Preannounce of Intrude Projects 2008 3.20~3.28

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First Priority - Security

First Priority - Security



I fastened myself tightly to Yvon’s arm in the dark. Screaming voices and loud noises deafened my ears. People kept lifting curtains in the way, having no idea what they would meet. Besides, the air was loaded with smoke and dirt…



“What does the artist want to convey to us?” the 101st time, I asked myself.



Yet, along the way there were several strange settings. A weird man hid behind the wall, anxiously walking back and forth in a small room, destroying everything around. Some unusual signs flashed on and off, creating the atmosphere perfect for a horror movie or a crime scene.



Fortunately, before losing senses in this terrible and exciting “black hole”, we finally made through to the end, to an open place. Here we discovered every secret along the “dark way”.
Some “luminous” chickens were hanging together with each other. Staff there told me that they were planed to scare people around. Yet, they themselves were scared by dark first.
With the faintest light by my cell phone, I was shocked to find the amount of dirt in the air. If you keep staying there for more than 24 hours, it won’t be any surprise if you die for the dangerous air around.



As I walked out of the exhibition hall, or more precisely, an abandoned warehouse (way poorer than those in Moganshan 50), the 102nd time, I asked myself, “What the hell they want to tell us?”

Safety First

Safety First is an exhibition at the Fei Contemporary Art Center (http://www.feiartcenter.com/en/index.asp) that opened last Saturday (March 15th). For class we were required to attend, and so I did. It's an interesting adventure I'm finding to get to any of these places. It takes me about 15-20 minutes to get to the nearest subway station and then from there it was a 15 minute ride on the subway and then from there a 30 minute walk to the actual place.
The walk was interesting because it was so long, and I wasn't really expecting that because on their website it doesn't really detail the walk as being that long (they just don't mention a time), so I was assuming it'd be relatively quick. But it was interesting and I actually was able to navigate it correctly and find my way there, although the actual location of Fei Art Center is a bit odd itself, it's in a mini-industrial center. Once there, I was able to tell where the exhibition was as I followed the crowd of people and spotted a table full of beer and soda and figured I was in the right place.

Entering you start out in darkness, the corridors are all essentially pitch black with sheets hanging from the ceiling. It's odd and I don't think I could have handled going through the entire piece with no light (people used cell phones and other mechanisms to light the way). The first thing that I remember seeing is the piece where there is a video camera taping into the dark and it's in "night-vision mode" (as you can tell because it's taping in that green way). What you hear is an odd slurping sound and you can't quite figure out what it is and then when you look at the tape you see a man kneeling before another man with his mouth at his crotch and one can assume what's happening. After that another piece was off of the corridor to the left and it was just a small empty room filled with a few strings that were lit ever so lightly with an orange glow (not like the entire string was filled with light, just pieces of it). It ended up looking pretty neat and I thought the room was interesting. After that as you reach the end of the corridor there's a large red flashing 'thing' at the end of the corridor, you can't tell what it is because of the sheets in front of you but every time it flashes it blinds you and makes you shy away because of its shock in the dark. Before you reach it, you see an exit door on your right and I went back to open it later and it doesn't open but a touch (It's essentially locked), which works with the Safety First theme. As you reach the end of the corridor you find out that the red flashing thing is the sickle and hammer logo.

After the long dark corridor you enter a large, open room (just basically the actual factory/warehouse itself). The first thing you notice is there are these hens which are covered in a glow in the dark 'dusting' which makes them appear pretty neat. They just sit there and eat food and glow in the dark. There are warning signs in this room as well, which light up and fade off as well. Along with the warning signs is a wall where there is furniture half sticking out of the wall like it has morphed with the wall itself, or molded with it. The furniture was pretty neat, I thought it looked cool. Along with this you could see into the back of the room with the guy kneeling at the other man, and when one person flashed a large light in the room you could see that the person that was on the receiving end was actually a manikin. If there hadn't been a bright light though, I would have never known, as in the small video camera that you can see it looks entirely real. There is also a small other room where there are taped events. One is where a man was digging a hole in a street and another is of a cup that was filled with liquid that now lies tipped over on the roof of a building.

Some of the art in this exhibition was interesting and just plain cool, but a lot of it I didn't know where it came from or why it was there. I just didn't understand the logic or reasoning behind some of it which makes it difficult for me. Otherwise, I thought the exhibition was interesting and the artist played with the irony of safety through out the entire exhibit but I'd like to know more behind what the reasoning was.

Safety?

Last Saturday, I went to visit “Safety First.” When I first heard the name of this exhibition, I knew it had to do with safety and I was curious as to how art could express this theme of safety. When I entered the building, I was really scared and I didn’t want to go forward. Not only was the passageway dark, but there were curtains obstructing my path. I didn’t know what to expect as I proceeded further along. I noticed that there were displays along the way that frightened me even more. I gathered up my courage and continued on walking and picking away at the curtains. After I finished my journey and arrived in the gallery, I felt a huge relief knowing that walk was over. Although the gallery was still dark and there was weird music playing around me, I was much calmer now since I could see the other visitors and workers. It was nice knowing that other people were in the same place and experiencing the same things as I was; it was a sense of security. I’m not sure whether or not the feelings I had were related to the theme of this exhibition.

When I saw the art works on display, I wasn’t really able to understand what these pieces were trying to express. I think the artist tried to convey feelings of anxiety and fear through the various use of lights and pictures. However, I still don’t understand what these works have to do with the issue of safety. I never even had the feeling of safeness while looking at his art. All I thought of was how creepy these exhibits were and I felt that anybody could have just put a few scary things on display and call it art. I did not think that the art shown here took too much creativity to come up with especially the flashing signs that didn’t mean much to me.

50 Moganshan lu (BizArt, Eastlink, ShanghArt, Island6)

For our Contemporary Art class on Thursday, March 5th we went to go visit the art center of Shanghai - 50 Moganshan lu. We visited three of the more well known art centers in Moganshan50 - BizArt, Eastlink and ShanghArt. Oh and I almost forgot to mention that we briefly visited Island6 which is near 50 Moganshan lu but tends to do more new media installations (LEDs and such).

