Interactive and digital art make headway in China

Though Chinese contemporary art has taken the world by storm, its new media arm is only now coming to fruition. Given the elements of interactivity, new media art gives new confidence to expressing cultural baggage through a mix media of the Internet, films, music, games and objects. The world has devoted festivals to it such as Ars Electronica, Sonar and Documenta. And spaces like the new Yuanfen New Media Art Space in the heart of Dashanzi’s 798 art district are now giving the form a platform in Beijing.

American lawyer turned Microsoft man, David Ben Kay is a 20-year Beijing resident that has morphed his spacious loft into a space dedicated to creativity and innovation. Kay says, “Being able to provide the platform for art and technology to come together in this space is a dream come true for me. I know firsthand that art and technology can individually change lives, and when you bring them together, new worlds are created.”

The space’s second exhibition, “Digital Passages: Journey Beyond Reality’s Threshold” includes work by Yam Lau from Canada, Ma Yongfeng from China and Michael Yuen from Australia, whose installation “Pulse” is a pulsating light of a blue LED, accompanied by an electronic hum that the viewer experiences in a long dark space under a swimming pool. The exhibition hints at virtual worlds, in which we can gaze into new experiences, but the show, consisting of a large digital print, some video and a light and sound installation, leaves us wondering where the new media is hiding.

The Yuanfen New Media Art Space is a welcome addition to China’s developing new media art scene. Diving into internet art a little too late to be cutting edge, China’s own conceptual star Cao Fei’s RMB City is a virtual collage of new China created in the popular online game Second Life. RMB City is an example of a concept executed intelligently with technology. However, the recent “Synthetic Times” at the National Art Museum of China seems to be a showcase of interactive technology for the sake of technology. Still, with a few more efforts like these, perhaps these media can begin to take hold.

Ronnie Lee