++ ESSAYS  II

++ Peter Weibel
++ Gregor Jansen
++ Huang Du
++ Nicole Wong
++ Nancy Adajania
++ Eugene Tan
++ Yukie Kamiya
++ Pi Li
++ Josef Ng

The great adventure In 1271 at the tender age of 17, a Venetian merchant set off for the East with his father and uncle. They journeyed into the remote unknown until reaching China. His name would one day be known throughout the world, where Marco Polo remains synonymous with discovery, travel and adventure. But his accounts were incredible at the time and even to this day, doubts remain: did he really travel to China? There is a theory that he was never actually there, merely paraphrasing for his travelogues what he had picked up from other travellers to the Orient who had visited China. According to many historians this thesis is borne out by the fact that his descriptions omit mention of the renowned Great Wall of China, the sensational visual characteristics of the Chinese language, the gunpowder in use for military and civic ceremonial purposes, and techniques for printing books that were widely used in China at the time—the latter would take a further 200 years to reach Nurnberg and set off the Gutenberg revolution. It seemed implausible that somebody who had served more than ten years as an official of the emperor would have failed to note such remarkable discoveries. Adding weight to this theory is the fact that his travel notes from other regions were fastidious in their accounts. The journeyman sees a lot but the homespun truth that you only see what you know is not just acknowledged by travellers—in this respect the concept is the precursor to perception.[1] Such wisdom also has a place in present day Europe, where we need to be brought into closer proximity to non-European art—and vice versa. A caveat however applies—such an enterprise should not be limited to or from the city of Venice as a staging post. We must bear in mind that as early as 1999, Harald Szeemann had already leveraged the occasion of the Venice Biennale to train a spotlight on contemporary art from China.

The Orient in the Occident The Chinese artist Ai Wei Wei has invited 1001 of his compatriots to the world's most important art exhibition, this year's documenta 12 in Kassel, Germany.[2] 1001 people? This sounds less like art or a performance and more like an oriental fable. This logistically demanding event could become the most expensive in art history. If the budget is available, it is well and good to consider constituencies which in the normal course of global cash flow and economic exchange would never enter into such debates: "outsiders" such as farmers, workers, teachers, students, fishermen, police officers, cooks, gardeners, art lovers and architects will indulge and be indulged in the trip and an art event, while also brokering their proximity to contemporary art beyond sheer physical presence. All of them had to apply by letter to their patron. "They all wrote", Ai emphasises, "that they wanted to be part of this 'fairytale'. Many of them come from remote villages and have to contend with almost hopeless living conditions. Most of these people would never otherwise have the chance to travel to documenta." Hopefully this change will have an enduring impact on their lives.

The world has become smaller At least to the extent that our ability to traverse and link it together are concerned. Thanks to new information technologies and reduced travel times, we are all that much closer to one another. Yet China, and Asia in general, may as well be a foreign planet for many Westerners—and vice versa. Cultural differences are enormous and for all our human similarities, hopes, expectations and dreams are sometimes profoundly different. The current "Almanac 2007" published by art magazine ArtAsiaPacific[3] can be seen as a handbook and who's who of the region's cultural scene, and also a good source of information for the challenge ahead. In projects such as the exhibition THERMOCLINE OF ART. NEW ASIAN WAVES, we endeavour to present art from a region that it is impossible to gain an overview of in an extended yet comprehensible context. As the exhibition was prepared, the curatorial team were constantly reminded of differences in points of view and conceptual approaches, of market orientation and discursive affinity. The exhibition, curated by the Korean Wonil Rhee as a glimpse into the contemporary Asian art scene, is positioned in relation to Western, transatlantic modernity and postmodernity. It is a fact—in Venice, Kassel or Karlsruhe—that art as a cultural, educational and not least economic factor is increasingly significant. Something Marco Polo could only have dreamed of.

Asia booms Beyond the standard barometer of economic relations, an increase of exchange between the East and the West has been apparent in the cultural sphere over the last decade. Interest in both high and low end products, produce, clothes and design from the Far East, in regulated harmonies or spiritualism, exceeds any culturally imperialistic marketing strategy on the part of the empire of the sign. At this point there are few sectors in which an East Asian tradition has not been paired with marketable contemporaneity in some form of profitable coalition. Whether the reasons for this will be seen in the future as postmodern, neoromantic exoticism in the wake of European globalisation, or as an authentic enrichment of the pluralistic surfaces here in these parts remains to be seen. Yet the fact that Asia is ascendant is indisputable. If the 20th century was the American century, the 21st century belongs to Asia.

cities on the move An early proof of this was the exhibition "cities on the move", jointly conceived ten years ago by curators Hans Ulrich Obrist from Switzerland and Hou Hanru from Hong Kong—China.[4] This sounding of architecture and art from the Asian megapolises toured successfully through the western world. But in 1997 bank scandals and a market crash led to shift in stance concerning Asian trading partners. Long term confidence in one of the global economic powers of the post-war era was shaken. In Japan's case a revised and more critical view towards its seemingly exemplary and, despite high levels of frivolous sociality, industrious society, began to take effect. The unique marriage of tradition and progress, the spooky regularity of a society structured down to its finest details—it was this emblem of success that cracked and crumbled.