We started out by visiting BizArt where we talked with one of the people in charge, we also watched a video about one of the first contemporary art exhibitions in China about 10 years ago. It was interesting to see that this occurred 10 years ago and it was definitely a neat exhibition. It started out by starting with everyone who attended the exhibition entering through a market that sold art created by the artists (various objects, most quite fun looking). The exhibition itself had some interesting pieces but I was most fascinated with the way it was presented to the public. I think that it was a great concept, having the market first as an entrance to the exhibition as well as making it well publicized to the public. There wasn't a specific exhibition in BizArt at the time but we learned a bit about its history through the video and the worker (They also had a net up for what looked like badminton, definitely looked like fun!). You could also tell that they didn't sell any of the work that they created, they didn't have the heat on in the building and overall it wasn't very extravagant (although it did work, it just contrasted with what we would see next at EastLink next). I also was able to ask the worker about the 1999 exhibition and he said that it was all self-funded, it's interesting to note that they've just moved away from this about 2 years ago which is awesome for them.

Next we went on to Eastlink which was nicer inside and the quality of the productions was very impressive. There was a varied set of pieces and they were all intriguing. (You could tell that this place sold the art, because of the quality of the art and the space itself). One of the pieces that I thought was really cool was the piece of all the people in the offices with bubbles in each room - I just thought that the way the piece came out looked awesome. There was also a fascination with boobs here, one of the artists had created this extremely exaggerated set of boobs that was in several places around the space (I wasn't quite sure what to make of them lol).

Then we headed onto ShanghArt which had some real high quality art. I thought that the pieces here were extremely well done, don't know if I really understood every message the artist was trying to get across but the pieces themselves I thought were beautiful. We also saw a preview to the opening of an exhibition where we saw some art that mixed some old Chinese history with new art styles which was interesting as well - although it wasn't my favorite.

On our way out we passed by Island6 and checked it out and I was intrigued as this place has to deal with more new media installations. They had some interesting pieces with LEDs used to create people, that would move across a picture in the background behind a painting/photo. They also had two games of Pong setup that used some interesting control devices (one used foot pedals) and another used a sort of a switch that you would push in the direction you wanted the bar to move. Definitely worth visiting again.

Overall, the places that we visited were impressive and I thought the art was pretty high quality. The place also seems to be teeming with other art places and art in general so I don't think you could visit everything going on at once in one go (It'd probably take a while to get to see everything), so at one thought that's really cool, but it would be easy to get overwhelmed there trying to see everything. Definitely worth your time to visit 50 Moganshan lu though!

140sqm - Actual Visit!

I was able to go again and actually see the exhibit at 140sqm (http://www.140sqm.com/index.asp) (Knowing the location a bit better and actually going earlier in the day). This post goes on to detail my thoughts about it. As a side note, I decided to walk to People's Square after going to the exhibit, it took me a few hours as I was taking my time but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was nice to be able to get a better feel for the city. In any case, on with 140sqm!

The day that I ended up going was Sunday, March 9th. The exhibition was by an artist called Roland Fischer. My first notice of the place was simply how small the exhibition space was. I did really like it though, it was small, but well kept and in a neat area of town as well as being inside an incredibly cool building. Fischer puts people in almost all of his art and that was something I noticed fairly quickly as well. I wasn't too fond of the photos of women in water (pictures of their shoulders and head above the water) for any particular reason. I can see shooting for the natural beauty of women but I wasn't drawn to them for any real reason. Fischer also employed masses of people to create things such as a star, or simply in some cases as just a mass body of people in no particular shape. I did find the pieces with the headshots of soldiers to be intriguing, it was interesting to see this almost wall full of photos of soldiers. I also noticed that accompanying each photo was their actual name (or what I believed to be their actual name), so not only did these people all look the same at first glance because of their uniforms - but if you were to look further you would notice that they all had their own nuances and own identities. I did also find the pieces about architecture repetition to be pretty neat, it was interesting that they were buildings from all around the world (Didn't find the selection to be amazing, but I did find them appealing).

That pretty much makes up what I thought of 140sqm, it was a relatively small space and I tried to extend my visit for as long as I could, but I got antsy and ended up leaving after about 25 minutes. Overall, I'm impressed more by the location of the exhibit then the exhibit itself however, I did find the pieces to be intriguing and at least worth a look.

Safety First

I don’t even know where to begin describing this exhibition. First off, I thought the location was incredibly weird for an art show but it was very suitable for this exhibition. When I got into the cab and told the driver where I wanted to go, he wasn’t even sure himself. Once I got out of a taxi, it seemed as if I was in wasteland of abandoned warehouses. I found the gallery and walked the narrow pathway full of curtains blocking my path. I felt like I was entering into one of those haunted playhouses at the amusement parks I went to when I was a little kid. When I got through all the curtains, I arrived in a very dark room with a DJ in the corner playing some creepy music to set the mood. In the brochure, it says that “the exhibition tries to proceed with the concept of safety, but perhaps not directly to it.” What does that even mean? The first work I looked at seemed like a bunch of dieing chickens painted in glow in the dark colors. What does that even have to do with safety? There was another display that allowed us to walk through a tiny passageway where a light would turn on once we got to the center. If we didn’t walk the path, then the light would never turn on. I actually thought this represented something more in that we have to help ourselves in order to be helped. If we don’t walk the path, then we would have never known the light would turn on. But if we decide to take the initial step and keep going forward, there’s a chance that we might get help in the process and succeed in whatever we’re doing. Another one that I took notice to was the one where there was a camcorder recording the back of a mannequin. There’s a second camera, near the entrance, showing this mannequin from the front during my walk in the curtained passageway. In that camera we could see a person in a crouched position giving what seems to be fellatio to the mannequin. But once we see the actual work, we realize that the person is only eating ketchup next to the mannequin’s crotch. I guess this is referring to the fact that we can’t jump to conclusions before we reach the end. Even if we think we know something, we still need the evidence to find out for sure. This is one of the more creative and fascinating galleries I have been to since I came to Shanghai but in my mind, I still don’t consider this stuff art. Although these exhibitions are fun to visit, almost anyone can put something like this together as long as they set the mood right.

