Worry Dreamers #0 — Origin
What I want to do with this project, and how I started.
Art — especially of the more experimental kind — has always been a taboo in modern-day China because of its often sensitive subject matters. Since the last century, Chinese artists have found their intellectual and creative asylum in America, where they could safely explore their artistic vision and form their own community. I became interested in learning about the lives of Chinese artists in America when I went to the Andy Warhol Museum last summer to see the Ai Weiwei exhibit. I was very surprised to discover old photos of him with his artist friends from the 1980s, many of whom — painters, conceptual artists, and musicians alike — have become part of the new Chinese aristocracy today. It was fascinating to see that these drastically different people shared a past in East Village New York thirty years ago. At an event in the museum, I also met with Alison Klayman, the filmmaker behind the Ai Weiwei documentary, “Never Sorry.” She told me about her experience interviewing Ai Weiwei’s old friends, and how these people held different yet interesting opinions of his character and his art.
As an art student myself, I am interested in about how these young Chinese artists grappled with their national/cultural identity, political views, and artistic vision during an incredibly transformative era in both America and China. My heart also goes to other Chinese art students studying in the US today. I know many others around my age studying music, fine art, filmmaking, or drama. It has always been a dream to interview them, follow their lives for a few days, and listen to their ideas about art and life in the US.
With these ideas in mind, I began a documentary project that investigates current and past Chinese international art students on American college campuses. With both an academic/research approach and a personal/storytelling perspective, I want to present a trans-generational narrative that connects recent history with the present, comparing and contrasting the artistic practices and visions of young Chinese artists from different generations and social backgrounds.
The princial task for this documentary project is to conduct interviews. So far, contacting older generation Chinese artists have been relatively difficult, so I am starting with interviewing current Chinese art students in the fields of drama, music, and fine arts.
The final product might take the form of a short documentary film, or a web series. I don’t plan to set a deadline. I will simply be following the fun and curiosity. The goal is in the process of exploring what it means to be a modern-day artist/storyteller and how to navigate the Chinese identity in a foreign space.
The current name of the project is Worry Dreamers, because as artist/outsiders we worry and we dream.
I plan to document my process in this Medium publication. Hope you follow, and enjoy.
To produce this documentary, I have been fortunate to receive a grant from the Undergraduate Research Office at Carnegie Mellon University.
