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

© 2022 Global Journals Volume XXII Issue XI Version I 15 ( ) Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2022 A Battlegrounds. Net Art and Virtual Worlds in the Work of Chinese Artists aesthetic described by Susan Sonntag in her essay titled Notes on 'Camp' in 1964: "For Camp art is often decorative art, emphasizing texture, sensuous surface, and style at the expense of content. (...) It offers no opportunity, (...) for a contrast between silly or extravagant content and rich form" 27 . Camp art is artificial, theatrical, affected, ironic, based on exaggeration and stylisation. We can easily find all these characteristics in Lu Yang's works, in which the protagonists have to face stereotypes, intolerance, prejudices, fears... and the viewers follow them with their own as well. VI. T alking to a S tranger Although he does not build his own virtual realities, Silas Fong (b. 1985, Hong Kong) nevertheless creates typical pieces of web art using networked tools. In 2008, this led to the work Surveil the stranger , which was presented as a computer installation with a weblog displayed on a monitor containing material submitted by his readers of the title observations made. The artist encouraged this act of voyeurism by writing on the website: "Because you are curious, because you feel excited. Around you, there are people that you don't even know, that you have never seen, that you are not familiar with, that you are curious of, that you have watched for some time. Surveil them, forget your sense of guilty, follow your c urio sity, share what you know about them like everyone does” 28 . This was not the artist's only work addressing the issue of watching others without their awareness. In the same year, he produced When the door opens, a video recording behaviour on the underground, and a year later Waiting, of people sitting on benches at Times Square in Hong Kong. And in 2013, he invited stalkers to give him interviews, from which he edited Interview Service Provider. The reactions and feelings associated with contact with a stranger are the centre of his interest, which he explores in his work using online tools. He explores the boundaries between private and public, intimacy and ostentation. The web is also a way for the artist to disseminate his art. In an interview in the catalogue of the exhibition Work in Spreading: Images of Circulation and Retranslation, he stated that: "In my opinion, in the contemporary art, two space [the artwork in the exhibition hall or in the media] is the same important, but most people are still more accustomed to finding the exhibition methods is more serious, more attractive; in other media, especially networks, can break 27 Sontag, Susan (1964), 'Notes on Camp', Partisan Review , 1964, p. 3; https://archive.org/details/SontagNotesOnCamp1964. Accessed 20 October 2017. 28 http://silasfong.com/news/2008/04/06/poetry-of-colors/ through geographical restrictions, immediately display works to the world 29 ". Another interesting work by Fong is Memory Disorder (2011). This time the artist explores the mechanisms involved in memory. To this end, he placed footage ranges from telecined super 8 film, web cam, photographs and digital video cameras at different qualities, which 'was displayed in a web browsing environment in multi-channels. With different internet connection speed, system of the computer and the dimension of monitor, the work can be viewed differently in the sequential arrangement and content narrated " 30 . The website imitates the activity of the human brain, which emits different memories depending on various stimuli. They are not recalled chronologically, but non- linearly, which is how internet networks work. By creating virtual worlds, in order to escape reality, we build them by mimicking our human experiences in the real world. VII. C ute and Q ueer Networked technological possibilities are also used by Ye Funa (b. 1986, Kunming), who, like Lu Yang, creates under the significant influence of Japanese pop culture. She was initiator with involvement of Bei Ou of three artistic events from Exhibitionist: PeeP Stream Series, called The Book of Otaku in December 2015, in which several unprofessional performers took part. It was shown live on line. At the same time, previously invited viewers were able to post their comments about it in a specially created chat room-thus becoming active participants in the events. Their statements, including gift icons and emojis, were included as a part of the artistic project. As Ye Funa commented in correspondence with the author of this article: "Live streaming culture has become very popular in China over these two years. More than 500 different apps [applications] have been in developed. We work with some of mo st popular apps such as yi zhibo , Re Bo Jian , Douyu etc" 31 . (Ye 2017). These three episodes of Exhibitionist with the common title of The Book of Otaku include: The Book of Kichiku, The Book of Otome, and The Book of Fag hag . They exhibited various fo rms of the otaku as well as homosexual subculture 32 . All the events had the same composition and camp aesthetic. The presenters' shows were interlaced with five different scenes- stories about violence in The Book of Kichiku , about sexuality in The Book of Otome, and about devotion in The Book of Fag Hag . At the same time the stories are reviewed on social media communicators. 29 Work in Spreading: Images of Circulation and Retranslation (exhibition catalogue), eds. Zuo Jing, Dong Bingfeng, Sun Jianchun, Timezone 8 Limited 2010, p. 67. 30 http://silasfong.com/news/2011/04/10/memory-disorder/ 31 Funa Ye, email to author, 24 September 2017. 32 Funa Ye, 'Exhibitionist Series' , 2015, http://funaye.com/archives/245. Accessed 20 October 2017.