SAFETY FIRST

Safety First
at Fei Contemporary Art Center



A fresh alternative to the white-walled gallery, Safety First is an experiential, "experimental" exhibition in which we are made to make our way through darkness. The immediate reaction is fear-- as soon as we part the curtain, we are thrown into a dark hallway. We proceed with caution through curtained pathways and rooms filled with oddities. One such room contains three chairs and a TV on static. Through two peep holes is a room of toys (a headless crawling doll included). Creepy, confusing and full of surprises. But the show doesn't stop at here. We are surprised again as the hallway opens up to a large space and reveals the back walls of the rooms we were just in. This is certainly confusing as we don't know how to proceed. With a bit of exploring we find beer cans, the creepy back of a man, furniture jutting out of the walls. A separate room shows videos of construction sites and we hear a constant pounding sound. If we compare each room to another, there seems to be little relation-- what does a blinking Communist sickle have to do with furniture or an uncanny room of toys? The exhibition relies on the darkness to pull it all together. But the randomness makes the show confusing in a good way, and not too clean.

caught off guard

Accidently attending another opening last Saturday, I visited FCAC earlier tonight. Hearing from others that the exhibition was "freaky" I simply dismissed the comments, assuming that the show was just another unconventional, experiential piece rather than anything remotely frightening. As the taxi dropped us off, however, I already began to feel somewhat uneasy. Fairly desolate and dark, the location itself fed into what we would soon experience. Stepping through the curtain, into the dark space, I immediately was reminded of American haunted houses where one feels a sense of threat looming around each corner. Though, unlike visiting haunted houses, before arriving I had no idea what to expect. Without the preconceived notion of fear (and due to the location), I feel the show was much more successful than any fabricated Halloween set-up. When one visits a haunted house she anticipates panic as a form of recreation. On the other hand, one does not visit an art gallery wishing to achieve such a high. FCAC hits the audience with the element of surprise. 

The uneasiness attained stemmed, too, from the gallery's location. A similar setup situated within MoMA could never produce the same feelings for the viewer. Inside MoMA one would feel a sense of safety from the beginning. The sheer amount of surrounding people would also add to one's feeling of security. Helena and I did not encounter any additional visitors during our entire stay, which I think made it seem a bit scarier. I do feel, however, that the addition of a few people would have been beneficial to one's sense of insecurity--extra footsteps, not knowing whether the strangers are viewers or part of the piece itself. 

Although a few aspects seemed irrelevant...the dark room and video room...I am glad to see a show in Shanghai that is different from the norm. 

Man's Nightmare

This past weekend I attended what I thought was the correct opening for class, later to find out that I had visited the wrong gallery and missed the opening all together, which was a disappointment. The show I went to on Saturday was titled Man's Dream, a solo exhibition by Meng Yan, an artist I had not heard of until visiting the gallery. 

Although the space, Fu Xin Gallery, was rather spacious and nice, I'm not sure I can say many great things about Meng Yan's paintings. The ground floor of the gallery was filled with portraits such as the ones below (Dali and the Mona Lisa) and an abstract painting, all of which were in shades of black and white, the portraits mainly in a drip technique. 

After viewing the first paintings, I passed an interview with Meng Yan displayed on the wall. I found it comical (he quoted President Bill Clinton on women) and disturbing at the same time. The discussion circled around Yan's obsession with women and sex, and the raw feelings of passion or fantasies he has, and how these feelings are presented in his art. At first this confused me because I had not seen any erotic paintings thus far, but as I made my way to the second floor, it was made clear that Yan was indeed obsessed with erotic and sexual images of the opposite sex. 

There were many paintings of women in explicit positions, only one of which I somewhat enjoyed, which happened to be the picture chosen for the gallery exhibition invitation pamphlet. It was of a woman lying on her back smoking a cigarette topless. The way the light shines on her body is soft, still erotic, but beautiful which is contrasted nicely by the paint drips toward the lower half of her body.  

Although, Man's Dream was disappointing, I also had the privilege of not only seeing but working on a small group gathering/exhibit that was hosted by the artist Hua Lee (whose home it took place in) and my teacher Gerry Pryor. The day before the show, myself as well as other students worked together to frame the photographs that were displayed. On Saturday the exhibit took place, highlighting the photographs that Pryor had brought from recent friends/ex students/artists which was then accompanied by a video installation by Pryor and a painting by Lee. Overall, the show was relaxed, warm, and enjoyable, quite different from the Meng Yan exhibit, and a show I am glad to have been able to work and be a part of.

Safety show -----what is real safety?

Mr Tang is trying to present us a new concept of safety by using a various different ways, breaking the routine thoughts in our mind. The whole exhibition is full of those elements common seen in our daily life. Surprisingly, most of them are embodied with some ideas related to the concern of the safety.

Once we stepped into the hall, the darkness embraced us immediately ,a bit like some kind of “spook house” created in the theme park . Crying , tension, curiosity soon conquered me to explore more, that was the beginning of this long journey for safety exploration. We observed an artist did performing art in one small room, blowing on the plastic tent . Then followed with a long long corridor with many curtains hung from the top, adding more mysterious air. Walking through the curtains is really an experience that can recall the time we grouped our way amid the darkness where there is no electricity . Having no idea about what is waiting for you in front and whether to continue the way or just give up. After passing through the corridor, we saw a shining scythe that represents the communist party , and it was a signal that introduced us to another hall.

