This book affords a deep study of Chinese avant-garde art and independent cinema from the mid-1990s to the beginning of the twenty-first century. It 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. The book juxtaposes and compares artists and independent filmmakers from a number of intertwined perspectives, particularly in their shared avant-garde postures and perceptions. It provides close readings of a variety of visual texts and artistic ... More

This book affords a deep study of Chinese avant-garde art and independent cinema from the mid-1990s to the beginning of the twenty-first century. It 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. The book juxtaposes and compares artists and independent filmmakers from a number of intertwined perspectives, particularly in their shared avant-garde postures and perceptions. It provides close readings of a variety of visual texts and artistic practices, including installation, performance, painting, photography, video, and film. Throughout it 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. The book tackles both Chinese art and cinema rigorously within a shared discursive space. It conceptualizes a central thematic concern in both genres as “postsocialist trauma” aggravated by capitalist globalization. The book brings about a dialogue between the narrow field of traditional art history and visual studies more generally.