Qiu Anxiong`s We Are The World

A Material World
Qiu Anxiong

This is an exhibition about the manufacturing process. The purpose of this show is not to establish some new theory. It is about a predicament, but is also an opportunity to redefine our position in the world and our relationship with it.

A dog brought us to a beautiful world on another shore: the beaches of Cannes peopled by celebrities, well-known charming people, trailblazers, fashionistas, and trendsetters. Through the dog, this faraway celebrity-filled place would be linked to our daily lives. The manmade dog would play a part in this glamorous world, a friend to the celebrities or an exhibit in their homes. It is the dog that connected these two worlds. He is a soul from another shore whose physical body is here, but who will then go back to becoming an immortal spirit after serving his purpose.

Neither the Earthly world nor the spiritual world is real, like our conception of the “West”. We have many words to describe the Western world . . . knowledge, ideas, images and voices. To us, these descriptions take the place of the Western world itself. If the Earthly world symbolizes the West and the spiritual world the East, then the dog is the only real object and witness of both these worlds.

For the East, our duty was to simply to produce materials and objects so we only needed to think about manufacturing. And the requirements given to us were to make it accurate, elegant, beautiful, and clean. To make a perfect dog, we didn’t need to be creative. Its beautiful appearance would match its soul.

This was originally a perfect scenario, in which we played a small background role. We were clear that the East’s part was secondary, and we were happy to support the primary world to build harmony and a wonderful international party.

Then one day, the harmony was shattered. The curtain ripped and the control panel was exposed. How did we reach this paradox? When did we end up in a minefield? When did we become lost in the labyrinth and become accustomed to its view? Or did the whole world become a huge maze, which no one can survive? Till now we are still unclear - maybe the things that are hidden are not true. When we went back to look for signs, the only thing we could find was a pile of fragmented narrative that could not be sorted.

When we had completed most of the order (the dogs), the client took some of them away to the beautiful beach. He told us that he didn’t want the other dogs and, thus, he wouldn’t pay for them. But we needed the money to pay the laborers, the rent for the warehouse, and the loan for the materials. Meanwhile, the contract disappeared after the last negotiation. Could we just give the remaining dogs to the laborers and tell them that the dogs were their payment for their hard work all those days they worked from morning until night? Could we also give the dogs to the landlord or the friends who lent money to us? This kind of situation is quite common in China - hard
work without payment. The employer will have many excuses for refusing to pay
salaries. In labor disputes, the employer is always in the power position.

They have the advantage of wealth and relations with powerful people. Lawyers and barristers give them the voice to speak. Our government offers preferential policies to Western investors who appear to be born with superiority. But the workers’ salary only affords them a dog’s life. They have no knowledge, no right to speak, no lawyers or barristers. Who would want to be a lawyer for a worker? There is no protection for laborers and the so-called labor law is like a blank sheet of paper. When a dispute occurs, the red envelopes always work to the employers’ advantage. The police and military men behave as hired roughnecks to protect the employers, while the migrant workers are treated like roughnecks themselves. But our workers did not protest; they are used to delayed payment. All they can do is to wait with hope that one day they will get their money. This is the current situation of Chinese migrant workers.

“Capital accumulates wealth through the labor force surplus value,” Marx wrote in “On Capital”. So it is clear that the Western Capitalists want to invest in China for its cheap labor. Chinese government incentives make China a paradise for Western capitalists. Nowadays, globalization allows capital to spread through several countries in a guerilla manner and affect local economics. Compared with the bigger picture, our issue is insignificant like a red blood cell in the body, but this one small cell can reflect the health of the entire organism. We merely execute the production; if more qualified cheaper producers can be found, we will loose our position in the chain. In the big picture, our existence is not important at all. We, the laborers, are just one element in the cost of productivity; without employment, we are simply surplus labor. Our experience is a significant example of the new colonialism. It is an example of the contradictions between transnational capital and Third World labor; that is, it is an example of the desire for maximum profit over the interests of the laborers. Sympathy for laborers is only on the surface; if they apply to improve their working environment, the employer will refuse because of the costs.

Developed countries make the Third World their factory. They take advantage of the cheap materials and labor, and the speed at which they can turn a profit. Then, by accumulated capital and the monopoly of techniques, Western investors will control the local market. When they complain about “Made in China” occupying the market, shouldn’t we ask who benefits the most? One Airbus is equal to 0.4 billion “Made in China” T-shirts and one iPhone is equal to 6 months salary for a migrant worker. Developed countries complain about the corruption and human rights record in our country. If there is no corruption and our government protects our human rights, how can Western investors earn so much money from the Chinese market? Their business benefits from this corruption. They have different economic and ideologic standards, as does my client. They would never struggle for justice. As the saying goes: “There are no friends forever nor enemies forever. There is only profit forever.” Here, justice is only a beautiful coat to clothe stark-naked profit.