In the all, there were hens curling up in the corner with fluorescence material so they became the leading role in the hall , attracting the eyes of all persons. Also, a lot of indicators for warnings could be found there, such as “No smoking” “No climbing” “ Poison” etc. Sophie and I were a little confused about these settings and guessed the meaning hidden behind them. Luckily, we met with a journalist who is interviewing Mr Tang during our visit. It was a good opportunity that we can follow the introduction of Mr Tang and it was really helpful for our profound understandings.

Take the “Poison” sign for example, he designed a small spotlight hung in the top,and from the light it lit ,we can easily see dust in the air, floating at a moderate speed. Most of us may have never realized its existence in our their life since is it not easily to be observed by naked eyes. But it doesn’t mean that it can be ignored at all. Just like sometimes we think that we stay in some pure and clean environment but actually it is not as clear as we thought. We think we are in safe state but how can we make sure the safety is actually what we imagined? In addition, he designed an equipment that can generate electricity but it is us who operate the machine with our own hands. I have once tried it , it is not a hard work but the process at least reminds you that electricity is not always there and there is always potential that we will lose it at any time . That is why he mentioned the big catastrophe China encountered one month age. Those curtains as well, inspired you to walk further ,though you were afraid of the obstacles in front of you. Maybe you think it is not safe ahead, but when you across it ,there is another scene.

The conception of safety varies from one person to another. We all have different definition about it and we all have our own solution when we face some dangers. Maybe we should think twice before we make a conclusion or decide whether to take a risk or not. Actually , I am a person who strongly desire for a sense of safety and in the real life it was and maybe will never have enough safety for me.

Ps: The exhibition hall itself locates in a place quite desolate. Sophie and I hesitated and lost for some time before finally find it. It is a coincidence or arranged for purpose? So , what is real safety?

Safety First

Last Saturday, I went to Fei Art Center together with Yvon. Neither of us is familiar with Old Humin Road. So before the trip, we had both searched the place on map, but after we had got off the bus, it was still quite difficult for us to find this place, and since it was getting darker and darker, it was even more difficult.

Lucky enough, finally, we were able to arrive at the art center ahead of the opening time. So we had to wait at the entrance for couple minutes. The art center hid in a corner in a block, like 50 Moganshan Road, it also seems to be rebuild on the basis of old factory. Immersed in dim light, the art center looked horrible, as if it was the best scene set for horrible movies.

The corridor to the exhibition hall was in darkness, without any light. The only things that can be seen were pieces of clothes hanging in front of us. We could not expect what things would jump into our eyes when pulling the clothes and walking forward.

The dark corridor seemed to lead to a haunted house. In the central exhibition hall, everything I saw looked strange and mysterious because of the darkness, for example, there was something moving in a corner, but I did not know actually they were some hens until I stood closely to them. To tell the truth, at first, is was really very hard for me to understand the intention of the artist, but fortunately, we happened to meet the young artist and a group of people who were interviewing him. Then we decided to follow them to make a second visit of the corridor. This offered a wonderful chance to know the intention of the artist.

The theme of the show was Safety First, and the artist explained that everything he did intended to make the audience focus on the concept of Safety. For example, the pieces of clothes in the corridor were like the curtains, you were not able to know what were behind them especially when you were in darkness. There are many risks and dangers in our daily life, if you do not pay enough attention to your safety, it is likely for you to encounter the dangers, like the walls hidden in darkness behind the curtains. Actually when it was lit by lights, everything was no longer mysterious, but it was darkness that made us feel the importance of keeping attention to safety all the time.

Another thing which impressed me was a small hole through which could see a person doing individual things randomly. It reminded us that in our daily life, perhaps our personal behavior is watched secretly by someone else, so we need to be aware of the safety of our own.

The artist also explained that animals such as hens would assemble in darkness by instinct, and so it is with us human beings. He was right! During the whole process of the visit, we several guys never left each other! it was human’s instinct to assemble when we were frightened and in urgent need of each other’s support and protection.

Paradise Landing Shanghai

Though, many Chinese cities like Beijing and Chengdu have long been recognized as the cultural and art center for their grandeur and history, Shanghai, the engine of the Chinese economic boom, has never ever stood as a city of art before.

Just like my history teacher has said, Shanghai is more like a bounder rather than a gentleman. The eagerness for quick success has blocked the local development of art.

Yet, the appearance of Moganshan has made a change to the situation. Rebuilt on a group of abandoned warehouses, Moganshan 50, with its unique character, helps to bring some new thoughts. Here, you can get removed from the frustrating daily routine, take a deep breathe, and find yourself a new way looking at the world.

In addition, Moganshan has created a wonderful place for the “collision” of western and eastern art. Here, you can enjoy the avant-garde paintings of world famous artists. Yet, around the other corner, you would be stroked by the huge mural paintings in Yuan Dynasty by traditional artists in China. In a sense, not a place can provide you with more direct comparison and contrast of the western and eastern style of art than that of Moganshan.

However, apart from fruitful works of foreign artists, Chinese ones still play a minor role in the field of contemporary art. Although I was impressed by the magical combination of colors of Wei Guangqing’s old scriptures, yet, from a Chinese perspective, I can detect little originality in his works.

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History Never Tell!? - 6 March, 2008

Even staying in Shanghai for more than twenty years, never have I got the chance to see any of the propaganda posters myself, not to mention any of the Dazibao Posters. It seemed that the government had wiped out everything related to the Cultural Revolution. After all, the whole nation had suffered so greatly during the ten years that any of the recall would burn the wounds.
Yet, I agree with Mr. Yang. According to him, it was a shame that Chinese history books always avoid telling the young generation about the Cultural Revolution. It is a truth. Any one who tries to “forget” the past can never walk into the future.
However, I still find myself some interesting in the posters. Among all kinds of posters, I was so surprised to find that some of them employed the style of caricature, in particular those featuring the battle between east and west - the powerful strokes with fists, the westerns running away in all directions. This is absolutely different from my point of view for the people of the time. In my eyes, thoughts were prohibited and people were blunted by the government. There was no chance that posters could be created with such brilliant humor.

