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This article introduces a number of contemporary artists in China In Microcosm, Miao Xiaochun recreates the famous Garden
A BST R A C T
who use digital technologies for art production. The author explores of Earthly Delights, a 15th-century altarpiece by Hieronymus
how these artists embed ancient philosophical values into an
Bosch (Article Frontispiece, Fig. 1). He updates the scenery in
international mix of content in these new technological forms.
the painting by adding modern buildings, mechanical items
and debris. In the animated version of Microcosm (Fig. 2),
As the phenomenon of the escalating value of recent Chinese the artist uses references to the 15th-century painting, but the
art continues to impress the international art market, some work contains a pointed message about technology’s impact
artists of China choose technological media as the vehicle for on humanity. Miao Xiaochun uses the apple as a symbol for
their creative endeavors. In examining these newest visions technology, suggesting that the lure of technology is similar
of the 21st century from China, I see a refreshing new kind to that of the forbidden fruit in Bosch’s original. The message
of art bearing deep-rooted cultural messages that draw upon concerns choice: How humanity chooses to use technology
ancient Chinese philosophies and cultural traditions and are will determine its impact. Will we continue to use technol-
swathed in contemporary electronic media. The artists dis- ogy to develop instruments of war or will we choose to work
cussed here were chosen because they appropriate images with technology in harmony with the environment? Even
from both European masterpieces and Chinese imagery in using technology to make our lives easier and more bountiful
their art, intertwining these images with electronic media in has its consequences. Will we lose our physical selves from
a way that grabs the attention of an international academic lack of activity? Will we lose our brainpower as the computer
audience and subtly conveys messages that have been around does our calculations for us? Miao Xiaochun’s work raises
for a very long time. The digital designs are not superfluous in questions about and presents possible consequences for the
these works. The artists use practical applications to facilitate various choices that we make. Although his work appears to
their ideas rather than using complicated technology for van- be based solely on appropriations of Western European art,
ity’s sake. The complexity is in the content of the
works, and although the nature of the message
may be ancient, the artists’ motivation is future-
oriented.
©2017 ISAST doi:10.1162/LEON_a_00922 LEONARDO, Vol. 50, No. 2, pp. 160–169, 2017 161
Fig. 2. Miao Xiaochun,
Microcosm, digital image stills, 2008.
(© Miao Xiaochun)
Fig. 3. Miao Xiaochun, RESTART, 3D computer animation, 2010, image still. (© Miao Xiaochun)
Fig. 7. Hu Jieming, concept image for One Hundred Years in One Minute, 2010. (© Hu Jieming)
paintings and sculptures are shown as time-based pieces; the a maze-like structure for the installation (Fig. 8). In this way
original works are still objects. The technological media that the artist encourages the viewer to physically enter the video
Hu Jieming utilizes for his work is contemporary, but his by walking through the sequences of still images. It illustrates
concern with the relativity of time mirrors the writings of our daily inundation with images. Rather than “watching”
Zhuangzi: the images from one vantage point as in standard video art,
the audience moves through the visuals.
The morning mushroom knows nothing of twilight and
Hu Jieming began to work with interactivity in 2003. He
dawn; the summer cicada knows nothing of spring and
feels that interactivity encourages an audience to spend more
autumn. They are the short-lived. South of Chu there is a
time with a work of art. Visitors to art museums often wander
caterpillar that counts five hundred years as one spring and
away from video art, he says [14].
five hundred years as one autumn. Long, long ago there was
a great rose of Sharon that counted eight thousand years as Few people would watch a video from beginning to end in
one spring and eight thousand years as one autumn. They the exhibition hall. Hence, the idea of the work is hardly
are the long-lived [13]. ever fully conveyed to the audience. As interactive ap-
proaches are adopted, the time length of a work seems to
How can we truly understand time from any other per-
disappear. There is no definite beginning or ending points.
spective than our own? Hu Jieming contrasts different per-
The entrance of the audience marks the beginning point
spectives in his work. The Fiction between 1999 and 2000 was
and when they leave, the show is over [15].
a 2001 installation piece for the San Francisco Museum of
Modern Art. The artist collected the images transmitted over Altitude Zero is a large work of art that Hu Jieming cre-
television stations during the one-day time span before the ated from pieces of an abandoned ship (Figs 9,10). He placed
clock changed from 31 December 1999 to 1 January 2000. video images in the ship’s portholes and set up motion sen-
The idea behind this piece was to capture the day concluding sors to trigger changes to the images as viewers approach
the 20th century in an onslaught of images. Each image is or retreat from the portholes, thus creating an interactive
printed on transparencies and hung on a wire mesh wall in piece that responds to a viewer’s behavior. Initially, the viewer
Fig. 11. Liu Dao, gallery views in Shanghai, Moganshan Art District, 2010. (© Liu Dao. Photo: Jean Ippolito.)
References and Notes 6 Shinoda Takatoshi, ed., The Library of Babel: Characters/Books/Me-
dia, exhibition catalog (Tokyo: NTT Publishing, 1998).
1 Miao Xiaochun, personal interview with the author in the artist’s
studio, Beijing, 25 February 2012. 7 Burton Watson, trans., The Complete Works of Chuang Tzu (New
York: Columbia Univ. Press, 1968) p. 39.
2 Xiaochun [1].
8 Xu Bing, Projects 2007, <www.xubing.com/index.php/site/projects
3 Sources of Chinese Tradition, Second Edition, Wm. Theodore de Bary /year/2007/moma_book_from_the_ground>, accessed 9 June 2014.
and Irene Bloom, eds. (New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 1999) p. 80.
(The earliest found text of the Daodejing dates from before 300 BCE, 9 Andrew Solomon, “Towards a Universal Language: Andrew Solo-
but speculation is that the writings originated as early as the 6th or mon interviews Xu Bing,” in Tomii Reiko et al., Xu Bing (London:
5th century BCE.) Albion, 2011) pp. 45–52.
4 Hajime Nakatani, “Xu Bing and the Graphic Regime,” Art Journal 10 Solomon [9] p. 47.
68, No. 3, p. 8 (Fall 2009).
11 Solomon [9] p. 52.
5 Xu Bing, personal interview with the author at the Central Acad-
emy of Fine Arts (CAFA), Beijing, where he currently serves as Vice 12 ShangArt Gallery, Hu Jieming: One Hundred Years in One Minute,
President, 23 March 2012. exh. cat. (Shanghai: ShanghArt Gallery, 2010).
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