SOCIALISM, GLOBALISM, AND PLAYFUL SABOTAGE

Abstract

This dissertation examines four contemporary Chinese artists? selected installations, performances, and video works created from 1993 to 2003. The artists who are the subjects of this dissertation are Xu Bing, Zhang Peili, Yang Zhenzhong, and Xu Zhen. Particular attention is given to several political and cultural phenomena of the time that dramatically show the tension between socialist forces and the emerging capitalist and globalist forces in China. At this moment of great change and socialist appropriation of capitalist and globalist vehicles, a great energy was provided, which inspired a creative dynamism in art. It also shaped the artists? visions in the media used. A common strategy used by these artists was one of playful sabotage, a strategy by which these artists tried to deal with the opposing forces of socialism and consumerism and then attempted to affirm the self in their new world in art.