-
ist in the opening, Center of Contemporary Art
and Architecture, Stockholm, Sweden.
Featured in Twentieth Century Chinese
PaintingTradition & Innovation, the Brit-
ish Museum, London, England; National Art
Museum, Singapore.
Featured in China New Art, Kemper Museum,
Kansas City, USA; University Art Museum, Uni-
versity of Oregon, USA.
Featured in First Shanghai Biennale, Shanghai
Art Museum, China.
Featured in China New Art, Fort Wayne Museum,
Indiana, USA.
Lecture given at Royal Academy of Art, Stock-
holm, Sweden.
Panelist, presentation titled Morals in Contem-
porary Cultural & Artistic Reality: Controversial
Experience of My Art Creation, international art
conference, Object vs. Pixels, Amsterdam, the
Netherlands.
Kim Levin, Wenda Gu, the Village Voice, Jan.
2, New York City, USA;
Wenda Gu, The Cultural War, Flash Art, Sum-
mer 1996, pp. 102103.
1997 United NationsHong Kong Monument: the
Historical Clash, made for Hong Kong hando-
ver 1997, Hanart Gallery, Hong Kong.
United NationsTaiwan Monument: the
Mythos of Lost Dynasties, with Blackness,
a solo performance, Hanart Gallery, Taipei, Tai-
wan.
Appendix A: Chronology of WENDA GU ()
Featured in Second Johannesburg Biennale,
South Africa.
Auto-Portrait: the Power of Calligraphy, Exit
Art, New York City, USA.
Featured in Tradition & InnovationTwenti-
eth Century Chinese Painting, Koln Asian Art
Museum, Germany.
Featured in China Turns, Ida Gallery, York Uni-
versity, Toronto, Canada.
Featured in China New Art, Salina Art Center,
Kansas, USA; San Jose Museum of Art, Cali-
fornia, USA; Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago,
USA.
Featured in Diversity, Artopia Gallery, New York
City, USA.
Featured in In Between Limits, Sonje Museum of
Contemporary Art, Korea.
Scarlet Cheng, Wenda Gus United Nations
Hong Kong Monument: the Historical Clash,
Art News, October, p.173, 1997, New York,
USA.
Pamela Kember, Hair Looms, Asian Art News,
Sep/Oct, 1997, pp.6669, Hong Kong.Kim
Levin, Splitting Hairs: Wenda Gus Primal Proj-
ects and Material Misunderstandings, Art life,
Jan/Feb. 1997, pp.2235, China.
Johnson Chang, Temples of Mass Power, cata-
log of the Mythos of Lost Dynasties, Hanart Gal-
lery, Taiwan.
1998 United NationsVancouver Monument: the
Metamorphosis, Morris and Helen Belkin Art
Gallery, the University of British Columbia, Van-
couver, Canada.
Confucius Diary, an art performance, down-
town Vancouver, Canada;
Featured in First Shenzhen Ink Painting Bien-
nale, Guan Shanyue Art Museum, Shenzhen,
Guangdong, China.
Featured in Asian-American Artists: Cross-cul-
tural Voices, University Art Gallery, Staller Cen-
ter for the Arts, State University of New York,
Stony Brook, New York, USA.
Featured in Global Roots: Chinese Artists Work-
ing in New York, Purdue University Galleries,
West Lafayette, Indiana, USA.
Featured in Inside-outNew Chinese Art, Asia
society and PS1 Museum, New York City, USA.
Featured in Beyond the Form, Cork Gallery,
Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, New York
City, USA.
Featured in Contemporary Art from China, Art
Beatus Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia,
Canada.
Appendix A: Chronology of WENDA GU ()
Featured in Second Shanghai Biennale, Shanghai
Art Museum, Shanghai, China.
1999 United NationsBabel of the Millennium,
installation, San Francisco
Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, Califor-
nia, USA.
Wenda Gus Wedding, an art performance,
Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, China.
Wenda Gus Wedding LifeAmerica, an art
performance, Asian Art Museum of San Fran-
cisco, San Francisco, California, USA.
Featured in Biennale of Asian Contemporary Art,
Museum of Contemporary Art, Genova, Italy.
Featured in Power of Word, Taiwan Museum of
Art, Taizhong, Taiwan.
Featured in Conceptualist Art: Points of Origin
1950s-1980s, Queens Museum of Arts, New
York City, USA; Walker Art Center, Minneapo-
lis, Minnesota, USA.
Featured in travel show Inside OutNew Chi-
nese Art, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco,
USA; Museum of Contemporary Art, Monterrey,
Mexico; Henry Art Gallery, Washington Univer-
sity, Seattle, USA; Smart Museum of Art, Uni-
versity of Chicago, USA.
2000 United NationsThe Temple of Exoticisms,
Lyon, France.
Lufty, Carol, Brush with the Past: Wenda Gu
has infused the genre of Chinese ink painting
with unexpected characters and materials, Art
News, Sept. 2000;
Britta Erickson, Beyond the Confines of the
Market, publication of National Gallery of Aus-
tralia, Canberra, Australia.
Featured in Wall, Taiwan Museum of History,
Taipei, Taiwan.
Chien-hui Kao, Notes on This Exhibition,
Zone of MythBetween Tenderness and Ten-
sion, United Nations, catalog of exhibition Wall,
National Museum of History, Taiwan.
Kuiyi Shen, Playing the Game of Word, Icon,
and Meaning, Art Gallery, State University of
New York at Buffalo, March, 2000, USA.
Featured in Power of the Word, Faulconer Gal-
lery, Grinnell College, Iowa, USA;
Featured in Conceptualist Art: Points of Ori-
gin, 1950s1980s, Miami Art Museum, Florida,
USA.
Featured in Contemporary Art Collection of
Shanghai Art Museum, grand opening of Shang-
hai Art Museum, Shanghai, China.
Featured in Neo-Chinese Painting, Liu Haisu Art
Museum, Shanghai, China;Jiangsu Art Museum,
Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.
139
Featured in Man & Space, 3rd Kwangju Bein-
nale, Kwangju, South Korea;
Featured in Sharing Exoticisms, 5th Lyon Bein-
nale, Lyon, France.
Featured in Future, Contemporary Art Center of
Macau, Macau, China.
Featured in The Big Apple Ink Painting, Kai-
kodo, New York City, USA.
Featured in Words vs. Meaning, Arts Center, New
York State University at Buffalo, Buffalo, New
York, USA.
Featured in Power & Tenderness, Taipei Fine Art
Museum, Taipei, Taiwan.
Featured in Conceptual Calligraphy, Ethan
Cohen Fine Arts, New York City, USA.
2001 Solo show Translation & IntersectionWenda
Gus New Installations, National
Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia.
Featured in Tug of War, Utsunomiya Museum of
Art, Utsunomiya, Japan.
Wenda Gus Wedding LifeHong Kong, an
art performance, Hong Kong
Museum of Art, Hong Kong, China.
2003 Exhibition catalog Wenda Gu: from Middle
Kingdom to Biological Millennium, edited by
Mark Bessire, published by The MIT Press,
Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
United NationsUnited 7561 Kilometers, the
University of North Texas
Art Gallery, Denton, Texas; H&R Block Artspace
at the Kansas City Art
Institute, Kansas City, Missouri.
2004 United NationsUnited 7561 Kilometers,
Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College
of Art, Portland, Maine, USA; Art Museum,
Bates College, Lewiston, Maine, USA.
Wenda Gus Wedding Life #6, an art perfor-
mance, Art Museum, Bates College, Lewiston,
Maine, USA.
Solo show Forest of Stone StelesRetransla-
tion & Rewriting Tang Poetry, Hong Kong Per-
forming Arts Center, Asia Cultural Co-operation
Forum, Hong Kong, China.
Phrase neon project Fu Lai Jia Mo, Salvatore
Ferragamo, New York, USA;
Featured in Chinese Calligraphy, National Gal-
lery of Malaysia.
Featured in Contemporary Chinese Painting, Art
Museum, College of Wooster, Wooster, Ohio,
USA; Bowling Green State University, Bowling
Green, Ohio.
Featured in Transience, Hood Museum of Art,
Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire,
USA.
 Appendix B: The Divine Comedy
of Our Times
A thesis on UNITED NATIONS art project & its time and
environment
Wenda Gu
New York City 1995
(Wenda Gu distributed this essay among critics, artists,
and friends in 1995. When published, in the title face the
millennium: the divine comedy of our timesa thesis on
United Nations art project and its time and environment,
in the exhibition catalog, Wenda Gu: Art from Middle King-
dom to Biological Millennium, edited by Mark H. C. Bes-
sire, in 2003, the text was revised and shortened. To better
understand Gus art and thoughts, I have copied this 1995
version as appendix to my dissertation. The layout, font (ital-
ics, etc.), format, endnotes, and punctuation, including single
and double quotation marks, of the essay and usage of capital
and lower-case letters remain the same as the original text.
Zhou Yan)
Contents
1. Introduction
An ongoing worldwide art project: UNITED NATIONS
(19932000)
2. The concept, the strategy, the methodology
otherness/alienation/difference, bio/geo/cultural confron-
tation
3. Subject represents subject
human body as battleground, human body material as
conviction
4. Hair-itagevast human hair ocean
merges universal identity for UNITED NATIONS project
5. Delving into diverse cultures, capturing national identi-
ties
profoundness at the final ceremony of UNITED NA-
TIONS
6. Brave mankindbrave new world
UNITED NATIONS art project is brought to the histori-
cal moment
Z. Yan, Odyssey of Culture, Chinese Contemporary Art Series,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-662-45411-4, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015
7. The global environment
referential thoughts to UNITED NATIONS art project
Introduction An ongoing worldwide art project: UNITED
NATIONS (19932000)UNITED NATIONS is an ongo-
ing worldwide art project initiated in the beginning of
1992.From that point until late 1993, I developed the origi-
nal concept and its executive plan involving a complex strat-
egy and methodology.During this long meditative period,
I had immense doubts concerning my personal abilities to
successfully develop and execute this conceptually, physi-
cally, timely, politically, racially difficult art project.How-
ever, I firmly held onto my vision as I clearly foresaw the
profound nature and challenge of this project for me and for
related races and their civilizations.I also felt that as a result
of the inordinate risks that I would be taking that UNITED
NATIONS project could provide an extraordinary opportu-
nity for me as an individual artist.
During its more than 10year duration, UNITED NATIONS
art project will travel throughout five continents, in approxi-
mately 20different countries, which I have selected due to
their historical, civilizational, and political importance. By
utilizing the real hair of the local living population, Im
strongly relating to their historical and cultural contexts,
to create monumental installations and land arts to capture
each countrys identity, building on profound events in each
countrys history. These individual installations are national
monuments to the whole art project of UNITED NATIONS.
On the first day of the twenty-first century, a giant wall
will be composed solely from the pure human hair from the
integration of the national monument events. A great Uto-
pia of the unification of mankind probably can never exist
in our reality but it is going to be fully realized in the art
world.
Paradoxically, each hair brick will maintain its own iden-
tity on the hair wall. From Chinas Great Wall to the Berlin
wall, the wall itself is a metaphor of separation. The implica-
tions of overlapping human hair bricks of all races are con-
frontations, conflicts, battles, and finally integration on this
human hair-brick-wall of UNITED NATIONS.
141
142
At the final realization of UNITED NATIONS project,
there will be thousands and thousands of different living
races presence on the hair wall, supported by so many cul-
tural institutions and local barbershops around the world.
This new issue leads to new artistic issues, provoked by
the expansion of a transcultural reality in our world. Once
again, mankind is entering a new age, a new historical time,
which now can be actually defined as planetary. And Wenda
Gus project UNITED NATIONS is clearly symptomatic,
maybe in a temporary anticipation, of the entering of this
new conception and elaboration of culture and cultural dif-
ferences, that he punctually defines as transculturalism.21
Is this another dawning of the age of Acquarius? A mul-
ticultural update on the altruistic impulse that over decades
has spawned such artistic events as The family of the man
and We are the world? Or is it a reexamination of the late
twentieth centurys intensified and rapidly mutating concept
of ethnicity and nationalism?22
The concept, the strategy, the methodology otherness/alien-
ation/difference, bio/geo/cultural confrontationUNITED
NATIONS is an art project well aware of many cultural and
artistic issues of our times which are of growing intensity
in our global reality. From the beginning, the project has
attempted to be a threedimensional mirror reflecting global
bio/geo/culturally shifting environments on the whole. From
the long developmental process of the projects globaliza-
tion, its aim is to sum up all of the possible phenomenon
resulting from the divisional works and unite them, and
bring the united phenomenon to our common destiny based
upon our modern humanity.
Throughout my cultural, political, ethnic, and artistic ex-
periences, more than 10years in China, and 8years in the
rest of the world as an individual artist, from a red guard who
painted revolutionary posters during Maos Cultural Revolu-
tion to create this worldwide art project, UNITED NATIONS
is such a special journey to go through. Encountering diverse
races and world cultures while reshaping their monuments,
this path has given me a chance to confront what I have al-
ways been fascinated by: the Egyptian pyramids, the African
myth, the Roman Empire, the American Adventure, the Ber-
lin Wall, Chinas Silk Road, and the Great Wall. Their spirits
have always been the sources of my inspiration.
This concept has brought about several intense dramas
along the journey of UNITED NATIONS project in different
countries. I like to equate some of my experiences to two fa-
mous Chinese historical references. Once, when China was
21Monique Sartor, United Nations, United NationsItalian Divi-
sion, catalogue, Milan, Italy, 1994.
22 Kim Levin, Splitting Hairs: Wenda Gus Primal Project and Mate-
rial Misunderstandings, United NationsItalian Division, catalogue,
Milan, Italy, 1994.
Appendix B: The Divine Comedy of Our Times
made up of many individual countries, Confucius wanted to
publicize his doctrine throughout the land. So, he traveled
around these various countries spreading his idea of how
to govern until his beliefs were advocated. This strategy
was repeated by Mao in his Red Armys infamous military
milestone known as, The twenty-five thousand kilometers
(should be li, a Chinese measurement approximately equals
to a half of kilometer.Zhou) Long March, through end-
less grasslands attempting to escape the pursuit of the for-
mal party army. Along the way, he convinced thousands and
thousands of peasants to believe and support his revolution.
Thus he explained, The Long March is a propaganda team;
it is like a seeder These two historical references serve as
an even more important metaphoric methodology for todays
bio/geo/cultural environment.
With UNITED NATIONS project and its many divisional
monumental works, I want to push to the opposite extremes:
the personal and the political, local and global issues, timeli-
ness and timelessness.
Based on the rapid global bio/geo/cultural transitions fast
approaching our new millennium, the conception, strategy,
and methodology of UNITED NATIONS art project sets up
several formulas.#1 the entire project is divided into two
parts: national monuments and UNITED NATIONS final
monument.#2 each national monument is divided into
two parts: local peoples hair (sole material for the project)
and local historical context (concept). #3 it provides direct
physical contact, interaction, integration, and confrontation
with the local population (collecting hair) and their cultural
histories (conceptual reference). Instead of imagining or
reading about cultures and then work from that information
in the private studio, I strongly believe that actual, physi-
cal experiences are far more authentic and important than
literary interpretations. Formula #4 is I as the initiator and
executor.My bio/geo/cultural identity becomes the device
that shapes the cultural dialogs, confrontations, and possible
battles.This position constantly creates who I am to who
I am not whenever I am buried in a divisional work (with
the exception of UNITED NATIONS project China monu-
ment) and provides an international expatriate for every-
one to relate to in every corner of our planet.
All four formulas have invented an absolutely authentic
situation that precisely fits our bio/geo/cultural transition
that goes beyond otherization, regionalization, trans-
culturalization and so on. Under this conceptual working
process, the identity of the local race and its culture is being
otherized by me as the stranger. At the same time, my
own identity is being otherized and in doing so, merges
with the strangers and their culture: a double otherness.
One of the striking challenges of UNITED NATIONS
project is that it uniquely delivers an intense historical and
cultural psychological paradox for the local audience and
myself. When the local audience is before the monument
Appendix B: The Divine Comedy of Our Times
composed of their hair in their historical context, on one
side is a deep sense of national pride, and yet, at the same
time, they feel that they and their culture are being invaded
and occupied by a stranger. This brings about a deep,
contradictory, and paradoxical dialog and a redefinition of
the self between the local viewers and I as the creator that
is very significant and intriguing. An unusual interaction
is unveiled. Thus, as one art critic wrote in a positive tone,
UNITED NATIONS project is parodying the role of the cul-
tural colonialist.
As the whole working process with its extremely diverse
races and cultural environments charts its 7year course, the
intellectual and physical working situations will be defined
as in and out, inwards, and outwards, integration brell wrote, The Human Body Shop; they both open up the
and separation, identity and otherness, respect and brilliant and dark sides of modern existence to the full light
attack, paradox and harmony. of public scrutiny. Today, Huxleys vision is fast becoming
In one particular instance, a UNITED NATIONS audience
member said, It is our peoples hair, it should be done by
our hands. These simple words clearly present both sides,
the local culture and I are otherized, just like being in a
pure oxygen box; both sides become identitiless on the
psychological level through the creation of the new. It also
leaves a very strong desire to redefine identitiesa won-
derful and exciting paradox. There is the contrast between
this single body material, hair and plural races identities
throughout the whole project; and yet, this single body ma-
terial will be transformed into multi-cultured hair. I call
this a great simplicity, which will transcend to a universal
identity. It is great because of its diverse richness; it is
simple because it uses the single material of human hair.
Moreover, UNITED NATIONS national divisional monu-
ments are not totally separate entities. They are like a chain,
with each successive monument building upon the previous
ones. Each becomes more complex, diverse, and later on
reaches a finalization that unites all of the national monu-
ments. Occasionally, I link two or three of the divisional
works together to heighten the disparities concerning certain
world issues. For instance, the combined Swedish and Rus-
sian monument will address the building confrontation be-
tween eastern and western Europe in the Post-Cold War era
as part of Stockholms international exhibition, Interpol, in
January1996. A triple-focused EgyptianChineseItalian
monument could make strong reference to three distinct reli-
gious and cultural milestones of civilizations. And a mighty
ChinaUS coupling could broach the paramount ideo-
logical and sociological structural oppositions between two
world powers. Ultimately, however, all of these divisional
monuments and their respective concerns will blend together
in the Americanbased finale of UNITED NATIONS project.
Subject represents subject human body as battleground,
human body material as conviction UNITED NATIONS art
project has been challenged by two conceptual sources: the
human body myth and multi-civilization.I believe that these
143
two factors have been generating new human perspectives
and subverting our traditional practices.In reaching the end
of our modern society, facing the new millennium, we are
committed not only to cultural conflicts such as west ver-
sus east in bio/geo/cultural transitions, but even more sig-
nificantly, we become increasingly amazed and frightened
