Cheap Rent, Inconvenient Dispersal or "Hey It's Better Than Moving the Gallery Underneath the Bridge"

Perhaps paradox really is the uncomfortable reality of day-to-day judgment. My first reaction upon visiting Moganshan Lu was twofold: 1.) wondering how so many galleries could bear to constantly be competing with one another. 2.) wondering how so many artists could bear to constantly be around other artists. To be honest I never realized the appeal of being so closely clustered with everyone else in a creative setting. And I still don't quite understand how being clustered nearby competition (other galleries) can be a positive situation economically speaking...

That said...

After traveling over hill and under water (metaphorically speaking) all the way to the various galleries we went to last week, a 60 watt lightbulb went off in my head and I think I'm starting to understand the wisdom of clustering art production/presentation centers rather than spreading them out. Accessibility truly is a beautiful thing.


And if there were an accessibility award, I would definitely give it to the Shanghai Sculpture Garden out of all the galleries we went to see. They win what I'd call the Miles Davis award - Miles once said something to the extent that "showing up to the gig is half the battle" and I'm badly butchering his words, but I'm sure you follow my idea. The Shanghai Sculpture Garden was the only place that actually had any exhibits! The image to the right can be found here. My foray into the Shanghai sculpture world was a painfully short 10 minutes, but I at least liked what I saw. ~~~


I understand Bridge8 is supposed to be some sort of artist commune, and the outlaying grounds are undeniably a visual feast - but it is so difficult to navigate that most, if any, of my visual impressions were waylayed by the sheer frustration of navigating the area. The original image to the right can also be found here.
We again only spent about 10 minutes at the location, so I'm willing to give Bridge8 another chance (perhaps if I bring my own Sherpa and/or GPS so as to not get lost). As it stands now, I envision Bridge8 as a kind of Bermuda Triangle whose function remains to be seen. If anyone sees Elvis there, let me know.


The last area we went to was the Yangshupu Creative Center...which is still under heavy construction. Needless to say there were no galleries. The original image can be found here. If Bridge8 is the Bermuda Triangle, then Yangshupu is Atlantis - a beautiful ruins whose purpose I can't yet ascertain. I assume after development that it's destined to become another gallery.

There you have it. A battle between three "galleries" of varying operational status, functionality, and purpose with...only 1 definitive winner: The Shanghai Sculpture Gallery. I think at least...Hmm...has anyone else since returned to any of these 3 places on our tour?