Output details
34 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
University of Chester
Crescendo, a year-long research project exploring propaganda film productions from Chinese state cinema from the 1950s to the 1970s, with a particular focus on themes of peasant uprising.
Crescendo was a year-long research project exploring propaganda film productions from Chinese state cinema from the 1950s to the 1970s, with a particular focus on themes of peasant uprising. The research was commissioned as part of a three-month international artist residency programme in Shenzhen, China, by OCAT, a state-funded arts institution.
The work interrogates contemporary self-initiated protests against the dramatic narratives of state propaganda during the Cultural Revolution. The research was enhanced by a chance meeting with a group of Chinese people who were commemorating the loss of their village to a road development. The villagers were angry at the loss of their homes without compensation. They also felt they were victims of corruption.
Over several clandestine meetings, a flash-mob style intervention in a public space was agreed with the villagers, who helped develop ideas for a participatory art project. Rehearsals of the flash-mob were hosted at OCAT’s art studios and discussions took place to identify a site for the event. The metro was eventually agreed, as it offered a captive audience.
During the live performance, passengers of the metro directly engaged with the work, and were confronted with the difficult but often unspoken issue of corruption. Responses varied from those who stared in surprise, to those who were so shocked they ran to another carriage. Others joined in, shouting about corruption, while some complained about our public disturbances.
Split into two parts, ‘Crescendo’ is a video installation depicting ordinary citizens alongside myself, confronting the issue of corruption within the confines of Shenzhen’s busy underground metro. Preceding this, the video unfolds with a sequence of freeze-framed images from several popular Chinese state propaganda movies, distilled at the very moment of peasant uprisings.
