By: Ramon Carrillo Martinez
Historical Context
During the period of 1949-1976 Mao Zedong was the communist leader of the People’s Republic of China and he wanted the country to progress in a more industrialized society. Mao pushed his beliefs to be a modern country by creating the Little Red Book, which talks about the need to get rid of everything old about China such as art, ideologies, and, etc to reshape China. As a result, the Red Guards was created by young people to push forward the ideologies in the Little Red book and punished anyone who was against the new approaches to transform the country. For the Leader Mao, this made it easier to present the Great Leap Forward that promised a new social and economical improvement in China to be a production city. Many places such as Beijing China, were created into an industrialized hub where factories were the focus of the space and housing complex were built nearby to give workers easy access to their place of work. These development ideas were advised by the Soviet Union that helped Mao shape his vision of the future of China. After the death of Mao a new governance took over to have a more open door policy to achieve economic growth through trade with other foreign countries. However, Mao’s beliefs of building greater, faster, better, and more economical still holds true during the 20th Century especially in major cities such as Beijing. Now Beijing is no longer filled with factories instead there are skyscrapers towering over what was once known as the old Beijing.
Goals
After learning about the polices implemented by Mao during the People’s Republic of China that impacted Urban planning developments in major cities in Beijing it made me think about the people who were impacted with the massive change in the city landscape. After the death of Mao, Beijing went through a drastic change in city planning that focused on economic developed rather than local residents. For example, many locations that were targeted to expand modernization in Beijing was historical structures such as Hutong which refers to narrow alleys or lanes that are formed by lines of traditional courtyard residences, that are interconnected. In addition urban villages were also targeted due to the lack of innovations that is drawn from these structures. At the peak of redevelopment in Beijing during the 1990s about 600 Hutong were destroyed each year while displacing 500,000 residents. Most of the residents impacted due to demolition of their community were migrant workers and low income residents whose voices were overshadowed in order to build structures like the 2008 Olympic Stadium. Due to the lack acknowledgement of the overall impact and loss due to many redevelopment projects in Beijing I wanted to highlight artist who used their artistic platform to express there thoughts on Beijing’s rapid direction towards a new modern era. All five artist have a unique approach to address the systematic issues in China’s strategy in demolishing historic structure and neighborhoods to create economic development opportunities. Each piece speaks for itself when highlight the aupbrupstion cause in the early 20th century by the unethical practices in urban planning by the Chinese government.
Utopia
Qui Xiaofei, Utopia, 2010, Oil on Canvas, 118 x 157 1/2 inch, Courtesy of the artist and Beijing Commune, Link to view work of art
This gripping painting showcases Xiaofei’s representation of the false narrative of Beijing being transformed into a Utopia for the residents of this community. In the foreground the artist used the oil painting to create texture of the rubble from the destroyed hutongs that many people called home. In the center of the piece a couple of residential buildings surrounding a headless statue of Mao, the leader of the People’s Republic of China and his arm raised in a salute to demonstrate the lack of leadership to put the lives of residents first rather than the economic development projects. The gray background highlights the debris from the devastation of the loss of Beijing’s historical sites. Xiaofei directly uses his art platform to critique the false idea of Beijing turning into a thriving utopian city. Although some people would benefit from the transformation of Beijing, there are other groups such as people who live in these destroyed communities whose world is turned upside down, forcing people to be relocated. This without a doubt represents a dystopia that makes people feel lost and abandoned by the demolition that creates endless challenges when transitioning into modern environments.
