Cai Guo-Qiang’s Peasant da Vincis

Cai Guo-Qiang's Peasant da Vincis

By Amy Chou

The little introduction by Zhang Yiwu in the brochure states, "They
are humble, yet hold incredibly lofty aspirations. Their inventions
are crude and simple, the product of individual stubbornness and
focus, but they have an incredible appeal." Zhang's statement along
with Cai Guo-Qiang's title of the exhibition, Peasant da Vincis,
perfectly sets the stage for the creations put on display in the
Rockbund Art Museum. The purpose of the exhibition is to focus on the
creative minds of nine individual Chinese peasants. Cai spent years
collecting inventions from the peasants and now displays several from
his collection in hopes that his exhibition will encourage discussion
about the "social transformation of hundreds of millions of peasants
in the modernization process in China and their huge contributions to
urban development." In sync with the Shanghai Expo's theme of "Better
City, Better Life", the exhibits theme is "Peasants-Making a better
city, a better life."

In order to enter the buildings, I had to walk into an open plaza
where the surrounding buildings were either dilapidated or under
construction. On the facades of one of the buildings was painted in
large orange calligraphy of an almost Mao-era-like slogan
"Peasants-Making a better city, a better life." Across the plaza was a
blue retaining wall painted with large white calligraphy saying
"What's important isn't whether you can fly." Those slogans painted in
bright colors on dark backgrounds caught my attention immediately. The
large bold characters had a huge impact on me in that they felt like a
heavy weight that could not be ignored.

After buying my ticket in the main Rockbund Art Museum building, I
entered the exhibit. In contrast with the light feeling lobby that is
painted white, the first floor exhibition room is painted black. The
mood changed quickly as my eyes were met with mechanical scraps
suspended in the air in a fishlike design: an engine for the head and
strips of bent wire for the body and the tail. Those mechanical parts
were salvaged from Tan Chengnian's deadly plane crash in 2007. I felt
very somber seeing Tan's wrecked plane, but the way those parts were
suspended in the air also added a light touch. It felt as though the
plane was now a fish flying in the air. To me, it felt as though Tan
was flying freely.

On the second floor, my eyes were met with white walls covered in
black Chinese calligraphy written in different sizes with no
particular page format. Cai had painted each peasant da Vinci's name,
his hometown, and his inventions. The second room contained 55
handmade white bamboo silk kites, each with a projection of the
stories of the inventors. It looked like the kites were really flying
in perfect synchronization. Looking at them and the stories projected
made me feel like I was flying with them through time.

The third floor was a little less dreamlike in that the room looked
like a bit of a mess. However, the room was still very dreamlike in
that interesting looking robots were scattered all across the room.
Since I had just missed the demonstration period, the robots were all
turned off and looked like they were frozen in mid-action.

The fourth, fifth, and sixth floor consisted of one lofty room with
inventions suspended at different levels in the air that could be
viewed differently from each floor. The fourth floor's floor was
covered for the most part with real grass and flower seeds were
planted, too. The only music playing was the natural sound of chirping
from live birds fluttering about in the room. Cai had intended to
create a "lyrical and fairytale-like environment" to express the
"frame of mind behind the peasant inventions."

Each invention was very unique. The inventions displayed were either
aircrafts or submarines. The concept of the largest submarine by Li
Yuming called Twilight No.1 is of a giant fish. My favorite is also by
Li Yuming called Twilight No.6, but this one is a very small submarine
that is beautifully designed with patterns made from nails.

The second part of Cai's exhibition is in the lobby of the National
Industrial Bank building. The moment you enter, you are met with a
20m-long model of an aircraft carrier with small planes on deck. Cai
commissioned Tao Xiangli to construct it from scrap metal on site. The
inside of the carrier is outfitted to look like a small village
theater screening the movie Our Century directed by Artavazd
Peleshian, which is about all of the unknown sacrifices and failures
behind the famous Soviet space expedition. Off to the side in shadow
next to the old bank vault is Tao's submarine frozen in ice. Inside
the bank's vault is a video screening of Out of the Present directed
by Andrei Ujica tells the story of astronauts trapped in space, while
on earth, the Soviet Union collapsed. On the opposite end of the main
lobby is a video screening of Cai's journey from the very beginning to
the realization of his project: Peasant da Vincis.

