ZHANG Jianhua, a post-graduate student of the Fine Art Academy of China, created a furore when he sculptured a series of images of villagers from his hometown.

The series won him high acclaim when exhibited in an art museum in Beijing in July but ran into controversy when taken outside the museum.

Zhang's works were so striking that the museum decided to take the exhibition out into Beijing residential communities.

It was highly unexpected that, the 12 sculptures portraying countryside villagers, including lonely elderly women sitting in the sun, immigrant workers and countryside school teachers, would arouse strong opposition from residents.

Some elderly residents even pushed the sculptures over and damaged them.

Opponents of the sculptures said the works were ugly and wretched, looking like refugees from the past century instead of modern farmers. Some said placing such objects in the community damaged its image and was a bad influence on children.

Shang Fang, curator of the museum, said that such a strong reaction from residents proved the success of the exhibition. By placing the "backward villagers" among modern "urban dwellers" was an interesting art project already. The public had a heated discussion over the works and had become involved in the project.

Dean of the Sculpture Department at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Sui Jianguo said Zhang's works were "never so simple, so true to life - life is desperate in such a world and that is where the power of this sculpture group lies".

Meeting public taste

"There is dislocation between public aesthetics and art works," said art professor Yang Jianping when commenting on the incident.

The artist expresses his emotions through his work, and in this case, the sculptures' meaning was not realized. "Public space is not an art museum, where visitors are emotionally and intelligently prepared for what they are going to see," Yang said.

An important element in public art is communication. To do a public art project, an artist should not indulge himself acting on his own but consider the environment, space, and other local conditions.

To succeed in this communication needs the efforts of both the artist and the public. "It doesn't work trying to popularize everything," Yang said. "Catering to public taste in one aspect is a degradation on the artist's part."

Artists can't change public aesthetics in the short term but they can choose not to do "veggie work" - vulgar productions of little artistic value.

Such abstract sculptures are often seen in middle-sized cities in China. "You don't know exactly what it is about, only it symbolizes the upward power," Yang said.

The artists should not be blamed for such phenomena, because "Party A demanded that this be done."

Just like economic development, this coarse culture is an unavoidable stage in our history. "People were like this during those years," Yang said. "All an artist can do, is to try his best to keep one step or half a step ahead of the public."

May artists blame society for all these problems. "It is good enough for society to try to appreciate art," Yang said. "And generally things are improving. Just look at the new buildings in Pudong. They are far better than the earlier architectural works in Puxi."

Public art is closely related to social life. The work itself can represent its time. The Goddess of Freedom in New York doesn't have much originality as an art work, but it is recognized as a symbol of the spirit. Whether the work is good as art no longer matters.

Yang himself is involved in a large-scale public sculpture project - "Oriental Green Boat", a youth education centre in suburban Shanghai.

This project was decided by the municipal government and carried out by the city's education commission, a branch of the government. Yang was assigned as the project's art director.

Art out of life

"It is to be an education centre and there will be a 500-metre long 'sculpture avenue' advocating knowledge and human civilization," Yang said. It was decided that portraits of historical figures who have made important contributions to culture and art should be sculptured.

After discussion between the government and history experts in local universities, a list of names was drawn up who were to be the subjects for the sculptures.

It was Yang's job to invite the best artists nationwide to take part, "to fit in with this art expression", to work on the sculptures. Artists who accepted Yang's offer visited the venue, talked with government officials and exchanged creative ideas before each was assigned specific jobs.

"Government involvement can be a positive influence," Yang said. Government support has pushed high-speed development in art in foreign countries. As to government interference, Yang quoted Chairman Mao: Public art should "serve the people".