Beijing from the series Dialogue with Demolition
Zhang Dal, Demolition, Forbidden City, 1998, Photograph, 39 3/8 x 27 5/8 in,The Museum of Fine Arts, HoustonGift of an anonymous donor in memory of Robert Holland Chaney, Accession Number 2008, Link to view the work of art
Zhang was born in China and earned his Bachelors at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing with a BA in 1987. While pursuing his BA in Beijing Zhang recalled seeing all the historical structures that surround the Forbidden City and the preservation of traditional Chinese architecture. However, after returning from his six year long trip from Italy, Zhang was hit with harsh reality and witnessed a completely different Beijing. Instead of 3,000 year old structures standing strong most of them were demolished. All that was left were some walls still standing and the rubble from the aftermath of the destruction caused by urban developers. Devastated by this unexpected transformation in Beijing, Zhang used his artistic stills to create an outline of the side of his face. Later on he experimented with creating cutouts on the wall of the outline of his face all used to showcase his frustration of the loss of traditional Chinese architecture caused by the economic development in Beijing. The photograph showcases a cut out of Zhang’s cut out from on Hutong’s walls but through it the forbidden city structure can be seen standing strong in the midst of the demolition taking place. Zhang uses his artistic platform to create necessary conversation about the social injustice of migrant workers and low income people forced out of their home while people with power are protected from the evolving landscape of Beijing.
Transformation
Yin Xiuzhen, Transformation, 1997, Black-and-white photographs mounted on tiles Installation variable with 128 tiles, 128 tiles, each: 7 1/16 x 7 1/16 x 1 7/8 in, Link to view the work of art.
Born and raised in Beijing, China, Yin, like many artists, lived in one of the courthouses that were demolished because of urban reconstruction during the 1990s. Many of the traditional structures that housed many people were forced out of their homes to make room for new structures such as new high rises and the Olympic Stadium. Due to Yin having a personal connection to the tragic event of losing her home she decided to shed light on the community that once existed. Yin returned to her destroyed community and collected 128 tiles from the roofs of the historical structure. On each tile, Yin adds a photograph that was taken of community members living their daily life before the destruction of their homes. Some of these images came from Yin’s own personal collection but the other pictures were from other individuals who lived in the community. The artist used the images and attached them to the roof tile to create an installation where people can walk around to see the peoples lived experience in the demolished community. The purpose of the installation was to remind people that these homes that were destroyed were not empty, instead they were filled with life and memories.
Animal Regulation
Liu Di, Animal Regulation No.4, 2010, C-Print, 23 5/8 × 31 1/2 in, Courtesy of the collection of Andrew Rayburn and Heather Guess and Pekin Fine Arts, Beijing, Link to view work of art
After taking the train ride to Beijing for work, Liu Di would look out the window and notice piles of rubble from concrete material made out of the homes demolished due to urban development. As he looked around the train the other passenger did not pay no mind to the devastating scene they all just witnessed. Drawing back from this experience, Liu wanted to stir up conversation about the rapid urban growth taking place in Beijing. In order to do so he decided to take a picture of the demolished area of Hutong and edit the photo so people have no choice but to address the current events taking place in many communities. Liu then photoshops an enlarged animal that mountains over the demolished historic area and in this case it is a panda. However, in many pieces it is a range of animals from a monkey, rino, frog etc. This is to draw the connection between humans and animals all sharing the safe experience of feeling isolated and disrupted by rapid urbanization that forces them out of their homes. By drawing this connection the artist hopes that people reflect upon themselves about the rapid change that is happening in Beijing and understand who is impacted from the transformation.
Sprinting Forward
Chi Peng, Sprinting Forward, 2004, C- print, 47 ¼ x 91 ½ in, Courtesy of the collection of Andrew Rayburn and Heather, Link to view work of art
Chi Peng fascinated by the new transformational growth of Beijing China but was sadden of the destruction of the historical structures of hutongs that housed many migrant and low income individual. In addition to many people lives impacted the rich ancient city is slowly disappearing to the point where people will no longer remember them and understand it significants. Like many other residents, Chin Peng is now confronted by a new Beijing that prioritizes the construction of high rises at the cost of peoples lives and the historical structures. In the series called “Sprinting Forward” By Chi Peng he photographs himself nude running in Beijing. The artist does this to capture the rapid change the city is undergoing but as he sprints he does not notice the impact. Until in one photo called “Stop” Peng stands at the center of the frame as three glass buildings overwhelming surround him as a way to confront the physical transformation Beijing has gone through. Chi Peng intentionally photographs himself nude in this urban space because he feels that it striped him from learning about ancient cities in Beijing ultimately making him feel isolated with the new urban landscape.
