Again, I spent a few hours at 798, with art, coffee, and a long nap. This time, I crossed ways with the guy on the (arguably crappy) photo. He works for an institution called the European Union. He is a big shot there. They call him President of the European Commission.
The picture shows him in the art gallery of artists whose works were, in fact, not long ago subject to government censorship. Since then, Chinese art has come a long way. One important factor in the change of attitude of the government toward art was that censorship actually became an effective vehicle for people to earn money and to become popular. Even the most mediocre works (be it art or literature) could score high prices abroad if they achieved the prominent status of having been censured. Just insert some little politically incorrect phrases, or paint Tiananmen instead of some landscape, and you got yourself not only censored, but also a nice price in an auction in London, Paris or New York. And plenty of publicity. In this context, some of the creations of authors and artists in China could be viewed more as deliberate efforts to make money rather than social criticism and political protest. This, then, is an example of how, speaking in general terms, the political becomes commodified (another one being corruption). In other words, it shows how how political action and exchange assumed to be sacred–a sphere isolated from the monetary realm– come to surrender to the logics of market value, and how only these logics ultimately propel political change.
The fact that Manuel Barroso takes some time during the Europe-China Summit in Beijing to visit 798 says a lot about the prominence and importance of Chinese art today. The artist Yue Mingjun I mentioned earlier, for instance, appears on the cover of a recent Asia-issue of Time magazine (see the related article, here). And, to top it off, Nike (I assume as part of a long-term marketing strategy) has just opened a Nike-Gallery with Nike ‘art’ at 798 called “The Force of Love”. (The engraving below, inspired by the image of the traditional Chinese stamp, is laid in the ground just in front of the gallery.)
