Home
the Minjian Avant-Garde: Art of Crowd Contemporary China
the Minjian Avant-Garde: Art of Crowd Contemporary China in Bloomington, MN
Current price: $46.95
Loading Inventory...
Size: Hardcover
The Minjian Avant-Garde
studies how experimental artists in China mixed with, brought changes to, and let themselves be transformed by minjian, the volatile and diverse public of the post-Mao era
. Departing from the usual emphasis on art institutions, global markets, or artists' communities, Chang Tan proposes a new analytical framework in the theories of socially engaged art that stresses the critical agency of participants, the affective functions of objects, and the versatility of the artists in diverse sociopolitical spheres.
Drawing from hitherto untapped archival materials and interviews with the artists, Tan challenges the views of Chinese artists as either dissidents or conformists to the regime and sees them as navigators and negotiators among diverse political discourses and interests. She questions the fetishization of marginalized communities among practitioners of progressive art and politics, arguing that the members of minjian are often more complex, defiant, and savvy than the elites would assume.
critically assesses the rise of populism in both art and politics and show that
minjian
could constitute either a democratizing or a coercive force.
This book was published with generous support from the George Dewey and Mary J. Krumrine Endowment.
studies how experimental artists in China mixed with, brought changes to, and let themselves be transformed by minjian, the volatile and diverse public of the post-Mao era
. Departing from the usual emphasis on art institutions, global markets, or artists' communities, Chang Tan proposes a new analytical framework in the theories of socially engaged art that stresses the critical agency of participants, the affective functions of objects, and the versatility of the artists in diverse sociopolitical spheres.
Drawing from hitherto untapped archival materials and interviews with the artists, Tan challenges the views of Chinese artists as either dissidents or conformists to the regime and sees them as navigators and negotiators among diverse political discourses and interests. She questions the fetishization of marginalized communities among practitioners of progressive art and politics, arguing that the members of minjian are often more complex, defiant, and savvy than the elites would assume.
critically assesses the rise of populism in both art and politics and show that
minjian
could constitute either a democratizing or a coercive force.
This book was published with generous support from the George Dewey and Mary J. Krumrine Endowment.
Shop Similar Products
