Day: March 29, 2007

Categories
Art history Contemporary Art in China Creative journal Culture issues

‘Aftershock’ shocked me!!!

‘Aftershock’ shocked me!!!
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First Shock!
Tracey Emin’s underwear and condoms are missing…

I was so shocked after finding that Tracey Emin’s underwear and condoms are missing from the ‘Aftershock‘ – ‘Contemporary British Art’ Show in Guangzhou and Beijing, which has been showing since last December, and will be continuing till May. According to the article from china.org.cn, Pi Li, who is one of the curators of the show, explained that this is owing to the difficulties of transportation. What a wonderful excuse – it’s made the piece lose its value completely. It’s arguable the piece has lost its value without these significant elements – underwear and condoms, which Emin chose the first time she created the piece. When Charles Saatchi valued Emin’s ‘My Bed’ at 150,000£, these elements must have represented a significant part of that price. The artwork has lost a part of its original value. The ‘My Bad’ presented in China, is not Tracey Emin’s bed any more, it could be anyone else’s – you could say it has been castrated.

To be continued…

Categories
Art history Creative journal Culture issues

YCA era is on its way…? – continued

What can Saatchi bring to (or take away from) China?

What can Saatchi bring to China? Money. This answer might be too direct and obvious. Although it is true that the contemporary Chinese art market has been very much occupied by the westerners, Charles Saatchi as a trailblazer has more power of changing the course of events. Infect, Chinese contemporary art needs the financial support too. Chinese contemporary artists need to be supported to be able to develop their work further and to be able to compete among the worldwide contemporary art environment. However, money is just the first step for people like Saatchi to get their feet in the Chinese door. One might say that Saatchi’s money has more power, which indicates ‘knowledge’ at the same time. This is because, his choice may influence many others, and his direction may manipulate many others to follow.

What can be taken away from China? The answer is still Money. One day, if the future YCAs finally become part of national heritage, Saatchi will be the one who owns the major part of it. This year, when the YBA show was held in Guangzhou, with the aim of encouraging Young Chinese Artists to be more creative and groundbreaking, one may sense the new imperialism is coming in by the back door.

To be continued…