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

Volume XXII Issue XI Version I 16 ( ) Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2022 © 2022 Global Journals A Battlegrounds. Net Art and Virtual Worlds in the Work of Chinese Artists Exhibitionist: Peep Stream Series was an innovative art project, which on the cover on funny entourage, raised a question about contemporary consumerism, violence and admiration, the boundaries between what is public and domestic, sexual identity, and a lot of other significant social-political issues. Through the use of new technologies, it circumvents the prevailing censorship and allows networking to help in the silent struggle against discrimination and restrictions on personal freedom. VIII. B etter R eality or B attlespace ? A symbolic, 'bang on' (figuratively and in fact) entry of women into the Chinese contemp ora ry art scene was the performance Pistol Shot Event 33 by Lu Xiao (b. 1962, Hangzhou) in 1989 during the exhibition 'China Avant-Garde', presented at the National Art Gallery in Beijing. The exhibition was a summary of the avant-g ard e movement '85 New Wave Art' ( '85 meishu xinchao) 34 , which, despite its innovative approach to art, was still male-dominated. Lu Xiao's action was an expression of rebellion against the patriarchality of Chinese society and art circles at the same time. Leonora Elkin comments on the performance, and on the situation of female artists in China at the time, as follows: "While this act may have signaled women's independence and strength in making art, the furor and world attention that subsequently caused a commercial rush of acquisition of post Tienanmen art was directed to work produced by men. Regardless of state directed gender equality reform, China remains largely a patriarchal society and women were no t supported by galleries and the cultural establishment 35 . Lu Xiao's performance was an extremely talked- about event and made a lasting mark in the history of contemporary Chinese art, as it became, among other things, the pretext for the censorship and consequent closure of the China Avant-Garde exhibition by the authorities. However, it became an important signpost for subsequent generations of female artists such as Bu Hua, Cao Fei, Lu Yang and Ye Funa. Unlike Lu Xiao, however, they moved their battles to virtual realities and into cyberspace. Furthermore, according to Luise Guest, 33 For more see Thomas J. Berghuis, Perfomance Art in China , Timezone 8, Hong Kong 2006, p. 90-91; Adele Tan, Elusive Disclosures, Shooting Desire. Xiao Lu and the Missing Sex of Post-89 Performance Art in China [in:] Negotiating Difference. Contemporary Chinese Art in the Global Context , ed. Birgit Hopfener, Franziska Koch, Jeong-hee Lee-Kalisch, Juliane Noth, VDG Weimar, Weimar 2012, p. 127-140. 34 For more see Xu Hong, Dialogue. The Awakening..., p. 18; Xu Hong, Chinese Art: In Art and Social Change. Contemporary Art in Asia and the Pacific , ed. Caroline Turner, Pandanus Books, The Australian National University, Canberra 2005, pp. 333-335. 35 Lenora Elkin, Women's Work. The History of Women's Art in China. In Micheal Cor, Lenora Elkin, Lawrence Ly, Veronica Krawcewicz, Kelsey Stephenson, Lu Qing, Ma-China, University of Alberta, Edmonton 2009-2010, p. 11. their work was guided by the following goal: "They have a restless desire to blur boundaries - between fine art and design, between the artworld and the commercial marketplace, between genres and conventions of artistic practice, and between eastern and western modes of expression 36 ". Similarly, male artists (Feng Mengbo and Fong Silas), for whom pop culture and new technologies have become an effective artistic medium for sharing reflections on social and political issues. In the works of all these artists, virtual spaces are both a place of escape from reality and a battleground. 36 Luise Guest, Half the Sky: Women Artists in China , Piper Press 2016, p. 11.