Written by Anna Currence O'Neal
July 22, 2015
My Boston was a performance piece that was conceptualized and executed by Zhang Huan in 2005 at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts. It is an artwork inspired by the many attempts governments have made throughout history to censor the information their people have access to in an effort to control their thoughts and actions.
Zhang Huan was born on January 3rd, 1965 in the Chinese province Henan, located in Central China’s Yellow River Valley and widely thought to be the place where Chinese civilization began. Huan received his B.A. from Henan University in 1988 and his M.A. from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing in 1993. After completing his master’s degree, he began his transition from painting to performance art with an emphasis on the body. Among his other mediums are photography, sculpture, installation, and set design. Post-graduation, he moved into a small artistic community now called Beijing East Village, located on the outskirts of the city. There, he and a small group of artist friends formed a collective and pioneered a type of performance art never before seen in China. Performance art in China did not really become evident until the mid-1980s and because of political pressure and constraint, performances occurred in spontaneous circumstances and locations such as basements, outdoors, or in the private apartments of those involved. Huan’s avant garde branch of performance art always involves his body in one way or another, usually naked, and his pieces can be interpreted in a variety of ways. He and many other artists were and are often reprimanded by officials for the “inappropriateness” of their actions during their performances. In fact, directly after his first performance piece protesting a ban on performance and installation art in 1993 he and a few others in the collective were arrested.
The performance of My Boston has been described many times, in articles at the time, on his artist’s website, as well as other places and formats. As I understand it, Huan first had himself buried under a pile of three thousand books on the West Wing lawn of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. He then emerged from the massive pile and regally climbed to the top, where he sat just as regally. He then began eating page after page from a small volume he carried along with him to the top of the ‘pyramid of knowledge’. This portion of the performance refers to when Zhang was a little boy trying to read something that he just could not comprehend. A quote from Zhang Huan’s website referring to this piece states,
“When I was young, my mother often told me "You have to study hard so when you grow up you have a bright future." But I never liked to read books. Whenever I read a book my mind always wanders off and I fall fast asleep. I tried many different ways to keep myself awake and concentrate. I couldn't help it, I would forget what I read immediately, so I read again and I still can't remember, not to mention I couldn't understand it at all. Later on, I had a great idea. Everyday I'd tear a page out of a book and eat it. The result was I couldn't digest it at all, and I shit out the exact same thing as I ate. I had many dreams involving books. In one of the dreams I discover all the books that I have ever owned were being blown all over the sky by a mighty wind. Suddenly, in a split second, all the books were floating on the river toward the East. It was very unpredictable.”
This very specific childhood memory is obviously a contributor to My Boston. I believe he is saying something to the effect of, ‘You can possess as many books as you like and use them for anything you desire, but if you don’t read them and absorb the information that lies within it doesn’t matter.’ This is something I very much believe in. Books have always been a cornerstone of my evolution as a human being and I have gained much, not the least of which being a deep appreciation for the written word.
“Ceremonial, stately, and mysterious, Zhang’s performance, although inspired by a specific event in history, symbolized a dark passage that has occurred in many cultures throughout the world.” (MFA.org) “However, the performance was complete only when the audience approached the pyramid and removed a book to take away with them, proving that knowledge and free thinking can never be stopped.” (MFA.org)
Censorship is as much an issue today as it was in 2005 when this piece was performed, and as much as it has been in recent and distant history. According to a list on the Committee to Protect Journalists’ website, the ten most censored nations are (from most severely censored to censored) Eritrea, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, Azerbaijan, Vietnam, Iran, China, Myanmar, and Cuba. This list was compiled based on research into the use of different tactics by these governments to control the press and those who speak out against said governments, ranging from imprisonment and the use of repressive laws to Internet restrictions, harassment and limitations on access and movement within the country. Seven of the ten most censored countries are also on the top ten list of countries that most frequently jail journalists within their borders. Some current examples of censorship, in world and art news, that come to mind are the practicings of the governments of Eritrea, North Korea and China, among the many others.
