Local artist Priscilla Briggs showcases work in St. Paul

By Anthony James, Staff Writer

Narrow hallways of the were packed on a sweltering Friday evening in the IFP headquarters, a local non-profit that supports local artists. On one of the painted white walls hung a photo of a brassiere billboard within one of China’s largest factory district. While the juxtaposition and tone of the ad signify modernity and life, the streets below it were stained with shoddy shantytowns along a trash-ridden highway.

Local artist Priscilla Briggs showcases work in St. Paul

By Anthony James, Staff Writer

Narrow hallways of the were packed on a sweltering Friday evening in the IFP headquarters, a local non-profit that supports local artists. On one of the painted white walls hung a photo of a brassiere billboard within one of China’s largest factory district. While the juxtaposition and tone of the ad signify modernity and life, the streets below it were stained with shoddy shantytowns along a trash-ridden highway.

For the photo’s creator, local Minnesota artist Priscilla Briggs, the work is significant in reflecting the unique balance that plagues China’s rampant industrialization. “China in Transition”, which is a exhibit of both recent Briggs’ photographs and the photographs of Dan Dennehy, purposely drives to show a delicate equilibrium of the old and emerging cultures. As one of the fastest growing economies, the ever-changing sociological landscape can be seen as a direct result of the economic blurring of communism and capitalism in modern day China.

Briggs, who also holds an associate professor position with Gustavus Adolfus College in St. Peter, was able to travel to many areas of China including Guangzhou, Shantou, and Hong Kong to observe and draw compelling questions within the dynamic business structures.  Priscilla noted these characteristics, “My observation is that Chinese culture and business is only consistent in its inconsistency.  The rules change depending on where you are, who you are, and who you are dealing with.”

That could be said most any of country with as much diverse ethnicities and cultures as China does, but what makes her case compelling is the rise of commercialism that overshadows the rich traditions that were prevalent within the many communities. One of Briggs’ photos stood out for many of the viewers, a dirty waterway plugged by piling amounts of garbage. Priscilla agreed that with unfettered dealings there are opportunities for fast growth, but not without its side effects: “A lack of manufacturing regulations has created areas, such as the one in Shantou that I photographed, of extreme pollution and living conditions.”

This is not new territory for Priscilla, as her work mainly deals with building self-consciousness of how economic systems shape the everyday life.  In a previous work entitled “Global Market”, Priscilla took photographs from the Mall of America, Thailand, and Cuba in hopes of resonating the connection between “cultural identity, the nature of merchandise for sale, and advertising images.” How China fits into that picture is quite an easy task. Many researchers of economic systems would agree that if there were one place in the world that stood as the epitome of consumption and growing consumerism in the current geographic economic structure, the PRC would most certainly make the list.  This change might be frightening to some that realize that since the major remodeling of China’s economic infrastructure the world’s oldest anthropological artifact could be inadvertently lost forever.

For Briggs, as with many others who have traveled to China, the extremes are not only in an economic context, but also in a social one: “I personally experienced extremes in hospitality.  Many people went far out of their way to assist me when I needed help, but I was also robbed in the middle of a busy street and no one lifted a finger to help me.”

Two sides were often found within generational gaps: “there is definitely a huge gap between the morals and values of younger and older generations as well as expectations and ideas of what is possible.  I think Chinese culture will be very affected by the one-child policy in that it will soon be a country full of only children (who have a tendency to think they are the most important person in the room) and men.  The ramifications of these conditions have yet to be seen.”

"My observation is that Chinese culture and business is only consistent in its inconsistency."

-Priscilla Briggs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“China in Transition” is currently exhibited in the IFP Minnesota Center until Sept. 24, 2010 at 2446 University Ave. West, Suite 100, St. Paul, MN.  (IFP will be closed on Labor Day, Sept. 6).  Visit www.ifpmsp.org for more information about IFP Minnesota.

Priscilla Briggs’s Web site can be viewed at www.priscillabriggs.com.

 

For the economic growth in China, there are two sides to that coin. Priscilla hopes viewers walk away for her work reminded that “urban China is very modern and industrialized China is very polluted…the country is very complex and also that Capitalism and Western materialism have become integrated into Chinese culture and made their own.” For China, the future holds no implications of the consequences of such cultural affliction and financial opportunity.