boy....that is one long post.....

How to look at Non-western Art

i'm not going to talk about all western art but instead use chinese art as a means to express my ideas as i am most familiar with chinese art. the issues i raise in this blog, while incoherent...are applicable, i believe to the art of all cultures. so bear with this long blog! it's inspired by ZaraD's question as to "why wouldn't chinese artists keep on painting women in a chinese style" -

well, there are many Chinese artists who upon exposure to Western art methods, imitate them wholesale without thought - there is a lot of bad chinese art out there , believe me!

plus, alot of westerners, upon exposure to modern era chinese art, tend to think of it as mere derivation from western art traditions and so dismiss that art without first attempting to understand how the artists think and express themselves. thus my questions were somewhat very unconsciously aimed at emphasising this "chineseness".

still, there is also very good chinese art out there that looks very western by most definitions. if i hadn't known the facts beforehand, i would have attributed a few of these pieces to some famous contemporary artists. for example, one of zhu wei's paintings of a man dressed in a mao jacket ( i can only find the lithograph version here) looks very much like the portraits of francesco clemente's at first glance i.e. the large eyes and angular features. but the subject matter is totally different. this portrait by zhu wei is also an anomaly in his oeuvre, but it is nonetheless a beautiful piece of work that retains its own identity once you begin to think about the subject matter and means of execution. 

other works by other artists seem totally devoid of the chinese cultural context, and are hence thought of as derivative. but one has to ignore the issue of culture and race that always rears its head where non-western art is talked about, for these artists are geniuses in their own right (but this is difficult at this point in time where the world is only beginning to break down the walls between countries). shi hu, in his early career (late 80s and early 90s) painted, in this work  for example, in a cubist/modernist manner, and was hailed the picasso of the east by western art critics.

this comparison of shi hu with a western artist irritates me to a certain extent as it invariably puts the notion in people's minds to compare shi hu with picasso. doing so often sets picasso as the de facto yardstick of comparison, and people will invariably find some way in which shi hu's work doesn't measure up - and of course it isn't the same as picasso's because they are imposing western standards of artist achievement on art that is really the product of a totally different culture. even if they draw inspiration from some of the same sources, eg african art, they way they digest their inspiration is different.

i accept however that the western art critics have to use picasso as the standard as what other point of reference could they use which western audiences could understand? picasso is the best-known (in the west and the east) artist whose work is closest to shi hu's in style. this is a problem then for chinese artists, of exposure, for there are comparable examples in chinese art history, but western audiences are not familiar with them. this comparison is a double-edged sword, for while it is in some way meant to imply that shi hu's work is good, it can also work the other way.

still, i can let this go (for now at least) only because it gains chinese artists exposure outside asia and till the day we become truly globalised, i am prepared to deal with the cultural mishaps and misunderstandings that will inevitably occur on the path to gaining equal recognition for non-western art.

i saw a few images from the modern chinese art movement (i.e. early 1900s) on a recent trip to the Met in new york and i was quite intrigued by the way the women were portrayed. given that many chinese artists were in paris at the turn of the century, absorbing all the avant-garde movements such as cubism and fauvism, why were they still portraying chinese women, in chinese dress?

that era was a turning point in the way women were portrayed in chinese art as for the first time, chinese artists had nude models to study from. and they fully absorbed the modes of representation of nude women from western artists of the time.

for example, Lin Fengmian's use of line in modeling the nude female body is distinctly like Matisse's, yet it is modulated in ink, after chinese calligraphic style. I can't find the image, but here's an example of Lin Fengmian's depiction of women: while the woman bears the modigliani-esque depiction of face in her elongated face and upturned eyes, the woman is put in a chinese setting and wearing chinese dress.

from something like this it is very evident that chinese artists were not merely imitating western art wholesale stylistically (unlike the social realist art of the communist era) but instead absorbing these new ideas to formulate a new chinese mode of expression. of course the exhibition is more than just images of women and if you are interested in it you can visit the Met's site i have lots more to say, but there's also much more i want to mull over before i put my words to print! enjoy!

It's Brazil all over again!

again, like father like son, the US, under a Bush regime, has refused to sign a world environmental treaty and because of this, the kyoto protocol has lost all sort of political and economic credibility in the eyes of the international audience. which country now truly holds to the agreements made in Brazil (was this in 1990?)? US withdrawal has left the Kyoto Protocol in doubt, since it requires support from 55 countries producing 55 per cent of greenhouse gases, and the US produces 25% of all greenhouse gases. One of the first major countries to pull out because of US non-compliance is Australia. 