Cai Guo-Qiang’s Peasant da Vincis

Cai Guo-Qiang’s Peasant da Vincis

By Amy Chou

The little introduction by Zhang Yiwu in the brochure states, “They are humble, yet hold incredibly lofty aspirations. Their inventions are crude and simple, the product of individual stubbornness and focus, but they have an incredible appeal.” Zhang’s statement along with Cai Guo-Qiang’s title of the exhibition, Peasant da Vincis, perfectly sets the stage for the creations put on display in the Rockbund Art Museum. The purpose of the exhibition is to focus on the creative minds of nine individual Chinese peasants. Cai spent years collecting inventions from the peasants and now displays several from his collection in hopes that his exhibition will encourage discussion about the “social transformation of hundreds of millions of peasants in the modernization process in China and their huge contributions to urban development.” In sync with the Shanghai Expo’s theme of “Better City, Better Life”, the exhibits theme is “Peasants-Making a better city, a better life.”

In order to enter the buildings, I had to walk into an open plaza where the surrounding buildings were either dilapidated or under construction. On the facades of one of the buildings was painted in large orange calligraphy of an almost Mao-era-like slogan “Peasants-Making a better city, a better life.” Across the plaza was a blue retaining wall painted with large white calligraphy saying “What’s important isn’t whether you can fly.” Those slogans painted in bright colors on dark backgrounds caught my attention immediately. The large bold characters had a huge impact on me in that they felt like a heavy weight that could not be ignored.

After buying my ticket in the main Rockbund Art Museum building, I entered the exhibit. In contrast with the light feeling lobby that is painted white, the first floor exhibition room is painted black. The mood changed quickly as my eyes were met with mechanical scraps suspended in the air in a fishlike design: an engine for the head and strips of bent wire for the body and the tail. Those mechanical parts were salvaged from Tan Chengnian’s deadly plane crash in 2007. I felt very somber seeing Tan’s wrecked plane, but the way those parts were suspended in the air also added a light touch. It felt as though the plane was now a fish flying in the air. To me, it felt as though Tan was flying freely.

On the second floor, my eyes were met with white walls covered in black Chinese calligraphy written in different sizes with no particular page format. Cai had painted each peasant da Vinci’s name, his hometown, and his inventions. The second room contained 55 handmade white bamboo silk kites, each with a projection of the stories of the inventors. It looked like the kites were really flying in perfect synchronization. Looking at them and the stories projected made me feel like I was flying with them through time.

The third floor was a little less dreamlike in that the room looked like a bit of a mess. However, the room was still very dreamlike in that interesting looking robots were scattered all across the room. Since I had just missed the demonstration period, the robots were all turned off and looked like they were frozen in mid-action.

The fourth, fifth, and sixth floor consisted of one lofty room with inventions suspended at different levels in the air that could be viewed differently from each floor. The fourth floor’s floor was covered for the most part with real grass and flower seeds were planted, too. The only music playing was the natural sound of chirping from live birds fluttering about in the room. Cai had intended to create a “lyrical and fairytale-like environment” to express the “frame of mind behind the peasant inventions.”

Each invention was very unique. The inventions displayed were either aircrafts or submarines. The concept of the largest submarine by Li Yuming called Twilight No.1 is of a giant fish. My favorite is also by Li Yuming called Twilight No.6, but this one is a very small submarine that is beautifully designed with patterns made from nails.

The second part of Cai’s exhibition is in the lobby of the National Industrial Bank building. The moment you enter, you are met with a 20m-long model of an aircraft carrier with small planes on deck. Cai commissioned Tao Xiangli to construct it from scrap metal on site. The inside of the carrier is outfitted to look like a small village theater screening the movie Our Century directed by Artavazd Peleshian, which is about all of the unknown sacrifices and failures behind the famous Soviet space expedition. Off to the side in shadow next to the old bank vault is Tao’s submarine frozen in ice. Inside the bank’s vault is a video screening of Out of the Present directed by Andrei Ujica tells the story of astronauts trapped in space, while on earth, the Soviet Union collapsed. On the opposite end of the main lobby is a video screening of Cai’s journey from the very beginning to the realization of his project: Peasant da Vincis.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Information taken from the Rockbund Art Museum brochure:

Location:

Rockbund Art Museum

20 Huqiu Road, near North Beijing Road, Huangpu District, Shanghai

上海市黄浦区虎丘路20号，近北京东路

Hours:

10:00am-6:00pm, Tuesday-Sunday (last ticketing 5:30pm)

Closed Mondays

Tickets:

Regular: 15RMB

Student: 10RMB

Getting there:

Subway: ten minutes on foot from Exit #2 of East Nanjing Road Station on Line 2

Bus: Lines 20, 21, 25, 939, 928, 65, 61, 220, 19, 167, and Tunnel Line 9

Note: No pictures allowed.

