비엔날레를 통해 본 중국 실험미술의 전개 - 제도화된 실험성에 대한 고찰 -

Abstract

The Chinese avant-garde art that this study aims at is progressed through the changing steps in most clearly manners in the Chinese contemporary art phenomena, which have been developed in earnest since the 1980s. The contemporary art in China is related to political situations more closely than those in other global areas. For this reason, the Chinese avant-garde art is at odds with the government from the beginning to obtain the duly right to the free exhibition or display, getting out of the overt censorship. However, with the circumstances in an effort to get the enlarged right to production of art work and expression, all the activities about exhibition came under the rigid censorship by the government after the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989 and faced with cooling period rapidly. It seems that the Chinese avant-garde art was faced with crisis thanks to the Tiananmen Square incident. And yet, unexpectedly, this mishap played a role as shortcut to a new breakthrough. Those contemporary art in China, whose introduction to the western hemisphere was initiated in the 1980s, became a refreshing impetus to the international art community thirsty for a new thing, gaining much attraction. Their avant-garde art of the 1990s were handled heavily via the art works done by the Chinese immigrant artists in such a large scaled global exhibition as Venice Biennale. As the international attention was paid to the Chinese avant-garde art increasingly, the greater concern was triggered in the country through a variety of the domestic shows for their own avant-garde arts in recognition of these circumstances. Based on the criticism in the political sense, the avant-garde art trials that were performed vehemently outside the institutional framework got down to a series of institutional entrance and went through a great change after the 1990s. This study worked on this and dealt with 'a matter of institutionalization' outspoken in the expressing method of avant-garde arts, which have gained a spotlight again through the domestic biennale and show since the 1990s especially in the developing phases. For this purpose, the Chinese avant-garde art was reviewed according to its chronological nature and this study took a look at what details were related to the biennale performed inside and outside. Then, the discussion proceeded to the institutionalized experiment by approaching the microscopic way in terms of the trend analysis of specific expression mode for the various problems that go with the Chinese avant-garde art. In case of China, the special style unique to China was established for their own avant-garde arts under the contradicting coexistence with social regime and market economy both. From this interesting fact, this phenomenon was interpreted herein as 'concealment' strategy concurrent with Jean Baudrillard. Their avant-garde art mode recognized as remarkably strong, accelerated into the political institution since the 1990s, deals with the cover-up about 'intrinsic existence' behind rather than the deliverance of what is just seen commonly as it is. Consequently, it could be concluded that the political censorship and confinement were definitely contributable to establishment of the Chinese unique mode in the avant-garde art in the course of entering into an awkward harmony with the market economic system after the era of the 1990s.