by our bio-science and genetic research, which now has the
potential to confront us with an artificially generated new
species, including an artificial human.We are driven by
our nature even as we call into question the ethical and moral
characteristics of that nature.
Sixty years ago, Aldous Huxley published his shocking
book, Brave New World in 1932, and in 1993 Andrew Kim-
commonplace. Engineering principles and mass production
techniques are rushing head-long into the interior regions
of the biological kingdom, invading the once sacred texts
of life. The genetic code has been broken and scientists are
rearranging the very blueprints of life. They are inserting,
deleting, recombining, editing and programming genetic
sequences within and between species, laying the founda-
tion for a second creationan artificial evolution designed
with market forces and commercial objectives in mind. We
have traded away our very souls for the going price of our
own parts in the global marketplace. Global corporations are
swarming over the human body, expropriating every avail-
able organ, tissue, and gene. It is now up to us to perform
the exorcism, to free ourselves from the grip of the fast ap-
proaching brave new world.23
The first instance of this cross-species organ transplanta-
tion was in 1984, with the celebrated case of Baby Fae, who
received the heart of a baboon in a futile attempt to save
her life. Six years later, immunologist Dr. J. Michael Mc-
Cune began a series of successful experiments in which he
transplanted human fetal tissues and organs such as the thy-
mus, liver, and lymph nodes into mice born without immune
systems. In only a few days, the organ subparts and tissues
grew in the mice, engendering them with cells of the human
immune system. Called humanized mice, they were then
infected with diseases such as leukemia or acquired immu-
nodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) so that the resulting viruses
could be carefully studied. Transplantation within our own
species has reached new questionable depths with 2cases in
which women desired to use their own fetal tissue for medi-
cal purposes.In one case, a woman proposed being artificial-
ly inseminated by her father so the genetically identical cells
could be used to treat his Alzheimers disease.In a related
instance, a woman wanted to abort her own fetus to use the
pancreas cells to treat her severe diabetic condition.
23JeremyRifkin, the foreword of Andrew Kimbrells book, The
Human Body Shop, Harper Collins, San Francisco, 1993.
144
History tells us especially from Western civilization that
we as humans are the center of the universe. From this stand-
point, human research and knowledge is directed outward;
we manipulate, even mistreat everything from our centric
human position. Lately, our outward intention has gener-
ated crisis besides benefits; looking inward became a trend,
reaching back to our body as a great unknown myth. The
material and substantial world is authenticity and priority;
human knowledge is always secondary to it.
Since 1988, I turned my artistic focus on the human body
and its primal substance. The first series of artwork is under
the title of Oedipus Refound. Within this series, Ive cho-
sen particular human body materials with highly charged
cultural and political taboos. While I understand that any
kind of artistic medium has no unique identity today, by el-
evating the human body material, it has been my intent to
transcend it to an extreme global level. Oedipus Refound
#1: the Enigma of Blood was a collaboration involving
60women from 16countries. Each woman contributed her
used sanitary tampons and napkins from 1 months cycle
with her deeply personal writings in terms of her issues re-
garding menstruation. This piece has generated astonishing
and thought-provoking controversies; it also crosses civili-
zational borders, as people have described it as hitting the
core of human existence.24 Following #1 is Oedipus Re-
found #2, Enigma of Birth and Oedipus Refound #3, Enigma
beyond Joy and Sin.25 Using whole human placenta as well
as the placenta ground as powder (collected through a friend
working in a maternity hospital in China), I categorized them
into normal, abnormal, aborted, and stillborn placenta and
pure placenta powders. These pieces narrate a polarized mul-
ticultural concern; the use of this material addresses highly
charged issues in the west, but in china, its significance be-
comes elevated as the placenta is a precious, medicinal tonic.
Unlike the use of other impersonal materials, human sub-
stance in itself is rich cultural and symbolic connotations.
As such, not only does it refer to the work as signifier but is
itself the signified. 26
I wrote about the Oedipus Refound series in 1991.
These works are dedicated to her, him, us, and our times. The
Oedipus myth is one of the most representative ancient alle-
24
The original title of this work was Two Thousand Natural Deaths
at Hatley Martin Gallery, San Francisco, 1990, curated by Dr. Peter
Selz and Ms. Katherine Cook. It has been exhibited at Hong Kong Arts
Centre, Hanart Gallery in Hong Kong, Museum of Contemporary Art at
Sydney, Melbourne International Festival 1992, Western Art Gallery of
Australia, the Artists, Lodz, Poland, Vancouver Art Gallery.
25 It has been exhibited at Modern Art Museum Oxford, England; Main
Gallery of University of Rhode Island, Ise Art Foundation Gallery, Al-
ternative Museum, New York City, Wexner Center for the Arts, US;
Kroller-Muller Museum, the Netherlands.
26 Johnson Chang, The Other Face, Asian Art News, July/August,
1995, pp.4143, Hong Kong.
Appendix B: The Divine Comedy of Our Times
gories about our being, nature, and knowledge. These pieces
intend to define us: we are the modern Oedipus, caught in
the chaos of the modern enigma. From our blind indulgence
since ancient times, we are still looking, our knowledge is
still extending, and the chaotic enigma of the modern Oedi-
pus still continues.
Since 1989, the concept of this series utilizes special
human body materials as the subject basis. Pure human body
materials have no element of visual or linguistic illusion in
themselves. They are the antithesis of art as object exhibited
in the museums and galleries. They are as real as the people
who look at them and therefore can penetrate us with a deep
sense of spiritual presence. Therefore I call them, silent-
selves. Each type of human body material that I use in the
work passes an unusual deconstruction process; because of
this, I also call it, post-life.
The concept of the thinking body as opposed to the
thinking mind deconstructs and abstracts the human body
material from the normal system of the body. This has pro-
found implications on the notion of essence of body and
essence of spirituality as well as challenging our ideas re-
garding birth and death. My working methods invade and
transcend the silent selves and post-life beyond conven-
tion, morality, mortality, religion, and civilization on the
whole.
Aside from social, political, sexual, and religious con-
siderations, the art historical significance lies in my elimi-
nation of representation in art. Art history has traditionally
been about an object represented through a medium, whereas
in my investigations of this concept, the only materials that
escape the notion of the art historical object are the human
bodies. Human nature is the ultimate and only subject in
the universe.
To speak of Gus work strictly as a metaphor for body
politics would be telling only half of the story. For himas
for Kiki Smith, Lorna Simpson, Robert Goberthe body
is certainly a battleground. Yet, in his work, the combatant
strategy is concealed from us. For all its emphasis on con-
temporary debates, this art retains a rich, non-polemical am-
biguity. Gu uses body material both as subject and medium,
whereas Kiki Smith whose art has often been mentioned
in relation to his, works with non-body materials to evoke
human formshowever, by selecting actual bodily growth,
Gu escapes the traditional artistic practice of using a medium
solely as a vehicle to convey representation.27
It is tempting to relate Gus projects in this vein to those
of the many other contemporary artists who have chosen the
human body as the focus of their work. Yet the artist sees
significant differences between what he called his materi-
27 Danielle Chang, United NationsAmerican Division, United Na-
tionsAmerican Division, catalogue, Space Untitled, New York City,
1995.
Appendix B: The Divine Comedy of Our Times
al-analysis and the approach of Kiki Smith, for example,
who has replicated body parts in inanimate materials such
as bronze or porcelain and made reference to body fluids
without using the fluids themselves. Gus work, however, is
composed of real physical substances that almost retain the
warmth of the human body, relates an individuals story
in his or her own way. When the viewers enter the carefully
arranged and situated spaces of Gus installations, they can
perhaps hear the call of each animate individual and become
involved with him or her psychologically, and even physi-
cally. The separation and opposition between subject and ob-
ject melts in the shared experience of viewers and those who
contributed the original material, and in the shared identity
of the physical and psychological, and spiritual.28
Els van der Plas explained, Five cradles were lined on
the bottom with different kinds of placenta powder. A glass
plate protected the inside of the cradle from curious fingers.
The middle cradle, which contains no powder, displayed a
sign with the message that this baby was aborted; a rather
shocking statement. With the empty cradle, symbolizing
death, and with the placenta powder, Wenda confronted the
visitor with the conflicts between nature and artificial soci-
ety.
The placenta powder as well as the hair are in a way ex-
crement, in the sense that they come from the body.The vul-
nerability of these human substances and at the same time
the association with violence (showing hair without a body)
harassed the visitors and made them recognise their own na-
kedness.
Wenda applied the medicine which is made from giving
birth.The concept of the cycles of life was also presented
by symbols of giving birth, dying and burying. 29
As every national monument in UNITED NATIONS
project is a large scale architectural work constructed by
pure local human hair, each work requires huge amounts
of shorn hair. A long period of time is needed to collect the
local hair; the process usually involves the participation of
about 2040 barbershops over a 3- to 4month duration. This
specific working process provides a concept: the mountains
of human waste are transformed into local cultural monu-
ments. When the local audience and I are before the hair
monuments, it is as if the waste material is reincarnated with
human spirituality.
There is a fascinating effect that creates a psychological
and physical impact when amounts of human hair become
solid hair bricks, hair curtain walls, and hair carpets, and so
on. It is an absolute process of reincarnation: from body
waste to bio/cultural monument. In Stockholm, the con-
28 Zhou Yan, Wenda Gus Oedipus, the catalogue of the exhibition
Fragmented Memory, Wexner Center for the Arts, Ohio, US, 1993.
29
Els van der Plas, Heart of Darkness, Art and Asia Pacific, Vol.2,
No.3, 1995, pp.118119, Australia.
145
temporary center for art and architecture will use a local fac-
torys facilities to produce human hair products. Imagine the
process: living peoples outgrowth goes through inanimate
machines to be pressed, toasted, and cut into hair
bricks and carpets forms. I feel the concept goes beyond our
languages capacity to define its precise meanings. It is far
deeper than simply body recycling or casting the human
soul into hair bricks or hair carpets. This strange com-
bination of real human substances processed by manmade
machines makes the traditional art mediums such as wood,
metal, stone, and so on. seem much less expressive to say the
least. I call it, absolute body obsession.
The human body myth is as equally infinite as the univer-
sal myth. Hence, the priority of human body material itself
is a signifier that does not necessarily need languages assis-
tance to convey certain meanings as most inhuman materials
do. When human body materials are reincarnated as an art
creation, the significance comes from the inside of the body
materials. The difference between using human body materi-
als and inhuman objects creates opposing definitions: inter-
nal versus external.The human body materials internal
definition parallels the viewers psychological and physi-
cal conditions. When viewers behold the works with human
body materials, they are literally encountering themselves.
On the contrary, inhuman objective materials are inherently
distanced from viewers. This psychological and physical
gap therefore needs linguistic assistance to bridge the gap
between the object and subject, between inhuman objective
material and the viewing audience.
From this point of view, we could clarify and reexamine
some definitions of minimal and conceptual art. Minimal-
isms objective materialism is often described as a kind of
transcendence, because of its distance from the human
being. But why should a piece of wood or metal be given the
linguistic label of transcendence? Historically, the defini-
tion of transcendence is applied to certain human activities
and states of psychological being. The use of objective mate-
rial that is other than human should not therefore necessarily
imply transcendence.
We clearly see that conceptual art created a linguistic
chaos over the objective material self, internal definition.
It is too easy to say (as we often hear from artists) that I use
this material to represent this or that. Suddenly, one single
material becomes everything. The fact is when a viewer
looks at a conceptual piece without reading the inventors
explanation, he/she probably cannot readily grasp the inven-
tors manipulated idea. The problem is the mismatch of ma-
terials internal definition and external definition (given
meaning).
There is a metaphysical story in ancient China: Two
young Buddhist monks were arguing about a moving flag.
One of them said: The flag is moving by the wind. The
other disagreed and said: I dont think so. The flag is mov-
146
ing by itself. They couldnt come to a conclusion. There
came an old monk who listened to their arguments and said:
Both of you are wrong. Because your mind are moving,
therefore the flag is moving! The conclusion is that it does
not matter how many reasons explain the flags movement
and which one is correct. The essence is that these three par-
ties all agree that the flag is moving.
This meaningful story tells us: the Minimalist is close to
these two little monks, which is materialism; the conceptual-
ist is similar to the old monk with idealism. But they both ig-
nored the essence that is not the flag but the moving. The
conceptualist tries to move the flag (object) by his or
her own perception, which the flag (object) doesnt have
itself. The Minimalist tries to eliminate peoples perception
(movement) from the object (flag) he/she uses, but the object
(flag) itself does not have its own move to qualify what
the Minimalist wants which is transcendence. Hence, we
clearly see that the Minimalist and conceptualist are right in
the unsolvable predicaments in terms of materials and their
perceptions either from the inside or outside.
The human body material stands out as privileged. It
(flag) is itself the signifier (move). As it is human, it has
no predicament of being in between audience perception
(movement from outside), and its own perception (its own
movement).
In addition as to how I have already stated the concept of
using the human body material, I feel it is privileged in yet
another way. I constantly have a battle with our ready made
knowledge, our convention. I discussed this controversy
in a letter regarding my installation, Oedipus Refound #3:
Enigma beyond Joy and Sin. The following is an excerpt:
Talking about the cruelty of the work, I certainly disagree
with you. The placenta has been used and continue to be used
in the West for commercial products such as make-up. Cru-
elty and warmth are mere expressions of the artistic value of
a work and of human existence. Nobody criticizes the Greek
writer Sophocles as a cruel person because he created the
tragedy Oedipus the King. Nowadays, no well cultured per-
son would criticize or react against Shakespeare for having
written tragedies like Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, Othello,
as cruelty is a structural part of human nature, before and
beyond any moralistic judgment. I suppose you well know
that there is no evil without good. Such a kind of intellectual
or emotional separation is artificial, it is just an illusion. Try-
ing to avoid, not to see, not to recognize it, becomes struc-
turally a sort of deviation from the understanding of human
beings natural process of life, and it is, in the end, a kind of
expression of spiritual weakness and cowardice, as well as of
a one-sided and restricted approach to life. This attitude be-
comes also a denial of the relativity of any so called truth or
value, and it is in itself unnatural, that is to say contradict-
ing nature in itselfSophocles and Shakespeare are actually
rightly respected as passionate persons loving life, knowl-
Appendix B: The Divine Comedy of Our Times
edge and insightfully able to express human existence, mis-
understanding and blindness, while representing human
cruelty as a natural and structural element in life.30
The human body material contains enormous meanings
and myth. The metaphor concerns birth, death, and all the
enigmatic, unsolved questions in life. The discovery of using
human body material in art unveiled the edges between our
shocking reality and conventional knowledge, which have
created a particular reality we believe in, the illusionistic
readymade values and faiths.
As a striking result of the Oedipus Refound series deep
involvement with human body materials, I have found my-
self in the position of being a strong defendant of our real-
ity, without believing in illusionistic values and transposed
faiths. It has often been rejected by current political correct-
ness. The responses the works receive are usually ones of
great extremes such as hate or love; either the audience
leaves with exceptional inner impressions or difficult con-
flicts. We can clearly see that an audience may rediscov-
er many issues and pose many questions; I too ask many
questions that remain unanswered enigmatically by me and
my viewing audience. A challenge can provoke a shock-
ing response if it contains intelligence and deliberation;
this shocking phenomenon evolves from various sources,
which is the shockings essence, while shocking is actu-
ally only the phenomenon.
The confrontation of enormous enigmatic connotations
in the human body material itself (the internal definition)
and the intense reactions, elaborations, and misunderstand-
ings from the viewing public (external definition) give rise
to an enigmatic complex between consciousness and uncon-
sciousness, which almost becomes an unsolvable predica-
ment. Because of the human body products beauty, sensitiv-
ity, fearful relation to the viewer, the call of birth and death,
the fright of being waste material, the overall reactions to
this work ranges from severe repulsion and disgust to
puzzling queries, then ultimately, it is us.
The appreciation, interpretation of a piece of art from
the centric human being, from looking out from the objec-
tive universe to looking in on ourselves brings about deep
misunderstandings, which is what mankinds knowledge is
all about.there is battle.there is conviction..which we
apply to ourselves.
Hair-itagevast human hair ocean merges universal
identity for UNITED NATIONS project UNITED NATIONS
art project is committed to a single human body material-
pure human hair. Hair is a signifier and metaphor extremely
rich in history, civilization, science, ethnicity, timing, even
economics. Along the projects diverse journey, it brings one
single nations identity (one national monumental work) to
30 Wenda Gu, A Letter to Wexner Center for the Arts, 1993.
Appendix B: The Divine Comedy of Our Times
multi-nations identities (as many as twenty national monu-
ments works) to human universal identity (unified national
monuments for the final ceremony of UNITED NATIONS
project).
This human body outgrowth or waste throughout
