Another Battle series, 2001

"Another Battle" Series (2001) is influenced by the snapshots of patriotism and heroism extolled in the old movies talking about safeguarding the motherland that I watched in childhood. The heroes gave their lives for the liberation of new China in movies like "Landmine War", "Guerrilla War", "Three Liberation Wars", etc. I used to dream about becoming a soldier, too. Up until now, this dream has not been realized. Nowadays economic reconstruction is like a war that progresses so rapidly and intensely. In this war, we have to face contradictions from both Chinese ancient civilization and modern western civilization. I call these contradictions Another Battle. In this battle of "defending our country", without fire and gunshots, I portray myself as a defeated commander. It looks there is no winner at all in this battle. To keep track of my reflection upon our past, consideration of our present and depiction of our future, I find the urban sculpture best reveals our history and ideal. However, I pose some doubts on what we have achieved and what we are expecting. With such "doubt", I portray myself as a bystander in the triptych work entitled "Past, Present, and Future" (2001). Models are smeared with mud, silver and golden powder hinting at the changes in time from the revolutionary times to the modernization age, and onto the future we are aspiring. The postures of the models imitate those on the monumental Communist sculptures still found in some cities in China. I hope this work achieves the effect of reflecting upon the history of the past, reconstruction of the present and beauty of the future. Past, Present and Future, 2001     Meat Peonies, 2003 In the winter of 2003, I created a series of "false flowers" series. The flower I chose is peony, symbolic of national brilliance and prosperity because peony is the national flower in China. I made the petals of peonies out of fresh veggie, lamb and beef slices. I shot one set when they are fresh. I reshot them after putting the peonies in deep frost for a week. This gives a transition from prosperity to decay and my hope to freeze such materialistic decadence made out of fleshy desires. In 2003, I created the C-print photographs China Mansion (120x1200cm) and Romantique (120x650cm). Both of these works were shot in a Beijing movie studio of more than 19,000 square feet. This studio formerly hosted important movie crews, including those for the model operas during the period of the Cultural Revolution and, recently, the Kill Bill crew. Currently the largest movie studio in China, it regrettably will be torn down to support commercially ambitious real-estate development projects. China Mansion summarizes my perception of Chinese social reality during the current stage of globalization. China has been very enthusiastic about inviting foreign experts in economy, technology, architecture, and culture to give support and guidance to its modernization programs. These foreign specialists help to create economic opportunities and introduce alternative systems of thought to China. However, the cultural clash creates social contradictions. This phenomenon triggered me to shoot and direct China Mansion. In the set-up, I invited models to play the parts of foreign guests, mimicking postures in paintings by Ingres, Courbet, Manet, Gauguin, Klein, Boucher, Rembrandt, Rubens, Man Ray, and several other artists [WQ: I shortened the list of artists a little]. I wanted my models to communicate with each other across centuries and with Chinese culture so as to create certain amiable relationships. It seems my hope was in vain. It's easy to see that I play the role of the confusing host in this mansion, filled with both Chinese and western antiquities. Obviously the host is a conservative, but also a fashionista. On the left of the photograph, the host wears a banner of welcome. But on the right, the armed guard-like a terra-cotta soldier-looks like a robber, preventing the honorable guests from free movement and forcing them to leave something valuable in the host's mansion.     China Mansion , 2003     In Romantique, one seems to walk into a land that is half the heaven of western religion and half a pastoral Chinese garden. There are cheap plastic leaves, fruits, flowers, and decorations. The little ponds in this paradise emit a light smoke created from dry ice. Viewers can imagine false happiness in this fabricated beautiful paradise. Models act out the figures in western masterpieces by Massacio, Velasquez, Botticelli, Raphael, and Matisse. There's a Chinese golden Buddha, beautiful princesses, and livestock. There's a western girl and a Chinese man and his little girl, highlighting the potential conflicts of this complicated international dialogue. These people are very happy, peaceful, and without desire. Like "China Mansion", the communication in "Romantique" is also forced, manufactured, chaotic and confusing in fabricated happiness in this man-made utopia. For me such fabricated ideal is like a daydream, a bubble. (Read more about how to create "China Mansion" and "Romantique") Romantique, 2003 In 2004, I created "Competition” which focuses on the power of ads and the misconceptions that ads can create. For this photo work, I constructed a chaotic backdrop where over 20 people are depicted in a frenzy of competition with some even fist fighting while jostling for ad positioning on a huge billboard advertisement; this struggle for the most optimal outdoor ad placement is perceived as inevitably bringing power and influence. The struggle for ad placement in public space in China is not unlike a battlefield strewn with casualties after a pitched battle for power. Today one brand wins. The next day, its competitor will replace it with better positioning on public spaces. Every day, new ads go up, and old ones fall down, scattered in pieces, and discarded on the ground under newly erected billboard advertisements. In my second photo work called “Billboard”, I continue my investigation of the power of ads and images. I reproduce a huge billboard that reads "Art Works of Wang Qingsong" in gigantic bold letters, in homage to the huge advertising signboards that line the second and third ring roads around Beijing. Life goes on, under the shadow of these huge billboards. We can see some passers-by reading these gigantic ads while others pay no attention at all. Instead, they play chess, buy vegetables, or otherwise carry on with their day-to-day activities. Do we recreate our lives to follow the images depicted in the ads?How much power do these words exert on our mind and eye? I am interested in this physical and mental space that lies somewhere in between advertisements and reality. Overall, I hope my photographic works witness and emulate hopes and frustrations of Chinese people in the modern reconstruction of socialism with Chinese characteristics. By putting on stories in my photographs, readers find clearly my attitude towards social phenomena in the current times. If my works can provide further reflections for other people, I will be even happier.