The minjian avant-garde : contemporary Chinese artists in search of the public / Chang Tan.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Tan, Chang, 1978- author.

Series:

Cornell East Asia series ; number 216.

Cornell East Asia series ; number 216

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Avant-garde (Aesthetics)--China--History--20th century.

Avant-garde (Aesthetics).

Avant-garde (Aesthetics)--China--History--21st century.

Social practice (Art)--China--History--20th century.

Social practice (Art).

Social practice (Art)--China--History--21st century.

Art and society--China--History--20th century.

Art and society.

Art and society--China--History--21st century.

Art and social action--China--History--20th century.

Art and social action.

Art and social action--China--History--21st century.

Artists and community--China--History--20th century.

Artists and community.

Artists and community--China--History--21st century.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (240 pages)

Place of Publication:

Ithaca, New York : Cornell University Press, [2023]

Summary:

The Minjian Avant-Garde studies how experimental artists in China mixed with, brought changes to, and let themselves be transformed by minjian, the volatile and diverse public of the post-Mao era. Departing from the usual emphasis on art institutions, global markets, or artists' communities, Chang Tan proposes a new analytical framework in the theories of socially engaged art that stresses the critical agency of participants, the affective functions of objects, and the versatility of the artists in diverse sociopolitical spheres.Drawing from hitherto untapped archival materials and interviews with the artists, Tan challenges the views of Chinese artists as either dissidents or conformists to the regime and sees them as navigators and negotiators among diverse political discourses and interests. She questions the fetishization of marginalized communities among practitioners of progressive art and politics, arguing that the members of minjian are often more complex, defiant, and savvy than the elites would assume. The Minjian Avant-Garde critically assesses the rise of populism in both art and politics and show that minjian could constitute either a democratizing or a coercive force.This book was published with generous support from the George Dewey and Mary J. Krumrine Endowment.

Contents:

The Minjian Avant-Garde

Contents

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgments

Note on Transliteration

Introduction

1. The Proto-Minjian Avant-Garde: Exhibition Deconstructed

2. From the One to the Many: Writing Multitude

3. Art on the March: The Avant-Garde and the Periphery

4. Things Acquire Life: Minjian in Objects

5. Making (and Serving) Multitude: The Art and Activism of Ai Weiwei

Conclusion: Minjian beyond China

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Color images are at the end of the ebook.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781501773204

1501773208

9781501773198

1501773194

OCLC:

1417196263