President Isaias Afewerki, of Eritrea, has successfully crushed independent journalism in his country, leaving even the journalists who are employed by state-run establishments fearing arrest and, in many cases, choosing exile rather than dread and terror in their home country. Eritrea is the worst country in the world for jailing journalists, and is at present holding at least 23 people without trial or charge behind bars.
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has been in extremely low ranking on the global ‘censorship scale’ for quite a few years, even prior to the demise of their Supreme Leader Kim Jong-Il and the rise to power of his son and successor, Kim Jong-Un. Since the transition of power, little if nothing at all has changed in regards to the government’s attitude toward censorship and freedom of the press and people.
China is number eight on the list of most censored nations. It is also home to the government that arrested Zhang Huan after his first performance piece following his graduation from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. The Chinese government has also received great world wide criticism for the treatment of Ai Weiwei, another Chinese artist who has been exiled after serving multiple prison sentences, having his studio destroyed, and at one point being so badly beaten by police that he was thought to need brain surgery. Though not as far up the list as North Korea and Eritrea or some of the others mentioned, China has proven time and time again that it is no slouch when it comes to censorship within their borders and will take drastic measures to ensure they keep their powerful grip on the people of China.
Zhang Huan has done just under 40 performance pieces in his now lengthy career and, outside of China, few names are as interchangeable with ‘Contemporary Chinese Art’ as that of Zhang Huan. His performance pieces can be read and interpreted in a variety of different ways ranging from political commentary to a deep philosophical expression of vulnerability and the human condition. His piece My Boston lands more on the political commentary end of the spectrum, in my opinion. As with the work of artists such as Tabaimo, this work has a rather specific reference in his home country but can also refer to a number of internationally understood ideas and events.
Image from: http://www.zhanghuan.com/worken/info_71.aspx
My Boston refers to a specific event in Chinese history that would be recognized by those who have a general sense of Chinese history and would be widely recognized by those born in China and raised within the Chinese educational system. It refers to the point in history in which China became united for the first time under Emperor Qin in 221 BCE, marking the beginning of the Qin Dynasty and the end of the Zhou kingdom feudal system previously in place. In an effort to control his newly conquered people and limit dissent among them, the new emperor ordered that all scrolls and documents not in alignment with his philosophies to be destroyed. There are also countless tales told of the persecution of pre-Qin scholars and those who opposed the destruction of knowledge during this time, bringing to light further evidence of China’s long history of brutal censorship and control by the governing elite.
By the time Zhang Huan was performing My Boston in 2005, he had made his transition from a lugubrious iconoclast, attacking cherished beliefs and traditional institutions, to a widely known artist who, especially in this piece, is speaking out against those who would attempt to control the flow of information into and out of their countries. The importance of knowledge cannot be quantified and any artist willing to stand up in the face of persecution, torture, unfair imprisonment, and the litany of other atrocities laid upon them is to be celebrated and revered.
Works Cited
Huan, Zhang. "My Boston." Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 22
Mar. 2006. Web.
McQuaid, Cate. "His Performance Art Is Bound to Provoke." Boston.com. The New York
Times, 28 Sept. 2005. Web. 21 July 2015.
Saatchi Gallery. "Zhang Huan." - Artist's Profile. Saatchi Gallery, n.d. Web. 21 July 2015.
Kim, Yu Yeon. "Intensified Corporeality." Zhanghuan.com. N.p., 2003. Web. 21 July 2015.
"Standing on the Shoulders of Giants." ArtAsiaPacific: Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants
Zhang Huan. Art Asia Pacific, n.d. Web. 21 July 2015.
"10 Most Censored Countries." Committee to Protect Journalists. CPJ, n.d. Web. 21 July 2015.
Huan, Zhang. "Zhanghuan.com." Zhanghuan.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 July 2015.