Typology/Intellectual foundation
During my time working on this project to better understand artists’ approach to express their opinions on the rapid structural change taking place in Beijing and the destruction of Hutongs it was difficult to find open access images to include in my publication. I mostly studied contemporary artists and most of their work could not be accessed through any public domain but I did include links that directs readers to websites that they can visit to see the works of art that I wish I could include in my publication. The Images I include as links were solely used for educational purposes so people can learn more about the talented artist I wrote about in my publication. I selected these specific art pieces because without any context many of them just look like demolished construction sites. However, as viewers it forces people to want to learn more to better understand this complex historical context and learn about how under Mao’s leadership his ideology of getting rid of the old to make room for the new is still prevalent in Beijing China till this day. Each of these works of art are placed together because they all speak about the artist frustration and and concern with gentrification sweeping through Beijing, China, not only changing the urban landscape the many lives that are impacted by drastic shift. All of these artist use their platform to ensure that the people who lived in the hutong community are remembered and not feel neglected by society because of their statues of being migrant workers and low income. Some other alternatives that could have brought these works of art together is learning about how each artist break away from traditional Chinese works of art into a new approach.
Literature Review
In order to better understand the historical context about the urban planning in China Beijing I had to read two books that helped me understand why Beijing was targeted for substantial redevelopment projects. One of these text is called “Beijing Record: A Physical and Political History of Planning Modern Beijing, By Wang Jun which helped me better understand how Beijing went from historical structures of hutongs to skyscraper that erase the history from the city. The book talks about how during the 1980s around the time Mao passed away, policies such as the open door were created to allow China to trade with other foreign countries. This resulted in China to show the rest of the world that they too are just as advanced with the rest of the word resulting in urban development in cities like Beijing. One thing that found interesting about this book is how the author highlighted perspective of people supporting the destruction of historic structures and preserving them. These perspective helped me understand the value of the hutongs and how many people felt that these houses were the only option for some residents in Beijing. Another book that I used to better understand the impact of urban planning in Beijing is the book called “Remaking Chinese Urban Form: Modernity, Scarcity and Space, 1949-2005. This book was able to help me understand the history of the urban planning process during the time of the leader of Mao to modern day. This information is important to analyze because it talks about how hutongs were mostly targeted for urban development projects to get rid of the old Beijing and transforming into place where people with finical success can live conformably in the city. The research produced in these two books are diffrent from my study because they analyze the historical context of history of urban planning in Beijing in China and how it impacted Beijing. Whereas my study looks at artist response to the rapid in urbanizing Beijing. My intention is to take the history of urban planning in Beijing to see how it correlates to the frustration many artist express of an unrecognizable Beijing they once knew.
Refrence
Books
Hearn, Maxwell K., and Wu Hung. Ink Art : Past as Present in Contemporary China. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2013.
Higgins, Jackie, and Max Kozloff. The World Atlas of Street Photography. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2014.
Lu, Duanfang. Remaking Chinese Urban Form : Modernity, Scarcity and Space, 1949-2005. London ;: Routledge, 2006.
Pollack, Barbara, Zhenhua Li, Katherine Pill, and Todd D. Smith. My Generation : Young Chinese Artists. Tampa: Tampa Museum of Art, in association with D Giles Limited, London, 2014.
Wang, Jun. Beijing Record a Physical and Political History of Planning Modern Beijing. Hackensack, N.J: World Scientific, 2011.
Wilkins, Gretchen. Distributed Urbanism : Cities After Google Earth. Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon ;: Routledge, 2010.
Text
Lincoln, Toby. “The Maoist Period (1949–1976).” In United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2021.
Wu, Wenjie, and Jianghao Wang. Gentrification Effects of China’s Urban Village Renewals. SAGE Publications, 2016.
Image Links
Utopia- Qui Xiaofei: https://www.artforum.com/events/fly-through-the-troposphere-190719/
Demolition, Forbidden City-Zhang Dal: https://www.denverartmuseum.org/en/object/2015.659
Transformation- Yin Xiuzhen: https://theallureofmatter.org/artists/yin-xiuzhen/
Animal Regulation No.4-Liu Di: https://www.designboom.com/art/di-liu-animal-regulation-series/
Sprinting Forward: Stop-Chi Peng: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ditissuzanne/5619324249
