Artists have long been seen as divine creators. The legends and myths associated with them lead to people's quasi-religious worship of artists and their works. Being a form of mass media, films in Taiwan repeatedly reinforce the stereotypical images of artists and inevitably influence people's understanding of art. In the 1970s, Taiwan cinema's representation of artists had made certain adjustments to reflect a series of drastic political, social and cultural changes at that time. This article argues that the visual artist-films of Li Xing and Bai Jing-rui of the 1970s reflect the transformation of contemporary art trends in Taiwan. By portraying the artists' agony, madness, rebellion, nihilism and selfadjustment that is caused due the dominant ideology under capitalism, these films represent several important debates in the development of art in Taiwan, including the Chinese Modern Painting Movement since the 1960s, the pros and cons of abstract paintings, Native Movement of Fine Arts, as well as art business, the role of art critics and the influence of mass media.
Keywords
visual artist, image-making, madness, Li Xing, Bai Jing-rui
This disquisition is about to introduce three aspects of "Living World Series" of Ju Ming in a new perspective. These pieces of Ju Ming's work not only correspond to his attitude toward art creation, but also close to the life of modern people and summarize the process of his career on sculpture making.
Besides, if we put Ju Ming's "Living World" pieces in the frame of global thinking, his pieces of art work represent many Taiwanese' common image and memory of their mother land. Indeed the masterpieces show Ju Ming's art creation and inspiration generating from his daily life which could be called "Ju Ming style" and "Taiwan Style," too.
Keywords
Ju Ming, Sculpture, Living World Series, Globalization, Art of Living
Resembling overglazed ceramic sculpture is a unique creation in the Qing dynasty. And the technological developments of Jingdezhen made in the late 17th and early 18th centuries in the overglazed enamel wares freed ceramic artists from a number of constraints that had limited the painting and shaping styles employed on porcelain wares. The transformation from the palette of traditional mineral glazes to enamel pigments has associated with material objects. The forms of famille verte and famille rose decoration appeared and described as falangcai, yangcai and fengcai, improved the expression of ceramic sculpture to fulfill needs of customers. Yixing kilns in Jiangsu province are famous for its brown and red stonewares known in Chinese as zisha ('purple sand') wares. The material is ideal for enhancing the taste and aroma of tea, and the teapots, which were never washed and developed fine patination. In addition to teapots and desk objects such as brush-rests, the kilns produced zisha melons, fruits, nuts and other shapes taken from nature. The taste for plain, interesting ceramic wares persisted throughout the Qing dynasty.
Sculpture and sports both feature the human body and its vitality. However, cultural differences took them onto different paths in the East and West until the late 19th century. Frequent communications between eastern and western cultures impacted all facets of life, including art and sports.
Time and social changes brought discrepancy and divergence to the development of sculpture and sports in Taiwan. In the 1980s, Ju Ming's Living World Series - Sports Series became the entry point for exploring the relationship between sculpture and sports in Taiwan. Ju Ming's embark on his journey through the Living World Series-Sports Series coincided with the increasing sports popularity and the discourse on public art at the time. His success has never been attributed to any academic or political affiliations but the way he challenged the world with his own perseverance and courage. The same could be attributed for the athletes during post-war sports development, who left a glorious page in Taiwanese sports history. For Taiwan, it was a time when diplomatic matters relied heavily on international sports events, building sports facilities was a way for local governments to obtain funding, and funding for public art was proposed for civic buildings. This is the backdrop against which sculpture and sports collided.
This essay is based on predecessors' study, focusing on Ju Ming's "Living World Series-Sports Series", and linking statue artwork and sport development together in Parallel. Eventually it presents the relationship between modern sport thoughts and Sport-series and by the living.
Post: Juming Museum, No.2, Xishihu, Jinshan District, New Taipei City 20842, TAIWAN (R.O.C.) addressing to “Sculpture Research Semiyearly Editorial Board”
