The relationship between mass media and contemporary art: comparative analysis between China and Britain / Zhou Chang

The media serves as a vital platform for the dissemination of information, ideas, culture, and art. Its development has helped to popularize basic art knowledge, connect art with the public, and promote contemporary art. However, in contemporary China, the reach of contemporary art is limited to the art world and select art enthusiasts, with uneven levels of development. In contrast, the UK's mass media plays a crucial role in the dissemination of contemporary art, but it also poses significant challenges, including the domination of media, commercialization, and plagiarism. The main purposes of this research are to understand the mass media in the communication of contemporary art in China and Britain, to identify the roles and challenges of mass media in contemporary art in both China and the UK, to propose a framework to the relationship between mass media and contemporary art in China. The questions of this study are as follows: firstly, how the mass media in China and the UK are used in the dissemination of contemporary art? Secondly, what are the roles and challenges of Chinese and British mass media in contemporary art? Thirdly, Howthe relationship between mass media and contemporary art? Descriptive case studies are used as the main research method in this study. As the top awards in the field of contemporary visual art in the UK and China, the Turner Prize and the New Star Art Awards were chosen as case studies. A total 360 of were involved with contextual documents review method and a total of 411 people were participated with online survey questionnaire method. A comparative study is used to compare the UK with China to build a framework for the relationship between mass media and contemporary art in China. The main findings of this study are as follows: by comparing China and the UK, the Chinese public's acceptance of and attention to contemporary art is lower, which is influenced by the educational system, cultural atmosphere, artistic accomplishment and historical tradition. In the UK, the relationship between the mass media and contemporary art is more open and diverse, and critical reports on contemporary art are more common in the mass media. Mass media has played a crucial role in promoting and popularizing contemporary art. However, Chinese mass media and contemporary art started late and developed imperfectly. The relationship between mass media and contemporary art in China is still in the development stage and relatively new, which makes Chinese contemporary art often face more challenges and deficiencies in being displayed and reported by mass media.