On an autumn night, a deep WeChat conversation unfolded between two creators — one about the art market, technology, and the human spirit.
Liu Weiping, an artist who’s long studied the business side of art and social change, and Tan Xiaozheng, an independent media voice in the art scene, spoke with honesty and no agenda — just two minds bouncing between reality and idealism.
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- The Smaller the Market, the Bigger the Circle
“The problem is, the market’s never really opened up,” Liu said bluntly.
To him, the “small circles” and insider drama in the art world show how weak the market really is.
“When regular people can’t get in and only a few are playing, it turns into infighting.”
Tan laughed. “That’s fine for me — I’m non-profit, non-market, non-academic. Just a one-man media outlet, no strings attached.”
Liu replied, “That’s perfect. Independent media is the future. We’re living in a decentralized age. If you don’t evolve, you don’t eat.”
In his eyes, the deck is being reshuffled — those clinging to old systems will be replaced by independent creators.
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- The “Seller’s Trap” of Contemporary Art
“I’m worried there’s no one left to take over,” Tan admitted. “The contemporary art scene feels more anxious than ever.”
He once wrote The Health of the Art Ecosystem Defines the Value of Art Today, calling for structural change in the industry.
Liu shot back, “The problem isn’t the artists — it’s the lack of buyers.”
Right now, he said, “Most of what people debate are just sellers arguing with other sellers. There’s no real market loop.”
“The Dafen Village model was actually healthy. Business runs on liquidity — art needs to move. Leasing instead of selling might be the way forward.”
Tan nodded but said that kind of shift would take ten years.
Liu disagreed: “It doesn’t need ten years. Art never really had an ecosystem to begin with.”
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- Maybe the Artists Themselves Need Healing
At one point, Liu added a more introspective thought:
“You know, I actually think the real issue with the art market isn’t the buyers — it’s the makers.
A lot of artists themselves are the ones who need healing.”
He believes many problems start with the creator’s mental state.
“When artists are anxious, isolated, and emotionally burnt out, their work naturally drifts away from people. It’s not that the audience abandoned them — they abandoned the audience first.”
That line shifted the conversation from economics to emotion — from selling art to understanding the people who make it.
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- AI and the “Spiritual War”
When the talk turned to technology, Tan stayed hopeful: “AI, AR, the metaverse — maybe they’ll spark a third cultural revolution.”
Liu was skeptical: “No more revolutions. If we keep ‘revolutionizing,’ there’ll be no one left.”
He argued that the mechanical revolution brought wars, while the information revolution brought a spiritual war.
“Everyone’s mentally sick these days. If art can’t heal people’s hearts, it’s meaningless.”
He believes today’s art has become a tool of the information age — chasing clicks and survival, while losing its soul.
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- Healing and Escape: The Side Effects of the Digital Age
“People used to lose their jobs — now they’re losing their minds,” Liu said.
He called the information age a kind of inner poisoning: “not physical, but mental.”
People now rely on “consumption-based healing” — traveling, drinking coffee, going to talks and exhibitions — as temporary shelters.
“Everyone’s in pain,” he said, “just trying to find a fancy place to fake some peace.”
But these “safe spaces” aren’t free — they cost money, and they don’t really cure anything.
Tan quietly added, “Yeah… healing-themed art is everywhere now.”
A short line — but one that lingered.
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- In the End, Art Belongs to the Human Heart
Both of them understood: we’re living through a massive reshuffle.
Technology changes the world, algorithms change communication — but the true value of art still lies in the human heart.
Once art loses that connection, it’s just another bubble floating in the flood of information.
As Liu put it,
“The real revolution isn’t about technology — it’s about the human spirit.”