If the tour of the poster center attached great importance to the culture and people of the nation, then the exhibition in Bund 18 put more emphasize on human and nature. Fields, snow mountains, and working people are the three main characters in Qiu’s video. Also, he employed a combination of white, green and light blue, slightly conveyed his sadness. Although the visual representation is more close to the western style, his uses of dead wood and little droplets are important images in Chinese art – meaning sorrow, sometimes, desolation.

The Heart of Modern Art in Shanghai

50 Moganshan Road was a familiar name that I heard some of my friends talking about before I even came to Shanghai. They had told me about the art galleries and the many artists that exhibited their works there. I had imagined this area to be a very fancy museum type place similar to Bund 18 but to my surprise, we arrived in a location filled with buildings which seemed to me like abandoned warehouses. Even the elevators that we took were the kinds used to transport crates and other large objects when these buildings still served as factories. However, inside these buildings was office space and huge rooms with art pieces on display—everything ranging from murals of the Yuan Dynasty to paintings of Humphrey Bogart and a camel.

After I came back from the trip, I looked this area up online and found out that it has been the “cradle of Shanghai’s modern art scene” since 2000. It has attracted artists not only from China, but artists from all over the world to show their artworks here. What’s interesting is that a big portion of Moganshan’s audience is all foreigners. Contemporary art in China has only started receiving attention and getting noticed within the last seven or eight years. It is still a fairly new concept among the Chinese community. When we watched the film clip at Biz-Art about the contemporary art supermarket, you could see how many people there was that would normally not even step foot into an art gallery. They only went because of the publicity the place was getting and the fact that they could actually purchase these strange items to put in their own homes. China needs this kind of buzz or else people would never become interested in or even know about this new art form. I do have to say that some of the exhibitions in that film had made me wonder what art has turned into. Sometimes I feel like modern art has only become another transporting mechanism for businessmen to sell their products. On top of that, I don’t think that a woman walking around a tree unwinding cloth from her body is even considered art at all.

The exhibit that I enjoyed most at Moganshan was the one by Wei Guangqing at ShanghART. He took important scriptures from ancient times such as Sun Tzu's “Art of War” and Zhu Yongchun’s “The Zhu Family Instructions” and turned them into something very modern and aesthetically pleasing to the eye. This to me is what contemporary art should really be—something that still follows the tradition of the past and yet, is expressed in a way that it has never been before.

JJ's performance

On Sunday, I went to JJ’s performance at 48 Ji An Road. After I arrived at the address, I wasn’t sure whether I was at the right place or not. I felt like I was in the slums of Shanghai with broken down buildings all around me. But after I went into the courtyard where the performance was taking place, I saw a bunch of cameramen and journalists surrounding this man who was painting on a canvas. I asked one of the reporters who the man was and he was in fact JJ. I started observing JJ draw a very run down building with what I thought was paint but then I realized that he was only painting with water. His artwork was very simple, only outlining the major parts of the structure and never going into too much detail. The whole piece probably only took around fifteen minutes to complete. After he was done, he started taking questions from the reporters while letting the water on the canvas slowly evaporate into the air. All this time, the cameramen patiently documented the whole process of the water disappearing into nothing. Waiting for the water to dry probably took another fifteen minutes to finish. It was as if JJ’s painting never existed in the first place.

I don’t really know how JJ was feeling as he was creating his piece but I was really moved by what he drew and more importantly, the approach he took in making this piece of art. The building that he painted was something that represented the old Shanghai, something that contrasts tremendously with the developed city that we see now. The buildings of this area will soon be demolished to make way for the future of Shanghai—buildings that will contribute to the growth and attractiveness of China such as luxury apartments and other high-rises. I feel that JJ chose to record these buildings in this way because after they get torn down, they are nothing but a memory. These memories only exist in our minds and they mean nothing for the development of China. Perhaps there is no point to have a “proof of their existence” when the new buildings get established. Maybe we should just look on the bright side and realize that taking down these old buildings is only a sign of modernity.

camels...

Just wanted to quickly mention the visit to ShanghART...  What is everyone's reaction to the camel paintings by Zhou Tiehai? I really didn't like them. They looked like cheap posters that are sold at low-end malls. Maybe he's trying to say something about appropriation, but the paintings made me want to look in the opposite direction. Also, I don't feel that the concept behind his juxtaposition is that original or interesting. On the other hand, I felt somewhat drawn to the airbrushed pictures of the three women, but I think it was because they reminded me of Richard Prince's early magazine clipping photos (which are also fairly boring). 

I just found a link which explains the reasoning behind the camel... but I'm still not sold. 

ShanghART-Zhou Tiehai

Side Walk Chalk Sunday

After a rainy Saturday, it was great to wake up on Sunday morning and know that my teacher, J.J's public art piece for 'Intrude: Art & Life 366' in Shanghai' would go smoothly with sunny skies. I arrived just in time as the children from local elementary schools showed up to begin a drawing using sidewalk chalk of a traditional Chinese building that stood before them. 

Things got off to a slow start with mostly J.J. doing all of the drawing but in time the children started to chime in, even with all of the confused and curious spectators watching over them. I enjoyed watching the crowd and their reactions to what was being drawn before them, and the interaction between J.J. and the children was nice, especially as the artists worked in the street, drawing between darting bicyclists, cars, and motorbikes, even the occasional walker who decided it was best to walk right over the chalk drawings.

After finishing the drawings of the old building the artists moved to a new location behind the building, a lot which once was the site for an old house just like the one they had drawn. J.J. once more asked the children to draw, but this time they were to draw what they thought should be built to replace this abandoned lot. The children got to work, and began drawing in vibrant chalk colors on an old brick wall. With not as many spectators watching on, there was only a small interaction with the general public, yet I found watching the children draw from their imagination much more rewarding. With new technology, such as a large eye as the top piece of one building or a "plant house" the children's imagination was endless, each with unique and different take as to what the future will hold for their city.

