DSL Magazine: Issue 6

confrontations Wang Qingsong, Follow me, 2003, photograph, 120 x 300 cm Courtesy of the artist and Pekin Fine Arts Today, just like then, he feels confused in front of this avalanche of novelties and of this new cultural equation. He continues to define himself as « backward », having had much difficulty to learn English, and being very sceptical about the evolution of Chinese society. According to him, the vast majority people in the country are clowns or pretending to be clowns; in reality, as we all know, clowns in theatres are happy in the front stage but are always very sad behind the scenes. Moreover, the audience in the auditorium is from the West, looking at the Chinese people’s performance on the stage. He does not believe at all in any rapprochement between the cultures: for him, the Chinese are used to be under dominance and guidance, the old-fashioned patriarchal system in China being instilled into Chinese people’s bones and blood. The artist draws much inspiration from Western art, though, and, across his work, one can see direct references to David, Ingres or Michelangelo. His 42 meters long History of Monument (2009), for instance, presents his own, very personal, vision of History that mixes all cultures and civilizations: objects of everyday use like his own bicycle can be seen side by side with a Buddha figure, at the centre, among replicas of ancient Greek statues or of the sculpture by Rodin “The Kiss”.