Children of Marx and Coca-Cola: Chinese Avant-garde Art and Independent Cinema

by Xiaoping Lin

Children of Marx and Coca-Cola affords a deep study of Chinese avant-garde art and independent cinema from the mid-1990s to the beginning of the twenty-first century. Informed by the author’s experience in Beijing and New York―global cities with extensive access to an emergent transnational Chinese visual culture―this work situates selected artworks and films in the context of Chinese nationalism and post-socialism and against the background of the capitalist globalization that has so radically affected contemporary China. It juxtaposes and compares artists and independent filmmakers from a number of intertwined perspectives, particularly in their shared avant-garde postures and perceptions. Xiaoping Lin provides illuminating close readings of a variety of visual texts and artistic practices, including installation, performance, painting, photography, video, and film. Throughout he sustains a theoretical discussion of representative artworks and films and succeeds in delineating a variegated postsocialist cultural landscape saturated by market forces, confused values, and lost faith. This refreshing approach is due to Lin’s ability to tackle both Chinese art and cinema rigorously within a shared discursive space. He, for example, aptly conceptualizes a central thematic concern in both genres as "postsocialist trauma" aggravated by capitalist globalization. By thus focusing exclusively on the two parallel and often intersecting movements or phenomena in the visual arts, his work brings about a fruitful dialogue between the narrow field of traditional art history and visual studies more generally. Children of Marx and Coca-Cola will be a major contribution to China studies, art history, film studies, and cultural studies. Multiple audiences―specialists, teachers, and students in these disciplines, as well as general readers with an interest in contemporary Chinese society and culture―will find that this work fulfills an urgent need for sophisticated analysis of China’s cultural production as it assumes a key role in capitalist globalization.

Genres: Art, Film

328 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Children of Marx and Coca-Cola: Chinese Avant-Garde and Independent Cinema, Xiaoping Lin provides critical analyses of the avant-garde art and sixth generation Chinese films relevant to China’s transition from Mao’s socialism into global capitalism. Lin cites artists working in two distinct global cities—New York and Beijing and uses the scholarship of Peter Burger in order to lay the groundwork for his assessments of the artwork conceptually. In The Theory Avant-Garde Art, Burger stipulates that the political motifs used in the Avant-Garde do not comment on the work as whole, but rather they symbolize a reality of life meant to be interpreted by the viewer or audience. Based on this premise, Lin critically analyzes the motifs, symbols, and the implications presented by Chinese Avant-Garde artists and sixth generation Chinese Filmmakers. Lin’s main thesis did not become clear to me until I read the Postlude of the book, which effectively brings all of his arguments together. Overall, Lin theorizes that the people of China have undergone a “post-social trauma” as a result of China’s paradoxical integration into global capitalism and this trauma is overwhelming apparent in the major symbols and motifs of both avant-garde art and independent film discussed in the book.

Lin draws upon Slavoj Zizek to support the reality of post-socialist trauma, who suggests that citizens experiencing this kind of transition are forced into a set of new realities, without a formal warning or say in the matter. This trauma is present in all of the pieces of work that the author assessed throughout the book. Additionally, all of the artists and film maker’s cited by Lin, seemed to be inspired by the juxtaposition of old and new architecture (and the endless construction of the latter) and therefore the effects of urban landscape is a theme that Lin is constantly revisiting at every point of assessment. For example, Yin Xiuzhen’s installation The Ruined City shows how Beijing is a “ruined city” that has been transformed by construction and destruction under global capitalism. Beijing is an ancient city of China that was once rife with cultural heritage, and those who are familiar with the old Beijing have come to view collections of dust mounds and cement mounds as symbolic of relentless global capitalism. Yin Xiuzhen expresses what many people residing in Beijing feel—a complex mix of nostalgia for what was lost and a combination of fear and excitement about what is to come. In her installation, Xiuzhen illustrates the image of the ruined traditional Chinese house by placing very choice pieces of furniture amongst mounds of cement and dust. The house has been demolished and all that remains are the mounds of dust (that have come to signify globalization). Meanwhile, the pieces of furniture represent the cultural landscape of Beijing during the Mao era in that “big pieces” of furniture were necessary if a young couple wished to marry in the 1970’s and 1980’s. This furniture was difficult to acquire under the socialist regime without government coupons or “danwei” and thus many couples delayed marriage because of these conditions. The presence of these pieces amongst the mounds displays the cultural meaning of the trash that is left behind in the transition from socialism to global capitalism. On the whole, The Ruined City, is an exercise in nostalgia for those who knew the old Beijing. However for the new generation these big pieces of furniture lack meaning and are therefore, seen as junk left over from a past era.

