Jeunes de Chine

Chinese Youth
and Pop Culture
Claire Huot
July 13, 2008, for CÉRIUM
Björk in Shanghai: “Tibet, Tibet!”
Following the pro-Tibet demonstrations
throughout the West, the I Love China icon
sprouted everywhere
Add French actress Emmanuelle Béart to
Mia Farrow, Steven Spielberg, et al. as a
Beijing Olympics boycotter
The Fuwas 富娃:
as inauspicious as number 8?
Yao Ming loves his tiny Mac
Guo Jingjing dives
with her Li-Ning shoes on
Liu Xiang wins with Coca Cola
Yao Ming:
China’s biggest (sports) star
Beijing airport’s Terminal 3:
the biggest, the most…., the most…
The Olympic Stadium
(Herzog & de
Meuron with Ai Weiwei as consultant):
“bird’s nest” or “toilet bowl”?
Blur Hotel, Beijing
Zhu Pei and Wu Tong, architects
An architect’s home
by the Great Wall
Yung Ho Chang, architect
Someone’s private quarters
in Xi’an
Design, Shanghai
by Shao Fan “Ming-style stool”
The Shanghai look
photo session Wing Shya
In April, BOBOs jumped in their SUV and went
to Sichuan, with support from K-One Car Club
Chen Chao, 27, is the owner
of K-One Car Club
A tireless activist, Hu Jia
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Emprisoned since Dec 07; his text: « We want democracry, not
the Olympics »
Formerly under house-arrest
Filmed from his window a video, « Prisoners in Freedom City »
Buddhist; liver disease
Eco-activist, pro-democracy,founder of Aizhixing (for HIV
victims), etc.
Almost everything is on Sina.com:
news, info relay, novels, etc.
Sohu is on top of all of that the
official Olympics website
QQ: the most popular instant
messaging company
(80% of the market)
In the spirit of Youtube
WoW fever quickly caught on in China:
one boy died at his station after playing for
three straight days
“Sex” is not the most popular
search word
• China
– QQ
– China Merchants Bank
– Industry & Commercial
Bank of China
– Stocks
– Xiaoyouxi (game site)
• Rest of the world
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Iphone
Badoo
Facebook
Dailymotion
Webkinz
– What is “love”?
– What are “blue chips”?
The Guardian Feb.9, 2008
rl, SL and the 2007 Venice
biennal
Cao Fei’s avatar: China Tracy
Photo-installation “Days on the
Cotton Candy” by Maleonn
Zhao Bandi strikes against
Hollywood and its “Kungfu
Panda”
Zhang Xiaogang, “Blood ties no 3”:
3.3M$ at Sotheby’s, London, Feb. 08
Ai Weiwei, 1001 Qing chairs
Documenta 12 (2007)
Ai Weiwei brought over 1001
Chinese to Kassel to sit in them
Cai Guoqiang is in charge of the special
effects for the Olympics ceremonies
(photo: exhibition at Guggenheim, NY)
Cai in Shawinigan, 2007
Liu Xiaodong, The Three-Gorges
Liu Xiaodong, « Hotbed »
Yu Hong, “Multiply”
--« Things have changed a lot in China since we last
played here (1986). But one thing hasn’t changed…. »
--« Cui Jian! Cui Jian!»
“Yi wu suo you”
(popular since 1989)
The new arts area of Beijing
(near the airport)
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at Dashanzi
798 (80 galleries)
Caochangdi
Close to the Central
Academy of Fine
Arts (90% refused)
Tan Dun and his opera “First
Emperor”, at the MET (2008)
Tan Dun visits a Miao village
for his project “The Map”
Tan Dun and Placindo Domingo
will redo the opera for the Olympics,
on the Great Wall
3 Q!