UNITED NATIONS project becomes the great human hair-
itage.31 It becomes a geo/national/cultural identity melting
pot.
Following are excerpts from various articles on UNITED
NATIONS project about hair in different historical, cultural,
ethnic, and religious contexts:
from Samson to Freud has known. Power is inher-
ent in those slender outgrowths of the epidermis, those pig-
mented filaments that are among the most animalistic and
intimate elements of the human body. Not all hair is pubic,
but as psychoanalysts well know, the most innocuous remark
about beard, mustache, or hairstyle is a loaded and coded
comment from which can be deciphered all manner of infor-
mation about libido, superego, and sexuality. Hair can be a
signifier not only of virility and femininity but of race, eth-
nicity and age. And as history can attestfrom the pigtail
of Chinas final dynasty to the powdered wig in monarchist
France, from the military crew-cut to the rebellious hippie
mane or the militant afro, from the punk Mohawk to skin-
head hairlessnesshow we style our scalps has since time
immemorial singled allegiances and complicities in the po-
litical and spiritual realms.32
Like teeth and nails, hair remains intact after it is sepa-
rated from the human body. Alone, each hair strand contains
enough DNA to unlock our individual genetic makeup. Like
a fingerprint, it can be held as evidence at the scene of a
crime.33
Hair is symbolically and metaphorically representative
of a multiplicity of significances. It can tell about the subjec-
tive dimension of the individual, but it is also a decipherable
expression of his or her role, position, and function in the
interconnected historical, social, ideological, religious and
cultural, as well as ethnic or nationalist, modernist-revolu-
tionary or traditional-conformist contexts.
Hairs most ancient (and at the same time current) signifi-
cant symbolic value lies maybe in its peculiar representative
nature of the individual vital force and spirituality, according
to a very ancient psycho-physical maxim. Not accidentally,
it has often been connected to the grass, its growth, and the
31
James Servin, Global Hairballs: Sculptures Celebrate Culture of
Nations, The Associated Press, April 1995, New York City.
32 Kim Levin, Splitting Hairs: Wenda Gus Primal Projects and Mate-
rial Misunderstandings, United NationsItalian Division catalogue,
Enrico Gariboldi Arte Contemporanea, Milan, Italy, 1994.
33 Danielle Chang, United NationsAmerican Division, United Na-
tionsAmerican Division, catalogue, Space Untitled, New York City,
1995.
147
earths creative power. Therefore, this purely organic ele-
ment becomes a metaphor of the spirit, able to embody the
spirit in itself.
Its flowing length, above all in some cultures labeled as
primitive and uncivilized, is once again, expression of spiri-
tual freedom, assertion of subjective and cultural identity
(for instance, in the case of the native American), of human
vital force. Hair was and still is someway considered as the
location of the soul.
Saints locks are considered as holy relics, they are wor-
shiped and accurately preserved by the Catholic Church.
If the hair is shorn or cut it implies renunciation and sacri-
fice, its free growth historically had the significance of asser-
tion of power and superiority, of royalty, as well as, in other
cultures and other historical ages, that of refusal of social
limits and laws constituting the state organization (American
Hippies and Beatniks).
it can be an allusion to the power of the main question
concerning the enigma of birth and death, probably shared
by the same mankind with a universe created by the explo-
sion known as the big bang and destined to die, according
to the law of entropy. 34
The real power of UNITED NATIONS art project is that
it is not only an artistic representation, it embodies living
peoples presence through this hair wall.
Delving into diverse cultures, capturing national iden-
tities profoundness at the final ceremony of UNITED
NATIONS Once upon a time there was an old man who
desired to remove a high mountain. He told this to his wife
and children. They laughed at him and said, How could this
be possible? Are you crazy?! The old man said, It is pos-
sible. We shovel one piece after one piece, day by dayyear
by year we will continue to shovel. After awhile, the moun-
tain will become smaller and smaller. If we cant finish, our
grandchildren will continue generation after generation.
No matter how high the mountain is, it must be removed
This is an ancient fable from Chinese folklore.
In the beginning of 1993, I decided to act upon my ideas
concerning this UNITED NATIONS art project. I felt its re-
alization could be a profound symbol of our new global bio/
geo culture in our present historical moment. I would not
be satisfied to simply collect hair from different parts of the
world and then complete the project. I unconsciously knew
there were greater depths to explore. In the spring of that
year, an intriguing idea came to me; I would make national
divisional monuments in many strategic countries around the
world and then unify them in a final ceremony of UNITED
NATIONS project.
34Monique Sartor, United Nations, United NationsItaly Division,
catalog, Enrico Gariboldi Arte Contemporanea, Milan, Italy, 1994.
148
This deliberation brought about a conceptual strategic
method; I believe that a strong methodology is a binding
hinge to any project. From this framework, I have a clear
working structure allowing me to build national divisional
monuments throughout this 7-year process. These individual
monuments are the bio/geo/historical culture signifiers to
UNITED NATIONS project. This concept constantly pres-
ents confrontations with diverse local people and their psy-
cho/physical histories and cultures. With the national events
intense multiplicity in terms of phenomenological issues, it
is hardly a conceivable contingency with bio/geo culture in
the making. That is why I use this Chinese fable; the chal-
lenge and the inspiration are the elevations of my ability. The
contingent difficulties are integral parts of the conception. At
times, I am breathless thinking about how I will shape these
national monuments in such diverse civilizations, which
have inspired me since the beginning of my artistic career.
This work relies heavily on the assistance of uncountable
local barbershops, government authorities, local art and cul-
tural institutions, and local hands. Because of the non-
commercial nature of this project, politicking and cutting
through red tape is integral to Gu arduous working process.
Administration, planning and collecting are fundamental to
the projects significanceas in the work of Christo or Ann
Hamilton. (There is no source information for this quota-
tion in the original text.Zhou Yan)
UNITED NATIONSPolish Division: Hospitalized
History Museum
The Polish Division was not officially under the title of
UNITED NATIONS project; it was my first attempt at realiz-
ing the concept. It was part of an international art exhibition
entitled, IVth Construction in Process, which took place in
1993 in Lodz. This division was sponsored by The Artists
Museum and The History Museum of Lodz. This installation
questioned our manmade history. It was my interpretation
that the artificial history should be hospitalized, with its
mental significance being called into question. As hair can
be thought of as a kind of metaphor for the human brain,
its use in this regard seemed very appropriate. It wasnt until
after I had developed this concept that I discovered that Lodz
has the largest Jewish cemetery in the world, being a city
that had Nazi concentration camps. This immediately com-
pounded the projects gravity.
I blanketed the museums beautiful giant lobby and grand
staircases full of antiques, books, and classical statues with
white blankets from the beds of local mental hospitals. And
I placed four actual beds, two in the main lobby and two on
the staircase landings, covered with white blankets; then I
scattered snippets of human hair collected from local bar-
bershops all over the white blankets. This image provoked
such an intense visual and conceptual impact. Some of the
women in the audience almost cried as they stood before the
work. The entire interior was completely transformed with
Appendix B: The Divine Comedy of Our Times
the massive hair display. Due to the enormous associations
which the work conjured, however, this installation lasted
less than 24hours and had to be dismantled immediately
after the opening night. In retrospect, it was a pivotal piece.
Ms. Kim Levin explained, The director of the museum,
which was once a Jewish mill owners home, interpreted
Gus installation too provocative as a comment on the citys
history
UNITED NATIONSItalian Division: God and Chil-
dren
This show of a pure Italian hair temple took place in the
fall of 1994 after more than 6months of hair collection from
many parts of Italy including Milans hair fashion school and
Italian military bases in Venice. It required an entire summer
to construct the temple in Venice and then it was exhibited
in Milan. Curated by Italian art and cultural critic, Monique
Sartor, and supported by Enrico Gariboldi Arte Comtem-
poranea, it was the first official national monument created
under the title of UNITED NATIONS.
This will remain one of the most important national mon-
uments not only because it was the beginning of UNITED
NATIONS project, but also, from an historical and cultural
point of view, all Caucasian civilization can probably be
traced back to Roman roots. Moreover, as the center of the
dominant Catholic church, the creation of a temple here be-
comes all the more poignant.
The hair is a rich multi-signifier in this giant hair temple.
In the center place of the installation, I constructed a meta-
morphic Roman column, which was hollow on the inside, of
pure Italian hair. On the floor inside of the column, I scattered
hair taken from the heads of the inhabitants of the Vatican.
In front of the column, I created a large Italian hair garden
using solid hair bricks, carpets, and hair rocks dominating
this central space. The architectural hair temple conveyed a
sense of a holy, sacrificial altar. Under the lights, the whole
installation became translucent. A symmetrical composition
is always my approach, as it suggests a kind of presence of
infinity, eternity, and tranquility. So, on one hand, the mas-
sive pure hair structure created a fearful feeling in the audi-
ence, while on the other, these enlightened, translucent hair
walls and curtains, as they roamed and hovered, elicited a
sense of human spirituality. Some Italian viewers said that
Italian people should kneel down in front of this Italian hair
monument, which was a wonderful and authentic represen-
tation. The responses from the Milan audience brought to
my attention a significant point of view. Although I am the
creator of this local monument, at the same time, I remain a
constant stranger to all the local races and their histories and
cultures. This brings up a unique psychological complex:
when the local audience is proud of my efforts regarding
their race and its legacy, I receive absolute admiration and
praise. At the same time, however, they see me as a foreign
intruder, which automatically distances me from them, there-
Appendix B: The Divine Comedy of Our Times
by setting up my efforts as an attack upon something that is
their own. Thus, this psychological complex puts the local
audience, my work, and I in a very strange alienated triad
in which all three parties become unidentifiable otherness.
This alienated otherness is indefinable, and definitely dif-
ferent than the otherness from hierarchical, new interna-
tionalism, which put all kinds of internationalized regional
cultural phenomenon under the category of otherness and
treats it otherwise. This unidentifiable alienated otherness
is stimulated solely by the national divisional monuments.
First of all, athough every national monument is built on the
basis of the pure hair of one race within its historical and
cultural context, it is constructed by an outsider, the work
becomes something else which is neither my own nor of the
local audience. Because of this, the work distances itself
from its own local audience and of course although I created
it, it is not my own. This significant unidentifiable alien-
ated otherness is not only the bio/geo/cultural otherness,
it is more a psychological space over the so-called bio/geo/
cultural alienation and otherness. This unique psychological
space made from the national monuments is exactly what I
predicted and hoped to create. It symbolizes our multiplicity
in a bio/geo/cultural psychological space rather than a physi-
cal one.
UNITED NATIONSDutch Division: V.O.C.-W.I.C.
The Dutch Division was completed under special circum-
stances. It was part of an important international exhibition
Heart of Darkness organized by KrollerMuller Museum in
the Netherlands at the end of 1994. The aim of this show was
to focus on artists who are geographical and cultural expa-
triates. Thus UNITED NATIONS Dutch monument took on
double meaning.
As the Netherlands is the first colonizing country in the
world, I took its colonial history as the point of reference
for the project. The subject matter was also the title of the
Dutch monument: V.O.C.-W. I.C. These are the initials of
two historically known Dutch overseas shipping companies:
United West-Indian Company & United East-Indian Com-
pany. Placed in a long hallway that bridged the museums
contemporary collection with its Impressionist collection,
this site-specific installation was constructed using the boat
as a metaphor. I created pure Dutch hair walls, hair sails, and
a hair carpet, which was mixed with torn pages of Dutch co-
lonial history books and represented the bottom of the boat.
In the center of this hallway boat, two hair rooms on either
side could be seen. Resembling aerial views of the natural
Dutch landscape, these rooms became human hair maps of
the human landscape. It was a little disconcerting for local
audience to walk on the hair carpet. Satisfying ones curi-
osity required stepping on a work of art as well as their
own historical heritage. And existing between a Seurat and a
Robert Ryman, its context was bold and strange creating an
overall radical impression.
149
UNITED NATIONSIsrael Division: The Jews
In April1995, in the desert of Mitzpe Ramon, Israel, I
completed the Israeli monument. The project led to a nation-
al controversy throughout the whole of Israel. It is a perma-
nent land art piece, which joined an international art event
entitled, V Construction in Process.
As human hair is associated with so many historical ref-
erences, the use of Jewish hair for the project was the most
difficult one of all. I knew I would face tremendous prob-
lems as using the Jews hair would conjure the tragic and
unforgettable memories of the unparalleled Nazi atrocities of
the Second World War. And as it just so happened, the fiftieth
anniversary of the end of the war brought these miserable
memories to the forefront of the nations consciousness at
this point in time.
The great contributions and achievements by the Jews
have influenced the entire world from the Old Testament to
this centurys most influential figures like Marx, Freud, and
Einstein. In doing this project, it was my intent to contrast
the negative historical associations and convince the people
and event organizers of the more encompassing notions of
hair (in this case as signifier of intelligence), and thereby
lessen their concentration on the hair in reference only to
this historical tragedy. Although this event would be prob-
lematic, I felt that UNITED NATIONS project could not be
completely realized without addressing the Jewish nations
heritage.
The controversy happened right after I sent the proposal
to the art event organizer in Tel Aviv. My proposal imme-
diately appeared in many national newspapers. A group of
local people banded together and protested against me doing
the piece. I was co-interviewed over the phone by a journal-
ist from Haifa City even before I left to do the work. Also in-
terviewed were various important museum directors, poets.
and the art event organizer. The article made front page head-
lines and four pages of coverage in a national newspaper. As
a result, when I arrived at Tel Aviv airport, I was told that my
project had been brought before the Israeli Parliament. What
a shock for me! On one side, I was facing a serious burden;
on the other side, I needed to hold to my belief that human
hair is the closest material to the presence of mankind in art.
The first several days were uneasy for me. After a half
hour discussion on the most popular radio station between
the chairperson of the Israeli Parliament and the art event
director, the project got the full support from the people and
the Parliament. It was a great emotional moment for me.
From then on, people gave me their support when I walked
in the streets and in the airport.
The desert of Mitzpe Ramon has the largest crater in the
world. I was amazed and inspired by the desert myth and its
spirit just being there. The mysterious lights in the morning
and late evening, the endless desert and its horizon elevated
my spirit.
150
The Jewish hair and the Jerusalem pink limestone consti-
tuted this piece. The pink limestone is a symbol of the spirit
of this land; the entire city is built on it. The project is com-
posed of pure Jewish hair, which covered 30 pink limestones
(4 tons each) lined up on top of the desert hill. It seems an
apt metaphor for the people who live on this land. Close-up,
it clearly represents the fragility of human life as the delicate
wisps of hair contrast the massive strength of the steadfast
stones. Seen from afar, from the foot of the desert hill, it
takes on the character as an ancient historical site.
Psychologically and emotionally, the Israeli monument
has been the most complicated of the national monuments
so far. It not only involved the issues of being regional
and other to the local culture as an outsider; it also brought
about great sympathy, sensibility, and tragic memory.
UNITED NATIONSAmerican Division: Post-cmoel-
letniinaglpiostm
The American divisional monument is the most diverse
one in terms of multiplicity of history, culture ethnicity,
and society. It reflects a half-year period of hair collection
throughout New York City, Minnesota, San Francisco, and
Rhode Island to cover all of the major ethnic groups.
The title, Post-cmoelletniinaglpiostm, is synthesized from
two words: melting pot and colonialism. It represents and if they knew it was being given away they felt that they
the two faces of America: the diversity of its culture and eth-
nicity and its imperialistic nature. The monument combined
pure American hair into a giant flag: The National Flag
of Post-America. This ideal future American national flag is
composed of equal quantities of pure hair from Native, Cau-
casian, Black, Latino, and Asian Americans. These American
ethnic hairs are equally distributed in five horizontal stripes
and one big star with hair of each race comprising one of the
five angles. This huge National Flag of Post-America is
designed from a rectangular proportion of the Golden Sec-
tion from ancient Greece, the most historically recognized
harmonious and aesthetic rectangle. This is how I perceive
the future of Americaa rebirth of a nation and a new civi-
lization which has never before existed in world history. Let
us say this Post-American flag is not a prediction but rather a
predetermination by a reality with a unique history, culture,
and people. Cultural intermixing is, of course, not a new phe-
nomenon; it has been taking place for centuries. But we can
foresee a brave new race and an unprecedented civilization
being generated by this multiplicity of intermixing races,
which is revolutionizing mankinds origins. I discuss this
issue further in the next chapter.
The American monument again reflects a massive multi-
plicity as a biological sacrificial altar made up by an exten-
sive circular hair wall. Its interior and central floor area was a
melting pot constructed by solid hair bricks. The inside of
the hair brick circle was brightly enlightened by mixed races
shorn hair under a high, hollow hair column, like imaginary
hair fire. It was surrounded by a small area of only native
Appendix B: The Divine Comedy of Our Times
American hair. There were four pure-race hair carpets from
