Totality: theory, practice, and pedagogy in Qiu Zhijie’s “Total Art”

This thesis explores Chinese artist Qiu Zhijie and his concept of “total art,” theorized and developed since 2003. “Total art” is an artistic practice based on cultural research, which turns to sociocultural events as catalysts for art-making with the intent to reconfigure cultural and thereby providing innovative perspectives for participants. I argue “total art” proposes a transcultural philosophical language that disrupts binary discussions surrounding the discourse of Chinese contemporary art and provides an efficacious example of political Chinese contemporary art praxis after the millennium. This thesis aims to examine the artistic, sociopolitical, and pedagogical values of “total art” and to articulate how Qiu's practices visualizes the past, gesture towards the present, and shapes the future. Qiu's early artwork, recent large projects, and his writings will be evaluated to provide a comprehensive context to analyze his methodology, cultural aspiration, and pedagogical practices.