Global Journal of Human-Social Science, A: Arts and Humanities, Volume 22 Issue 11

II. F ighting as E ntertainment One of the first Chinese artists to use computer software and networking capabilities as part of his art was Feng Mengbo (b. 1966, Beijing). In the early 1990s, he painted oil paintings combining the style of frames from popular RPG computer games with the iconography of the Cultural Revolution period ( Game Over: Long March , 1993). Inspiration from youth pop culture would become a hallmark of his subsequent work. His first interactive work available online was the game My Private Album, which was based on family photographs and memorabilia. By following the fate of the artist's ancestors, we learn a micro-history that becomes a universal story about the past of the Chinese people in the past century. It depicts changes in customs and culture, which we read, among other things, from the transformations in clothing or the way the characters in the photographs self-present themselves 6 However, the most distinctive work for Feng is Q4U (2000-2002) presented in 2002 at Documenta 11 in Kassel . 7 In China, the amount of time children and young people spend playing consoles and computers has increased significantly since the 1990s, so it wasn't long before the media started talking about video game addiction, calling it 'digital heroin' . It was a personalised version of the game Quake III Arena, a typical first-person shooter. It featured a 3D likeness of the artist holding a video camera in one hand and a plasma rifle in the other. During the presentation in Germany, three gaming stations and three large-format monitors were set up to follow the gameplay. The artist, on the other hand, was in China engaging in a game with players from all over the world via the Internet during the event. Participation in this bloody game during Documenta was banned for minors and therefore paradoxically censored. 8 . It was considered particularly worrying that video games were meant to distract students from learning. For them, they provided a platform for communication and the building of small communities, which they had been deprived of due to the 'one-child' (jìhuà sh ē ngyù zhèngcè) policy introduced in 1977. In June 2000, due to concerns about video game addiction, the State Council passed a bill containing regulations on their content and regulations on the operation of internet cafes and arcades 9 6 Birgit Hopfener, Feng Mengbo . In China. Artbook, eds. Uta Grosenick, Caspar H. Schübbe, Dumont, Köln 2007, p. 88-95. 7 Documentation of this project: https://youtu.be/CWAHmjnBqQ8 8 Sara X. T. Liao, Japanese Console Games Popularization in China: Governance, Copycats, and Gamers, ' Games and Culture' 2016, Vol. 11(3), 275-297 . doi: 10.1177/1555412015583574. 9 Ibid. , which was one of the first censures imposed on this type of entertainment. In context, Feng Mengbo's creation of a work that is a personalised version of one of the most popular multiplayer games becomes an expression of rebellion against top-down leisure regulations. The choice of bloody entertainment in the face of this also seems to be no accident. Participation in a game taking place in an alternative reality was a form of safe discharge of emotions and frustrations acquired in the real world. For the artist, it was also a reckoning and, for others, a reminder of the historical events that took place during the Red Revolution. As a work of art, it drew attention to the issue of the restriction of freedom. III. A C ollision of R ealities Christina Penetsdorfer, author of the biography Bu Hua (b. 1973, Beijing) in the catalogue 'Stepping out! Female identities in Chinese Contemporary Art' states that the artist: '(...) is considered an early representative and pioneer of so-called flash animation. One of her first animated works, Cat , was released online in 2002 and went viral before digital platforms like YouYube even existed 10 The hallmark of the artist's work, however, is above all the figure of the Young Pioneer Woman with a red kerchief around her neck. She is the artist's alter ego, the perfect embodiment of the sa mi, or fearless and swaggering girl, according to Beijing dialect. This character appears in almost all of Bu's creations - paintings, prints and animated films. They are distinguished by the style developed by the artist, which combines inspirations from both Eastern tradition, particularly Chinese woodcut, and Western tradition. "Eclectic influences from sources as diverse as Surrealism, Japanese 1920s modernity, contemporary anime and manga, and Art Deco design are evident here. Bu Hua loves Astro Boy and Salvador Dali equally ". For this animation, Bu Hua received the Best New Director Award at the 2003 China Qingdao International Animation Week. It tells the story of the love between a female cat and her kitten, who, in order to bring her back to life, follows her mother into the underworld. It foreshadows Bu Hua's later works, in which wandering between different worlds is a defining element. 11 10 Christina Penetsdorfer, Bu Hua. In Stepping out! Female identities in Chinese Contemporary Art, eds. Nils Ohlsen, Kunstforeningen GL STRAND 2022, p. 82. 11 Luise Guest, Half the Sky: Women Artists in China , Piper Press 2016, p. 16. ", aptly observes Luise Guest, author of Half the Sky: Women Artists in China. One can also find influences of German Expressionism or references to the horror vacui typical of Baroque art. In her works, the iconography of Chinese art is intertwined with motifs characteristic of Western still lifes or modern ornamentation (the result of continuing art studies in Amsterdam between 1996 and 1998). Volume XXII Issue XI Version I 12 ( ) Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2022 © 2022 Global Journals A Battlegrounds. Net Art and Virtual Worlds in the Work of Chinese Artists