Lin’s explanation and breakdown of The Ruined City is exemplary of how he treated all of the works of art or film in the book. He consistently places the work in political and cultural contexts and relates the feelings of the artist and the people to these contexts. Furthermore, Lin constantly draws on the scholarship of others to emphasize and legitimize his points. In relation to Xiuzhen’s installation, the author provides insight into the workings of global capitalism by citing John Gray. In False Dawn: the Delusions of Global Capitalism, Gray notes that global capitalism thrives by destroying old ways of life. Amongst this section of his book, Lin fails to restate his thesis concerning the post-socialist trauma plaguing individuals in China. Something he fails to do in many sections and thus as book project Children of Marx and Coca-Cola lacks a cohesive flow. Six out of nine of the articles presented in this book were already published previously to the book’s publication and Lin relies heavily on the introduction and postlude to bind the texts together. The subject matter follows a clear organization, but there are a few redundancies and it was difficult for me to pinpoint his thesis.

In terms of his writing style, I appreciated his use of sources; he draws on the scholarship of Saskia Sassen, Marx and Engles, Geremie R. Barme, Manfred B. Steger in addition to the scholars that were previously mentioned as well as many others. Lin also cited the work of Journalists, newspaper articles, as well as the Merriam–Webster dictionary, which he used to define displacement. I felt that his use of secondary sources were effective in his text because he used journalism and newspapers to display the popular discourse concerning his main points, which established a full and clear picture of China’s transition from socialism to capitalism. Lin’s writing style was clear and concise throughout the book and his use of personal anecdotes contributes to the book’s conversational tone without being overly informal. The book was an enjoyable read seeing how his organizational scheme and overall presentation was only thwarted by the lack of fluidity noticeable amongst the articles that had been previously published.

I enjoyed the avant-garde art and independent films that the author chose to analyze because these pieces of Chinese visual art exemplify many of the concepts we are discussing in class. The Ruined City, reiterates the relationship between individuals and urban space and Shanghai Dreams and Stolen Life are two films which displays the unwavering manifestation of the male gaze in urban space just to name a few. The readings from class really helped guide my understanding of the more underdeveloped concepts in the book, such as the idea of the male gaze presented in a few readings from class but most noticeably from “The Invisible Flaneur” by Elizabeth Wilson. Additionally, the author cites Saskia Sassen directly in order to describe national processes in terms of globalization and Lin’s description of the urban landscape in New York created by the absence of the WTC reminded me of how the U.S. embassy in Ayn El-Mreisse defined urban space with its absence rather than its presence. Prior to reading Children of Marx and Coca-Cola, I had a limited understanding of how Mao’s socialism affected political and cultural processes seeing how my family fled the country in the wake of communism. With my recent visit to China and the knowledge that this book affords, I have gained a better understanding of the fates of urban youth and in addition, I would like to comment in my final project about “western art produced in China” which is a legitimate source of income for many orphanages.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book is pretty great. Scrupulous research into Chinese identity and at the same time brief course in contemporary art. Author managed to show the contradictions that exist in modern China. Sometimes there was too much explanation on some topics but still it's very informative and interesting to read.