How money alienates people is an old topic, but it has been influencing our daily lives over the last 20 years. It is changing our lifestyle and way of thinking. Before the opening up of China and reformation policy, the Chinese lived in an illusion built up by communist ideology. Afterwards, we were woken by the opening up and reforms. We jumped to another illusion built up by money. John Maynard Keynes announced that consumption was the only purpose and target of economic activities; consumption driven by production has become the main model of economic activities in the modern country. In fact, mass consumption is capitalism’s puppet. Nowadays, in a time of technology and globalization, capitalism infiltrates every aspect of our life. An invisible hand is behind the competition between culture and politics - it is even behind sanitary napkins and condoms.

In the consumer society, the value system is built up by several indexes - GDP, CPI, stock index, futures index, confidence index, etc. - which become the spiritual totem of a country. When numbers goes up, everyone gets excited; if numbers goes down, then the opposite occurs. This cycle began in the West before spreading to every corner of the Earth. As soon as Asian countries receive their tickets to enter into the modernized world, money will reveal to them its blood-sucking nature. No matter whether it is financial plundering or a military attack, both follow the will of capitalism. The rules of modern survival bring us fear of competition - no one wants to be a loser. Everyone wants to be a winner in this material world. But latecomers will always take on the role of passive losers. The rules are frequently changing without information, and they are unqualified to formulate these rules.

The “consumption driven production” model totally abandons “supply and demand”. In the new model, investors must create demand to stimulate production so capitalists must take advantage of the mass media to sell latest trends. They need the media more now than ever. Controlling the media means controlling the market, which leads to profit. Therefore, capital creates a materialistic world that guides our lives. Our entire lives are about work and consumption. Work is one element of the production of material images. Leisure time is dictated by consumption and images presented by the media: shopping, cosmetology, going to the gym, interior decorating, travelling, holidaying on the beach, dramas on TV, gossip about celebrities. The media will tell you which one is the most interesting, which one is the most fashionable. But everything will soon be forgotten as fashion is updated daily. What is in fashion today will be gone tomorrow. Today’s hottest celebrity will be slaughtered by the paparazzi for each and every shortcoming tomorrow; each bulge will be exposed for the reader’s amusement. The new mobile you bought yesterday will become obsolete garbage because the design is old today. Everything can be sold and bought - even a disabled newborn. There is no need to remember the past or think in the material, image-laden world produced by capital. The only thing you need to do is to indulge in it. Rapid consumption will also be soon forgotten. The whole world is flat. In the world consumed with images, it is impossible to realize a free existence. Many beautiful images come from the world and they will guide mass consumption. When we purchase something, we don’t pay attention to the survival of the workers. Meanwhile, we, the producers, will also be neglected by other consumers. Consumption fills our lives with superficial images, which are only temporary bubbles; after these bubbles burst, we must fill our emptiness with new bubbles. Then, we will become the witnesses and accomplices of the images. The “production-consumption” cycle makes our existence passive in the materialistic world. Our ego is also occupied with standard images. So-called freedom is only a choice between A, B, C, and D.

The globalized world is not the beautiful world of the future as it is made out to be; actually, it is a jigsaw puzzle based on a production-consumption system motivated by capital gain. Parts of the globalized world are flawless, rich, and developed, but they have achieved such perfection at the cost of places that are poor, dirty, conflicted, and chaotic. The dichotomies can never be bridged. The public is always presented with the beautiful side. People enjoying the festivities on the beaches of Cannes will never know the story behind the sculptures – what they see is only the pleasant, shiny glazed surface of the pleasing dogs.

Chinese contemporary art happily embraces capitalism in the open market. Today’s vivid art scene in China is nothing but a speculative market manipulated behind the scenes by capitalism. Karl Marx pointed out that the basic difference between the circulation of commodity and capital operations is that commodity circulation is commodity- currency-commodity, while capital operation is currency-commodity-currency. In commodity circulation, the motivation of the exchange between currency and commodity is to obtain the needed commodity, while in capital operations, the object of the exchange between currency and commodity is to obtain more capital. If we apply this formula to the art business, common collection behavior results from the appreciation of art and the need for interior decoration. Collectors are interested in the artworks themselves. However, the purpose of capitalist operations in the art market is to obtain huge profits through dealing artworks.

The collectors have no interest whatsoever in the artworks themselves. Investors are mainly interested in buying artworks at low prices to sell at high prices later. Artworks are treated as virtual capital like securities, whose prices are entirely decided by investment confidence. For example, popular works that sell at high prices at auction flood the art world with shabby, imitative works. Works with inflated prices eventually become sacrifices of huge-capital-chasing-oriented capital.

All this is nothing but additional proof of how this materialistic world, motivated by capitalism, has manipulated us. If artists become diligent manufacturers in this materialistic world, then the rebellious, subversive, spiritual introspection and suffering they express in their works are nothing but forms of spiritual consumption. As one artist said: “Every academic theory pales and weakens in comparison to the prices created by auction houses.” I believe what he said is true. If he feels pale and weak in the game of capitalism, the art value, which is independent from the market, is meaningless for him. If artists lose their awareness of existence and their critical effect on the surrounding world, then art will fall to materialism. So-called creation would be nothing but a cheap trick to please the eyes.