the central hair melting pot toward each of the four doors
on the hair circle wall; these carpets were compromised of
Caucasian, Black, Latino, and Asian hair.
One cultural critic described the American monument as
American hair-itage. Many from the viewing audience
said the hair wall was an American ethnical map and sev-
eral viewers cut their hair to this hair melting pot during
this exhibition. I could see therefore that the audience not
only appreciated it but became actively involved with the
installation. Afterward, I earned a lively nickname; some
people called me the hair man when they saw me walking
in the streets.
Collecting American hair brought about a rare situation
quite different from the haircollecting process in other coun-
tries. It provided a firsthand experience to the highly litigious
nature that is particular to the US. My efforts were rejected
several times as I attempted to collect hair in a provincial
town in Connecticut during the summer of 1994 while I was
a resident in the Art Omi program. The barbers looked at
me and my assistants very curiously and then said that they
were not supposed to give hair to me for the use of an art
project. They said that the hair was their customers privacy,
could be held legally accountable. There have been so many
barbershops that I have approached in different countries
around the world and these people have been very enthusi-
astic about the project I am creating. I immediately perceive
this attitude as a social phenomenon in the US that goes way
beyond normality. It is a little incident, but I feel it offers a
clear glimpse of the society as a whole.
UNITED NATIONSthe realization of other national
monuments
As the whole project moves on with five completed na-
tional monuments, it has gained wide coverage on interna-
tional and national TV and radio stations, newspapers and
magazines. It becomes more and more significant through
the completion of each national monument in different coun-
tries. I gratefully thank the many cultural institutions and
barbershops around the world that have given their enor-
mous support, as well as individuals like Monique Sartor and
Danielle Chang, who organized and curated the Italian and
American monuments.
The following are the national monuments that are being
developed: the Swedish, Russian, British, Chinese, and
Spanish monuments. The rest of the monuments that I hope
to realize before the year 2000 are: Egypt, Greece, Mexico,
Australia, South Africa, India, Germany, and France.
Brave mankindbrave new world UNITED NATIONS art
project is brought to the historical moment The location of
the final ceremony for UNITED NATIONS art project
Appendix B: The Divine Comedy of Our Times
In 1993, Time magazine's cover story proclaimed that, Our
colors are changing. In 1994, Time once again predicted,
A rebirth of a nation, with a female portrait on the cover
generated from a mix of several races: Middle Eastern,
Italian, African, Vietnamese, Anglo-Saxon, Chinese and
Hispanic, telling the story of How immigrants are shap-
ing the worlds first multicultural society: The new race of
America.
From a California Buddhist temple to New Yorks Statue
of Liberty; from Chinatown to Disneyland; from Harlem to
Miami the multi-bio/geo/cultural integration has been
created and is creating a new brave race in the world, in man-
kinds history.
New York City is conceptually the ideal location where
I hope to finalize the ceremony of this art project UNITED
NATIONS. The following is the analysis of UNITED NA-
TIONS project final ceremonys location.
Rewriting the definition of America
American
Migration has shaped America. Six thousand years ago,
native Americans migrated to this wilderness from Asia
across Siberia. Christopher Columbus brought Euro-Cauca-
sian settlements to this wonderland. The African slaves have
influenced American cultureAmerican black culture. The
Chinese built American railroads etc This legendary land
has become a dream full of hope, chance, and bio/geo/cul-
tural conflicts, a dream without precedent in mankinds his-
tory. Following are two astonishing numbers: the American
Norwegian population is larger than the population in Nor-
way and the population in the Netherlands is smaller than
the American Dutch. Biological intermixing is far more au-
thentic and essential than multi-cultural exchange. The defi-
nition of American in the future will not be a singleraced
identity. Being an American in the future will be a brave new
racial identity. This will be an astonishing future reality that
requires multi-centered, gradual, bio-intermixing time. But
it becomes more and more predictable. The otherness,
the races will eventually be melted into a bio pot of fu-
ture America. To be an American will be a mirror of all the
worlds races, civilizations, and histories. When I was creat-
ing the American monument of the UNITED NATIONS, I
clearly heard a call of the harmony, conflicts, territories, and
boundaries among races. This was a unique touching feel-
ing that I did not have with other national hair monuments.
Because it is so dense in ethnicity, so intense in cultural dia-
logs, I feel it is the epitome of the whole UNITED NATIONS
project.
American History
I have often been told, America has no history wherev-
er I was in Italy, China, France, and so on. The classical defi-
nition of the word history is a geographical region and its
living species within a given time length. This definition of
history from the dictionary is inappropriate for the defini-
151
tion of American History. Every single person who immi-
grated to America brought his or her own history with them.
The American history includes all the regional histories of
this world; it is based on time/geo/bio pluralism.
American Civilization
The other critical word I have also often heard is that
Americans are not civilized because they simply have no
history and civilization. As a matter of fact, when an Italian
says this it means that he or she ignores millions of Ameri-
can Italians who have been living in America. If a Chinese
says this to me, I will strongly defend that the Chinese have
brought to American civilization 6000years of civilization.
I am a Chinese who is living in New York City; what I think
and what I do eventually reveals my own cultural legacy.
After all, the history of American immigration has
changed and continues to change the classical definition of
America from the dictionary. In fact, despite what prob-
lems America is facing on the domestic front and abroad
without precedent in world history, and despite its imperial-
istic penchant, all races are intensely experiencing bio/geo/
cultural interaction, integration, separation, and conflict as
no other people have experienced on this planet. As an in-
stallation artist, I have traveled through many parts of the
world. Wherever I go with my art creations, I clearly sense
that I have been an outsider in the locale; whatever I do and
exhibit, it is otherness in the national locale. But in Amer-
ica, I find a part of me is connected to it, because for a long
historical period of time, the Chinese have established their
roots in this wonderland; therefore I do not feel that I am a
total outsider. Plus the reality in America is all about outsid-
ers relating to one another. Let us say it is still a Euro-white-
dominant society. But the history, and the future perspectives
tell us that a brave new bio/geo culture will gradually be born
under the new definition of a word, America.
The global environment and referential thoughts to UNITED
NATIONS art projectWith the collapse of Communism,
capitalisms global success, and the booming of the Asian-
Pacific rims economy, the globe has been in the midst of
a great transition. Once again, we have learned a universal
truth: whichever economical, political and social theory,
structure and system is most advanced, will take over the
leadership of the world. Marxism as a theory presented to us
a beautiful and seductive Utopia, followed by Leninism and
Maoism that revisionized Marxism into the practice of real-
ity. Its outcome was dictatorship and economical chaos.On
the contrary, capitalisms global success has been based on
economic objective laws, and overall, follows human nature
which desires a better life. Capitalisms universal success
was predictable and is inevitable.In the Cold War and Post-
Cold War era, capitalism has been developed to its imperial-
istic peaks led by the United States of America.
152
On the other side of the world, in the Asia Pacific region,
there is China with its economy drastically reforming while
still acknowledging 6000years of ancient civilization. With
these regional cultures building on their own history and
learning from the West with absolute confidence and remark-
able economic progression, is it possible to discover a new
social structure that will be better and more advanced than
capitalism? Much to the chagrin of the West, there is current-
ly a potential economic/social/cultural/religious marriage on
the horizon between Islam and Confucianism. Could this
union bring about a new social structure that would radically
alter business as we know it?
In the post-modernist and post-colonialist era, both the
West and the East have been questioning, doubting, and re-
vising their past and present to adapt to the changing world,
to challenge white hierarchical internationalism, and rees-
tablish regional cultural identity.
In the West, Post-Modernism guided theoretical crisis by
doubting fundamental values and faith such as nation, his-
tory, and humanity since the Enlightenment. For a long pe-
riod of time, people believed science was a broad discipline
offering the only way to search for the truth; history could
be traced back according to these principles. Now, the fun-
damental truth is that science and philosophy find solutions
to support our desires; the theory of Relativity has brought
pluralism. In social practice, capitalism drives people by en-
couraging human desire and ego. The society in the West
is facing enormous problems: AIDS, the environment, abor-
tion, homosexuality, racism, feminism, unclear definitions of
masculinity, etc. Hence, there is a growing global criticism
toward capitalisms imperialistic invasion of other regions
and cultures in the world.
In the cultural field, there is growing selfawareness of re-
gionalism and otherness. Well aware that by not including
regionalism, you admit your weakness, the once complacent
white mainstream rushes to embrace a more inclusive strat-
egy promoting this new internationalism and otherness.
Thus, it has provided an extraordinary position for every-
one. The classical term of cultural interaction and integration
that is based upon clearly identical cultures is over. What we
are now facing is a contemporary paradox: on the one hand,
we are in a more accessible environment that means that
our world is getting smaller and so are our regions. On the
other hand, none of our existing cultures are singularly pure
after centuries of cultural exchange. Instead of exchanging
the more obvious elements such as language and style, ours
is now one of a more psychological condition in which the
more complex racial, gender, political, and social parameters
are in the bargaining.
However, in the West, there is a clear awareness and at-
tention to this great shift of cultural identities and its region-
alism; it has been an inevitable reality. By responding to the
limitations of traditional Euro-hierarchical internationalism
Appendix B: The Divine Comedy of Our Times
in the post-modern era, the cultural institutions and theoreti-
cal systems in the West are utilizing unprecedented openness
in their attempts to include all that has happened as a result
of the Western colonizing ideology. Using self-criticism
as a device to benefit and underline its new progression and
aggression, the new internationalism has gradually accepted
otherness and is ready for identity and ethnicity to be
the next blockbusters. From Magiciens de la Terre (1989) to
the Whitney Biennale (1992), curators in major Western art
institutions have self-consciously positioned themselves as
agents of change within an ascendant discourse; their goal,
ostensibly, to intervene in the politics of representation and
thereby challenge the precepts of Modernism.35 Magiciens
de la Terre was heavily criticized for its curators miscom-
prehending and misselecting regional artists according to
their Western points of view of exoticism. At present, the
Queens Museum of Art is organizing an exhibition focus-
ing on third world conceptual art. Curators, however, will
be selected from all world regions to choose artists of their
own countries to prevent a biased selection of regional artists
from a single-minded, white perspective.
On the contrary, the imperialistic shadow over third world
countries that follows capitalisms global success induced a
generation of scholars both from the West but mainly from
the third world such as Edward Said, Jurgen Habermas, Pau-
line Hontoudji, and Gayatri C. Spivak with oppositional
criticism toward Post-Colonialism and capitalisms impe-
rialistic dark side. This has greatly influenced the current
trends of regionalism and all otherisms.
The global success of capitalism in a way leads to global
post-colonization. Or it can be said Post-Colonialism leads
to global capitalism.36 The reality is to say that the modern
West is not a geographical space rather it is more a psycho-
logical space; the modern West is in the West but its pres-
ence and ideology exist in the minds of the East.37 We could
illustrate this by one example out of thousands. China has
been building many new Suzhou Gardens, precisely imi-
tating the traditional style. But besides its traditional look,
the new Suzhou Garden is a capitalized idea no different
than American Disneyland whose aim is to make money
from entertaining the pop culture instead of the traditional
reason, which was to provide a beautiful, contemplative
garden park for the emperor and his royal family. (In fact,
Suzhou Gardens were built by and for wealthy merchants
instead of emperors and royal families.Zhou Yan)
35 Barbara Hunt and Susy Kerr, I am not What I am, New Observa-
tions 107, 1995, p.14, New York.
36Gayatri C. Spivak, the Politics of Subaltern, Socialist Review,
vol.23, 1990, p.94.
37 Ashis Nandy, The Intimate Enemy: Loss and Recovery of Self Under
Colonialism, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1983, p.xii. (As
footnote 17,this note has been moved from the text to the footnote sec-
tion.Zhou Yan)
Appendix B: The Divine Comedy of Our Times
The above example could also apply to what has been
happening in cultural and artistic events particularly in the
Asia-Pacific region. After a long period of looking to the
modern West for goals to help establish global recognition,
the realization of unsatisfied (national) self-desires coupled
with the loss of cultural self-identities became apparent. So,
with westernized minds, these regional events began the
attempt of looking inward. The situation, however, is that no
matter how many schools of theories or how many artistic
styles arise, they still become localized western Modernism.
These phenomena are the mixture of either local traditional
formats combined with modern western ideology or regional
classical concepts mixed with western modern style. Even
more critical is that the local audiences art appreciation is
now also westernized.
These regional cultural and artistic events on one side
have drawn attention from being different based on bio/geo
identity. But the predicament here is obvious: the dislocation
between bio/geo tradition and the westernized mind is a kind
of twisted chaotic trend of going back to the regional tradi-
tion directed by western ideology. The language system
(cultural and artistic representations) does not grow from in-
side of the self. This so called difference is developed
through non-self processes. It is exactly as Edward Said
analyzed how western ideology systematically constructed
the orient in keeping with the aspirations of the West.38
There is also a similar example of how western ideology and
language rebuilt African philosophy; as a result, African
philosophy lost its own narration. By putting African philos-
ophers in a certain position, the African philosophical mind
has already been westernized; they have created the African
myth, which absolutely does not belong to original Africa.39
In our reality, we can even conceive of a new regional
focus eventually developing from looking outward to look-
ing inwardsa new perspective from the extraregional to
the intraregional.40 If these currently intensified trends such
as Orientalism, regionalism and all kinds of otherness, western ideology falls apart? This is a critical burden that the
only show difference by the contrast to white-centric in-
ternationalism, they may actually serve to narrow that which
is genuinely regional. In effect, the regional cultures would
probably lose their goal, which is to elevate and empower
themselves to the same or even higher levels of Western ide-
ology, by simply exaggerating the difference. Thus, ironi-
cally, in many cases, traditionalism and conservatism are
shouting on deaf ears.
Nevertheless, otherness has continually introduced di-
versity into the culture, influencing white hierarchical inter-
38 Edward Said, Orientalism, New York: Random House, 1979.
39
Pauline Hontoudji, African Philosophy: Myth and Reality, London:
Hutchinson, 1983, pp.38 and 44.
40 Caroline
Turner, Internationalism and Regionalism: Paradoxes of
Identity, Tradition and Change, University of Queensland Press, Aus-
tralia.
153
nationalism, and drawing social attention to the existence of
otherness. Even if we think this is only the first stage of the
looking inwards trend, we have to question its motivations
and intentions; there is a potential danger. The hidden desires
are to try to adopt to the white mainstream and its market,
fitting the concept of exoticism and the double standard art
criticism of the West to get fast recognition abroad. However,
it is more complex and even more dangerous than looking
to the West as in the past. It is an opportunistic attitude and
strategy still reflecting the old colonial mindset rather than a
genuine desire for regional cultural growth. And of course,
it insightfully fits current political correctness in terms of
its own region and abroad. But in the long run, this kind of
recognition will be limited by this expedient concern. It is a
way to continue the support of the white dominant hierarchy
and it may create a non-self regional culture. Therefore,
we could call it pseudo-regionalism, or pseudo identity.
We need to recall that the interpretation of art is often the
product of cultural assumptions.41 Lets say it is even more
essentially the result of the power game of economics and
politics. If the economic and political structures develop
to a certain level, which would equalize those in the West,
then perhaps these dangers could be eliminated. A brave new
cultural identity cannot be established by opportunistic and
ethnic ideology; it cannot be established without advanced
difference (of course, we could argue about the definition
of advanced, but when it applies to the practice within a
specific time, it is there).
Politically, we have brought about another predicament:
many third world countries were liberated to independence
only to become an autocracy. Again, in the cultural and ar-
tistic world, this political predicament could serve as a clear
model for future developments. Where is regionalism going
besides just showing difference? And how is it possible to
reconstruct a real regional and, at the same time, advanced,
contemporary identity after the regional identity based upon
regional cultures need to transcend. By simply creating the
exotic difference without paying attention to what kind of
difference, all future developments in these regions could
be severely jeopardized.
After all, Asia-Pacific is an idea rather than a
location.42 This offers a very important connotation about
regionalism; it is also a very insightful cultural strategy. As
a matter of fact, it could bring about a wide field of vision
without limitation. This concept of region should encom-
pass a cultural identity but not necessarily a geographic one.
41Ibid.
42Apinan
Poshyananda, The Future: Post-Cold War, PostModern-
ism, Postmarginalia (Playing with Slippery Lubricants), Tradition and
Change, University of Queensland Press, Australia.
154 Appendix B: The Divine Comedy of Our Times

