Battlegrounds. Net Art and Virtual Worlds in the Work of Chinese Artists
Art historian Wu Hunga, one of the first to describe contemporary Chinese art, suggested that in the Chinese context it should rather be called experimental (shiyan yishu) 1 then postmodern, as it diverges chronologically from the development of Western art. In 2005, he wrote that he saw the following stages: 1979-1984, the time of the formation of unofficial art; 1985-1989, known as the ‘New Wave of Art ’85’ and the ‘China/Avant-garde’ exhibition in Beijing as a result of this period; then 1990-1993, when Chinese experimental art entered the world market; and finally, from 1994 to the present, art as a critique of the socio-cultural situation in China 2 . Now, after more than fifteen years, it would be appropriate to add further stages, including certainly the extremely intense development after 2004 of art using new information technologies and social media.
