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Conference

In addition to providing a preview of these materials, open for the public viewing in the Wason Collection and Goldsen Archive, Kroch Library, the conference provides one of the largest North American gatherings of contemporary Chinese artists and curators who work in the emergent fields of electronic arts, new media, and mixed media performance. Their aim is to situate their past and current projects in terms of the theoretical, social, and political problems posed by new archival challenges of digital culture and historical transformation.

Similarly the endeavor of archiving so-called ephemeral artistic works may require a reconsideration of the aims and imperative of the archive itself and related art historical research. To position contemporary Chinese art in the Future Perfect will require that the participants reflect on their former work in relation to future concerns: to consider "what they will have done" (and how it will have been remembered).

Highlights of the weekend include the international premiere of a new performance art piece by the artist, Lin Yilin, on Saturday afternoon at 4pm, and a plenary artist presentation by the internationally celebrated artist Xu Bing, on Friday afternoon at 4:30pm. They will be joined by the artists, Feng Mengbo and Chen Lingyang from Beijing, Du Zhenjun from Paris, Xiaowen Chen from Ithaca, Lin Yan from New York as well as curators Barbara London (Museum of Modern Art), Gao Minglu (Pittsburgh), and Shin-Yi Yang (Artist Commune, Hong Kong).



Organized by Timothy Murray, Professor of English and Comparative Literature, this event is hosted by The Rose Goldsen Lecture Series with institutional cosponsorship from the Cornell Library, The Society for the Humanities, East Asia Program, College of Art, Architecture and Planning, French Studies, Departments of Asian Studies, English, Comparative Literature.


For further information, contact Timothy Murray, Director, The Rose Goldsen Lecture Series, tcm1@cornell.edu, 607-255-4012.

Schedule of Events

Friday, Sept. 23

1:30-3:30 Kroch Library Lecture Room

1:30 Welcoming Remarks
  • Tim Murray, Director, Rose Goldsen Lecture Series, College of Arts and Sciences
  • Sarah E. Thomas, Carl A. Kroch University Librarian

1:45 Unveiling the Wen Pulin Archive of Chinese Avant Garde Art

  • Thomas Hahn, Curator, Charles W. Wason Collection on East Asia

  • Tim Murray, Curator, Rose Goldsen Archive of New Media Art

2:15 Curating Contemporary Chinese Art (I)

  • Moderator, Ellen Avril, Curator of Asian Art, Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art

  • Gao Minglu, Curator and Professor of Art History, University of Pittsburgh,


"Curating 'The Wall'"

  • Yang Shin-Yi, Artistic Director, Artist Commune, Hong Kong; Lecturer, Museum of Modern Art, New York, " Showing and Storing Contemporary Art"

  • Discussant, Susan Buck-Morss, Visual Studies, Department of Government

4:15 Lewis Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall

  • Plenary Artist Presentation
  • Moderator, Sherman Cochran, Department of History

  • Xu Bing, Artist, Beijing/New York
    "Recent Works-Another Artistic Direction"

Saturday, Sept. 24

  • Lewis Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall

8:30-9:00 Continental Breakfast

9:00 Mixed Media Art in Process

  • Moderator, Shelley Wong, Departments of English and Asian-American Studies
  • Xiaowen Chen, Department of Art, Cornell University,
    "Mixed Media Explorations"

  • Chen Lingyuang, Artist, Beijing, "Chen Lingyang and Chen Lingyang NO.2"

  • Lin Yan, Artist, Beijing/New York, "Constructing Painting"

  • Discussant: Renate Ferro, Department of Art

11:30 Curating Contemporary Chinese Art (II)

  • Moderator, Patricia Zimmermann, Department of Radio and Film, Ithaca College

  • Barbara London, Curator of Film and Video, Museum of Modern Art, New York

    • "Stir-fry and Beyond: Media Art in China"

2:00 Digital Interface: Arts of New Media

  • Moderator, Tuy Tu, Department of History of Art

  • Du Zhenjun, Artist, Beijing/Paris, "Eastern Winds, Western Winds"

  • Feng Mengbo, Artist, Multimedia Studio, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing

  • "Game As Arts: Feng Mengbo's Digital Works"

  • Discussants: Thomas Lamarre, Department of Asian Studies

  • Phoebe Sengers, Departments of Information Sciences,

    • Science & Technology Studies

4:00 International Premier Performance

  • Moderator: Buzz Spector, Chair, Department of Art

  • Lin Yilin, Artist, Beijing/New York, "Adult/Education"

5:00 Concluding Panel Discussion

  • Future Perfect, Pondering What Will Have Been

  • Chair, Brett de Bary, Director, The Society for the Humanities

  • Timothy Billings, Department of English, Middlebury College

  • Lily Chi, Department of Architecture

  • Petrus Liu, Department of Comparative Literature

  • Naoki Sakai, Department of Asian Studies and Comparative Literature