Jiang

BACKGROUND Spatial Dialogues, an ARC Linkage research project is a trans-disciplinary investigation of the environmental and cultural significance of water in 3 cities in the Asia-Pacific region: Melbourne, Shanghai and Tokyo. Redfern creates video works at the intersection of site, screen and identity. These interests are expressed with a self-conscious approach to the technology and culture of video, making it both subject and medium for his work. CONTRIBUTION In the process of depicting environments, the status, currency, and possibility of beauty in art as well as the idea of the 'natural' as a cultural construct have become foci for his work. Jiang contributes to contemporary video art practices that draw upon ethnographic methodologies to create an impression or study of the interaction between people and their environment. Jiang was shot over the course of 2 years on 3 separate trips to Shanghai. The work takes as its subject matter the transformation of rivers and river culture in contemporary China. From the barge families and loaders who move - by hand - the raw materials of concrete aggregate and steel for China's construction boom to the riverfront at Puxi where that construction and redevelopment is taking place as the burgeoning middle class reconsider the value of rivers in urban spaces. It also furthers Redfern's work on imaging middens and accumulations. SIGNIFICANCE Jiang formed part of the outcomes for the ARC linkage project. Redfern's intention in presenting this work in China was to create a space for dialogue with collaborating partners and the Chinese audience around how we, as large economies in the region, live with and upon water. Additionally the work exhibited for Water and Reflections proved very popular with the public and was selected for exhibition at the museum's Pudong venue in central Shanghai.