Qiu Ting - Conversations with a Contemporary Chinese Artist

Author: Chen Mengmeng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-12-01
Features: In May 2005, due to work-related reasons, the author had a conversation with Arnaud Duthuit, the permanent secretary of the Collège de France's Institute of Art. When discussing Chinese culture, he looked very serious and told the author that Chinese culture has a strong spiritual dimension. The French greatly appreciate Chinese art and the unique way Chinese people think about problems. Chinese culture should not bow to American culture. The author's feeling is that Mr. Duthuit's remarks were sincere and not merely polite. However, when the author mentioned the names and works of contemporary Chinese writers and artists, the old gentleman looked completely lost. The book records both the fragments of thoughts and feelings of artists and their accumulated experiences and works in artistic creation over the years. The author's firm statements are thought-provoking, while the creative experiences and explorations in form also make one feel that the discourse system of contemporary Chinese art is within reach—this, of course, is an optimistic feeling. The author likes this feeling, though it is somewhat illusory and a bit hazy, it has changed the mindset of self-doubt that had become habitual.