AS SEEN 2011
Foreword

'I've made three pieces of seminal art in my life. If I diedtomorrow, I'd be remembered for making them. There are a lot ofartists who, no matter how hard they work in their lives, willnever make anything seminal.'  
 British artist Tracey Emin

This book introduces a selection of great—if not allseminal—artworks that were exhibited in China in 2011. It includesa number of artists who are respected within the community, as wellas being considered famous. But As Seen does not seek to dedicateits coverage of art to China's most recognised artists. Several ofthose included here are young, but nevertheless it is clear fromthe work they produced in 2011, it won't be long before theycommand similar fame and respect; if, that is, they can sustain thequality of their work. That last caveat is an important one when itcomes to the mission this book has set itself. As Seen is not aboutpromoting the hottest or most influential artists of the moment. Itis, in short, about the art—or, in response to Tracey Emin—theseminal works for which these Chinese artists would be rememberedif they died tomorrow.
Every artist struggles to get their art the way they want it. Theyhave good days and bad days in the same way that critics andwriters have good days and bad days—I know I do. Most artists workhard, and many are prolific. But the question remains what are theworks for which they will be remembered? Perhaps one in ten willmake its mark; maybe even just one in a hundred. One of the mostpopular trends pervading contemporary culture seeks to identify andname "the best of" within all fields. In light of that, it seems tobe the perfect moment to present an alternative view of art inChina today. And so As Seen is an alternative to the traditionalmarket view that often reduces the discussion to soullessplatitude, or to those tomes that favour dense academic analysis.It is, instead, a celebration of the extraordinary and occasionallysublime results achieved when an artist has a good day andeverything comes out just right.
The choice of approach to As Seen has several origins. First, Ihave been working on an historical account of art in China thatlooks at the 1990s, in which seminal artworks provide an essentialpart of the core content, if not the most essential part. Second isthe fact that people often ask me where they can read more aboutthe artists whose work they see in exhibitions in China. Thisquestion cropped up again at a time when I was reading a volume ofprovocative texts on the subject of late twentieth-centuryartworks. All reiterated the importance of individual works. Thisseemed to me to be a practical and, in this case, hopefullymeaningful approach; ergo As Seen.
Third, and most important, has been my own experience of looking atthe artworks featured here. That may sound like an obvious activityfor a curator and critic, but it is surprising how, for most peopletoday, engaging with or looking at art is undertaken with the samespeed and brainpower as skimming through images on the internet.From rapid eye motion to rapid mental activity, the brain computesan assemblage of generalised information—a sweeping association ofform, colour and sensation. Today, for many people, the world isincreasingly a two-dimensional, monofaceted field viewed on a flatscreen. Art is not suited to this environment. No artistconsciously produces work to be seen on an iPad. Art is made to beseen physically and using all the senses. It's about being there,and, in terms of the pieces included in thisvolume,               I was. These artworks were, for various reasons, outstanding andmemorable—sublime, even. Hopefully, they will remain important andinfluential in the future.
So As Seen is the result of looking at art, lots of it, to selectthe best of 2011 represented in these pages, and for which I hadthe help of a small, anonymous committee of advisors. The criteriaare simple. All the artworks are by Chinese artists—including thosefrom Hong Kong, Taiwan and overseas—as seen in exhibitions on themainland within the space of the calendar year 2011. China'sinternal cultural world is still not active enough to be describedas international in the same way as, say, New York or London, andso the works of non-Chinese artists have not been included. Theywill, however, perhaps be considered in future editions of As Seen.The art included here is not all new (although the emphasis is onnew pieces), but the works were being shown for the first time.Other than that, there are no restrictions, no age limit and noother specific experience needed for an artist's work to beincluded in this project: just a brilliant piece of vision; a deftexecution; a great work of art.
The written responses to these artworks are direct. It may well bethe case that not all the works will appeal to all readers. Somemay not agree with my choices, and not everyone will agree with theinferences drawn. But I hope that As Seen provides some food forthought and a reason to go out and spend time looking at art inanticipation of the next volume.