Uglier And Uglier: Shangai's Art Gallery Under Fire For Controversial Exhibit

OCAT, a Shanghai Art Gallery closes and issues an apology for displaying a seven-hour-long video artwork by Song Ta, ranking 5,000 college women by their attractiveness. The statement was shared, last Friday the 18th, on the gallery’s Weibo ( Chinese version of Twitter).

The absurd video, called Uglier and Uglier in English or Jiaohua, Campus Flowers in Chinese, was filmed in 2013 by Song Ta in which he recorded, without consent, a clear invasion of privacy, all women that passed him on the college campus, later ranking them from “most beautiful” to “absolutely unforgivably” ugly. An exhaustively demanding task that, according to his interview, in 2019 to Vice magazine, required the help of three assistants.

The Circular Impact was the exhibition’s name, with 21 artists, available to the public from April 28th until, supposedly, July 11th. But this wasn’t the first rodeo of this sexist “cinematic work”. Previously displayed at UCCA Beijing in 2013 as part of the On | Off: China’s Young Artists in Theory and Practice show, the controversial video went unnoticed at the time.  

The exhibit was exposed by Weibo user Sanaya One and later denounced on Twitter by Afra Wang: “A disturbing dose of Chinese contemporary art"(…)” Misogynous he is, the artist says bluntly that "to see the campus queen, you need to go to the museum early." I couldn't think of a more dismissive and violent way to objectify women”., going instantly viral and creating angry feedback from everyone that saw it, commented, and shared it. 

A disturbing dose of Chinese contemporary art: Song Ta, a video artist, has a piece called "Uglier and Uglier" is in exhibition in OCAT Shanghai. This 7+ hrs long video displays secretly shot footage of college girls ranked from the "prettiest" to the "ugliest." pic.twitter.com/COtSWEF7Xa

— Afra Wang (@afrazhaowang) June 17, 2021

Additionally, The Times reported that the finalized video excludes the two women crowned the most beautiful, footage creepily saved by the artist for his enjoyment. Song Ta disregards the severity of his artwork, self-proclaiming as a feminist, oblivious nonetheless to “women’s issues.”

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