Exploring Asian Identities
I focused here on chinese - Let me know if you want me to choose a different cultural group...
Traditional East Asian Art
Some ideas for concepts
When markers are viewing your HSC Body of Work, they want to see something they have never seen before. This means that students interested in traditional Asian art (eg Chinese watercolours) will need to find a way to "value add" to your work. You could think of things like:
- Painting on ceramics or other objects like Liu Jixian - think about the symbolism of the ceramic objects you choose. What might they say about Asia or Asia's relationship to the world? For instance, painting onto cheap plastic toys made in China could be a comment on globalisation, working on fans or lanterns might critique Orientalism (art that stereotypes the 'exotic' aspects of Asia and the Middle East for European consumption), teapots might reference traditional domestic endeavours.
- Make an environmental statement by doing a lovely landscape with a skyscraper or dam or pollution of some sort (Think of the environmental and cultural costs of the enormous three gorges dam, for instance). Or perhaps a traditional beautiful water colour of a place where humans have had a disastrous environmental impact, where the writing (which could even be the very graphic ancient chinese characters) tells a completely different story - creating irony (use this as the English title).
- Still life flowers along the lines of baroque vanitas paintings
- if the still life concept suits - look further at dutch still life paintings (btw lots of women artists in this genre and era) which include all the latest exotic trade items - they were a comment on consumerism as well as other things, and think about what items would now represent rampant consumerism
- Consider ways to represent an Australian landscape in Chinese traditional style - how would a desert look in this style? What about Australian animals and plants? what could this kind of art say about the interactions between Australian ad China?
- What about traditions like burning paper money? or loud clanging funderal processions that keep the devils at bay? Or dragon dancers, if you have something to say about the cliche?
Chinese-Australian Themes
Your art could look at Asians in Australian history, referencing, for example photographs nad other emphemera from the National Library.
You could look at specific interactions in Chinese-australian history such as:
Or you could create artwork that references racist aspects of Australian history, especially
What about other Asian-Australian interactions, like the fact that Aboriginal carvings show that Indonesian people were visiting Australia long before Europeans got here
You could look at specific interactions in Chinese-australian history such as:
- Chinese during the gold rush era
- Chinese as market gardeners
- Chinese traders (esp luxury items such as silk)
Or you could create artwork that references racist aspects of Australian history, especially
- cartoons from The Bulletin magazine (which played a very important role in establishing Australia's national identity - most Australian stereotypes can be traced back to it!)
- Post-WWII cartoons from the 1950s warning of the "yellow peril"
- newspaper cartoons from the era of the Cultural revolution (both Australian and Chinese)
What about other Asian-Australian interactions, like the fact that Aboriginal carvings show that Indonesian people were visiting Australia long before Europeans got here
Asian contemporary artists
THIS BIT COMING SOON!
Liu Jixian
https://www.biennaleofsydney.art/artists/ai-weiwei/
https://www.biennaleofsydney.art/artists/tiffany-chung/
https://www.biennaleofsydney.art/artists/wong-hoy-cheong/
https://www.biennaleofsydney.art/artists/chen-shaoxiong/
Liu Jixian
https://www.biennaleofsydney.art/artists/ai-weiwei/
https://www.biennaleofsydney.art/artists/tiffany-chung/
https://www.biennaleofsydney.art/artists/wong-hoy-cheong/
https://www.biennaleofsydney.art/artists/chen-shaoxiong/
Guan Wei
- look carefully at the traditional painting below to see Ned Kelly in a gun battle!
- ‘Other histories: Guan Wei’s fable for a contemporary world’, Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 2006-2007 - Ms Carmyn has the catalogue for this show
- ancient carving nad show puppetry https://www.designboom.com/art/chinese-pavilion-venice-art-biennale-05-16-2017/
- art of paper cutting https://luxuothailand.com/life/arts-design/chinese-artist-wu-jianan-at-artscience-museum-singapore.html
Suzann Victor
- on women's art: https://www.lifestyleasia.com/sg/culture/art-design/qa-suzann-victor-shares-paved-way-female-singaporean-artist-1980s/
- On disruptive nature of contemporary art nad her performance "Still Waters" https://theartling.com/en/artzine/an-interview-with-suzann-victor-still-waters-then-now/
Links for Ms Carmy nto follow up
http://artasiapacific.com/Blog/FieldTrip/57thVeniceBiennaleDay3
https://news.artnet.com/exhibitions/china-pavilion-at-venice-biennale-2019-1546795
https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-tiananmen-square-protests-forever-changed-chinese-contemporary-artists
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2004/nov/09/art.china
http://www.4a.com.au/4a_papers_article/apt9-as-practice/
https://www.tate.org.uk/research/publications/tate-papers/21/somewhere-and-nowhere-between-modernity-and-tradition-towards-a-critique-of-international-and-indigenous-perspectives-on-the-significance-of-contemporary-chinese-art
https://theartling.com/en/artzine/artists-pushing-chinese-contemporary-art-forward/
https://www.artspace.com/magazine/art_101/in_depth/a-symbolism-guide-to-the-spooky-world-of-dutch-still-lives-56298
http://artasiapacific.com/Blog/FieldTrip/57thVeniceBiennaleDay3
https://news.artnet.com/exhibitions/china-pavilion-at-venice-biennale-2019-1546795
https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-tiananmen-square-protests-forever-changed-chinese-contemporary-artists
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2004/nov/09/art.china
http://www.4a.com.au/4a_papers_article/apt9-as-practice/
https://www.tate.org.uk/research/publications/tate-papers/21/somewhere-and-nowhere-between-modernity-and-tradition-towards-a-critique-of-international-and-indigenous-perspectives-on-the-significance-of-contemporary-chinese-art
https://theartling.com/en/artzine/artists-pushing-chinese-contemporary-art-forward/
https://www.artspace.com/magazine/art_101/in_depth/a-symbolism-guide-to-the-spooky-world-of-dutch-still-lives-56298