张建君 (JJ)'s Performance

JJ continues his fascination in Chinese architecture with his 2(ish) hour long 2-part public piece, in which he invited kids to draw from old buildings and from their imagination. In the first part the kids with JJ's help drew with chalk some old buildings across the street directly onto the road (Ji An Lu). In the second part they drew on the wall in a demolition site what they imagined the future buildings would look like. Finally, they were asked a few questions about whether they liked old or new buildings and why, and were asked to describe their drawings.

Though it was a planned event, the reactions (to the first part on the busy street) varied so much; some would stop for a long time to see what was going on, others walked past (and on the drawing) without even noticing/caring. The children were quite shy in general but got into the drawing more and more as time went on.

The two parts of the piece complimented each other, each brought out certain things, were different experiences. The first was on a loud and busy street, people walked/biked/drove over the drawing. The latter was very quiet, the kids drew on abandoned walls.

It's interesting to note that there were cameras all around the whole time (including mine). There were some professional cameramen who took video footage and photographs documenting the piece. I wonder if the kids would have behaved differently if there hadn't been so many cameras around, if they didn't feel like they were being watched. I believe the footage will be shown on TV as well? It would perhaps have been more beautiful to have the events take place and leave it at that (without documentation), but then again you wouldn't be able to show it to anyone or stick it in a gallery.

I agree with Amanda that the weakness of this piece is that it was too short. The drawings, if given more time, could have become really really intricate. It felt a bit incomplete as is.

Of course, the footage will be put together and shown in a gallery setting, so we will see how that goes.

the plant house and eyeball building

Not far from Xin Tian Di, J.J. and crew (random children, photographers, cameramen, etc.) "performed" Sunday afternoon (I include photographers and cameramen as well, since they added to the excitement and chaos of the small street. I feel certain pedestrians were drawn by those documenting as much as they were by the actual performance itself.). Starting by himself, J.J. drew the old houses (circa 1920s and 30s) with chalk on the sidewalk. After warming up to the ever-growing and changing audience of those passing by, the children finally joined in, focusing on smaller details such as a window air conditioner unit and window molding.

From the beginning, I felt very intrigued by J.J.'s concept; however, once present, I was almost more interested in watching the various Shanghai passerbys collect and disperse through the duration of the piece. Some even seemed oblivious as they walked over the drawing as J.J. continued to draw. Yet, others were so enthralled that they literally stood and watched for nearly 30-45 minutes.

Other than observing the viewers, I enjoyed watching the children's interactions with each other and J.J. It really reminded me of being that age; I felt an overwhelming sense of nostalgia during both the first and second piece--probably even more through the latter, where the kids were told to draw from their imaginations. In the end, we stood facing a rainbow, high rise skyline with everything from the charming Plant House to a "China" building (the titles were written in English rather than Chinese) which stood proud with both Olympic rings and an scary eyeball perched on top. As I studied the works, I remembered drawing very similar pictures as a child, and hate that I rarely draw anymore, especially in such a creative way.

Reflecting on the piece now, I do wonder if the children were prompted at all to draw skyscrapers. Despite the current building craze, would not even one child decide to draw something much smaller in scale...a pet store, a single house, a hair salon? I must ask J.J. if any unintentional queues were given during his instructions. I also want to know if there are concrete plans for the second site's future; it seemed that some of the area had already been torn down, but people appeared to still live inside at least one home. Lastly, I'm extremely interested in hearing the children's interviews which took place afterwards.

As for negatives...I feel that the duration could have been longer. I know that one can only keep ten yr-olds occupied for so long; however, the first drawing, especially, would have developed even more if given more time, just 10-15 minutes more.

