China’s "White House"
Interpretation of works
Text / Wu Guoyong
The "White House" here is not an accurate title. The milky white outer wall, the crown shaped dome and the triangular lintel with Collins stone columns are typical symbols of the outstanding representative of neoclassicism architecture "the United States Capitol" from ancient Greece and Rome. But most Chinese people can't tell the difference between the White House and Capitol Hill. They generally call such buildings "White House". This phenomenon is thought-provoking. The vague understanding of the United States seems to exist widely in the hearts of ordinary Chinese people.
The "White House" is probably the most imitated building in China. Government buildings at all levels, court buildings, company buildings, schools, hospitals, hotels and private villas can see the shadow of the "White House", which is spectacular. These buildings were all built in the nearly 40 years since China's reform and opening up, reflecting how the Chinese people who suddenly face the world imagine power and wealth in the era of reform and opening up after opening the door to the world. The United States is undoubtedly an important source of this imagination.
Obviously, at this time, the "White House" has evolved into a simple symbol, carrying many complex and subtle emotions such as people's ideal of the rule of law, power imagination, cultural yearning and wealth longing. It constitutes a kaleidoscope of the image of the "White House". It is a cultural phenomenon that is inclusive and absorbing, but also lacks subjectivity and cultural cognition. From this image to the "White House" style buildings standing all over China, it has become an empirical evidence of the great collision and integration of Chinese and Western cultures since China's reform and opening up. From this point of view, they seem to be special "monuments".
Since July 2019, I have been traveling all over China and visited more than 100 such "White House" style buildings. I hope to keep a complete image file for these "monuments" as far as possible, so as to remember a distant era.
The original idea of creation
This photo, taken in 1995 at the Window of the World in Shenzhen, started the journey of creating the "China’s "White House"".
Artistic Images
A collage of 90 photographs of the dome of the "White House", taken in various parts of China. Size of the work: 200cm*180cm.
Dome Sculpture Collection The center is a sculpture of the U.S. Capitol dome, the rest is the Chinese "White House". 200cm*100cm
Direct photography
Government Building Series
▲ Loudi Municipal Government "White House" Complex in Hunan Province
▲ Yingquan District Government Building, Fuyang, Anhui Province
▲ Nanjing Yuhua District Government Building, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province
▲The "Government Series" puzzle
Direct photography
Public prosecution building series
▲ Chongqing High People's Court Building
▲ Chongqing High People's Court Building - Design Talk
▲ Shanghai Minhang District People's Court Building
▲Zhejiang Dongyang People's Court Building
▲ The "People's Court" series of puzzles
▲ Sichuan Chengdu People's Procuratorate Building
▲ Hubei Public Security Bureau
▲Shenyang First Detention Center, Liaoning Province
Direct photography
Academic Building Series
▲ Academic Building Series Puzzle
▲ Huiyu Building, College of Business, Yunnan Normal University
▲ Library of Liaoning Jiaotong College of Higher Education
▲ Library of Jincheng College of Sichuan University
▲ Administration Building of Hangzhou Xiaoshan Second Secondary Vocational School
▲ Shanghai International Studies University Songjiang Campus Library
Direct photography
Enterprise Building Series
▲ State Grid Anhui Electric Power Company Hefei City Power Supply Company Office Building
▲ Hebei Xinle Jindi Building
▲ Former Mal Weaving Group Office Building, Pinghu, Zhejiang
▲ Longmenwan Distillery, Zhongxi Village, Yichuan, Henan
▲ Lijiang Pearl Hotel, Panyu, Guangzhou
▲ Haikou Meishi Mayflower Golf Resort
▲ Guangdong Huiyang Jia Lu International Hotel
▲ The "real estate business" puzzle
▲ Fujian Quanzhou World Trade Sea World
▲ Guiyang Huaguoyuan White Palace, Guiyang, Guizhou
▲ Guangdong Foshan Evergrande Royal Peninsula (Evergrande Hotel)
▲ Jiangsu Qidong Evergrande Sea Venice
▲ The "Rotten White House" Puzzle
Direct photography
Other Series
▲ Great Wall Cultural and Creative Park, Shijiazhuang, Hebei
▲ Farmer Xu Ning's private villa, Qionghai, Hainan
▲ Zheng's Private Villa, Jinye Island, Shantou, Guangdong
▲ Tianjin Concert Hall
▲ Liu Hua Lake White House, Guangzhou, Guangdong
▲ A public toilet in the Golden Seed Brewery in Fuyang, Anhui Province
▲ Wuhan Guanggu Second Road temporary isolation point
Exhibition
2022 - FengMian Image Space
Exhibition Poster
Fengmian Image Space
Exhibition entrance installati
Guest Signature
Exhibition Site-First floor ph
Exhibition Site - Second Floor
