This sounds like a juicy exhibition of Chinese art. But "Rejected Collection" is fascinating - the proposals that were never executed - nixed for a host of reasons, writes Zhou Tao.This is an exhibition without any real works, and the idea of having a curator sounds like that of a sophist.However, if you are a real art lover, you may learn from this show, "Rejected Collection," many details and inside story of China's art field.The KE Center for Contemporary Art is running this exhibition curated by independent curator Biljana Ciric. Its promotion suggests that it's going to involve the actual works, even some made by famous artists.It sounds like the grapevine news of stars that may arouse the interest of ordinary people, thinking, "What do these censored works look like? They must be exciting."Ciric says it all started from her idea of making a documentary record of "what the artists have thought about but have not realized ... I planned to collect 100 not-realized programs by artists and make it a book."Since all these are just ideas and proposals - not artworks - what is available at the show are manuscripts, drafts, videos or records of artists' talking. There are more than 60 such "exhibits" by 53 artists, including big names like Xu Bing and Gu Wenda.So, why were they rejected and why do artists today tend to write detailed programs instead of just painting something or doing their sculpture, video or performance art?Before the mid-1990s, artists produced finished works before they participate in any activity or competition. But the practice started to change since the mid-1990s. Organizers began to ask artists for a detailed description, formally written and illustrated, before they decided whether the work was qualified or not.Normally, however, this practice applies to modern works like big installations and performance art, not painting on canvas. As installations or performance are usually big and complicated, it saves much money and energy if organizers don't want it - artists needn't make them at all.So what kind of Chinese works are more likely to be accepted in internationally events?"That's an interesting question," says Ciric. "Normally works containing apparent Chinese symbols and elements stand a bigger chance because Westerners will think they really meet what they expect about China."On the other hand, reasons for works' being rejected include insufficient time or financing and lack of technical feasibility."Chu Yun's case is a typical example of challenging the system," says Ciric. Chu is an artist from Guangdong Province, the program of his "work" is "to break some wall of the museum to change the position of some tap water pipes." Of course such a "work" is rejected everywhere.Zhang Peili, an artist famous for his video works, was once rejected by Centre Pompidou, because he proposed to make a work involving emergency and escape issues on aircraft, shortly after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.Xu Bing, perhaps one of the top artists in China, also had the experience of being turned down, because his work was considered "not commercial enough." In 2005, Xu started talking with a real estate firm about a work only involving sound played from speakers.But the firm thought that without a concrete object their commercial purpose would not be advanced. Xu gave it up after about a year's discussion.Hoax-like "works" are of course to be rejected. Artist Xu Zhen, known as a bad boy in the art circle, once presented the idea of erasing the museum curator's name on all its publications. That's what he calls "performance art.""Such conflicts show the in-depth upset between artists and organizers," says Ciric. "There're many examples. Chinese artists tend to not keep the rejected things, but I still want to do the job of recording what they once thought about."