The Rising Tide

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THE RISING TIDE A film by Robert Adanto


China. The scene of the greatest economic, social, and political metamorphosis of our time. This hybrid-nation that blends Leninist authoritarianism with a market economy, struggles to secure resources and quell growing social unrest, despite averaging 9% growth over the last 20 years. However, for most Americans, China remains a mysterious land of ancient scholars with long beards practicing their calligraphy, of qi gong and flying monks from Shaolin. Despite its breakneck race towards modernization, this enigmatic land of contradictions completely escapes the notice of most Westerners.

The transformation that China has undergone began in 1979 when Deng Xiaoping opened China up to the forces of the global market. Deng declared, “To be rich is glorious,” and his mandates created unprecedented growth. However, as China began its rapid “Peaceful Rise,” a whole way of life began to disappear to be replaced by another. This great social stirring brought about traumatic changes and a breakdown of traditional values. Materialism and consumer culture became the dominant forces in every aspect of contemporary China's social life, and the past was forgotten and memories of Mao's Cultural Revolution erased.

My film explores how China’s meteoric march toward the future continues to influence a new generation of younger artists, for whom “the Cultural Revolution is a phantom, Tiananmen Square, yesterday’s inexplicable news.”* Raised within the dual context of globalization and urbanization, artists Yang Fudong, Cao Fei, Yang Yong, Zhong Biao, Chen Qiulin, Zhu Ming, and Qingsong Wang are treated like pop stars at home. Their work often examines the collision between the present and the future, and the confusion and ambiguity that characterize the new China. (All seven artists have agreed to participate in my project. See their work at the websites I’ve provided below.)

Their art captures the social and aesthetic confusion of a society in rapid transition. To the Chinese avant-garde, materialism is all pervasive and the dominant consumer culture has altered people's mentalities. Their work is a stunned attempt to deal with the dynamic and tectonic forces transforming China as it emerges as a global power. Often humorous, these biting commentaries lampoon the speed by which an ancient culture has become an ungainly hybrid by jettisoning many of its traditions and adopting many of the less appealing elements of another culture that it has yet to fully understand.

1) Yang Yong http://www.goedhuiscontemporary.com/artists/yang_yong/y.yong_exhib.html

2) Qingsong Wang http://www.wangqingsong.com/

3) Cao Fei http://www.caofei.com/

4) Zhu Ming http://www.newchineseart.com/artists/zhuming.htm

5) Zhong Biao http://www.zhongbiaoart.com/

6 ) Chen Qiulin http://imaginingourselves.imow.org/pb/Story.aspx?id=104&lang=1

7) Yang Fudong http://china.shanghartgallery.com/galleryarchive/archives/id/55

*Holland, Cotter. “Like a Bird in Flight: Capturing Today’s Chinese Culture in Translation” Art Review; The New York Times, 6/11/04.

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Comments

[tom nolan]

kick some ass!!
Dear Robert, you go, brother! Kick some ass! Make that movie! Can't wait. Saw some amazing new Chinese art at the Indiana Museum of Art last week. Really wild and interesting stuff. Good luck! Proud of you! Tom

[Jennifer Finley]

update?
Hope you are having a nice time. Where's the update? Did you know Santa Barbara Museum of Art has an exhibition featuring chinese videographers? xxoo, Jenn