Art History

In Wen xuan--the first anthology of Chinese literature compiled in the 6th century, rhapsodies (fu) on imperial palaces, gardens, and metropolises written from the Han Dynasty onward are celebrated as a genre of foremost literary values. These rhapsodies, written by high officials and eminent scholars, not only describe meticulously the appearance, vigor, and intricate structure of grandiose palaces and halls, but also convey a full range of technical terms and building methods, by which modern historians are able to trace the development of architecture in early China. Examining the literary texts, one starts to reconstruct how architecture was viewed and evaluated by the Chinese literary mind: first, architecture is an integral part of the material culture born into the great syncretic era of the Han dynasty, when building practices become the manifestation of a confluence of all knowledge and philosophical thought; second, architecture is an indispensable component of the ritual system that promotes and sustains the carefully balanced social order, and is wielded as an important vehicle of the legitimation of emperorship; third, the various forms of art associated with architecture evoke a fully charged, fantastic microcosm in which the ruler cautions his own behaviors and fulfills the communicative duty of connecting Heaven and humans. In summary, the creation of glamorous palaces and halls, as conveyed by the rhapsodies, is in tandem with the increasingly sophisticated and refined cultural milieu of Han China.

A website under development, aiming to serve as an open-access database and research guide for Chinese architecture. Features include 3D models (some downloadable and ready for 3D printing), photogrammetry models, glossary, references, and more. Questions and comments are appreciated.

Miniature architecture proliferated in China during 1000-1200 CE. Buddhist and Daoist icons were sheltered by mini wooden pavilions, holy scriptures were stored in architectural-shaped bookcases and cabinets, whereas the interior of a worship hall--especially the vaulted ceiling--was typically ornamented with groups of tiny buildings to represent the “heavenly palace.” Specifications of miniature-making have been written into the official building standards, Yingzao fashi, promulgated in 1103 by the Northern Song imperial court. However, even though a few of these miniatures have been discussed by scholars on separate occasions, in general, miniature architecture has never received the systematic survey it deserves. Miniaturization as a culturally significant form of artistic creation, too, appears to have slipped most scholars’ attention. In fact, as my dissertation demonstrates, a critical understanding of miniatures helps to positively reshape our premises and conclusions about architecture, art, and material culture. The development of Chinese architecture from the tenth century onward could be described as a history of “progressive miniaturization”: as key structural members and ornamental elements dwindled in size and scale over time, the overall form and structure of wooden architecture also underwent drastic changes.
A major concern of this dissertation is the practical, spiritual, and aesthetic reasons behind the fervor of miniature-making: what qualities made these small objects particularly appealing to people? My study reveals that religion, especially Mahayana Buddhism, played a central role in the proliferation of Chinese miniatures. I argue that the Buddhist worldview of the universe being a recursive, self-multiplying system of “worlds-within-worlds,” a concept that resonates with William Blake’s poetic imagination of “a world in a grain of sand,” has been translated into distinctive motifs of art by means of miniaturization. The decrease in size allowed a much detailed display within a limited space; it signaled the uncanny, the illusory, and the sublime, which helped to convey abstract Buddhist tenets and assist one’s visualization of a transcendental realm beyond the everyday experience. Since visualization was a key step of reaching Buddhahood, miniatures assumed liturgical as well as soteriological functions. For both elites and commoners, they became all-important symbols of spiritual power and “expedient means” of obtaining enlightenment and salvation.
Another important question is: what historical and social factors stimulated the flourishing of miniature architecture? I propose that on the one hand, it was due to the high standardization of Chinese architecture in the eleventh century. This standardization greatly facilitated miniature-making, because carpenters only had to reduce the size of the standard timber material while the same set of rules and formulas for large buildings would still apply. On the other hand, since miniatures were never the main targets of sumptuary laws, they granted carpenters much freedom to execute their ideas and showcase their skills. With the installation of increasingly stricter statutes on building activities, it was often safer and more economic to invest in miniatures than in large structures to achieve similar levels of impressiveness and feelings of importance. The trend of miniaturization was also observed in painting, sculpture, masonry, ceramics, and cabinetry; it became a hallmark of the material culture of twelfth-century China and endured well into later centuries.

The Life magazine " Picture of the Week " from May 22, 1944, still shocks nearly seventy years later. In this photograph by Ralph Crane (1913 –1988), viewers see a woman writing her boyfriend, an American soldier, a thank-you note for a strange and horrific gift: a Japanese soldier's skull. Passed by American censors and redeployed as anti-American propaganda in Japan, this photograph exposes the perils of mixing a foreign war, photography, and the home front mass media. This essay has two primary components. First, it discusses the formal and iconographic qualities of the photograph, which, in tandem with its barbaric backstory, help produce its deeply unsettling effects. Second, incorporating thinkers like Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 –1900) and Maurice Blanchot (1907 –2003), it explores the way that the " Picture of the Week " attempts and subsequently fails to rationalize the depicted brutality. This failure not only serves to emphasize the barbarity on display but also leads to a broader concluding discussion about the nature of photography and its attempts to communicate the unthinkable to a distant home front audience.

Artists covered by entries: Otto Piene, Günther Uecker, Heinz Mack, Hermann Glöckner, Gerhard Richter, Konrad Klapheck, Sigmar Polke, Konrad Lueg, Wolf Vostell, Peter Brüning, Thomas Bayrle, Ulrich Baehr, Evelyn Richter, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Candida Höfer, Imi Knoebel, Blinky Palermo, Hanne Darboven, Raffael Rheinsberg, Marcel Odenbach.