The+Big+Family+No.+2+--+Zhang+Xiaogang

=Bloodline: The Big Family No. 2 -- Zhang Xiaogang=



Identification
Title: //Bloodline: The Big Family No. 2// Artist: Zang Xiaogang Country of origin: China Date/Period: Painted in 1995 Medium: Oil on canvas Size: 180 x 230 cm. (71 x 90 1/2 in.) Current location: Private collection

Descriptive Analysis
The family portrait captures a young couple with their son in a studio style photograph. The parents are dressed in the outfits which style is typical of the Cultural Revolution in China. The Zhongshan Suit was created by Zhongshen Sun in the 1920s and became the suit of the proletarian system around 1949. The Chinese tunic became the nations suit because it was introduced at about the time of the founding of Republic of China, and later it would become a distincly political and govermental attire. The little boy wears gray pants and a white shirt with a black knitted vest. The child's male genitals are visible through the opening on the front of his trousers. He is seated in a high chair that comes up to approximately the level of his parents' shoulders.

All members of the //Bloodline:// //The// //Big Family No. 2// appear very rigidly poised for the camera lens. The adults wear similar emotionless facial expressions and seem to have little distinction in their physical features. They have similarly shaped eyebrows, noses, and jaw lines. Their young skin appears smooth and unblemished except for a few birth marks on the woman's face. Both parents' haircuts are short and done in a style which makes both genders look alike. Their son's hair appears as a dark tuft on the top of his head. The father is depicted wearing a pair of rimmed glasses. Both father and son appear to be cross-eyed. Eyes with big black pupils of all family members stare at the viewer without discernible expression.

The mother's skin color closely resembles natural skin tone while father's skin looks gray, and baby's skin looks yellow. As one examines the faces of these family members closer, one can notice curious irregular patches of lighter color marking their different facial features. The mother has a patch on the right side of her face that covers a part of her eyelid, eye, cheek, and temple. The father's patch is also on the right side of his face. It covers a part of his cheek, the lens, and rim of his glasses and extends to the side of his face. Their son has a light patch of skin which is also located on the right side of his face. It covers the boy's temple, his forehead, his eyelid, and eyebrow and extends to the side of his head. The brightly colored fine threads unite all family members by intertwining them together. This oil on canvas painting is executed this way as to give an impression of a work of photography; the artist left no visible traces of his brush for the viewers.

Formative and Contextual Analysis
Famous Chinese avant-garde artist Zhang Xiaogang is known for his expressive contemporary paintings of family portraits reminiscent of photographs from the Mao Zedong’s era. Through the late 80's and early 90's, he created a series of oil on canvas paintings, which he called //Bloodline,// that brought him universal fame and acclaim//.// His work was greatly influenced by the experiences he had while growing up in collectivistic China during the Cultural Revolution. Zhang Xiaogang was born in Kunming, Yunnan province in 1958. He graduated from the Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts in 1982. He developed his artistic style slowly with influences by Jean Francois Millet, Gauguin, and van Gogh in his early works (Smith, 2006, p.273) and later through his fascination with [|Gerard Richter](Smith, 2006, p.285) and [|Rene Magritte](Boyi et. al., 2007, p.611). At present, Zhang Xiaogang lives and works in Beijing, China.

//The Big Family No. 2// is a typical representation from the series //Bloodline// of Zhang Xiaogang's paintings of various family portraits. He uses “the artistic language of the Cultural Revolution period in order to comment on the world around him” (Clark, 1996, p. 251). His choice of the color palette creates a distinctive photograph-like effect to his oil paintings. He employs the popular images of the formal style of family portraits of the 1960's and 70's. "However, his work is not intended to show links to the Cultural Revolution, but to reflect the psychology of people who had lived through such turbulent time" (Macartney, 2008).

