Aesthetics and politics: A cross cultural analysis of social practice art in Western and East Asian societies

In the late 20th and early 21st century, an interdisciplinary art idea---social practice art---came into sight in Europe and the Americas that has an objective to get "non-experts" involved in socio-political engagement through art with the intended outcome of social improvement. It is not restricted to one area or one art form. It coordinates its relation to environment, kinship, labor, public infrastructure and social welfare. It conducts cross-art, cross-media, cross-cultural, cross-demographics and even cross-geographical boundaries art-making projects with the participation of the general public. Although social practice art is very young, it has already revealed its aspirations and ambitions as well.;By contrast, the market of social practice art is extremely quiet and indifferent in Asian countries. One of the reasons, I believe, is that the Asian artists tend to cater to the cultural value and aesthetic orientation of mass consumption taste. The artists to a large extent do not have artistic autonomy. They are governed by many external rules and Eastern aesthetic standards. In addition, in some Asian countries with severe censorship, such as China and Singapore, an emphasis on artistic autonomy that invites so much collaboration to make art for the purpose of political change means risking state regulation and censorship. Furthermore, in Asian people's mind and especially the older generations, some activist activities that are involved in the social practice art projects have anti-statist or anti-government implications, which are considered to be evil and morally unacceptable. Therefore, the environment for developing social practice art in Asian countries is harsh because of the weak community foundation, lack of public support, and the strict state censorship.;For my thesis, I analyze twelve representative social practice cases across the world to begin with, and generate some strategies that the social practice artists can use to make effective social practice art projects, which are valuable to the world or just to a small community, and enable the public to better understand and engage with the social practice art. This thesis also applies the strategies to the Asian countries. Hopefully the guidelines that this study provided will help the artists maintain good balance in the areas of aesthetic value and political message, and artists and audience's authority wherever they conduct a social practice art project.