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University of Arkansas

Ant Tribe

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

<p>"Ant Tribe" describes the post-80s generation university graduates who live together in poor conditions without Social security in communities around China's major metropolises. They dream of a better life in big cities but struggle with low-paying jobs. These struggling "elites" have become the fourth weak Social group, after peasants, migrant workers and unemployed people. The reason why these college graduates are compared to ants is that they are like ants: clever, hardworking, politically weak and living in groups.</p> <p>The real world is always different from the ideal world of the "Ant Tribe" in China. They often lose their purposes in a complex society. It is more important for them to recognize the distance between the real and imaginary in order to rethink whether it is a right choice to stay in a big city and try to realize their dreams. The intention of the "Ant Tribe" installation is to explore the process and concept of changing between the real and fantasy. In the installation, I hope to portray the "Ant Tribe" phenomenon widely and deeply from an artist's perspective. The most important thing for me is using my artistic practice to investigate the power of the media over the contemporary subject in order to activate the viewers to question some Social issues regarding humanity consciousness. My artwork should be thought - provoking for them. I would like to use my visual language to convey specific Social issues to inquire how far the viewers are from their dreams. I hope they think about themselves in their complex society physically and psychologically when they go through my work.</p>

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Fine Arts in Art (MFA)
Level thesis:degree_level
Thesis
Year dc:date.available
2012

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Zhao, Yan
Advisor dc:contributor.advisor
  • Hapgood, Thomas L. Jr.
Contributors dc:contributor
  • Peven, Michael
  • Nelson, Marilyn

Subjects

dc:subject × 10

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Repository record dc:identifier
https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/433
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:scholarworks.uark.edu:etd-1432

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
University of Arkansas
Base URL
scholarworks.uark.edu/do/oai/
Last updated
2026-07-24
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Zhao, Yan. Ant Tribe. Thesis thesis, 2012. https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/433