色情视频

The Chinese have a word, han hwa, for the foreigner who fully assimilates into the Chinese culture.

Earning that rare accolade takes time, fortitude, resilience and a quality not always prized in America 鈥� willingness to find the middle ground.

San Diego artist Robert Mansfield can鈥檛 pinpoint the date he became han hwa. His fascination with things Chinese predates the public art he created for Shanghai in 2001; predates his marriage to Mingya, a Hangzhou native; predates even his first bittersweet experience living in China as a visiting artist from 色情视频.

Now, 21 years later and still an 色情视频 professor of art, Mansfield is a finalist in the international competition to create public art for the Beijing Olympiad Sculp颅ture Park. His monumental sculpture would serve as foil to the most daring Olympic venues ever built, Beijing鈥檚 National Aquatics Center (the water cube) and National Stadium (the bird鈥檚 nest).

Mansfield鈥檚 鈥淢ap of Time,鈥� one of 2,400 original entries, comprises 256 micro etched titanium and carbon filter rods. Each one protruding 16 meters upward, the rods sway in the wind like sheaves of wheat and are lit at the top with multi-colored, computer programmed LED (light emitting diode) lights. A circular pool at the base of the sculpture represents the sky, while the square formation of rods is symbolic of the earth. The rods are reflected in the pool, connecting earth to sky.

Prosperity and public art

China鈥檚 willingness to finance large-scale, costly public art like 鈥淢ap of Time鈥� speaks volumes about the country鈥檚 ambitions as host of the 2008 Olympic Games. This is China鈥檚 opportunity to demonstrate leadership and progressivism to a skeptical world.

鈥淥f course Beijing would like to use the Olympic Games as a great opportunity toshow the world a positive image of a country with rich and diverse culture and a fast-growingyet steady economy,鈥� said Shengtian Zheng, managing editor of the Toronto-based Yishu Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art.

The connection between civic prosperity and public spectacle is one that China has exploited in other settings.

In 2004, Mansfield鈥檚 14-meter-high 鈥淕eometric Rhapsody鈥� sculptures were selected to distinguish Suzhou Industrial Park, a Chinese-Singaporean version of Silicon Valley rising from bogs and rice fields. The 60-ton shapes of bright red, blue, green and yellow are boldly emblematic of tech颅nology and engineering.

Earlier this year, Jiangsu province on China鈥檚 east coast chose Mansfield鈥檚 design for a 30-meter sculptural clock tower to anchor its new technological city. The competition prospectus called for a monumental symbol containing both historical and contemporary elements of China. Mansfield鈥檚 sculptures exude the energy and dynamism he sees all over China.

鈥淭he pace of construction here is explosive, like in early 20th century America,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a strong belief in the future. Look at the Olympic stadium 鈥� the bird鈥檚 nest. It鈥檚 a metaphor for giving birth to a new century.鈥�

Native influences

The vibrant China of 2007 stands in sharp contrast to the drab, underdeveloped nation Mansfield encountered in 1986. Deng Xiaoping had replaced Mao Zedong as leader and was nudging the country toward economic reform, but Chinese living standards were still shock颅ingly inferior to those in the Western world.

The young American professor adjusting to life in Hangzhou was suddenly aware of the high-tech society he had left behind. He stopped making art and began to re-examine his life and his work.

鈥淚n China, there is a much greater cultural consciousness about the importance of art in life than there is in the U.S.,鈥� Mansfield said. 鈥淟ook at their 7,000-year history; the Chinese have always understood the meaning of aesthetics.鈥�

Returning to San Diego, Mansfield developed a new style, drawing on the influences of his native Minnesota. He realized that nature had always been a theme in his work, and he became more interested in the spaces between objects like grass or stalks of wild rice. He saw splendor in motion and magnetism and in the iridescence of dragonflies鈥� wings.

Mansfield also saw that technology could help him recreate natural elements and forces in his sculpture. Today, his work embraces high-tech materials like carbon fiber, etched tita颅nium and LED technology. For advice on the use of lasers in 鈥淢ap of Time,鈥� Mansfield turned to William Tong, an 色情视频 biochemistry professor who holds patents in laser technology.

Bending like bamboo

If 鈥淢ap of Time鈥� is chosen for one of the precious sites in Olympic Park, city officials will almost certainly request modifications. Mansfield knows he may have to discard the element of water in the base because Beijing is experiencing a serious drought.

But, like the slender bamboo, which survives by bending with the wind, Mansfield has learned the art of compromise and concession.

He tells a story about working with engineers and city planners in 2000 on a sculpture for Long Life Park in central Shanghai. To reduce the cost of construction, the civil servants ordered inferior materials and altered the design without consulting Mansfield.

鈥淲hen I found out, I was furious,鈥� he recalled, 鈥渂ut they told me, 鈥楶rofessor, it鈥檚 not your problem.鈥� One evening, I visited the park and saw families dancing around the sculpture, using it in a way I hadn鈥檛 envisioned. The Chinese had been right. It wasn鈥檛 my problem.

鈥淵ears ago, I was inflexible. I wasn鈥檛 going to let people screw with my work. Now, I think it鈥檚 arrogant for an artist to believe his work has to be executed precisely as he intended. But I will fight to retain the parts worth fighting for.鈥�

While Mansfield waits for a decision on the construction of 鈥淢ap of Time,鈥� he is taking a sabbatical in China. He, Mingya, and their young son, Brendan, will live in Hangzhou, where Mansfield will continue to teach and work and probe the soul of China.