Archives.
These last few weeks of Spring are the slipperiest slopes I know.
It is a testament to my nerdiness that all of my social and emotional anxiety about Ketzia and Hicham has sublimated into academic achievement. And, to a lesser extent, drugs. But really, things are looking good:
-I got that one grant, and am applying for another one through the Art Hist. dept., and will hopefully end up with around $4500 for my summer!
-I have a thesis advisor, a thesis proposal, and tentative permission to write a thesis in one semester (and not 2-3).
-It looks like I will be able to graduate a semester early! Is this good, or escapist? I will save money, but are these not years to savor? Methinks I savored them really a lot already, don't want things to get sour(er).
Next fall:
Thesis w/ advisor Rosalyn Deutsche (check her out, she's amazingly cool...see Cindy on the cover, and you know you're doing something right.)
Note: she also said she would be in Beijing this summer...we are gonna hang out and go to galleries! yehaw@
Music Humanities (aka Western Civ reruns)
Greek Art (required...bleck)
Independent Study in Chinese Linguistics (probably about the simplification of chinese characters during the Cultural Revolution, or else a structuralist analysis of resulatative endings...don't ask.)
History seminar comparing China and France: two peasant states and their revolutions!
Japanese 1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I will be living in a new Barnard dorm called Cathedral Gardens. 10 blocks from campus, on the express subway line (2/3), 1 block from Central Park and 2 blocks from Morningside Park. Nature! I am living with these girls...who I kinda know. They are sweet, affectionate, and kinda drug dealers. Everyone loves them, except for RA's. With my innate fear of authority and trouble, maybe this will be a good thing. After all, who gets through college and high school without ever getting into trouble...ever?
My thesis topic is really exciting. My tentative proposal:
From its establishment in 1949, the People’s Republic of China has been host to some of the most drastic social and political shifts of any country in the twentieth-century. Largely under the auspices of Chairman Mao Zedong, this period also saw an artistic production of unprecedented volume, with thousands of politically-charged posters being printed in the millions. Combining traditional Chinese painterly aesthetics, popular poster-style imagery, and Socialist Realism inherited from the Soviet Union, these posters played a large part in the popularization of Mao’s political agenda, and the subsequent emergence of his personality cult.
However, these propaganda posters were largely based on photographic portraits of Mao taken during the Chinese Communist Party’s early years in Yanan. In 1942, Mao delivered a series of speeches on the role of art in the coming revolution; thus it is not surprising that Mao collaborated with these photographers to engineer images of himself. The official photographer of the CCP was Wu Yin-Xian, a well-known cinematographer from Shanghai, and two of his students, Xu Xiao-Bing and Hou Bo, also became Mao’s favorite portraitists. Sha Fei, another photographer, traveled with army units as an official documentarian; his images offer insight into the aesthetics of mobilization and military progress. These photographers were not only ardent supporters of Mao, they were engineers of his image; making use of a visual language of proletarian heroism, they lay the foundations of Mao’s revolutionary celebrity.
When these portraits were used as models for later propaganda, their cinematographic aesthetic was enhanced with painterly extravagance. The CCP ceased all traditional art production at Chinese art academies, transforming them into rigidly surveyed propaganda factories. Strict regulations were issued for such images, including restrictions on color (an emphasis on the nationalist red, and a near-prohibition of black or grey) and more generally, that Mao always be “red, bright and shining.” Furthermore, the artists themselves were screened for ideological integrity, and while most art students were able to paint scenery and background, only the most trusted artists were allowed to paint Mao himself. These studios were forced to reconcile the tension between individual creative production and the enforcement of an official aesthetic.
While many posters continued to depict Mao as the Communist “everyman” as the photographic portraits did, later posters transformed Mao into the “Red Sun,” a national icon of deified authority. What followed was an explosion of Mao imagery, not just in posters, but on pins, in mass-produced “family albums” with pre-inserted photographs of Mao, and other popular paraphernalia. In terms of both volume and context, Mao’s increased visual representation is directly correlated to his rising political power and ever-shifting public image. Mao remains one of the most represented individuals in history, and thus an art historical analysis of his career is a germane means to chart the trajectory of his celebrity and influence.
I propose to analyze the aesthetic and ideological mechanisms by which Mao emerged as a cult figure, focusing particularly on the transition from photographic portraiture to propaganda paintings. This shift in medium, which coincided with a shift in political agenda, is a critical juncture in the evolution of Mao’s image, and thus in the visual culture of revolutionary China. Beyond scholarship on images of authority in other totalitarian states, propaganda theory, and traditional Chinese art history, I will also consider this mass production in relation to the writings of Walter Benjamin and Karl Marx. Finally, given Mao’s own principles of revolutionary aesthetics - which stem from, but nonetheless diverge from Marxism-Leninism - I hope to investigate the possibility of a “Maoist” art history, wherein Mao provides not only the subject matter, but the theoretical framework.
---
I spent all day in the archives and study room of the Int'l Center for Photography, looking at the only prints of Wu Yinxian available in the US. Wu was the official photographer of the Communist Party, and was Mao's official portraitist. I had gloves on, with special security clearance from my Professor...I felt very cool. Here is a sample comparison of what I am looking at:
Basically, all of these posters are based on photographic portraits taken at Yanan in the 40's and 50's. The photographers were all trained as cinematographers, and you can see the dramatic pictorialism in the photo above. Then, when they became posters, they were fabulized and made Mao into this god-like floating head.
Essentially, 50 pages of this.
(For LOTS of these posters, check out: http://www.iisg.nl/~landsberger/.)
Any immediate thoughts on the topic would be appreciated, as I'm still editing the proposal. I have to have my first chapter by September.
