River+River+--+Chen+Qiulin

//**River, River**// **by Chen Qiulin**



Title: River, River Artist: Chen Qiulin Date: 2005 Country of Origin: China Medium: Film/ Video Dimensions: 16 minutes and 37 seconds. Video #3 of 4.
 * Identification**

**Introduction** In //River, River//, Chen Qiulin takes a personal look at the rapidly changing demolition and construction projects brought about by the Yangtze River expansion. Chen follows two teenage narrators and several opera characters as they travel through the remains of her hometown. Though her film focuses on her own rapidly dissolving hometown, the story is a familiar one for many of the people of the Yangtze River valley who have been forced to witness their memories being washed away with the construction of the Three Gorges Dam.





This sixteen minute and thirty-seven second video was filmed in a small town off of the Yangtze River in the province of Sichuan. Chen Qiulin’s hometown is depicted in this video along with Beijing traditional dressed opera characters and two narrators (Chinese Contemporary).
 * Descriptive Analysis**

While the two narrators speak, the opera characters dance around a city that has been destroyed by the Three Gorges Dam Project. The narrators are casually dressed in comparison to the opera character. The male is wearing a white shirt and black slacks, and the female in a black dress with a lime green scarf. They follow the opera characters, one of which is dressed in a pink and white long dress, which has long sleeves. A long blue scarf is shown with one of the opera characters, she hold this in either hand and uses it as an extension to dance with. Her hair looks to be placed up high in a decorative design, but commonly the hairpieces are nothing more than just accessories. The other is dressed in a long yellow draped outfit.

The dancers/ narrators walk throughout the town and into the water where the town was sunken. The video depicts the group traveling and dancing from the riverside, to a boat in the middle of the water, to the ruins of houses out the outskirts of the river and to a dining room setting. In the latter scene, the opera characters are clumped at one table, while the young narrators sit at a different table away from them. Later in the video, it shows the people standing in front of large metal shipping crates. The sky darkens to night and a video is projected onto the crates behind the people.

Overall, the film is focused on the people and the environment around them. The scenes are directed at personal connections and travels through the surroundings.



**Formal and Contextual Analysis**
To better understand this work, the historical context behind what caused the town to be destroyed must be examined. The Three Gorges Dam was constructed to create hydro-power, and flood control further down stream. It was constructed between 1994 and 2008, but planned long before it was started. The Chinese government regards the dam as a engineering, environmental and economic success. While the displacement is tremendous, the dam will be saving on greenhouse gases and is a clean method for acquiring electricity. However, it permanently submerged roughly 1,200 cities and villages and displaced more than a million people (Heggelund, 16). The dam has created controversy in both China and abroad. It has destroyed lives and wreaked havoc on those who had lived the surrounding area.



When the Yangtze river flooded as a result of the Three Gorges Dam there were economic, social, and political side effects felt for hundreds of miles up the river (Heggelung, 26). For example, looking at a more personal concept of economic problems, when people have to relocate, many who farm also lose fertile land. The sheer destruction of these villages, even though tragic, holds so much potential for Chen Qiulin's themes of her films and other pieces of artworks. Her themes are fueled by the devastating loss to her own hometown that was destroyed by the dam's construction.

Chen created both films and photos to express the damage done by the Three Gorges project. The artist captures the emotions of loss in these artworks with images of deserted landscapes and flattened cities.

In //River, River//, the audience follows the characters as they walk the ghost-like towns. The fate of this city has been directly influenced by the construction of the dam. While China is attempting to rebuild them with modern tower blocks, the culture and life of the cities has been submerged.

In the short film, the ruins rise up in the background while the dances move through the now empty buildings. The dancers are majestic and beautiful in a way that the city is not. Their movement and decorative costumes helps them stand out among a background of chaos.

Chen juxtaposes the beauty of the dancers to the fallen city while reminding the viewer of the strong relationship between the past and the future. The traditional opera characters dance in a village that was destroyed by the effects of modern industry. These dancers are personifications of the past and a lost tradition.

While the dancers represent the past, the narrators are presented in contemporary garb and personify the present. In many of the scenes, the narrators are facing towards the opera characters. The modern vs. traditional are at odds with each other on opposite sides of the film. While they are in the same place, they are also separate. Chen Qiulin places these two (present, and past) characters in a situation of destruction and reconstruction.

**Personal Interpretation**
Since the video has been hard to find on the internet, I have only been able to see clips and photographs by Chen Qiulin. The effect of the photographs is immediate. The cold and frozen landscape as a dramatic contrast to the bright colored costumes of the actors is fantastic and chilling. This piece brings light to a highly controversial situation in China with the Three Gorges Dam. In a country handicapped by pollution, the dam is theoretically a huge step forward towards clean energy. However, as Chen points out, the effects on local communities is devastating. Chen made a film that is speaking for the 1.3 million people displaced by the project, and looks at the destruction that it has caused. The once loud and bustling cities along the river are now silent voices in the depths of the Yangtze waters.


