Beyond: translation
Rock group
In both journalistic and academic discourse, Hong Kong and (to a lesser extent) Taiwan are considered commercial places where only pop music prospers. In contrast to Beijing, the perceived cultural centre of ‘Greater China’, the commercial spirit of both places allows little or no room for the ‘alternative’ sound of rock music. The example of the Hong Kong rock band Beyond upsets such spatial division of musical genres. Formed in 1983, Beyond quickly became a main thrust of the ‘band movement’ of Hong Kong during the late 1980s, together with Tat Ming Pair, Taichi and Raidas. As a rock band considered to be ‘underground’, even after signing with a major label, Beyond embodies a rebellious, angry and youthful spirit typical of the 1960s flower-power idealism of, for example, Bob Dylan.
Beyond was formed around lead vocalist Wong Ka-Kui (b. 1962). His sudden death during a performance in Japan in 1993 shocked audiences and became metaphoric for the death of the spirited ‘band movement’ and a young daring generation. The three remaining band members remained active, and were subsequently contracted by the Taiwanese label Rock Records. According to a 1997 survey, Beyond was the most popular rock band among Beijing youth. Nonetheless, having used up all their artistic resources, and increasingly dissatisfied with their record company, Beyond released their last album Goodtime in 1999 and the members went solo. It is of interest to note the almost contemporary emergence of a new band, Lazy Muthafucka. The rebellious idealism of Beyond was replaced by a more aggressive, streetwise hip-hop sound that would certainly be awarded a parental warning in the US.
JEROEN DE KLOET
Big-Tailed Elephant
Artist group
The Big-Tailed Elephant was formed by a quartet of artists in 1990: Xu Tan (b.1957, Wuhan, Hubei), Chen Shaoxiong (b. 1962, Shantou, Guangdong), Lin Yilin (b. 1964, Guangzhou) and Liang Juhui (b. 1957, Guangzhou). Later, the group was joined on occasion by Zheng Guogu and Wang Huimin. Keeping their distance from the more conceptual and socio-political art of northern China (i.e. Beijing), these artists asserted the value of the individual artistic body as an autonomous being with a more sense-oriented approach to life. Despite the absence of a specific unifying artistic agenda, they were all reacting to the high-speed transformations that had characterized the regions surrounding the Pearl River Delta since Deng Xiaoping’s creation of Special Economic Zones, in which a growing commercial environment was saturating cities with consumerism, and ephemeral desires were redefining the relationship between humans and their environment.
Working in video and photography (Chen Shaoxiong), installation (Lin Yilin, Liang Juhui) and interactive projects (Xu Tan), the group uses readymade objects found in the new, highly mediated, postmodern urban reality—industrial rejects, construction materials, TV screen-sets, neon lights, scaffoldings, and so forth. Annual joint exhibitions were held in 1991 (Guangzhou Workers Palace), 1992 (Guangdong Broadcast/Television University), 1993 (Red Ants Bar, Guangzhou) and 1996 (basement of Zhongguang Building, Guangzhou). The group participated in the 1st China Art EXPO in Guangzhou (1994) with an extra-mural show entitled No Room, an installation realized for the Hanmo Centre (Beijing) in a run-down villa.
In 1998 the group received international recognition with the ‘Grosz Schwanze Elefant’ show held at the Kunsthalle Bern in Germany. In 2003 they were part of the section ‘Z.O.U.—Zone Of Urgency’ curated by Hou Hanru at the 50th Venice Biennale.
Further reading
(1998). Grosz Schwanze Elefant [Big-Tailed Elephant](exhibition catalogue). Kunsthalle Bern.
Hou, Hanru (1996). ‘Beyond the Cynical: China Avant-Garde in the 1990’s’. ART AsiaPacific 3.1: 42–51.
Lü, Peng (2000). Zhongguo Dangdai Yishushi 1990–1999 [History of Contemporary Art in China, 1990–1999]. Hunan: Hunan Fine Art Publ. House, 283.
Napack, Jonathan (2000). ‘Yang Yong and the Four Elephants—The Emerging Avant-Garde of China’s Pearl River Delta is Raising Eyebrows with Multimedia Journeys Through an Urban Underworld of Sex, Drugs, and Rock ‘n’ Roll’. ARTnews 128 (March).
BEATRICE LEANZA