Cool criticism of Mao's idea that “everyone is equal” in the idealistic society, which he imagined China would become, is reflected in the androgynous images of these young parents. Zhang Xiaogang explains his decision to bring out their similarities, "I want everyone to be the same. During one period in China, all families were considered virtually the same family" (Barboza, 2005). Zhang Xiaogang draws upon his vision of the socialistic society in which the individuals' values become so entwined with the those of the larger society as to take physical manifestations. However, their faces are utterly d evoid of any emotional expression; they resemble masks and remind us of the possibility of some hidden or suppressed emotions. Their frigidity provides a poignant comment on the differences that exist between the needs of the individuals from the needs of the socialistic society in China.

//Bloodline: The Big Family No. 2// could be interpreted as a critique of modern Chinese society especially its [|one-child policy]or the "policy of birth planning." The Chinese government implemented this policy which decrees that married urban couples should have just one child. This policy was established in efforts to control China's population growth and help its economic, social, and environmental problems. The title of Zhang Xiaogang's painting brings to our attention the fact that this young couple with their only child would be considered a big family.

The bright red lines that run between these family members remind us of certain ties between people. Zhang borrows from an ancient Chinese legend about the [|red string of fate], which tells a story of the invisible thread that connects people who are destined to be together. Moreover, the red lines could be interpreted as the bloodlines that run from these parents to their only child, to whom they would give the best of everything in their lives.

After Deng Xiaoping reestablished China's [|Open Door policy] with the West, Chinese artists gained greater freedoms. They began exhibiting their works in various galleries around the world and gaining extraordinary popularity with wide audiences. Zhang Xiaogang is one among many Chinese contemporary artists who became well known in recent decades. In 2008, Zhang Xiaogang's painting //Bloodline: The Big Family No. 2// was sold at the Christie's Hong Kong auctions for $3,424,444. "Uniquely, at home and abroad, and almost instantaneously, Zhang Xiaogang's nostalgic, heart-rending portrayals made his family members the most recognized face of contemporary Chinese art to date" (Smith, 2006, p. 266).



References
__Printed Sources__: Boyi, Feng; Ciric, Biljana; Grosenick, Uta; Hopfener, Birgit; Hung, Wu; Jansen, Gregor; Lu, Carol; Lu, Vistoria; Pollack, Barbara; Smith, Karen; Spalding, David; Tinari, Philip, Zhijie, Qiu. //China Art Book//. Koln: DuMont Buchte, 2007. Review of the 80 outstanding contemporary Chinese artists with illustrations of their works.

Bryson, Norman; Clarke, David; Hanru, Hou; Hung, Wu; Lu, Victoria; Minglu, Gao; Tsong-Zung, Chang. //Inside Out: New Chinese Art//. Berkley: University of California Press, 1998.

Clark, David. //Art & Place: Essays on Art from a Hong Kong Perspective//. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 1996. An overview of the contemporary art and artists from Hong Kong and China.

Smith, Karen. //Nine Lives: The Birth Of Avant-Garde Art in New China//. Beijin: Scalo, 2006. This book explores lives and artistic talents of nine Chinese avant-garde artists.

__On-line Sources__: Rao, Anjali. Interview with Zhang Xiaogang. CNN.com. Oct. 24, 2007. <[|http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/07/19/talkasia.zhang.script/#cnnSTCText]> Zhang Xiaogang answers questions and talks about his artworks (including //Bloodline// series) and what inspired him in the process of their creation.

Barboza, David. “A Chinese Painter's New Struggle: To Meet Demand.” //The New York Times//. Aug.31, 2005. <[|http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/31/arts/design/31zhan.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=A%20Chinese%20painter's%20struggle%20to%20meet%20demand&st=cse]>

Macartney, Jane. “Meet Zhang Xiaogang, China's hottest artist” //The Times Online//. Jan 26, 2008. <[]>

ArtE343/543 2010 (NIU ASSURE Model Instructional Plan) Title: Web 2.0 Tool Presentation and Instruction (Delicious) Name: Sara Rigdon and Beth Stepnoski