It is a testament to my nerdiness that all of my social and emotional anxiety about Ketzia and Hicham has sublimated into academic achievement. And, to a lesser extent, drugs. But really, things are looking good:
-I got that one grant, and am applying for another one through the Art Hist. dept., and will hopefully end up with around $4500 for my summer!
-I have a thesis advisor, a thesis proposal, and tentative permission to write a thesis in one semester (and not 2-3).
-It looks like I will be able to graduate a semester early! Is this good, or escapist? I will save money, but are these not years to savor? Methinks I savored them really a lot already, don't want things to get sour(er).
Next fall:
Thesis w/ advisor Rosalyn Deutsche (check her out, she's amazingly cool...see Cindy on the cover, and you know you're doing something right.)
Note: she also said she would be in Beijing this summer...we are gonna hang out and go to galleries! yehaw@
Music Humanities (aka Western Civ reruns)
Greek Art (required...bleck)
Independent Study in Chinese Linguistics (probably about the simplification of chinese characters during the Cultural Revolution, or else a structuralist analysis of resulatative endings...don't ask.)
History seminar comparing China and France: two peasant states and their revolutions!
Japanese 1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I will be living in a new Barnard dorm called Cathedral Gardens. 10 blocks from campus, on the express subway line (2/3), 1 block from Central Park and 2 blocks from Morningside Park. Nature! I am living with these girls...who I kinda know. They are sweet, affectionate, and kinda drug dealers. Everyone loves them, except for RA's. With my innate fear of authority and trouble, maybe this will be a good thing. After all, who gets through college and high school without ever getting into trouble...ever?
My thesis topic is really exciting. My tentative proposal:
From its establishment in 1949, the People’s Republic of China has been host to some of the most drastic social and political shifts of any country in the twentieth-century. Largely under the auspices of Chairman Mao Zedong, this period also saw an artistic production of unprecedented volume, with thousands of politically-charged posters being printed in the millions. Combining traditional Chinese painterly aesthetics, popular poster-style imagery, and Socialist Realism inherited from the Soviet Union, these posters played a large part in the popularization of Mao’s political agenda, and the subsequent emergence of his personality cult.
However, these propaganda posters were largely based on photographic portraits of Mao taken during the Chinese Communist Party’s early years in Yanan. In 1942, Mao delivered a series of speeches on the role of art in the coming revolution; thus it is not surprising that Mao collaborated with these photographers to engineer images of himself. The official photographer of the CCP was Wu Yin-Xian, a well-known cinematographer from Shanghai, and two of his students, Xu Xiao-Bing and Hou Bo, also became Mao’s favorite portraitists. Sha Fei, another photographer, traveled with army units as an official documentarian; his images offer insight into the aesthetics of mobilization and military progress. These photographers were not only ardent supporters of Mao, they were engineers of his image; making use of a visual language of proletarian heroism, they lay the foundations of Mao’s revolutionary celebrity.
When these portraits were used as models for later propaganda, their cinematographic aesthetic was enhanced with painterly extravagance. The CCP ceased all traditional art production at Chinese art academies, transforming them into rigidly surveyed propaganda factories. Strict regulations were issued for such images, including restrictions on color (an emphasis on the nationalist red, and a near-prohibition of black or grey) and more generally, that Mao always be “red, bright and shining.” Furthermore, the artists themselves were screened for ideological integrity, and while most art students were able to paint scenery and background, only the most trusted artists were allowed to paint Mao himself. These studios were forced to reconcile the tension between individual creative production and the enforcement of an official aesthetic.
While many posters continued to depict Mao as the Communist “everyman” as the photographic portraits did, later posters transformed Mao into the “Red Sun,” a national icon of deified authority. What followed was an explosion of Mao imagery, not just in posters, but on pins, in mass-produced “family albums” with pre-inserted photographs of Mao, and other popular paraphernalia. In terms of both volume and context, Mao’s increased visual representation is directly correlated to his rising political power and ever-shifting public image. Mao remains one of the most represented individuals in history, and thus an art historical analysis of his career is a germane means to chart the trajectory of his celebrity and influence.
I propose to analyze the aesthetic and ideological mechanisms by which Mao emerged as a cult figure, focusing particularly on the transition from photographic portraiture to propaganda paintings. This shift in medium, which coincided with a shift in political agenda, is a critical juncture in the evolution of Mao’s image, and thus in the visual culture of revolutionary China. Beyond scholarship on images of authority in other totalitarian states, propaganda theory, and traditional Chinese art history, I will also consider this mass production in relation to the writings of Walter Benjamin and Karl Marx. Finally, given Mao’s own principles of revolutionary aesthetics - which stem from, but nonetheless diverge from Marxism-Leninism - I hope to investigate the possibility of a “Maoist” art history, wherein Mao provides not only the subject matter, but the theoretical framework.
---
I spent all day in the archives and study room of the Int'l Center for Photography, looking at the only prints of Wu Yinxian available in the US. Wu was the official photographer of the Communist Party, and was Mao's official portraitist. I had gloves on, with special security clearance from my Professor...I felt very cool. Here is a sample comparison of what I am looking at:
Basically, all of these posters are based on photographic portraits taken at Yanan in the 40's and 50's. The photographers were all trained as cinematographers, and you can see the dramatic pictorialism in the photo above. Then, when they became posters, they were fabulized and made Mao into this god-like floating head.
Essentially, 50 pages of this.
(For LOTS of these posters, check out: http://www.iisg.nl/~landsberger/.)
Any immediate thoughts on the topic would be appreciated, as I'm still editing the proposal. I have to have my first chapter by September.