I am not a fervent environmentalist, but then the situation does stink. i wish the US would at least try to BE the house on the hill instead of pretending to be so.

ahhh....inebriated sobriety after two glasses of riesling is rather interesting. the world is in sharper focus, you are relaxed but not with the discomfort of being drunk. you are in that pleasant limbo which most drunk people think they are in (which i definitely wasn't!!!), yet you can still add 576 to 2049 mentally with not too much difficulty.

it makes things hyper-clear in the most amusing fashion: suddenly, not only does your life make sense, the rest of the world does too, and that is the scary part because for example, you suddenly realise why Mr. B is president and think it not too illogical......

ahhhh...this is the life after two irritating exams in a row: my mind was totally emptied at the end of 3 hours, and is only now beginning to fill. my treat to myself was the wine to complement the nice dinner that i cooked for myself! c'est la vie!

this was inspired by cel's blog: true friends are rare and hard to find, but when you do, keep them for they will be with you thru your darkest moments. if you sit down to really think about it, besides your family in general, who else can you count on as true friends? i work best one on one with people and i only need two hands to count the number of people that i know to be my true friends. others are people that i am still getting to know or else, they are people whom i know aren't my friends.

i've learned alot about friendships over the years, and there is still more to learn. but the best thing i have learned is to cherish the friends that i have. they will protect your heart when you keep them close, but you also have to protect their hearts. it's a sacrifice that only brings more joy to you.

BARBIE'S BEAU
Time to take stock as Ken hits 40

As Ken turns 40, he takes stock of his life (in plastic) as consort to Barbie, and ponders his future as Mattel's male model

AGE is catching up finally with Barbie's boyfriend, Ken, who just turned 40.

Will Ken have many happy returns? It is up to his maker, Mattel. His first 40 years were bitter ones.

In recognition of the milestone, Mattel is thinking of introducing Midlife Crisis Ken, complete with moulded plastic paunch, faded Malibu tan (he now sits behind a desk all day), receding hairline and optional Bimbo Mistress Skipper.

In a recent interview, the doll reflected on his tumultuous past and pondered an uncertain future.

Q: How do you feel about your first 40 years?

A: Bitter. I mean, Mattel didn't even give me bendable legs until 1965. And I've never been able to hold a steady job. My resume is all over the place: lifeguard, doctor, soldier, rock star, airline pilot, Olympic skater, cowboy - and even a brief stint as Gomez from The Addams Family. But I was never allowed to stick with anything long enough to earn medical benefits, let alone a retirement package.

Q: But you've still enjoyed a rather luxurious lifestyle.

A: If you're referring to the so-called Malibu Dream House, which retails for US$119.95 in a neighbourhood where most homes cost millions, it has been destroyed repeatedly by mudslides and brush fires. I'm moving to West Covina.

Q: Why were you unable to shave until the 1980s?

A: Because Mattel didn't give me facial hair for two decades! Barbie thought I was some kind of freak.

Q: Okay, but is it fair to blame Mattel for all of your problems?

A: I guess I have done some things I'm not proud of. Like Totally Hair Ken in 1992. And the tangerine bell-bottoms and fringed vest outfit of the 1970s. There was also my Quick Curl Ken phase in 1977, during which I bore an uncanny resemblance to Neil Diamond.

Q: Weren't there several other 'phases' that Mattel wisely never developed?

A: Yeah. In the 1960s, I was Draft-Dodger Ken. In the 1970s, I experimented with being Manson Family Ken and Hare Krishna Ken.

In the 1980s, I became Junk Bond Ken, with removable Michael Milken-style toupee.

And in the 1990s, I hit bottom as Robert Downey Jr Detox Ken.

Q: Do you think the setbacks and struggles have made you stronger?

A: Absolutely. When I debuted in March 1961, I was just a scrawny blond teen wearing red swim trunks, cork sandals and a towel. Now I have an infinite wardrobe, a Barbie Motor Home and a 42-year-old girlfriend with a figure that won't quit, although Mattel did reduce Barbie's bust size in 1997 to make it 'more realistic.'.

I don't know what it was thinking.

Q: The toy industry has changed dramatically in recent years. How will you retain market share in the 21st century?

A: Oh, that's no problem. I've always stayed in tune with cultural trends. So the next 40 years should be no different. In fact, here are some of the Kens we have on the drawing board: