East ≠ West?

Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet ... But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth. So goes the beginning (first and third lines) of Rudyard Kipling's famous poem The Ballad of East and West (1889). One may then ask, how to best juxtaposition East and West in contemporary art? In examining history closer to our time, in the context of post-colonialism and globalisation, artist designer Jeffrey Choy says, 'the term “East” and “West” fail to address many of the nuances and interaction of cultural development in human history.' He quotes Vincent van Gogh: 'All my work is based to some extent on Japanese art'  (in a letter to his brother, 1888). He concludes that '“East” and “West” is one of those words that had meaningful usage at the time it was invented, but simply too clunky and inadequate to use to describe something as specific and important as culture influences and art. Eastern/Western as definition is simply not going to evolve into anything useful as different cultures continue to merge and develop in our contemporary world.' Source: https://medium.com/hidden-keileon/the-pointlessness-of-east-west-in-art-and-culture-7dcf7642fecb

Shadows

To see volume you need light on the subject - and shadows. But shadow is the absence of light, says the artist David Hockney. Great photographers, and cinematographers are not just aware of shadows, they use them to create dramatic effect and illusions. Interestingly, shadows are almost exclusively an European artistic phenomenon: there are virtually no shadows in Chinese art, nor Persian or Japanese. Continues Hockney, they [shadows] are  one of the things that make the major difference between Western art and the art of anywhere else. However, some of the images of pre-historic cave paintings in France, and elsewhere, are a sort of stencil, akin to a shadow because it is simply an outline, a negative formed by the absence of paint.

Asian art now

Contemporary Asian art is too significant to be overlooked or underestimated in a globalised art world. In exhibitions across East and Souheast Asia, every artist showcases their own unique form of expression which links to their cultural identity and way of doing things. Typical themes in Asian art include nature and the natural world, as well as the impact of one’s social position. There are also recurring themes such as figures wearing masks. Contemporary visual arts in Asia, however, extend beyond traditional practices such as printmaking, silk painting and stone carvings to include forms of visual arts such as film-making, photography, performance art, fashion design, industrial design, and architecture. Asia Art Platform 2022, for example, is a cooperative project that presents five pieces of art through their theme of the animistic practices underlying Asian culture. The pieces, by artists from Cambodia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Taiwan and Thailand, bring light to the style of life based on value for the invisible, natural, sacred, and bring a fresh perspective on the social and political conditions faced by each region, as well as the problems caused by globalisation and modernisation.

Complexities and contradictions

For a country obsessed with the new, the word 'history' crops up frequently in contemporary Chinese art. But not only in China. All of Asia has become the most diverse and fast-changing continent in the world. This can be seen in the new directions in 21st century art, from Korea and Indonesia to India and Vietnam. But while the artists' approaches are largely universal, in the midst of commercialisation and ever-growing range of media, there is also resistance to globalisation as artists seek to balance their individual identity, and local culture, with universal narratives.

Chinese perspective on creativity

Creativity is often associated with the idea of a lone creative genius, an individual who not only excels at what they do, but also transforms the world in the process. Further, even if we don’t limit ourselves to romantic or heroic perspectives on the nature and value of creativity, it’s commonly thought that creativity at least aims at novelty or originality. This way of thinking about creativity, however, isn’t universal. On one Chinese interpretation, creativity isn’t conceived as aiming at novelty or originality, but rather integration. Instead of aiming at something new, it aims at something that combines well with the situation of which it’s a part. An example is the craftsperson. This kind of creativity isn’t taken to aim at novelty or originality as such. The craftsperson is presented as creative not because of anything to do with their projects’, novelty or originality, but instead because of their ability to create wheels in a sensitive, responsive and – crucially – well-integrated manner: one not learned by rote, but rather via engaging in sustained, spontaneous activity. This alternative perspective on creativity might help us to see it as an everyday phenomenon in which we all participate – rather than an extraordinary talent or gift that only a few enjoy. And it might also allow us to make sense of the idea of living creatively: of an integrated life, lived spontaneously, in which all of life’s contrasting aspects can be arranged to form a rich and variegated whole. Source: https://psyche.co/ideas/to-be-creative-chinese-philosophy-teaches-us-to-abandon-originality?utm_source=pocket-newtab-global-en-GB

Copycat culture

In China, a copy does not share the negative connotation of its western counterpart as there are distinct differences between Chinese and Western attitudes toward facsimiles. In the West counterfeiting is a definite crime, viewed as fraud and theft. But China has a history of perfecting copies, beginning with its first emperor Qin Shi Huang. He built replicas of palaces from his conquered rivals as trophies from his conquests. In China a copy can be a sign of respect – and the process is seen as an art. Mimicry is something to master: The better the copy, the more regarded the artist. Source: https://sometimes-interesting.com/2014/03/25/an-english-town-in-china/

The long march

China's modernizing policies of the late 1970s offered artists more opportunities to learn about art from around the world, as well as the ability to work independently of state commission and the Socialist Realist style sanctioned under the Mao era. A profusion of different styles and experimental tendencies subsequently emerged. The early 1990s saw the ascendancy of two styles that engaged in sharp cultural critiques: Political Pop and Cynical Realism as well as the performance-oriented East Village movement in Beijing. More recent movements include the Post-70s Ego Generation, which consists of young artists raised under China’s One Child policy who tend to take the self as subject rather than the collective. Yet many contemporary Chinese artists continue to take broader social issues and traditions as the basis for their work. Source: https://www.artsy.net/gene/contemporary-chinese-art