 * Resources**
 * //Books/ brochures// **


 * //Chen, Quilin: Recent Works.// New York: University at Albany State University of New York. Print. [|_<_http://www.albany.edu/museum/wwwmuseum/publications/chen_brochure.pdf__]> **
 * This is a brochure about one of Chen Qiulin's exhibitions. It gives a bio about her life and how it relates to the Dam project in China. It also lists the pieces of work that will be shown. **

Heggelund, Gørild. //Environment and resettlement politics in China: the Three Gorges Project‬.// Ashgate Publishing, England. 2004. This book elaborates about the Three Gorges Dam Project. It goes into depth about what it exactly is and what it is meant to do. Information is provided about the problems it has caused and the effects on political, environmental, and agricultural aspects.

Displacement: The Three Gorges Dam and Contemporary Chinese Art. Chicago: Smart Museum of Art University of Chicago, 2009.< [|http://smartmuseum.uchicago.edu/education/downloads/displacement_handout.pdf]>

=
This is a written paper about a exhibition for the Smart Museum of Art University of Chicago. The exhibition involves art works and artists that directly involve the Three Gorges Dam project in China. The artists Chen Qiulin, Yun-Fei Ji, Liu Xiaodong, and Zhuang Hui are included in this exhibition and lets those know about the project and its impact on people.======

Vine, Richard. //New China New Art//. Munich - Berlin - London- New York: Prestel, 2008.

//Online Sources//

 More information about the details of the film, and a screen cap from the piece is shown.

[| An emphasis is placed on Chen Qiulin's life, also one of the films; //Hometown,// is explained along with //River, River//.

 Interview with Chen Qiulin about her artwork for Initart Magazine.

[| Text by Chen Qiulin about her hometown, and the inspiration for her work.

 Photograph used, along with a years that films were created.

[| Information about the Three Gorges Dam along with information about Chen Qiulin's Exhibition.

[| Paper about The video work of Gao Shiqiang and Chen Quilin organized by Sara Bancroft who is the curator of the Orange County Museum of Art. It goes into details about certain pieces and the biographies of the artists being shown.

 This is the movie "the Rising Tide" it involves several artists including Chen Qiulin. Parts of her films are used in this documentary. Also a small bio is shown on the webpage.

 //River, River// is described with more detail. Also the dam project is mentioned and basic information is given about the piece.


 * Lesson Title**: How Industry Changes the World around Us
 * Grade Level:** Middle School (7th-8th grade)
 * Time:** About 12 class periods

This lesson meets the following [|National Standards for Arts Education (Visual Arts)] : NA-VA.9-12.1: Understanding and applying media, techniques, and processes (1, 2, 3). NA-VA.9-12.2 Using knowledge of structures and functions (1, 2, 3, 4, 5).NA-VA.9-12.3: Choosing and evaluating a range of subject matter, symbols, and ideas (1, 2, 3, 4). NA-VA.9-12.4: Understanding the visual arts in relation to history and cultures (1, 3). NA-VA.9-12.5: Reflecting upon and assessing the characteristics and merits of their work and the work of others (2, 3, 4). NA-VA.9-12.6: Making connections between visual arts and other disciplines (2, 3).
 * Standards and Benchmarks:**

This lesson meets the following [|National Education Technology Standards for Students]: 1. Creativity and Innovation (a, b) 3. Research and Information Fluency (b, d) 4. Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making (c) 5. Digital Citizenship (a, b, c, d) 6. Technology Operations and Concepts (a, c)


 * Central Concepts:**
 * **Environmental** **Issues**: Negative impact of human activity on the biophysical environment. Under the current climate, humans are on a constant race towards finding ways to feed our growing energy needs. In industrialized cultures, we continually seek to find “cleaner” and more “efficient” methods of energy. In this video, the environmental issue comes in the form of an energy saving industrial dam. The dam is ecologically cleaner, but is creating a hazard to environments up stream.
 * **Community**: A group of interacting people, living in some proximity. Community usually refers to a social group larger than a household and commonly shares values and has some social cohesion. In “River, River” by Chen Qiulin, the artist is exploring how a hydroelectric dam near her hometown has demolished many cities along the Yangtze River and altered millions of lives. The dam destroys community and Qiulin is using this short movie to express the anguish of the loss.
 * **Propaganda**: A means of communication where the goal is to influence a community/group of people. Repeating and dispersing a message over a wide variety of media usually aim propaganda at influencing a specific cause or idea. The short film is aimed at the dam as a destructive force and works as propaganda. The video appears to be focus on the Chinese community.
 * **Mass Media**: A section of the press used to address a large group and/or community of people. By using means of mass communication such as television, the Internet, radio, news or movies, messages are transmitted to huge groups of people. Under the current climate, humans are on a constant race towards finding ways to feed our growing energy needs. A film is a vessel for mass media, and the dispersion methods can influence the number of people it affects.

This Lesson will reflect on the work “River, River” and will also have students begin to explore other current environmental issues. The arts can be a powerful force to help students reconcile the scientific and emotional sides of environmental issues such as rapid climate change, pollution, conservation and sustainability. By combining sound environmental practice and policy with the creation of artworks, students can explore these subjects, begin to formulate their own viewpoints, and discover how they can become a force of good for the environment.