__Internet access__ __Instructor’s account on del.icio.us__ __Instructors PPT presentation__ || Students will utilize their own computers to set up a del.icio.us account of their own (if they have a yahoo account and choose to) (make sure that students create the del.icio.us account) and practice bookmarking. Or they can just offer the names of different sites that may be appropriate for sharing with the class and the instructors.Perhaps have students come to class already with the bookmarks saved to their del.icio.us account. ||
 * **__A__****nalyze Learners** ||
 * Our learners are 15 college level students. A mix of undergraduate and graduate students. The students have a range of experience and comfort levels using technology and computers, but all of them have a good basic knowledge of using the internet. ||
 * **__S__****tate Objectives** ||
 * Students will listen to a presentation about social bookmarking including a demonstration and then actively participate in and practice using the social bookmarking tool called del.icio.us. ||
 * **__S__****elect Media, Materials, and Methods** ||
 * __Laptops__
 * **__U__****tilize Media, Materials, and Methods** ||
 * Instructors will present a short PPT describing what social bookmarking is and the educational implementations for such a tool. Instructors will give a demonstration of how to use a social bookmarking tool using their del.icio.us accounts. Instructors will introduce the artist Zhang Xialgang using the saved bookmarks based on his work.
 * **__R__****equire Learner Participation (activities, tasks, steps…)** ||
 * Students will participate in a class activity where the instructors will use a del.icio.us account they have already set up to demonstrate how to bookmark important or popular websites that the students and teachers may be able to use or learn from in the future. Students will be able to save a bookmark to send to the instructor based on their own interests (practice doing this beofere lesson it was confusing with the instructions you gave) I was hoping that students could use my del.icio.us account to leave bookmarks or that enough students had yahoo accounted to log in. This was not the case, but I would have them set up an account anyway for the next time. ||
 * **__E__****valuate & Revise (evaluation, critical reflection, and revision plan)** ||
 * **Beth’s reflection**- The lesson went well. I thought that the PPT presentation was a good introduction to the bookmarking tool; it familiarized the studetns with exactly what the tool was for and how it can be utilized by an art teacher. The lesson would have gone a little smoother if all of the students already had a Yahoo account set up and they could have easily made a del.icio.us account to practice using it, but the students just made teams with the students who had a laptop with internet access and a Yahoo account so they could get some experience using it. Overall, I think all of the students understood the tool and would benefit from its use in and out of the classroom.

**Sara’s reflection** - The students seemed to be intrigued with the social bookmarking tool. Just as we had expected, many of them did not have Yahoo! email accounts and we were reluctant to make them sign up for another account. I thought they could log in under my account but it only allows one user at a time. I wish I had a way to test this ahead of time, but I think the students were able to get the idea and test out the site by looking on with a partner. I wish we would have had time to look at a few different social bookmarking sites so they could compare and contrast. This way, if they didn’t have Yahoo, they would have another option to save their bookmarks. ||
 * Beth and Sara's finalized lesson plan changes** - Because there were only comments from the two of us on how our lesson was recieved, the only changes we could make would be based on our own perspective. The tool was definitely a useful one to discuss, and because of the complications with the studetns all needing a Yahoo! account to use this particular site, simply adding some introduction and discussion about different social bookmarking sites would be a good solution to the problem. - Beth Stepnoski and Sara Rigdon

-Your presentation during the class period was great, and you did a great job with the lesson and having us work with the website. However, when reviewing the written plan I was a little unsure and unclear about the written format of the lesson. I feel that the only improvement you can make would be to clarify what you're trying to say in the lesson plan itself. Especially in the Learner Participation portion of the lesson plan.

Elizabeth Lee reflection - I think this lesson was highly productive and a useful Web 2.0 tool, but I think there are a few flaws with the actual del.icio.us site. The problem with this lesson plan is that the del.icio.us site requires a yahoo account. So my suggestion for the future is to make sure that previous to the day of the lesson everyone has set up a yahoo email account, so they are able to participate. I think the actual lesson plan was well thought out though, and it intrigued me to explore the site further.