Experimental Art, Performance and ‘Publicness’: Repositioning the Critical Mass of Contemporary Chinese Art

ABSTRACT

This essay examines the role of ‘criticality’ and ‘publicness’ as part of the development of contemporary art within the People's Republic of China during the latter half of the 1990s. The latter half of that decade saw the production of various forms of ‘experimental’ art, including performance, within the PRC that drew renewed attention to the possibility of a direct critical ‘effect’ (jieguo) on politics and everyday life. Here, the concept of ‘criticality’ will be discussed in relation to the ‘publicness’ of performance art as a way of examining the social relevance of experimental art as a focus for social change within the PRC.

摘要

本文考察了自1990年代后半叶以来，“批判性”和“公共性”在中国当代艺术发 展过程中扮演的角色。上世纪九十年代后期，中国的各种“实验”艺术，包括 行为艺术，让人们重新看到了艺术直接批判和作用（产生结果）于政治和日 常生活的可能性。本文将探讨行为艺术的“批判性”和“公共性”，并借此来检 视实验艺术在中国社会变革中作用。

KEYWORDS:

• People's Republic of China
• experimental art
• performance
• criticality
• publicness
• social change

关键词:

• 中华人民共和国
• 实验艺术
• 行为艺术
• 批判性
• 公共性
• 社会变革