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022 Issue # 11/11 : PublIc Issues
Xitong's decree in 1983, all buildings in Beijing started
to receive a green, antique-looking roof, which can be
considered as a highlight of modern architecture history.
This action, as well as the demolition of Beijing's city
wall after the founding of the Republic, served to fulfill
political needs.
The end of 1980s and the beginning of 1990s were character-
ized by an atmosphere of repression. Most people chose
silence as a countermeasure. In the 1990s, the Chinese
economy was affected by the Asian financial crisis and
came to a standstill. This caused a short period of distress
for economy-driven, futuristic cities that had been built
from the ground, like Shenzhen or Shanghai's Pudong dis-
trict. The 1990s were also the beginning of the government's
emphasis on the cultural industry, and they marked the
start of city beautification campaigns. Many monuments were
created and all of them had wonderful motifs. But no other
city than Guangzhou found a sculpture that better repre-
sented its city culture than the stone sculpture of the Five
Goats. 12 Yet the masses of old leader statues were still
occupying too much public space; until today, flower beds
and roundabouts in folkloristic styles still dominate
public space.
Since the year 2000, the cosmopolitan cities of Beijing
and Shanghai have been hosting massive actions to improve
their image. On 13th July 2001, Beijing was awarded the
Olympic Games, and started a worldwide design competition
for the Olympic stadiums. After the Games, they all have
become important landmark buildings and public culture
venues. The Shanghai Expo 2010 used Beijing's experience
to make the most of its own event. All the buildings were
temporary, only the China pavilion was kept. Furthermore,
the CCTV Headquarter, designed by Rem Koolhaas, and the
Shanghai Tower came into being. These colossal and unique
architecture projects were already designed as landmarks
and media centers. While they are still connected to
politics, they are also inseparable from business and
culture.
Epilogue
This essay has attempted to depict the changes in China's
public and public culture in the past 100 years. I hope
to have provided the reader with a rough idea, despite the
limited space available. Public = people's need = standard-
ization of political culture = media can be seen as a
summary of the meaning of the term public in China from
1949 to 1978; this is a one-way, vertical process, which
responds to popular desires and party expectations. After
1978, whether political or popular needs, many more fac-
tors came into play. Public art is a vertical need of the
government, a political need to reconstruct cities. As
soon as the media and information distribution by the
people came to life, the public's legitimacy and totality
faced questioning and rejection. This led to the emergence
of an even bigger information network, which then turned
into an online public sphere. This phenomenon took an
immediate effect on the formation of the public and of
public art. Today, the public can be created for three
different reasons: 1. political needs; 2. personal benefit;
3. media event. Coincidentally, these aspects are also
shaping today's contemporary art.
Both domestic and international transitions have led to an
overall variation and diversification of public awareness
in the course of the globalization process, and are slowly
helping to overcome national borders and boundaries. By
way of comparisons, conversions and exchange, more public
issues will be raised, like the environment question,
12
Designed by
famous sculptor
Yin Jichang and
others in 1959 to
perpetuate the
goat as Guangzhou's
city
symbol, this is
an artwork full
of poetic grace.
13
See:
http://sharism.org
youth education, unemployment, the emergence of migrant
workers, the dangers of coal mines, and many more.
There is also the concept of concealment, which has always
existed within tradition and culture. This has not ceased
existing despite revolutions and reforms, but has become
an integral part of China's cultural heritage and the back-
bone of the elite and intellectuals. Its traces can be found
today in the structures of ancient buildings, gardens, and
paintings.
Returning to the issue of ideology issue, if China's poli-
tics and public both belong to this domain, then it also
concerns modern and contemporary art. Chinese artists have
always had a pragmatic attitude towards this issue, as the
famous final line in the film version of the novel The
Miraculous Pigtail nicely illustrates: 'The pigtail is gone,
but the spirit is still here' (Feng 1984). This clearly
shows a non-compromising inner nature, while being able to
adapt to reform and revolution. Here, we need to discuss
the re-thinking of culture, a question already to be found
in the writings of Joseph Needham (1900 — 1995):
"First, why did modern science only develop in
Europe, but not in Chinese (or Indian)
civilizations?
Second, why was the Chinese civilization between
100 B.C until 1500 A.D. so much more effective
than Europe in applying mankind's natural know-
ledge to its practical needs?"
So what does China's current public environment and spirit
look like? Everything that I have mentioned above needs to
be considered to answer this question. Since we are living
in a multifaceted era with many networks, all the events
that took place before have a subtle butterfly effect on
our world today. Never before has anything superseded
the rules of a society within an existing ideology in such
a short time. Ideological transition is the first step
towards universal change. Those ideologies that are gradual-
ly dying away will cause a shift within the external world,
from its buildings to its aesthetics.
After the creation of sharism, the ideology of sharing con-
structed by the public, what will a world look like where
information is completely disclosed? 13 Will China, after
its official entry into the WTO, be affected by the next
financial crisis? Also, have the problems and morality
constraints that arise from sharing led to the construction
of self-imposed limits? How should we consider matters in
such a complicated situation? Of course, these issues are
already part of the ideology of contemporary art. What,
we may ask, is not public today? Knowledge is like a speed-
boat: I am in the boat, looking at the sea, sometimes
looking up at the stars.
What might be more important than all of this is perhaps
simply forgetting to explain the concepts of public,
contemporary, politics, sharing, and so on, or at least
to stop using these memorized, simple words with some