In the 1980s, Chinese contemporary art sprung from the idealist passion of the pre-capitalist era. Western cultural theory, no doubt, was the catalyst of this passion. But, soon after, the over-optimistic and radical flames were put out by cold reality. In the 1990s after the Cold War, the Western world naturally showed interest in China, which was a large area with opposite ideology. Under these circumstances, Chinese contemporary art entered the international field of vision. The cynicism embodied by artists after values started collapsing was used repeatedly by the West to fight against official Chinese ideology. However, the West didn’t really care about the problems in China; all they cared about was that their opinion of China was proven by Chinese art. Therefore, this was a win-win situation. Chinese art gained success on an international stage and the West found the specimen of Chinese culture they needed.

In the early 1990s, those facts were of value; at least they were a reaction to a real attitude, creating a nominal language. However, when the artists gradually gained success, their art became freeze-frame, stopping at a successful standard point, not daring to transgress the bounds. Obviously by this time, the artists had an understanding of the rules for success in the art world. They also understood the market. They evolved from the purely expressive artists of the past into artists who knew how to manage success. This evolution was a result of the changing environment, which gave no cause for much criticism. However, there isn’t been much exploration of art. Artists are more interested in the levels of exhibitions they are going to participate in and presenting at key museums and galleries. The progression of their works and even their failed exploration of the creation of new works, can hardly be seen, which is the key problem and is the surface feature of the utilitarianism of Chinese contemporary art. We see many successful artists, but not many explorative artists. Many so-called explorations are more like imitations and modifications of popular models. Therefore, Chinese contemporary art can be the art specimen of the colonization of culture.

Chinese contemporary art in the twenty-first century became a target for capitalism, resulting in the condition mentioned above. Art critics and theorists, when exchanging power in the art circle, either crusade in the curator field or act as propagandists who compose complimenting articles for galleries. Academic criticism of good quality has almost vanished. Chinese contemporary art, up to today, still hasn’t taken up the cultural responsibility in reality and history in general. There are few artists who think about problems; most of them have been striving for the best in the production-consumption environment of today. Presently, it is an unpromising situation when capitalism has more and more power. The prosperity of the art scene is like a blooming garden full of plastic flowers – they appear to be blooming and abundant, boundlessly glorious and brilliant, but are actually of false vitality.

This exhibition is not initiated by art; instead, it’s a consignment, a deal, a short employed relationship, and tells the story of a financial dispute. What this exhibition is trying to present has nothing to do with art; instead, it is about relationships - the relationship between people and objects, and between objects and objects. They are not some theoretical objects in the distance, which have no relationship with us. We are involved with them, mingled with them, disturbed by them, and unable to free ourselves from them. We indulge in various memories and senses (taste, smell and touch), making us feel powerless. Nevertheless, this is exactly the world we live in.

What the audience will see in the exhibition is more “evidence” than artwork. The exhibition displays a scene, the front stage and the backstage of the materialistic world. The hidden backstage in the materialistic world becomes the proscenium. From the manufacturing process to the workers’ living environment, all these factors are implied in the content of those products. However, in the consumption scene, what we see is only the pleasant surface. What is shown here is the whole chain from the processing of the artworks to consumption. That is to say, the general relationship of the materialistic world is shown in this microcosmic scene. What needs to be mentioned here is that the exhibits are not ready-made pieces. The core concept is the switching of the meanings of the ready-made pieces. Reality itself is presented here, instead of the ready-made pieces whose meanings have been switched. “To present” is at the core of this exhibition. It will not become evident until reality is presented. It proves the real condition of the materialistic world we created, as well as the difficult situation we are in. We are the people in the spotlight and the witnesses of all this.

As what is mentioned at the beginning of this article, this is an exhibition born out of a difficult situation. There are double meanings for this “difficult situation”. On the one hand, it refers to the difficult situations in reality, which are temporary tangible issues. On the other hand, it means a spiritually difficult situation, which consists of more complicated and difficult issues. The more important aspect of this exhibition, for us, is to touch on these complicated issues. What does creation mean to us, the manufacturers at the bottom of the art production chain? Can we communicate in a real way? What can today’s art offer our spirit? Is the production-consumption mechanism of art a trap for creativity or a hotbed for creativity? How should artists respond to this mechanism? Where does our standard of judging art come from? What is its basis? How can freedom be realized in our current survival?

The title of the exhibition is “We Are The World”, which is the title of a song. Some of its lyrics are: “We are the world, we are the children, we are the ones who make a brighter day, so let's start giving”. Indeed, we are the world, we constitute the world; however, the world is far from being pure and harmonic. The world is segregated and there is still competition and hatred between us, conflicts and battles, as well as cheating and jostling. We are perplexed by the material images created by ourselves. We are captives imprisoned by ourselves. If we can self-examine our behavior, in which we examine our reality and streamline various false scenes around us, perhaps we can realize our own lives creatively, rid the temptations and sieges of the materialistic world, and approach the truth in our existence. Maybe this can be considered as optimism born out of the pessimism.