The very compelling documentary, Ai WeiWei: Never Sorry by Alison Klayman, demonstrates a very ambitious contemporary artist trying to change the system in his homeland, China, Beijing. The film captures Ai Weiwei in his moments of capturing international attention through his pieces of inspiring and controversial art. Ai Weiwei expresses himself through his artistic style and social activism pertaining to China’s government.…
Wu Zhao is not only a record setting emperor in the prosperity she brought to china and her gender, but also in her ruthlessness. Wu Zhao is one of the best known emperors of China for a reason. She brought great prosperity. Wu Zhao also was very strategic in plotting her rise to power. She used and manipulated people and then disposed of anyone who got in her way. Wu Zhao did all it took to get to the top, making her successful, but exceptionally controversial.…
Chiang Kai-shek, as an unprecedented Nationalist leader, also as a great politician and strategist, played a significant role in modern Chinese history. His unshakable position, strategic plan and frequent diplomacy helped China survived on this unparalleled crisis.…
The respondents came from various walks of life and different places in China, and the result is a book that goes into the lives and experiences of Chinese people ranging from artists to businesspeople, former Red Guards to rural migrants, prostitutes to Olympic athletes. However, for this assignment, it was asked to only read the interviews of a wealthy business man, a worker, and a Red Guard. I have heard about China Candid before and that’s why I know a lot about it. Sang Ye shows great interest in the personal experiences of his informants and they were presented not as representative of their occupation or class, but as interesting individuals with rich stories to tell. But with the context being modern China, political considerations affected the lives of all three people with whom he had conversations with. How the political expression was managed differed with every person. Some went along with the party line such as the Red Guard, while others distanced themselves from the authorities or make local officials a part of their schemes. Together, the personal stories told in this collection open a window onto what life is really like for both the Mao and post-Mao generations of…
Shi Huangdi was a believer of legalism. Legalism is a philosophy that say make rules and punishments. It also said you should trust no one, that is why he had millions of people build the wall. He also burned all of the books that went against the rules of legalism. If you were caught quoting these songs or books would be publicly killed. Those who choose to oppose these rules would have their families wiped out. Officers that fail to report this activity will be punished the same way. If after thirty days they still have these books should have their faces tattooed and be sent to the great wall to work. The only books that did not have to be burned were books about medicine, religious beliefs, and agriculture. They also attacked many scholars for writing the books.…
During the Cultural Revolution, Ai WeiWei’s childhood was like a desert. Many people were killed or died due to starvation. And they were suffered stomach without medicine. His whole family and many citizens were living…
Emperor Qin was an innovator who brought about great change to China to improve it. Emperor Qin was a valuable leader for China because wanted everyone to be safe from the invaders so he built The Great Wall of China. In the video, The First Emperor of China, by Garner It, it states that he built The Great Wall, by building other walls to it to make it better. He wanted to ensure his people would be safe from any intruders or invaders and to do this and to do that, he made the wall. The warring states period was a very harsh time for China.…
I chose to do my art review on the artist Cai Guo-Qiang, who is a Chinese artist who does most of his art in the form of explosions and large scale projects such as this one, which bring attention to problems in society dealing with violence and terrorism.…
Ai Weiwei is one, if not the most, influential artists of our time. He is one of the most multi talented artists across a plethora of different fields. Whether that be the architecture he has worked on for the Beijing olympics, the fascinating sculpture he has contributed to society, or, most importantly, the political activist work he has done. Ai Weiwei is one of the most important artists in current society (or ever to live) because he has truly found a way to apply himself to so many different fields of art and culture, and at the same time, really leaving a lasting and profound impact on the people around him.…
The translator helped in translating several Chinese words to Buddhism. A vast population of Buddhists still recognizes his efforts in China. Besides, his fine translation was helpful for it aided in the spread of Buddhism in China. Because of the political instability,…
Wu Zhou was an intelligent woman who pushed for power within the inner court; her strategy to achieve status in the Tang dynasty proved effective as she is considered today to be the only female Emperor to grace China. Though she had used some extreme tactics to achieve her goal, I think most of her behavior can be justified by her intentions for creating a better China. Along with becoming Emperor, she convinced China that Buddhism should be the primary religion as oppose to Daoism.…
There are one out of four roles that every artist could play and the one that I believe Maya Lin plays is “Artists make a visual record of the people, places, and events of their time and place”. I believe that this is how i have see her portrayed in this film because all of the landmarks and monuments that she had made were all so great due to the personal factor of having the historicals names and times written on them. One of the greatest accomplishments/landmarks she has made was the vietnam veterans memorial. She made it so simplistic yet powerful due to the great way she personalized it. She made it more personal by having all the full names written out chronologically by the year they were killed. This gave the families and the veterans more peace since everyone was recognized for what they have accomplished by serving our country.…
Attempting to change social and political conditions, activist art has recently been a popular subject among artists and art critics alike. Those most active within the art market have much criticism for activist and political art. Activists however, don’t seem to be too concerned as their main priority is the activism rather than the physical, which is where most criticism is based. Critics believe activist art cannot be considered true art because it is leaning on a notion of morality. They also believe it is lacking a certain quality of art and because it serves a function, it cannot fit in with traditional fine arts. Activist art also, in a way, distances itself from traditional fine arts by sometimes presenting itself as unappealing as…
If Postmodernism raises low art to the level of high art, it also allows folks who control the media to cash in on subculture. Andy Warhol made a joke of it, but Keith Haring turned the tables. When this Graffiti artist lifted his brush to the walls of subways and plastered canvases with cartoon figures he made a point: art is for everyone. You can pay big bucks if it makes you feel hip, but at its greatest, art is both social and accessible. To Haring, there was no difference between the drawings he did for free and the art he sold for thousands of dollars. Haring's work put social issues at the forefront while celebrating love and life. In 1979 he designed, printed and distributed posters for an antinuclear demonstration in Central Park. His vibrant compositions feature heavily outlined figures with no race or gender. His figures danced despite the downfall of civilization and Reagan-era politics. Celebration for celebration's sake became a very political message. Haring was committed to making his art available to everyone. He painted anti-drug messages on buildings and subways, and mass produced novelties that featured his ecstatic figures. Shortly before he died of AIDS he used his funds and notoriety to create the Keith Haring Foundation, a nonprofit organization designed to provide assistance to other nonprofits through the sale of his work.…
The movie was successful and popular, attracting large audience[2], due to the reason, as far as I see it, that it meets the Western audience’s expectation of China. The movie is full of stereotypes of China and Chinese, reflecting the orientalism’s attitudes from the West, especially from America (both written and directed by Americans) in this case.…