Back to the Site: Documentary as I Understand It

Abstract Wu Wenguang's article ‘Back to the Site: Documentary as I Understand It’ is one of the first attempts to theorize the Chinese concept of xianchang, or working on site. A location-based practice common to filmmakers and experimental artists, xianchang evolved in 1990s China both as a reaction against Socialist Realist aesthetics, and as an attempt to recuperate their socially engaged potential. This introduction explores Wu's understanding of the distinct spatial, temporal, and everyday qualities of xianchang, while locating the emergence of on-site practices in relation to the period's rapid socio-economic changes, particularly the challenges and opportunities presented by large-scale urbanization.