Contemporary Chinese Art- another kind of view
DSL Collection
Raft of the Medusa
More information on the works
More information on the works
Hu Jieming, Raft of the Medusa, Photo-Ed. 10, 3 pcs., 125 cm x 177 cm, 2002
"A succession of three identically sized photographs all show variations of one motif. On top of a raft constructed from over-dimensional tin cans and plastic bottles labelled with global brand names, heaps of people cling together struggling to survive the rough open seas.
The viewer instantly recognizes that these computer generated photo-collages are modelled on Th?odore G?ricault?s 1819 painting Le radeau de la M?duse which tells the story of a French government ship that sank off shore Senegal due to gross incompetence of its commander with only 15 souls surviving on an improvised raft. By referring to this classic painting, Hu Jieming manages to combine different layers of content and at the same time stay out of harms way when touching political sensitive areas.
Hu?s entire work deals with the cultural dilemma of China that has much to do with the ongoing - imagined or real - influence of China?s history on today?s society as well as with the dramatic decades of the Mao-era. Like G?ricault used the image of the rotting raft to criticize the France of his days, Hu juxtaposes the fancy consumer-high urban youth with the black and white images of the idealistic young activists of the 1960s and 1970s. Their hopes for a better society were terribly disappointed and the story may very well repeat itself with the dreams of the current generation.
Numerous details point to controversial aspects within society: Soldiers in late imperial uniforms remind one of the burden of the past. A nude women, who has her head covered with the red veil of traditional marriage ceremonies and is lead by a man in a suit, hints to the burden of tradition. Hooligans in a brawl, a soon to be executed criminal, and migrant workers playing cards tell of the burden of a breathless social change.
While the sheer visual richness of these images overlays the technical aspects of Hu?s working style, other pieces show more overtly his reflections on form. Videos like About Physiology of 1996, which visualizes an ill person?s cardiogram and respiratory waves and transforms them into music by a computer program stress the intertwined relations of image and sound without neglecting content."
Christoff Buettner
"A succession of three identically sized photographs all show variations of one motif. On top of a raft constructed from over-dimensional tin cans and plastic bottles labelled with global brand names, heaps of people cling together struggling to survive the rough open seas.
The viewer instantly recognizes that these computer generated photo-collages are modelled on Th?odore G?ricault?s 1819 painting Le radeau de la M?duse which tells the story of a French government ship that sank off shore Senegal due to gross incompetence of its commander with only 15 souls surviving on an improvised raft. By referring to this classic painting, Hu Jieming manages to combine different layers of content and at the same time stay out of harms way when touching political sensitive areas.
Hu?s entire work deals with the cultural dilemma of China that has much to do with the ongoing - imagined or real - influence of China?s history on today?s society as well as with the dramatic decades of the Mao-era. Like G?ricault used the image of the rotting raft to criticize the France of his days, Hu juxtaposes the fancy consumer-high urban youth with the black and white images of the idealistic young activists of the 1960s and 1970s. Their hopes for a better society were terribly disappointed and the story may very well repeat itself with the dreams of the current generation.
Numerous details point to controversial aspects within society: Soldiers in late imperial uniforms remind one of the burden of the past. A nude women, who has her head covered with the red veil of traditional marriage ceremonies and is lead by a man in a suit, hints to the burden of tradition. Hooligans in a brawl, a soon to be executed criminal, and migrant workers playing cards tell of the burden of a breathless social change.
While the sheer visual richness of these images overlays the technical aspects of Hu?s working style, other pieces show more overtly his reflections on form. Videos like About Physiology of 1996, which visualizes an ill person?s cardiogram and respiratory waves and transforms them into music by a computer program stress the intertwined relations of image and sound without neglecting content."
Christoff Buettner
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Hu Jieming
C-Print, 3pcs each 125 x 177 cm
C-Print, 3pcs each 125 x 177 cm