The great dragon Thanks to colossal currency reserves now topping a trillion dollars, China has become a world leader with enormous influence on international financial markets. And evidently, it has no intention of squandering its opportunities with brash investments. A large part of China's wealth is currently parked in US government bonds, which presents incalculable risks for the American currency. Experts and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predict that depending on investment strategies, a gargantuan figure could rapidly amass: within four years China's total reserves will reach two billion dollars, consolidating the great dragon's position as leader of its pack of neighbouring tigers. If China were a liberal democracy its power in international markets would be greatly reduced. But even in China's art market there is no respite from the boom. The market for contemporary art is growing fast, too fast... and is the only branch in which the existence of the West is not at stake should the bond between democracy and prosperity be dissolved.

Cynical realism The 2006 auction results show that Chinese contemporary art has become one of the fastest growing segments of the international market.[5] If two years ago Sotheby's and Christie's were able to take in 22 million dollars with contemporary art from Asia, by 2006 this volume had increased nine fold to 190 million. The most internationally successful developments are known as "cynical realism" and "political pop". The buzz is that a new wave of fresh products for the ravenous art market is on its way from India...
Auctions stoke the market and waiting lists for new works are de riguer. One of the chief causes for this scarcity is a growing number of deep pocketed Chinese buyers—the winners in our new economic order. There are a few serious collectors who—like Beijing's Guan Yi[6] —take an interest in conceptual art, video works and installations. However for the majority of Chinese buyers acquiring art is first and foremost an investment. They are primarily interested in skyrocketing prices. Such interest has consequences: at the beginning of the 1990s there were five galleries in Beijing, today, notably in the 798 Dashanzi Art District, it is more than a hundred.[7] Yet as in Japan and South Korea, from a Western perspective the programmes that many of these galleries offer must be regarded critically.[8] This has not deterred a capitalist-friendly government from going public with plans to build a hundred new museums before 2012. On the contrary, it is following the lead of private investors in betting on culture as an exceptionally lucrative business. The Guggenheim Museum is said to be planning a Beijing subsidiary, The Pompidou Centre intends to open a local branch in Shanghai in 2009 and Hong Kong is currently developing a huge "Museum Plus" (M+) for the whole of Asia: "Instead of being collection based, M+ places an emphasis on contextual curatorial interpretation by highlighting the 'Hong Kong perspective'".[9] Critics such as Oscar Ho, however, are already warning of the dangers of such comprehensive commercialisation. Their complaint is that both venues for independent criticism and public funding institutions are insufficient. In texts and exhibition projects, Gao Minglu and Li Xianting have also campaigned for years for a slowing down of the art market and greater historical awareness.[10]

[1] According to the teachings of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746-1827). ^
[2] Cf. Henrik Bork: Die Chinesen kommen. Mit 1001 Chinesen zur Documenta, an interview with Ai Wei Wei, in: Süddeutsche Zeitung, 02.04.2007 ^
[3] "Countries: A to Y. Understanding the Sixty-Seven Countries of the Almanac 2007", in: ArtAsiaPacific. Almanac 2007, vol. 2, 2007 ^
[4] Hou Hanru and Hans Ulrich Obrist (ed.), Cities on the move, ex. cat. Vienna Secession, Hatje, Ostfildern-Ruit, 1997. ^
[5] Cf. Birgit Hopfener, "Zynischer Realismus. Der Markt für zeitgenössische Kunst aus China wächst schnell vielleicht sogar zu schnell", in: DIE ZEIT, 01.02.2007, Nr. 06, 2007. ^
[6] Cf. Interview between Ingo Niermann and Guang Yi, in: Gregor Jansen (ed.), totalstadt. beijing case. high-speed Urbanisierung in China, Urbanisierung, Architektur, Kunst, Kultur, ex. cat. ZKM | Museum of Contemporary Art Karlsruhe, König, Cologne, 2006, pp. 298-301. ^
[7] Cf. Wu Hung, in: Ibid., pp. 243-249; and Wu Hung (ed.), RongRong & Inri: Tui Transfiguration, Beijing, 2004. ^
[8] For a concurring perspective from the East, see Oscar Ho's statement from Hong Kong, in: ArtAsiaPacific. Almanac 2007, p. 141 (footnote 3). ^
[9] Ibid. ^
[10] Cf. Gao Minglu (ed.), The Wall. Reshaping Contemporary Chinese Art, ex. cat. Buffalo Fine Arts Academy and Millennium Art Museum, Beijing, 2005; on Li Xianting cf.: Li Xianting, "Der Kulturzerfall und die zeitgenössische chinesische Kunst", in: Bernhard Fibicher and Matthias Frehner (ed.), mahjong. Chinesische Gegenwartskunst aus der Sammlung Uli Sigg, ex. cat. Kunstmuseum Bern, 2005, pp. 24-27. ^
++ Text excerpt from the Catalogue Thermocline of Art. New Asian Waves