Care of the self

Recent political, economic and cultural developments have changed people’s lives in China. Individuals now question themselves and present a challenge for each other. They are called upon as individuals and subjects to consider how they might determine and orient themselves within possible communities. The present calls for a reorientation toward tradition which is, however, running the risk of disappearing. Questions about ethical and moral positions, about values and ideals, are now a matter of great urgency within the context of a consumer culture offering seemingly unlimited possibilities. The contemporary art scene in China addresses this situation in manifold ways and often places the human body as a site for debate and negotiation at the centre of experiments and exhibitions. This article, an exchange of ideas between Eva Lüdi Kong and Jörg Huber, closely examines the current situation in China and its reflection in art. Referring to various concrete examples, Jörg Huber asks how these artworks approach the ‘body as a theme’. His reflections also consider the situation ‘in the West’, where the question of the body and subjectification (biopolitics, self-care, forms of life, psychopower, etc.) is highly topical (Foucault, Agamben, Buter, etc.). Eva Lüdi Kong responds to these reflections by drawing on Chinese philosophy and cultural, situating them in relation to a larger context (the Confucian cultivation of the self) as well as shedding light on important terms and concepts.