Positions on Chinese Modernity

List of Articles from Chinese Art Magazine

Leng Lin, 'The China Dream' (vol.1, no.1, 3-5) Pi Li, 'My life, my decision: the political nature of Chinese contemporary art' (vol.2, no.5, 15-18) Yin Jinan, 'What next, Ultra-Postmodernism?' (vol.1, no.4, 9-11) Zhu Qi, 'Do Westerners really understand Chinese avant garde art?' (vol.2, no.3, 13-17) Surveys of issues and tendencies Leng Lin, 'Nine Chinese artists' (vol.1, no.5, 3-7) (Wang Guangyi, Yu Youhan, Li Shan, Yue Minjun, Yang Shaobin, Liu Wei, Qi Zhilong, Zeng Fanzhi, Guo Jin) Liao Wen, 'The turbulent history of Chinese feminist values and art' (vol.1, no.2, 3-7) Li Xianting, 'The pluralistic look of Chinese contemporary art since the mid-nineties' (vol.2, no.1, 3-14) Li Xianting, 'Some more thoughts on the raison d'��tre of Gaudy Art' (vol.2, no.2, 3-14) Pi Daojian, 'The history of black-and-white: fifty years of evolution in ink and wash' (vol.2, no.5, 3-13) Pi Li, 'Threading our way through the images' (vol.1, no.3, 9-11) Shimizu Toshio with Robert Bernell, 'Chinese contemporary photography and video art' (vol.2, no.5, 26-30) Wang Yiyang with Robert Bernell, 'The Collection of Dongyu Museum of Fine Arts' (vol.2, no.3, 19-23) Yang Xiaoyan, 'A glimpse into recent contemporary art in Guangzhou' (vol.1, no.4, 3-7) Yang Wei, 'Chinese contemporary art after the move from Yuanmingyuan to Songzhuang' (vol.2, no.5, 20-23) Yi Ying, 'Bad painting' (vol.1, no.3, 3-7) Zhu Qi, 'Why has art become so pretty of late? : an analysis of Chinese avant garde art in the late nineties' (vol.2, no.3, 3-11) Reviews and Events Yi Ying, 'First annual Chinese Contemporary Art Award: a new perspective' (vol.1, no.6, 3-4) Ai Weiwei with Robert Bernell, 'The first Chinese contemporary art awards' (vol.1, no.6, 7-8) Mathieu Borysevicz, 'On Inside Out' (volume 1, no.6, 22-25) Leng Lin, 'Shi wo / It's Me' (Vol.1, no.6, 28-29) Bull, Hank, 'Second Shanghai Biennale' (vol.1, no.6, 38-39) Stephanie Tasch, 'Fast>> Forward: new Chinese video art' (vol.2, no.2, 34-37) Stephanie Tasch, 'Art for Sale' (vol.2, no.3, 37-41) Li Xianting, from 'Polyphenolrene' (vol.2, no.3, p.43) Chinese Art at the Venice Biennale: Francesca Dal Lago: The Virtual Reality of Chinese Contemporary Art (vol.2, no.4, 3-10) Monica Dematt��: Chinese art...It's dAPERTutto! (vol.2, no.4, 12-23) Materials Artist materials Ai Weiwei with Robert Bernell (vol.1, no.6, 8-11) Cai Guoqiang by Huang Du (vol.1, no.5, 12-13) Cai Guoqiang by Britta Erickson (vol.2, no.4, 29-32) Ding Yi by Monica Dematt�� (vol.1, no.2, 13 ) Gu Wenda by Pamela Kember (vol.2, no.3, 28-33) Hong Lei & Wu Xiaojun by Leng Lin (vol.1, no.5, 9) Huang Yongping by Huang Du (vol.1, no.5, 12-14) Huang Yongping by Mathieu Borysevicz (vol.2, no.4, 33-35) Liu Xiaodong by Yi Ying (vol.1, no.1, 7-8) Liu Wei by Li Xianting (vol.1, no.2, 9-10) Ma Liuming by Mathieu Borysevicz (Vol.1, no.6, 43) Xie Nanxing by Harald Szeemann (vol.1, no.6, 14-15) Xu Bing by Britta Erickson (vol.1, no.4, 13-18) Yang Mian by Harald Szeemann (vol.1, no.6, 15-16) Zhan Wang by Britta Erickson (vol.2, no.3, 24-26) Zhuang Hui by Mathieu Borysevicz (vol.1, no.4, 20-24) Zhang Peili by Mathieu Borysevicz (vol.2, no.2, 31-32) Zhang Peili with Francesca Dal Lago (vol.2, no.4, 25-27) Zhang Xiaogang by Zhang Xiaogang (vol.1, no.2, 12) Zhou Tiehai by Harald Szeemann (vol.1, no.6, 13-14) Zhou Tiehai by Natalie Tasch (vol.1, no.6, 18-19)

A visit to 50 Moganshan Road

After the visit to 50 Moganshan Road, I am surprised that actually it is not far away from my home, but I have never heard about such a place before that, because the idea of exploring personal art galleries and museums has almost never occurred to me. 50 Moganshan Road is actually a place called “Shanghai Creative Industry Clustering Park” where many modern artists from both home and abroad establish their own working offices and non –profit exhibition halls. Located along the Suzhou Creek, it has a reputation as “La Gauche de la Seine”,. Sometimes I wonder why so many galleries are rebuilt on the basis of old factories, perhaps that’s because factories can provide space big enough to hold large-scale exhibitions, but to some extent, the restructure of the old factories represents the characteristics of Shanghai as a metropolis: attaching importance to the traditional culture while encouraging innovation. So the visit offered me a good opportunity to further explore both the cultural and historical elements in Shanghai, my hometown, from a brand-new perspective.

During the visit, we made our way to BizArt, H-Space, Eastlink Gallery, Shanghart Gallery. In Art Hub, a lecture was given to introduce an interesting supermarket which sold only products of arts, for examples, T-shirts with special images on them, a camera which can make the photos look like as they are separated into several parts… after the supermarket was declared to open, people swarmed into it .Although the prices were not low, crowds of people were willing to buy the goods as if they were free of charge. Also in the short video, people are interviewed by asking some questions such as “Why do you choose to buy the products of arts”. That also made me rethink on the function of arts. I think that most people buy a lot art goods because they are curious about this new kind of products which they have never seen before. Art does not belong to a group of people, in fact, everyone has the right to enjoy or even create arts. Innovative and creative thoughts are necessary to arts, and even abstract arts can be put into our daily life, creating a sense of freshness and happiness. I believe that if I happen to discover an art supermarket like the one in the video, I will be willing to choose some products of course.

Actually I was most impressed by the works of WeiGuangqing. In his works “100 Surnames”, “Art of War” and “the Zhu’s Family Rules”, he combined the traditional Chinese literature and ancient books with the form of modern art. Take Zhu’s Family Rules as an example, it was created in Song Dynasty, once playing an important role in instructing the younger generations, even now, more or less, it still has an impact on the way of educating children in China. In the exhibition hall, both the ancient original edition and Wei’s work were displayed so that we can get a comparison, in Wei’s works, the original edition was transformed into a new form of Pop Art, which is very popular among young people in western countries in 1950s. Featured by bright colors and consecutive traditional Chinese- style illustrations, Wei’s works reflected his personal thoughts on creating a balance between traditional Chinese culture and contemporary art. In such a society based on commercial civilization, traditional Chinese ethic wisdom can be used as a guide to instruct the behaviors of the people.

I was also impressed by other works such as the Mural of Yuan Dynasty ( it made me feel as if I were stepping into a temple), the traditional Chinese painting of landscape on one’s back, the images of bubbles in ShuYong’s works, and the ridiculous camel head…… anyway, M50 really worths a further exploration.

50 Moganshan area

M50 used to be a factory, and was renamed in 2002. Today, it becomes one of the symbolic areas in Shanghai. Located on the south bank of the Suzhou Creek, it attracts the artists from all over the world. For the past, I know little but its present look helps me trace back to the last century. It is true that we can easily find many active galleries there , with good reputation in China, such as “Bizart” , “Shanghart”. “Eastlink” etc. Maybe it can be called a palace for creative artists.

