Thesis (M.F.A.)--West Virginia University, 2000. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains iii, 21 p. : col. ill. Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 9).

Thesis (M.A.)--Guo li Taiwan da xue. / Cover title. Reproduced from typescript. Bibliography: p. 251-252.

Thesis (M.A.)--Guo li Tai wan da xue. / Cover title. Reproduced from typescript. Includes bibliographical references (p. 251-252).

Thesis (M.Arch.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes special report study entitled : Kinesthesis : the sensation of movement. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Ohio University, November, 2007. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references.

My dissertation investigates the concepts and techniques of “copying” and appropriation in contemporary Chinese art, which, despite its phenomenal growth, has seldom been credited as original. Critics either condemn the Chinese artists’ willingness to appropriate from others as a lack of individuality, or declare it as a peculiarly “Chinese” quality. This paper, instead, argues that the Chinese artists deliberately adopt such “copying” as a visual strategy, in order to reexamine the traditions they “borrowed”, to reflect on their own cultural status in the modern world, and to challenge the conventional concept of originality--namely, to show that originality is not created by irreducible individuality or mystified inspiration, but by the author’s choice as well as manipulation of contexts. This strategy, I argue, is essential to the proper evaluation and interpretation of contemporary Chinese artworks. The first two chapters of my dissertation focus on laying out the context from which this art grows. I review how the ideas, styles and institutional structures of western modern art were imitated, questioned and redefined by the Chinese artists, from 1978 to the present; I then examine the conceptual complexity of originality and “copying” in the theories of modernism, postmodernism, postcolonialism and in traditional Chinese art. The next two chapters focus on, respectively, calligraphy and photography in contemporary Chinese art, both of which contain the paradox between originality and “copying” in their very nature. The works of four artists, Xu Bing, Qiu Zhijie, Hong Hao and Zhao Bandi, are discussed in details. Xu's site-specific reproduction of “pseudo characters” manage to engage its targeted audiences, psychologically and physically; Qiu's obsessive yet futile copying of a canon of calligraphy returns the act of writing to its essence--a physical pursuit of one's spiritual state of being; Hong's photographic emulation of an ancient masterpiece suggests that painting may excel photography in its ability to portray a grand cityscape; Zhao’s simulacrum of pop culture paradigms enables him to evade political censorship, and to have an substantial yet ironic impact in a broader public sphere. Each of these works has made a unique contribution to the redefinition of artistic originality. / text

The Jiuquan tombs, on the western frontier of China and dated to the third and early fourth centuries, deploy architecture, paintings, and burial goods to redefine space and express new concepts in mortuary art. Constructed over a period of about fifty years, the consistent rendering of distinct areas across these eleven tombs reflects a consensus in the expectations related to commemorating the dead and the division of souls in the burial process. Aboveground features show that powerful families in Jiuquan disregarded imperial edicts for austere burials. Underground, each tomb features a “screen wall” that rearranges spatial compositions to situate the celestial realm in an iconic position near the bottom of a tall tower. The front chambers are presented as courtyards under an open sky, surrounded by an estate, farms, pastures and wildernesses. Here, tomb occupants are not portrayed in a grand cosmic setting or lauded as Confucian archetypes; instead they are dynamic agents at the center of the action. Pastoral peoples are displayed within a context of harmonious co-existence and cultural exchange. These images combine to reflect an optimistic outlook that ignores the upheavals in the Chinese heartland. By contrast, the rear chambers show a retreat to traditional styles and subject matters, creating a stillness that reinforces the solemnity of laying the corpse to rest. Jiuquan’s geographic location and topography made it both stable and prosperous while precipitating contact with migrants from the Chinese heartland, the northern steppes, and the Western Regions. The vibrancy and originality of the tombs at Jiuquan, as well as what they reveal about changes in beliefs, increase appreciation for the role of peripheral zones in shaping Chinese art and history.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Yale University, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.F.A.)--Rochester Institute of Technology, 1993. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 21-22).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1991.