DSL Collection

As an interactive media lecturer at Qinghua University in Beijing and with many years experience in that field, Jin Jiangbo (born 1972) is the Chinese artists' whiz kid. Many of his works of art are based on sophisticated animation technology, in which he combines his experiences in academia with those of his multimedia enterprise. The work Chinese Tyrannosaurus (2005) is a relatively. I low-tech project for Jin Jiangbo. It is a huge sculpture of a roaring animal with a viciously thrashing tail, made of sharp metal pieces and coupled to a 'simple' operating system. The animal represents China's volatile economic boom. 'Dragon' and 'dinosaur' are the same word in Chinese, denoting both the creature in Chinese mythology as well as the bones of the dinosaurs found in the Gobi desert. People used to think that they were the remains of real dragons. 'I am very concerned at the moment with China's economic spurt. I have also produced several photographic Works on the subject portraying the enormous role China plays in the world as a producer of aU manner of commodities. The enormous number of articles and the people who sell them _ whose entire life is played out in sp?cial market halls - was what I wanted to show,' the artist explains. .. Jin Jiangbo considers it his duty as an artist to portray the present period in all its complexity. 'I fe?l that it is important to incorporate sociocultural subjects in my art. I ?orked for a while for a Japanese firm and lived in Tokyo where I was totally amazed by the tast-moving tempo of life. Now I think it is fascinating to see how people in China are reacting to the new developments. It is a time of transition, so overpowering. I get the feeling that people haven't had time to adjust to the new situation in a spiritua.1 sense. However, I am optimistic, and I believe that after this period of materialism an age of spirituality will blossom.