Urban China

In 1989 citizens of China were seeking social reform with aspirations of a more free society. Doctors, journalists, mothers, students, migrant workers, etc. were demonstrating. They wanted to encourage free speech. In response, the Chinese government sent a large number of military troops to control the demonstrations. After the troops started to physically ram the barriers made from buses, cars, or any other obstruction that the citizens placed in the streets to keep the troops from getting in to the city, chaos began to erupt.

The military troops began to open fire on unarmed citizens leaving thousands killed. The Chinese government was killing its own citizens in order to maintain control and authority. After all of the commotion from the night died down, parents of the students involved in the demonstration all came out to confront the military who were still heavily patrolling the area. That morning, once again, the military began to open fire resulting in people running for their lives. The military killed anyone who was not a part of them, including ambulance drivers. 

While all of this was taking place, Chinese officials were very adamant on maintaining control of not only the people, but the imagery as well. The military were very persistent to make sure that the amount of imagery documenting the events was kept to a bare minimum. The way that the government officials treated imagery is reflective of the way in which China divides itself into sections. As shown in the exhibition at the MCA, Urban China, China sections itself off from the world to a certain extent. Within this gated off country there are also numerous, smaller, sectioned off zones.

Great Wall - Sections off China from the World

Guangzhou wall - Sectioning off the City

Courtyard Houses - Sectioning off Private Life

This way of sectioning off and dividing public from private space is both part of the physical environment of China as well as the political ideology. The Chinese government controls imagery in order to maintain control. The government officials did not want people taking photographs or making videos during the Tiananmen Square massacre because imagery of the events would disrupt the wall separating citizen from government control, in that, the imagery can be used as a sort of ultimate moral police. The Chinese government did not want the use of imagery because this way, they could do whatever they felt was necessary to control the situation while still maintaining the position that the government is doing what's best for its people. Imagery is a sort of evidence that can later judge the actions of those in control to supersede their decisions. The image gives more power to the citizens which the Chinese government views as a threat. 

This idea of control and censorship is still happening today. The web censorship in China has recently increased based on the protests that have been happening in the middle east. There is an article here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=135083029 that talks about Google's current relationship with Beijing and censorship issues. The Chinese government is still controlling the information and imagery that enters the gates of the country while simultaneously constructing gigantic megalopolises within. 

Within these walls, there is something that is very odd about the economy of this country. The country is divided into China A (the upper class) and China B (the lower class). There is no middle class. Major cities are constructing and developing at an incredible speed of about 9% every year for the last 10 years. Although all of this growth is taking place, why is it that the majority of the country is working for such small wages. China's economy is booming but it is because of the large amount of workers that are willing to work for incredibly small wages. If the wages increase, the U.S. and Europe will start sending business to a different country thats willing to work for even smaller wages.

Shanghai

With all that has been happening in China since the Tiananmen Square Massacre (booming economy, rapid urban growth, digital imagery and information censorship), it is interesting to view the contemporary Chinese art within context. 

Beijing

Zhan Wang's rocks are copied from original rocks that he finds outside specific locations within Beijing. He then makes a replica of the rock using stainless steel and buffs the surface to give it a mirror-like effect.

Xu Zhen - In Just The Blink Of An Eye

Xu Zhen made a performance/installation piece titled In Just The Blink Of An Eye in which he creates the illusion of migrant workers tilted to where it looks as though they have completely lost balance and are just about to hit the ground. These are actual migrants from Chinatown who lay on a hidden steel frame which supports them. The piece creates the question of if this person will ever stand up or will they eventually fall and relates it to current issues regarding the state of migrant workers in China.