There have been many significant art events that have ism realizes and accepts otherness and pluralism. This
provided intriguing and interesting points of view on this is a very interesting period of time in mankinds history. We
subject. Queensland Art Gallery in Australia founded the are called upon to face our common brave new world. We
Asia-Pacific Triennial art exhibition and held the first trien- can establish oppositional criticism and apply it not only to
nial in 1993. The artists included were nonexpatriates. For worldliness, but to the most basic responsibility of human
the 1996 Triennial, they have revised their policy to include knowledge as well.45
expatriates as well as nonexpatriates. In the United King-
dom, there were be a series of solo and group exhibitions
through the first half of 1996 focusing on South Asian and
Southeast Asian artists who are expatriates as first, second,
and third generations. From bio/geo/cultural perspectives,
they all represent many sides of the multi-cultural trend.
From the end of 1994 to the spring of 1995, the Kroller-
Muller Museum in the Netherlands organized a largescale
international art exhibition entitled, Heart of Darkness; the
exhibition name was taken from Joseph Conrads novel writ-
ten in 1902. The book describes how colonization and impe-
rialism deprive people of their roots. The show consisted of
two parts: installation and video art; approximately 50artists
from around the world participated. According to the cura-
tor, Marianne Brouwer, the concept and title of the show,
and all of the artists selected, especially in the installation
category were subjected to the expatriate parameter. Here,
we can see the significance of her concept of expatriate: all
of the artists were expatriate either in that they were away
from their homeland, or they (the Caucasian artists) became
conceptually expatriate to their own culture. The title of
the show, Heart of Darkness, can be comprehended as un-
known myth. The conception and the artists selection pro-
vided a kind of middle ground to a varied otherness, the
unknown myth, the cultural paradox in which we are living.
Twenty years later the strategies of the diasporised and
colonised have become a major focus of end of this centurys
practice.The shift between the Black art movement of the
seventies and eighties and the new internationalism of the
nineties is the apparent mainstream recognition of the other
artist and other identities.artists of color are newly seg-
regated through the theoretical repositioning of postcolonial
discourse.43 Referring to 1995s Venice Biennials central
exhibition, Identity and Otherness, curator and director Jean
Clair states, The problem involved in representing the self
can be traced back to the point at which modern society be-
came engaged in the search for the civil identities that un-
derpin any individual and distinguishes that individual from
others. An identity that refers not only to the person but
also to a social group, class, nation and, in the end, ethnic
origin.44
Overall, once again, we are in a new cultural era based
on fastgrowing regional cultures and the new international-