Making a block print poster designed to reflect on a certain industrialized crisis will help students realize the importance of art as a political voice. This Lesson is designed to help students recognize the link between art, political issues and the current issues in environmental world. Using more than Chen Qiulin, the teacher should give examples of other environmental artists and also examples of block prints propaganda posters.


 * Lesson Activities**
 * Activity One: Introducing the Performance Art Piece “River, River”**
 * 1 day**
 * To start this lesson, the teacher should show the video, “River, River,” and introduce the main concepts.
 * Have a PowerPoint setup to discuss the context of the video. The video may not be available online but you can use another video with similar content to provide context:
 * []
 * If you do not have access to the video, use photographic stills from the video that can be found online to aid the discussion.
 * First, ask students to describe what they see in the video or videos stills and speculate the artist intension.
 * What do you see?
 * What are the effects the dam would have had on the community and the environment? What are the pros and cons?
 * What is Chen Qiulin trying to convey with “River, River”?
 * Second, discuss other industrial creations that both aid and harm human development.
 * What are some examples of …?
 * Lastly, “River, River” is a performance art, so the discussion should also include questions about performance art:
 * What makes performance art a type of art?
 * How is “River, River” art?
 * Next, the teacher introduces the research aspect of the lesson’s artmaking project. Students will be asked to research other results of industrialization such as deforestation, commercial fishing, tourism, wind farms, fracking, the keystone pipeline, nuclear plants, etc.


 * Activity Two: Research**
 * 2 days**
 * From the discussion, students should have a better idea about what environmental issue they would like to focus on. Some topic ideas include:
 * Hydro Electricity
 * Fracking
 * Solar Energy
 * Nuclear Energy
 * Deforestation
 * Commercial Fishing
 * Tourism
 * Keystone Pipeline
 * Pollution
 * Genetic Engineering
 * Water
 * Waste
 * Consumerism
 * Mining
 * The students will spend two days researching a topic of their choice. The teacher will demonstrate online resources and researching skills. The student will research the topic of their choosing and write a one-page summary. At the end of the project, this summary will be posted online next to their block-printed poster.

>>>
 * Activity Three: Word Poster**
 * 3 days**
 * Once students have chosen a topic to focus on, they will be designing the composition for a poster on Word Processor, which they will then transfer to a linoleum block to carve and print. Their image can either deal with the positive or negative aspects of their topic.
 * The purpose of using Word is to allow students the opportunity to practice using an accessible program like Word to design the skeleton for their poster. The teacher should give demonstrations on how to use Word (or Publisher) for creating the basic guidelines for their poster project.
 * The poster on Word should be no larger than 8x10, landscape or portrait.
 * Ex: This is an example of using Word (Publishing Layout) to design a poster. The student will have to make changes to the image once it is on their block, but this is how they could design it on their processor:
 * Note: This is NOT the actual poster. This is a design which will be transferred onto a linoleum block to be carved.

Ex. If a student focuses on Nuclear Power, the top of the poster would have the words “Nuclear Power” and the image could be anything to do with the pros and cons of nuclear power. It could be an image of two cooling towers and a radiation sign or a cooling tower spewing skulls.


 * Activity Four: Linoleum Block**
 * 4 days**
 * After the students have created a mock poster on Word, they are going to print out the design and transfer the bones of the image onto an 8x10" linoleum block. Before demonstrating the transferring steps and carving techniques, show examples of printmaking propaganda posters.
 * This will help students understand what they are trying to accomplish. The purpose of creating the poster is getting students to actively design a poster that will inform the viewer of an industrially caused issue and help build awareness using a form of propaganda and the mass media.



[] []
 * Once they have the words, and design (words should be backwards on the block) they can use a permanent marker to perfect the design- possibly adding new elements or features.
 * If this is the first time introducing linoleum block printing, go over safety using the carving tools and how to use them most effectively. Each student should have one carving tool with 4-5 different gouges.
 * Here are two websites with examples on how to carve a linoleum block and how to print it by hand rubbing:
 * The linoleum block is going to be carved out over the course of the next four classes. It is optional for the teacher to have in “in-progress” critique for their class.
 * Leave at least one day for printing (hand rubbing the block to transfer ink is perfectly suitable to this class).
 * The students should make a least four in the edition, as is custom in the block printing style.

The purpose of using a blog website is to enforce the idea of using propaganda and mass media. By putting their poster on the Internet, it will become a stronger force of publicity
 * Activity Five: Blog**
 * After (or while) the students complete the print, they will be required to post their research summary on a class blog on Google’s Blogger ( [|www.][|**blogger**][|.com])
 * This will then be accompanied by the final image of their environmental issue poster print.


 * Assessment**

[[file:RubricFile.pdf]]
Portraying China: Urbanization in Progress: [|http://www.csun.edu/~mwang/exhibition/essays.html] Linoleum Block Process: [] List of environmental issues to consider: [] Nuclear Power image: []
 * References**