꧁𝕄𝕦𝕔𝕙𝕦𝕒𝕟꧂

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♡*• :: •*♡𝕎𝔼𝕃ℂ𝕆𝕄𝔼 𝕋𝕆 𝕄𝕐 𝔹𝕀𝕆♡*• :: •*♡

Muchuan Chen (b. 2001) is a London-based Chinese research artist currently completing her MA in Sculpture at the Royal College of Art. Chen explores the convergence of landscape painting and ideological influence in the Zomia region. Rooted in the evocative imagery of the Ban Gioc-Detian Falls, these paintings transcend mere decoration to address themes of nationalist pride and territorial sovereignty, while subtly critiquing exploitation and surveillance. Inspired by James C. Scott’s “The Art of Not Being Governed”, Chen sees Zomia as a haven of autonomy that escapes state control. Her practice reflects the changes of recent decades along the Sino-Vietnamese border, where political and commercial encroachments have reshaped the landscape of her childhood.

Chen also treats neon commodities as metaphors of marginalisation to acknowledge the struggles of disenfranchised groups. Emblematic of mass production and low value, these objects have been rendered invisible by the march of urbanisation and minimalism. Neon colours that should attract attention instead remain unseen, a phenomenon that resonates with Zomia’s historical evasion of authority. Her installations are a synthesis of two worlds. By juxtaposing neon commodities with landscape paintings, she traces the anonymity of Zomia’s inhabitants in the context of the global spectacle of modernity. In short, Chen seeks to uncover strategies of liberation and resistance embedded in visual and material culture.

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✟𝕊𝕋ℝ𝔸ℕ𝔾𝔼の𝕋𝔼ℝℝ𝔸𝕀ℕ𝕊✟

The inhabitants of Zomia were once considered runaways, fugitives or maroons due to the constant invasion of their utopian homeland by representatives of supermodernity. Their frequent migrations reflect this history. Shanshui (literally mountain and water or landscape) paintings, with their distinctive style and visual aesthetics, were often treated as commodities in this process. Local people incorporated them into their domestic spaces, along with the infiltration of ideology and the exploitation of natural resources. In the face of political power and production, the hermits who once hid in Shanshui have nowhere to run. This reflection considers the anonymity and exemption from state regulation that individuals maintained in the political void of past zomia. It also explores how contemporary people are inspired to seek strategies of liberation through the landscape. Chen has traced the phenomenon of homogenisation that underlies contemporary landscape painting, namely state infiltration of national sovereignty and ideological indoctrination.

Shanshui has been stripped of its historical elegance and reduced to commonplace imagery in contemporary Chinese internet culture. However, the combination of shanshui with tuwei (literally ‘taste of the soil’, earthiness or vulgarity), nostalgia and low resolution has long been evident on live streaming platforms. It’s an aesthetic often found in tiktok special effects aimed at the middle-aged and elderly. Many shanshui elements have been processed using early retouching technology, and these over-retouched images are highly saturated and surreal, creating a kitsch effect that is recognisable to many in China, and which is both wacky and entertaining. This type of visual effect is often mocked and turned into a meme. Drawing on colour theory, Chen examines this genre of landscape painting – the style of the rural photographic studios of the 1990s, the retouching techniques of the early 2000s, and how they have appropriated elements of shanshui to create outdated images considered to be in poor taste. She presents a new account of how shanshui has been reduced from elegance to vulgarity, starting with counterfeit products and shanzhai (a Chinese neologism meaning knockoff) culture.

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✧*｡ℂ𝕆ℕ𝕋𝔸ℂ𝕋✧*｡

Instagram: @1lanren

mu0.0chuan@gmail.com