43 Barbara Hunt & Susy Kerr, Ibid, p.15.

44 JeanClair, Identity and Otherness, Venice Biennial 1995, Flash 45Edward Said, World, the Text, and the Critic, Cambridge, MA, Har-
Art, Dec. 1994. vard University Press, 1983, pp.28, 2930.
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 Index

85 New Space 35, 68 Anti-art-history26

industrialization35 Anti-formalism 24, 30, 37
Zhang Peili 35 Anti-Nazism110
85 Art movement 19, 21, 45, 46 Anti-political-authority22
Anti-self-expression24
Anti-subject30
A
Anti-theology22
A Concise History of Modern Painting (1959) 20
Anti-tradition 19, 22, 48, 71, 117
A Day in the Year 1968 27
Anti-traditionalists48
A History of Chinese Aesthetics 78
Anti-writing69
A History of Contemporary Chinese Art
Appropriation 22, 25, 29, 75, 81, 103
1985198619
Architecture 1, 6, 20, 111
A History of Western Aesthetics 78
Arnason20
A History of Western Philosophy 70
Arnheim 20, 21, 23, 78
Abstract-Expressionism68
Art as Experience 78
Abstraction 30, 48, 61, 73, 75, 84
Art in America 2
Action17
Art market 48
Adorno, Theodor
Art media 23, 32, 43, 47, 48, 50, 51, 69, 93
Zur Metakritik der Erkenntnistheorie (Against Epistemology, a
Art News 2
Meta-critique) 17, 18
Art Trends 48, 50
Aesthetic as Science of Expression and General Linguistic 78
Arthur60
Aesthetic expression 114
Artistically 93, 107
Aesthetics
Asceticism 23, 30
expression114
Asian culture 11
of monumentality 97
Asian-type modernity 17
Alexandr 1, 3, 4
sthetik und allgemeine Kunstwissenschaft
Alexandr Brener 1, 3, 4
(aesthetics and theory of art) 78
Alienation 21, 22, 35, 46, 60, 103
Avant-garde 3, 11, 1824, 26, 27, 2932, 34, 4146,
Along with Rocks 42
4850, 53, 61, 68, 69, 71, 76, 85, 88, 101, 102
Alvin17
Avant-Garde Movement 11
Amateurism 29, 83
Awareness of life 23
Amelia94
Awareness of nature 24
Analysis
Awareness or consciousness of crisis 13
artistic analysis 90, 91
Analytic philosophy 60, 90
Ancient and foreign civilizations 64 B
Andy41 Bacon71
Animal side of human beings 24 Barme12
Animals rights 88 Barth71
Antagonism 6, 24, 68, 89, 110 Baselitz39
antagonist attitude 20, 89 Beckett8
Anthology of Aesthetics 78 Ben107
Anti-art Benedetto78
action art 24 Bergson 22, 60
anti-aesthetic-art24 Berlin Wall 2
anti-art-history25 Bertrand 13, 60
anti-formalism 24, 30, 37 Bessire8

Z. Yan, Odyssey of Culture, Chinese Contemporary Art Series, 157

DOI 10.1007/978-3-662-45411-4, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015
158 Index

