Tracing the body aesthetics in contemporary Chinese art: Hong Kong sculptor Ho Siu Kee as a case study

This article attempts to define body aesthetics in contemporary Chinese art. By tracing the body aesthetics in Hong Kong Sculptor Ho Siu Kee’s artistic development in the past two decades, it will argue that Ho’s artworks exploring the body and extension of the body as themes and mediums entail a certain kind of body aesthetics that is unprecedented in the history of contemporary Chinese art. It will also examine how Ho’s adoption of contraption parallels his western counterparts. Most importantly it will examine the ways he has developed his sculptural forms emphasizing modification of the body, bodily movement, contraptions, the art of measurement with regard to the body, materialization of bodily measurement and fine craftsmanship that transcend his western counterparts. His art as a whole can be interpreted in a fluid manner that goes beyond the boundaries of performance art, installation art, conceptual art, photography, video art and sculpture.