Unlike the other galleries, most of the workshops there were buildings used as a factory. Each time I entered into is enveloped in a shroud of mystery. No matter the theme is painting ,sculpture , or other creations, the tall building and large hall can be served as a special background.

Quite a lot of works that I saw that day were a bit abstract ,which profound meaning is hardly to understand. Just with some characters, a simple carriage wants to recall what? Easy life? Past time? Or something else? I was lost! Contemporary art always embodies the spirit of the time, after a period of confusion , I thought that maybe the process we looked for the clues was more important than what the artists want to express.

The video presented that day was really impressing! 10 years ago ,just 10 years ago , the art industry in Shanghai was almost undeveloped . All the people were curious about the art products and confused about their usages. And the exhibitions were far away from what we see today. That’s why many artists are trying their best to document all changes in our daily life, using every possible means to remind us with the past and inspire us to the future as well. !10 years later, the surroundings that we are familiar with will totally be replaced by something new. Every day is a new day, if I were an artist , it will be an everlasting theme for my creations. Fantastic, isn’t it ?

Next, I want to talk about the Shanghart since I liked the creations there, especially the old scriptures created by Wei Guangqing. He is good at using the red wall as a visual motif that encourages the viewer to reconsider familiar narratives and styles of images. For example, Sun Tzu The Art of War, he transferred these treatises and rules of war into a cultural symbols as decorative backgrounds, intending to emphasize the new and complicated relations within globalization between China and the rest of the International Community, as the instruction says. For me, I really appreciate his usage of the color red and the light color used is The Zhu Family Instructions. The Zhu Family Instructions have greatly influenced many generations, including many golden words that even useful now. In the modern, whether we are still stick to those rules? A big question mark, I think.

M50 is worth visiting not only for those galleries of different styles but also for the area itself. The whole area with the artists contribute to its charming. Although it is a bit earlier to compare it with those along the Seine in Paris, never forget every day is a new day! The future of M50 ,like the creative industry itself, is beyond imagination and description ……

outline for Week II, III, IV

Hi All,

Below is our outline and openings. Any questions, let me know.
// For Cityweekend Internship to write a Reviews, interested parties please send me resumes.
// For Art-ba-ba- English translation opportunities, I will keep you posted.
In the meantime, can one of you pass this email to John or ask him to contact me? Thanks!

Week II
March 6:
50 Moganshan area:

Below are the names of people you met in person yesterday.
// Bizart- run by Davide Quadrio and Xu Zhen
// East Link _ Li Liang, Pippa Dennis
// Shanghart (Lorenz Helbling, Sine Beppler) & Collector Pierre Huber.

These projects were highlighted during these lectures.
// HIPIC.ORG
// www.art-ba-ba.com
// Art For Sale & Fuck off shows

Optional:
Opens March 7/ Old Scriptures -Wei Guangqing Solo Exhibition at Shanghart
Ends on March 9- Lin Yilin at SGA at 3 on the Bund and Yang Hui at Duolun Museum

Also:
March 9: Paul Andreu at Literary Festival at M on the Bund
March 9: A performance by Jian Jun Zhang (as part of 366) -
Details:
11 am this Sunday, March 9, at 48 Ji An Road, near Ji Nan Road and Hu Bing Road. not far from Xin Tian
Di. The second part of the performance is at 1 pm.

Check the link: http://www.intrude366.com/

Week III

March 13: Post up your reviews on 50 Moganshan and/or JJ's performance as part of 366
(and also your reviews of first week if you were unable to this week)

March 13:
Part I: 1 PM Zhao Chuan Lecture
Part II: You are free at this time. But on duty on March 15. Assignment on Safety show opening March 15, 7 pm (Venue of Exhibition: Fei Art Center, 3rd Floor, No.120 Old Humin Rd.(near Binyang Rd.)- Please note this opening is mandatory, and will count towards class time. Reviews need to be up by March 20.

Optional:
March 14 Opening at Bizart (Korean students)
March 15 Opening- Painting Show at Shanghai Gallery of Art

Week IV
March 20: Postings on Safety show
March 20:
Part I: Zhao Chuan Lecture
Part II: Group meeting: Groups get together to discuss the two lectures and prepare for group response of 15-20 minutes each to be presented on March 27. In contrast what you have seen so far. You will receive your assignments by email. Schedule Group Meetings during the following week if needed.

thoughts 3/6/08

The propaganda museum was wonderful. I would think there are more collectors of Mao posters (or maybe I just don't know about them) and more Mao posters around.

This may be an obvious statement but it is fascinating how time creates art, that it not only does but it must. Everything becomes art when we look back in time.

***

I was very curious to see what the galleries were like in Shanghai. The gallery setting seems so far to be very similar to New York, though maybe a bit less pretentious and a bit smaller.

***

Qiu Anxiong's exhibition was really nice. I loved the rectangular light on the floor, which seemed palpable/inpalpable at the same time. The play on space was beautiful. The videos were certainly nostalgic though the tree/root sculpture and large bug sculpture in the lobby didn't quite fit into the show. And the 2 paintings took so much away from the quiet and beautiful videos. A stronger show would've been a series of those videos in smaller scale.

***

Photography is a medium that is so accessible that there is a lot of same ideas being repeated.

Fischer's photos in the show fall into three categories: the women in water, architectural and abstract patterns, and the series of occupational photos. While the architectural ones are nice it is quite overdone to photograph patterns, and the women in water are creepy and fascinating but I'm not really sure what to make of it. This is a problem I have with art-- some pieces we can't understand/appreciate until we know some more background information. Shouldn't art be able to stand alone? Art is something you look at. If you can't get it from looking at it then why not just communicate through words?

The strongest photos in this show are the series of officer's faces. It has probably been done many times as well but this concept is one that lends itself to repetition. The face is the part of the human body that distinguishes one from the other, the part that holds the most personality and expression. It is always fascinating to look at.