Beuys 25, 94 Conceptual 21, 22, 24, 32, 46, 50, 68, 91, 103, 106, 112, 114
Beuys, Joseph 25, 94 Conceptual expression 114
Bhabha 7, 104, 111 Conceptualism 90, 102
Big-character poster 80, 81, 83 Conditions 17, 18, 66, 104, 105
Bio/geo/cultural fusion 103 Confucianist culture 13
Biological substance 93 Confucianist heritage 17
Black 35, 69, 91 Confucianist ideology 13, 23
Black 25% 35, 69 Confucianist moral code 23
Brener 1, 2, 47 Confucianist norms 23
Brunelleschi64 Confucius 15, 102, 103, 116
Bynner 117, 118 Construction 12, 16, 17, 23, 49, 59, 69, 72, 80, 89, 119
Contemporary culture 46, 64, 104
Context 4, 7, 9, 11, 22, 23, 36, 37, 46, 53, 70, 78, 86, 97, 103, 105,
C
107, 110, 115, 117, 118, 122124
C. P. 15
Contextual reading 110
Cage, John 25, 80
Craig89
Cai Guoqiang 92
Critical Realism 27, 28
Cao Jianlou 57
Critique 1, 15, 17, 18, 21, 23, 24, 26, 29, 31, 36, 37, 53, 66, 6873,
Capitalism 2, 3, 44, 56, 83
75, 79, 80, 84, 85, 8892, 101, 114, 115, 121124
Capra64
Critique of art history 26
Casper34
Critique of culture 24, 26, 29, 31, 36, 37, 53, 68, 71, 73, 80, 84, 85,
Cateforis9
8891, 101, 114, 121, 123
Catholicism 95, 110
Critique of language 37, 90
Central Academy of Fine Arts 17, 31, 50
Critique of politics 29
Cezanne30
Critique of reality 29, 31
Chan Buddhism 22, 37
Critique of value 18, 31, 53
Chang 93, 105
Croce78
Charles35
Cufer7
Chen Duxiu 13
Cultural 1, 39, 1119, 22, 23, 25, 26, 33, 38, 41, 43, 4550, 5355,
Chen Guofu 55
57, 58, 61, 64, 66, 6873, 75, 79, 80, 85, 86, 88, 89, 91, 9397,
Chen Huiying 96
100108, 111, 112, 114119, 121124
Chen Weihe 21, 46
Cultural atmosphere 85
Chen Yungang 50
Cultural barriers 89, 102
Chen Zhen 22
Cultural battle 1, 112
Cheng Zhidi 84, 85
Cultural concern 11, 71, 86
China Artists Association 48, 79
Cultural conflict 3
China Fine Arts 4649
Cultural connotation 91, 97, 105
China/Avant-Garde88
Cultural context 11, 23, 25, 46, 49, 66, 68, 88, 91, 93, 101, 102, 121,
Chinese civilization 14, 33, 69, 72
123
Chinese contemporary art 1, 21, 49, 59, 88
Cultural convention 85
Chinese culture 13, 14, 1619, 21, 23, 26, 35, 49, 54, 57, 66, 68, 72,
Cultural discourse 19, 46
76, 102, 106, 107, 115117, 119, 122
Cultural entity 16
Chinese identity 102, 106108, 115117, 122
Cultural escapism 33, 66, 68
Chinese Institute of Art Research 21, 46, 49
Cultural exchange 102, 112, 115, 121
Chinese intellectuals 11, 13, 15, 19, 55, 60, 70
Cultural heritage 13, 55, 64, 66, 71, 89, 104, 117
Chinese modern drama 54
Cultural hybrid 106
Chinese written language 36, 37, 53, 69, 71, 72, 75, 76, 78,
Cultural identity 103, 106, 117, 122
91, 106, 115
Cultural interaction 119, 121, 123
Chineseness 48, 102, 107, 115117, 119, 122, 123
Cultural issues 11, 15, 19, 43, 50, 53, 68, 86, 101, 124
Chinese-type socialism 57
Cultural legacy 57, 58
Chirico68
Cultural life 12, 50
Christianity 36, 95
Cultural migration 119
Chuck30
Cultural movement 45, 48, 50
Chun, Lin 42
Cultural perspective 50, 124
Civilization 1113, 15, 22, 34, 55, 61, 72, 90, 93, 105, 107, 110
Cultural reconstruction 11
Clash of civilizations 107
Cultural Revolution 12, 13, 1719, 2730, 36, 45, 48, 5557, 66, 71,
Classic notion of cultural identity 106
80, 83, 85, 92
Claude122
Cultural significance 94, 106, 116
Close30
Cultural structure 124
Cole64
Cultural suffocation 43
Collectivism69
Cultural symbol 114
Collingwood 20, 78
Cultural taboo, 75
Communist ideology 12
Cultural temporalities 104
Concept of modernity 13
Cultural tension 8
Concept of ugliness 84
Index 159

Cultural tradition 4, 13, 14, 46, 47, 88, 89, 102 E

Cultural transformation 14 Eastern cultures 11, 96
Cultural war 4, 111, 112, 116 Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 21
Cultural worker 12 Eda7
Culture 1, 5, 79, 1126, 32, 34, 35, 37, 41, 4547, 49, 53, 54, 60, Editorial Committee for Twentieth-Century 14, 17, 20, 71
61, 64, 66, 68, 7073, 83, 85, 86, 8893, 95, 96, 101, 102, 104, Editorial Committee for Twentieth-Century Western Scholarly
106109, 111, 112, 114117, 121123 Classics, 20, 71
Culture Movement 12, 13 Edward8
Culture of bourgeoisie 20 Enlightenment 19, 22, 23, 32
Culture-mania15 Epiphany 23, 24, 76, 78, 123
Cultures 1, 6, 7, 11, 12, 15, 61, 64, 68, 88, 89, 9597, 100103, Ernst20
106108, 111, 112, 114, 117, 121123 Eros and Civilization
Current of Life 2224, 26, 37, 39, 48, 68 A Philosophical Inquiry into Freud 17
Erwin20
Escher64
D
Essays on Aesthetics 78
Dada 7, 24, 25, 40, 71
Essence of culture 101, 106
Dali61
Eternity 24, 37, 66, 106
Danielle93
Ethical imperative 7, 15
Dante102
Euro-Americas14
Daoism 36, 90
Euro-American culture 11
Darwin 61, 68
Euro-American-central narratives 14
David 9, 32
European mode of modernization 13
De, Li 15
European Union 1, 5
Death of the intelligentsia 4
Exhibition of International Youth Year 23, 30, 31, 45
Deconstruction 12, 53, 71, 75, 76, 78, 86, 91, 100, 106
Existentialism70
Deconstruction of language systems 53
Expression 5, 19, 25, 30, 32, 37, 39, 45, 46, 66, 68, 75, 84, 112, 114
Deconstruction of written language 78, 86
Expressionism 39, 61, 66, 68, 84
De-ideologization21
Deng Pingxiang 50
Deng Xiaoping 15 F
Derrida 17, 21, 122, 123 Fan Bo 69
Desire, 37, 38 Fan Jingzhong 49, 61, 64, 66
Dessoir78 Fan Zhongyan 15
Dewey 13, 78 Fei Dawei 48
Ding Fang 22, 33, 49 First nature 70, 90, 106, 123
Ding Yi 42 Flash Art 2
Ding, Yi 42 Folk art 27, 30, 39, 42, 57, 64
Discourse communities, 70 Forest of Stone Stele of Xi-an 116
Discursive 1416, 2123, 25, 26, 31, 32, 3537, 43, 46, 47, 4951, Formalism 23, 30, 66
53, 6971, 79, 8385, 100, 104, 122 Foucault 17, 21
Discursive catalyst 50 Four qualifications 58
Discursive construction 22 Fragmented Memory
Discursive context 35 The Chinese Avant-Garde in Exile 97, 99
Discursive core of art, 49 Francis71
Discursive means 23 Fredric40
Discursive operation 104 Fredric Jameson 40
Discursive room 15 French academic art 27
Discursive space 14 Freud 18, 60, 68, 75, 100
Discursive transformation 51 Friedrich 34, 60
Disenchanted Democracy Fritjof64
Chinese Cultural Criticism after 1989 107 Futurologist School 13, 14, 16, 18, 21, 26
Distrust of language 90
Dmitry2 G
Dominant ideology 70 Gadamer17
Donald91 Gan 8, 9
Donald Judd 91 Gasche104
Down with Confucianism and its disciples 13 Ge Yan 48, 49
Downward power of life 24 Geng Jainyi and Song Ling 42
Dry91 Geo/national/cultural107
Du Chunlin 56 Georg39
Du Du and Dou Dou 96 Georg Baselitz 39
Du Fu 117 George 20, 78
Duan Xiucang 39, 69 Georges33
Duchamp 25, 61, 68, 71, 93, 115 Geremie12
Duchamp, Marcel 61, 71
160 Index

Globalization 8, 117, 124 Issue of discourse 21

Gober93 Issue of identity 106
Gombrich 20, 21 Issue of modernity 47
Gu Dexin 91 Issue of status quo 47
Gu Jianchen 5355
Gu Wenxian 55 J
Gu Wenyuan 55 Jacques 17, 32, 122, 123
Gustave64 James107
Gutov2 Jameson 40, 41
Jan Aman 1, 2
H Jan, A. 1, 2
H. Harvard 20 Janson20
H. W. 20 Jason80
Habermas17 Jean Paul 17
Hair-itage107 Jia Fangzhou 49
Hammurabi Stele 115 Jiangsu Pictorial 47, 48
Hans Georg 17 Jin Guantao 14
Happening 1, 2, 5, 40, 42, 112 Jin Yuelin 16
Hegel 23, 78, 121, 123 Joan61
Hegemonic discourse, 18, 37 John 13, 17, 25, 78
Hegemonic ideology 12, 14 Johnson105
Heidegger 17, 50, 72 Jones 25, 94
Heinrich 20, 78 Jones, Jasper 25
Henri60 Joseph 25, 90, 94
Henry42 Joseph Kosuth 90
Herbert 17, 20 Journey of the Beautiful 78
Hermeneutics 18, 69, 70 Jung 17, 60, 68
Hermeneutics and Human Sciences Jurgen17
Essays on Language 17 Juxtaposition 36, 79
Hierarchy of culture 107
History of Art Criticism 20 K
History of Modern Art Kandinsky61
Painting20 Kang Mu 42
Homi 7, 104, 111 Karl 17, 21
Hong Kong 8, 14, 17, 47, 56, 79, 96, 97, 101, 108, 111 Karl R. 17
Hong Shen 54 Kathe 29, 57
Hong Zaixin 48 Kiki93
Hou Hanru 117 Kim106
Hu Shih 13 Kitsch 33, 66
Hu Zhaoyang and Wang Baijiao 41, 42 Knowledge and ignorance 99, 100
Huang Hongyi 50 Kollwitz 29, 57
Huang Qiuyuan 79 Kosuth90
Huang Yongping 21, 2426, 32, 40, 91, 92, 97 Kulik 2, 46
Human body material 93, 101, 104106, 115 Kuo80
Huntington 6, 107
Husserl17
L
Langer 8, 20, 78
I Language 12, 22, 23, 36, 37, 45, 46, 54, 6972, 7578, 80, 9093,
Identity 4, 83, 100, 101, 104107, 109, 111, 112, 115117, 122 100, 102, 103, 105, 106, 112, 114, 118, 122, 123
Ideological emancipation 21, 46 Laozi 22, 90, 91
Ideological tendency 22 Late capitalism 41
In-between 7, 104, 111, 112 Lawrence90
Individualism 8, 24, 38, 42, 45, 69 Lawrence Weiner 90
Industrial civilization 35 Lee Fuhsing 81
Industrialization 12, 13, 15, 35, 38, 117 Levin106
Intellectuals 6, 1113, 15, 16, 21, 26, 60, 61, 69, 70, 83 Levi-Strauss122
Inter-cultural scenario 8 Levitan28
International chessboard of culture 86 Li Bai 117
Interpol A Global Network from Stockholm and Moscow 121, 122 Li Dazhao 13
InterpolA Global Network from Stockholm and Moscow 1 Li Keran 59
Interstitial 7, 104, 111, 112, 121 Li Xiao 47, 48, 50
Issue of cultural identity 123 Li Xiaoshan 47, 48, 50
Issue of culture 1, 9, 11, 12, 15, 19, 32, 122 Li Zehou 78
Index 161

