Author Archives: lopezjrs

Feng’s digital world

Posted on by
Reply

In our current world a pandemic has changed the way we live our daily lives. The way we interact with people has already changed drastically, but in reality we were ready for the challenges regarding communication. Technology has become very advanced and in light of this global pandemic, communicating with one another through a computer screen is the safest option. The digital world is one with endless possibilities. The theme of this exhibition falls perfectly into our current situation as it revolves around the digital world. The inspiration of this exhibition is Chinese Artist Feng Mengbo.

Feng Mengbo is an artist’s whose work provides a good example of how art coming from Chinese artist after 1990 and since has been influenced by the political happenings of the time. This exhibition will simply be a virtual presentation of works with voice recordings providing further information. In an effort to demonstrate how Feng Mengbo’s art style and content was very different than traditional work of the time, and also how historical events affected art differently, we must look at what would be considered a traditional piece of Chinese art work from a bit before Feng Mengbo’s artistic blow up.

If we look at a work from 1978 titled Scar Art, done by li Xinhua, and compare it to Feng Mengbo’s Long March: Restart, done in 2008, many differenes can be seen. Below is Scar art,

 

This piece was done on gouache on paper. The piece tells a sad story of the Cultural Revolution, as you can see the portrayal of the same soldier on the left is very sad and defeated on the right side of the painting. The artwork showed the actual emotion and tragedy that the people going through had to endure. The picture below is now an installation from one of Feng Mengbos pieces,

 

 

As seen, this is a very different piece. Mengbo made digital pieces of work and created video games. This one in specific uses Red Army soldiers as characters in the game. So, in comparison to Scar Art, this piece is less emotional and only uses the events from the Cultural Revolution to give a viewer a different but also historical experience.

Sources:

 

Professor Lullo’s Voicethread presentation. https://voicethread.com/myvoice/thread/14412178/89311123/82174989

 

 

Mengbo, Feng. “Feng Mengbo. Long March: Restart. 2008: MoMA.” The Museum of Modern Art. Accessed May 15, 2020. https://www.moma.org/collection/works/122872.

Webpage Analysis

Posted on by
Reply

https://www.shanghartgallery.com/galleryarchive/artists/name/fengmengbo/bio

 

This a website that has biography’s of many Chinese Artist. I think this is a very valuable site because it is timeline focused. The site provides a timeline of my artists career with specific points in his career when he has had important exhibits, the names of the exhibits, and the locations of the exhibits. This could be useful when creating an analysis of my artist and when trying to find a specific type of work, Many times when doing research one of the most difficult parts is actually finding a specific piece on the web. This site will help find pieces of work but also help prove points through showing the artist progression.

Visual Analysis

Posted on by
1

Long March: Restart2008

Medium: Video game (color, sound), custom computer software, and wireless game controller

Feng Mengbo created this piece, and it is supposed to stem from actual historical events in China. The “Long March,” was the punishing flight of the Communist Red Army from the national KMT government, in which few survivors were left. The actual game does not represent this exact event but instead you play as a Chinese red soldier and shoot fireballs at aliens. The actual work of art is an interactive game, which anyone could play at the actual scene of the installation. The medium that Mengbo uses plays into his message as well. Mengbo was trying to reach and almost teach the youth that grew up without knowing about the “Long March,” through creating a game that would ultimately make these kids interested in learning about the actual history of the event. The game has political elements and also shows western influence. The actual piece is not meant to be accurate in representing any historical event, but is supposed to clearly show it is influenced by it. The game also has various elements that show western influence like throughout the game there are various Coke cans, adding to the complexity of the piece. The piece is fairly large, as seen in the picture above it is displayed on two big walls almost functioning like a hallway made up of video games on both sides. The actual piece first was at PS1 in Long Island City, which is an exhibition branch of the Museum of Modern Art in NYC. I think this is a super effective piece of art. I never had heard of the “Long March” until I read about this piece and I bet that is the same for many people. Mengbo as an artist is successfully teaching a history lesson while creating a very modern work of art with this piece.

Sources:

Chayka, Kyle, et al. “Feng Mengbo’s Video Game Epic ‘Long March.’” Hyperallergic, 31 Dec. 2010, hyperallergic.com/15898/feng-mengbo-long-march/.

Mengbo, Feng. “Feng Mengbo. Long March: Restart. 2008: MoMA.” The Museum of Modern Art, www.moma.org/collection/works/122872?artist_id=36090&locale=en&page=1&sov_referrer=artist.

 

Artist Introduction: Feng Mengbo

Image

Reply

Feng Mengbo is a contemporary artist who proclaims himself as a “video game artists.” Mengbo is an artist that is referred to as a child of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Mengbo studied design at the Beijing School of Arts and Crafts, and then took a printmaking course at the department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts. Some people call China’s art reforms in the 1980s the video-game era. Mengbo’s first works reflected this name and showed his childhood obsessions. Much of Mengbo’s work is done on different canvases that portray or are digital screen. Some say that Mengbo’s first work is representative of a Nintendo’s Super Mario, as in reality it is was a depiction of a Red Army character. Mengbo’s most recent work is the creation of video games that depict some of his first characters.

 

Silkscreen on silver leaf

-This is an example of Mengbo’s work that you can still find for sale. It shows the digital influence that his art is made up of.

 

Sources:

“Feng Mengbo 冯梦波.” 9 Artworks, Bio & Shows on Artsy. Accessed April 10, 2020. https://www.artsy.net/artist/feng-mengbo-feng-meng-bo.

 

Mb@Game A Beijing Screensaver pdf sent in email

Posted on by
Reply

Hi,

My name is Salvador Lopez, I am a senior Economics major and visual arts minor. I live in Westchester, New York and will be taking the class from this location. I was a member of the Union mens soccer team and have been involved in the student investment fund on campus since sophomore year. I took your class on arts of Japan and found it very interesting. I wanted to take another class related to arts of an Asian country and I think the historical component in this class is very interesting as well.