Liang Congjie 16 Moreau64

Liang Sicheng 16 Morgan 91, 92
Lin Changmin 16 Mountains-and-waters painting 58, 59, 64
Lin Chun 42 Mu, Kang 42
Lionello 20, 21 Multi- 21, 39, 53, 64, 71, 89, 102, 104, 111, 112, 123, 124
Literati taste 36, 42, 79 Multi-culturalism8
Liu Guosong 56 Multi-cultured hair 104
Liu Xiaochun 50 Murfin70
Logical positivism 70 Mystic pessimist 70
Long March 103
Longshan culture 12 N
Lorna93 Naisbitt17
Lu Shuyuan 49 Nanjing Art Academy 47
Lu Yanshao 57, 59, 122 National Art Museum of China 30, 41, 45, 57, 88
Lucie-Smith8 Nationalization of oil painting 45
Ludwig60 Native culture 11, 14, 64, 101, 106
Luo Zhongli 30 Nature 9, 12, 14, 16, 21, 23, 24, 30, 3739, 41, 47, 61, 64, 66, 70, 72,
Lynton25 73, 75, 77, 78, 91, 95, 96, 99, 100, 103, 106, 108, 112, 114,
122, 123
M Nature and culture 103, 106, 122, 123
Ma Lu 38, 48 Neo-Expressionism39
Mainstream ideology 12, 23, 57, 72 New 1, 7, 8, 1214, 18, 22, 27, 3032, 35, 36, 40, 41, 46, 48, 49, 68,
Mao Xuhui 38 69, 8789, 91, 111, 112, 116
Mao Zedong 30, 103 New Confucianism 14, 22
Mapplethorpe 95, 97 New cultural scenario, 13
Marcel61 New culture 12, 19, 26, 49, 89
Marcuse17 New enlightenment 17, 18
Mark8 New Marxism 18, 41
Martin 17, 50, 94, 95 New racial identity 107
Marx 18, 21, 22, 57, 60, 121 New three theories 70
Marxism 3, 13, 17, 18 Nietzsche 18, 22, 60, 66, 68
Materialanalysis90 Noblesse oblige 33
Matisse30 Norbert25
Maurice17
Max78 O
May-Fourth discourse 13 Objective Knowledge
May-Fourth Movement 1214, 16, 17, 26, 54, 57, 70 an Evolutionary Approach 17
Meaning 11, 12, 15, 16, 22, 23, 25, 36, 37, 47, 54, 58, 68, 7276, 84, Objective reason 22
90, 91, 94, 97, 100, 101, 104, 106, 108, 109, 111, 117 Oedipus 2, 90, 97, 99, 100, 105
Megatrend17 Official ideology 18, 20, 23, 27, 30, 37, 39, 44, 51, 58, 60, 70
Menstrual blood 9497, 101, 105, 115 Oleg 1, 4
Menstruation 9496, 105, 122 Oleg Kulik 1, 4
Merleau-Ponty17 Olivier6
Metaphysical approach 24 Other 2, 7, 9, 1119, 2128, 3036, 38, 4143, 45, 47, 48, 50, 53, 55,
Metaphysical art 72 57, 60, 61, 66, 6971, 7476, 78, 79, 83, 85, 86, 90, 91, 9497,
Metaphysical life 66 101, 102, 104, 105, 107, 110112, 114, 117119, 121, 122
Metaphysical meditation 61 Otherization 104, 112
Metaphysical principle, 66 Ouyang Yuqian 54
Metaphysics 22, 68 Owens89
Methodology 14, 23, 76, 78, 90, 92, 103, 105, 121, 123
Mexican mural 33
Michael61 P
Michel17 Pablo57
Miro61 Panofsky 20, 21
Misiano 3, 4, 6 Paul17
Misunderstanding 66, 102, 106, 110, 115, 118, 119, 123 Peking University 13, 40, 42
Modern Chinese culture 17, 19, 51 Peng De 80
Modern culture 12, 38 Peredvizhniki (Wanderers) 28
Modernism 17, 29, 30, 40, 41, 45, 48, 57, 68, 71, 85, 86, 89, 102 Performance 1, 2, 42, 105
Modernist painting 45 Philosophical reason 22
Modernity 13, 14, 17, 45, 79 Picasso 29, 57
Modes of modernization 14 Piet61
Mondrian61 Pivotal principle 15
Moore42 Playful element 33
Pop art 4042
162 Index

Popper17 Rushdie104
Post-Berlin-Wall period 6 Russell 13, 60, 7072, 91, 100
Post-industrial17
Post-intellegentsia4 S
Post-modern17 Salman104
Post-Modernism 13, 18, 40, 41, 49, 57, 85, 86, 89 Salvador61
Postmodern-Postcolonial107 Samson110
Postsocialist-Postcolonial condition 107 Samuel 6, 8, 107
Post-Soviet 3, 4, 7 Santayana 20, 78
Power of discourse 44 Sartre17
Power of life 24, 39, 96 Save the 14
Pre-avant-garde 23, 26 Scar painting 27
Presentation 22, 90, 93, 105 School of Principle 23
Principles of Art History 20, 78 Schopenhauer 18, 60, 68
Problems of Art Science of Logic 121
Ten Philosophical Lectures 20 Sculpture 20, 42, 107
Pro-democracy movement 12 Seal script 70, 90, 91, 106, 115, 117
Project De- 91 Second language revolution 70
Propaganda art 27, 36, 49 Second nature 70, 106, 123
Psycho-Analysis60 Secularization 64, 66
Psychology of Arts 78 Sein und Zeit (Being and Time 17
Psychology of Tragedy 78 Sein und Zeit (Being and Time) 17
Selected Works of Samuel Beckett and Gu Wenda 8
Q Self-expression 24, 31, 48, 69
Qi, Sheng 42 Semantics60
Qiao39 Seriousness 33, 66
Qiao Xiaoguang 39 Serov28
Qin Yifeng 42 Servin107
Sexuality 23, 75, 100, 106
Shanghai Arts and Crafts School 8
R
Sheeler35
Rao Fu 50
Shen Qin 69
Rationalist Painting 2224, 26, 31, 32, 35, 49, 61, 66, 68, 76, 78
Sheng Qi 42
Rationalization 18, 30, 31
Shishkin28
Rauschenberg 41, 57
Shu Qun 49, 66
Read 20, 21
Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts 38
Realism 27, 29
Sigmund 60, 100
Reason 2, 11, 15, 2224, 32, 35, 37, 38, 46, 47, 56, 61, 66, 6871,
Signified 59, 75, 90, 94, 105, 106, 114
7678, 84, 85, 102, 104, 117
Signifier 59, 75, 94, 105, 106, 114
Reason and intuition 76
Silent-selves93
Reconciliation 1, 68, 111, 112, 114, 122, 124
Simpson93
Reflection theory 23, 31, 32
Skepticism 32, 66, 69, 90, 91
Regeneration of Chinese culture 34
Skepticism on language 90
Regionalism8
Smith93
Reinterpretation and critique of Chinese culture 13
Snow 15, 27
Religious life 66
Social Darwinism 61
Religious reason 22
Socialism7
Ren Jian 22, 69
Socialist Realism 27, 31, 39, 84
Repin28
Sol91
Representation 90, 93, 105
Sol LeWitt 91
Reversed41
Song Dynasty 15, 23, 64, 116
Rhetoric 6, 21, 25, 41, 84, 89, 109
Song, Yonghong 42
Ricoeur17
Song, Yongping 42
Rightist 55, 56
Soviet Union 57, 27, 28
Robert 20, 41, 57, 9193, 95
Sponsorship48
Robin 20, 78
Status quo 7, 12, 44
Rodolphe104
Stereotyping104
Role of 3, 16, 31, 48, 51, 54, 60, 78, 93, 100, 115, 116
Stockholm Academy of Fine Arts 5
Roman 35, 40, 91, 110
Subject representing subject 105
Roman civilization 35
Subject-matter determinism 45
Roman Verostko 40
Sublimity 24, 47, 66, 97
Romanticism 8, 32, 66, 68
Sullivan61
Rouault33
Sum of human activity 93
Rudolf 20, 23, 78
Sun Jin 48, 49
Ruling discourse 103
Sun Yong 50
Index 163

Supplement 123, 124 Victor 1, 2, 4, 6

Sur-art/meta-art24 Victor Misiano 1, 2, 4, 6
Surikov28 Vincent61
Surrealism 31, 61, 68, 71 Visual Arts in the Twentieth Century 8
Susanne 8, 20, 78 Visual Thinking 20, 23
Swedish Royal Art Academy 5 Von Edmund 17
Syllogism121124
Synthesis of culture 53, 101103, 107, 114117, 121124 W
Wang Bangxiong 49
T Wang Guangyi 32
The Elementary Structures of Kinship 122 Wang Huanqing 39
The Jade Mountain Wang Jiaxiang 103
A Chinese Anthology Being Three Hundred Poems of the Tang Wang Jiping 41
Dynasty117 Wang Keping 29
The Living Tree Wang Luxiang 48
The Changing Meaning of Being Chinese Today 107 Wang Luyan 92
The Principles of Art 20 Wang Mingxian 49
The Satanic Verses 104 Wang Wei 117
The Story of Art 20 Wang Xiaojian 48
The Story of Modern Art 25 Wang, Baijiao 41
The Third Wave 17 Wang, Jiping 41
The Two Cultures 15 Warhol41
The unspeakable 71 Wassily61
Theme of culture 9 Wenda Gu 1, 2, 4, 69, 11, 18, 19, 26, 36, 37, 49, 51, 5361, 64, 66,
Theory of class struggle 60 6872, 76, 7881, 85, 86, 8993, 96, 97, 100102, 105, 112,
Theory of evolution 61 116118, 121, 124
Theory of infinitude 64 Art from Middle Kingdom to Biological Millennium 8
Thomas64 Western culture 11, 89, 95, 107
Three 3, 13, 15, 16, 18, 19, 21, 22, 2427, 30, 32, 35, 36, 50, 53, 55, Western Scholarly Classics 14, 17
56, 58, 64, 68, 69, 73, 86, 88, 91, 102, 108, 109, 114, 117, 118 Wexner Center for the Arts 2, 97
Three categories 16, 22 Wholesale Westernization 13
Three goals of a sage 15 Wholesale Westernizers 18
Tian Han 54 Witter 117, 118
Toffler17 Wittgenstein 17, 22, 60, 7072, 90, 91, 100
Tractatus logico-philosophicus 70 Wolfflin 20, 78
Tradition 3, 11, 1315, 17, 18, 20, 22, 23, 26, 2830, 32, 33, 36, 39, World War I 12, 108
43, 45, 4750, 53, 57, 59, 64, 66, 68, 69, 71, 72, 76, 79, 85, 88, Written language 35, 37, 43, 6972, 7678, 80, 81, 84, 90, 91, 93, 97,
89, 102, 117, 122 100, 102, 112, 114, 122, 123
Tradition and 13, 22, 43, 45, 48, 79, 89, 102 Wu Hung 69, 70
Traditional Chinese culture 11, 14, 32 Wu Shanzhuan 35, 37, 49, 68, 69, 72, 97
Traditional culture 13, 26, 37, 45, 68
Traditional ideologies 71 X
Traditionalists48 Xi Jianjun 42
Trans-cultural 8, 86, 103, 112 Xiamen Dada 24, 25, 40, 42
Translation 12, 17, 18, 20, 54, 70, 75, 78, 90, 102, 104, 117119 Xiaoguang39
Trichotomy of culture 15 Xu 8, 9, 16, 49, 56, 69, 72, 97, 107
Tu Wei-ming 107 Xu Bin 69, 72, 97
Two major stages 53 Xu Genrong 56
Xu Lei 69
U Xu Zhimo 16
Unity of nature and man 40 Xudong 15, 18, 41
Unity of universe/nature and human beings 64
Universal current painting 22 Y
Universal identity 104, 107 Yan Fu 16
Universalism 9, 108, 112, 114 Yang Jiechang 91, 92
Upward24 Yang Xianzhen 105
Utopia 5, 101, 123, 124 Yang Xiaoyan 48
Yang Yinsheng 66
V Yang Zhilin 22
Van Gogh 61 Yang Zhiling 22
Vasily28 Yangshao culture 12
Venturi 20, 21 Ye Yongqing 38
Versailles Conference 12 Yellow91
164 Index

Yeltsin4 Zhang Jianjun 66

Yi Ying 48 Zhang Peili 35, 48
Yifeng, Qin 42 Zhao Jianhai 42
Yongping, Huang 21, 24, 25, 40, 97 Zhaoyang, Hu 41, 42
York University 8, 85, 86 Zheng Yuke 42
Yuan Yunsheng 30 Zhou Enlai 103
Yves Klein 25 Zhou Yan 49
Zhu De 103
Z Zhu Guangqian 78
Zahm6 Zhu Qingsheng 49
Zhan Tianyou 16 Zhu Xi 23, 33
Zhang 15, 18, 31, 35, 41, 42, 48, 66, 85, 103 Zhu Xinjian 33
Zhang Baoqi 48 Zhuangzi 22, 37, 64
Zhang Bin 85 Zong Baihua 78
Zhang Guoliang 42 Zong Bing 75
Zhang Guotao 103