Reflection for Transexperiences: A conversation between Chen Zhen and Zhu Xian

Christina Xiong
Reflection for Transexperiences: A conversation between Chen Zhen and Zhu Xian

Chen Zhen says in his 'self-interview', "That is the beauty of
being a <<migrating creature>> like me, who could examine my own
country and Asia through a polygonal prism". Although at first it was
hard to connect Chen's points, from his definition of a
trans-experience and "short-circuit" to the role of multiculturalism
and art in 'Westernization', I found it easier to understand by
relating his experience to my own. By coming to China, I've not only
gained a different perspective of the country of my supposed "identity
gene", where my family heritage traces back, but also learned more
about America. In the U.S., we focus on our nation's potential, what
lies ahead for us. But by 'zou-ing' and leaving my home in New York,
I've been able to see the other side, what the U.S. represents in the
eyes of the Chinese. Most importantly, I realized that while adapting
to Shanghai's environment, I've been unconsciously comparing the two
cultures. This, according to my interpretation of Chen Zhen's
interview, is 'trans-experience". From taking in communist China's
thoughts on American democracy and comparing it to our own pride in
the ideals of freedom, I've had to "connect the preceding with the
following". From being frustrated over crowded buses and frequent
line-cutters, I've grown to accept Shanghai's distinct social
behavior. The only difference between my own attempt to find a healthy
balance and that of Chen's is 'context'. China, unlike the U.S., which
is filled with 'multiculturalism', is constantly changing.

One of these constantly changing 'context' factors is China's
modernization. Chen believes that many outsiders mistake
modernization, China's social, economic and political transformations,
for "Westernization". Of course economic development, the need to
prove one's existence among Western superpowers, has an impact on the
culture of the people. But its influence does not mean that
modernization controls mass culture. According to Chen, "even though
the concept of multiculturalism was developed in the West, especially
in the United States, you can nonetheless set your own <<rules of the
game>> to shape that space". Therefore, through art, he is not only
trying to express what cannot be said in words, but also taking a part
in shaping this new China. Instead of allowing Chinese culture to be
defined by the many influences of the <<Others>>, he envisions China
as an initiator of a "second tradition" in multiculturalism.

Amy Chou
A Little History of 798 Dashanzi Art District

798 Dashanzi Art District in Beijing's Chaoyang District, compared
to many other creative centers, such as M50 in Shanghai, has a unique
history of its own. 798 was originally built by the East German
government as reparations for World War II. The strange thing is that
those reparations were meant for the Soviet Union. The factory
buildings were built as an example of a "harmonious collaboration
between Socialist countries" and the efforts were led by the Soviet
Union. The complex, built during the 1960s, was built in the Bauhaus
style. The style, known for its simplicity and functionality,
symbolized Mao's ideals of "an advanced Socialist state founded on
heavy industry and Communist ideology." Eventually in the 1990s, the
spacious military electronics factories were abandoned when the
government began to decrease its subsidies for state-run factories.

The first group of artists to use the abandoned complex as art
studios was from the Central Academy of Fine Arts. The large spaces
with many windows for natural light and cheap rent seemed perfect for
the school's sculpture department. Around the same time, an artists'
village near the Old Summer Palace was shutdown by the government.
Contemporary artists, who were evicted from their run-down houses in
1993 and seeking new refuge, discovered 798 and began moving in. While
converting the factories into gallery spaces, many of the artists
requested that the construction workers preserve the high-sweeping
arches of the ceilings and the Communist slogans. The simple factory
facades, red bricks, and old slogans act as echoes from the past.

798 Dashanzi Art District seems to be disconnected from the rest of
Beijing. Compared to the hustle and bustle of the city, 798's serene,
tree-lined roads create the perfect haven for artists and visitors
alike. Due to government restrictions on where foreigners could live
in the 1990s, Chaoyang District became a central location for foreign
embassies and institutions. The galleries in 798 received much foreign
exposure when they first started up and now rely solely on 798's name
to attract visitors from all around the globe.

Minsheng Art Museum (民生现代美术馆) opened on April 18th, 2010 with the
exhibition titled Thirty Years of Chinese Contemporary Art. The
exhibition boasts an impressive collection of 100 original works from
the past 30 years. The works are from 80 different artists including
famous artists such as Xu Bing, Zhao Bandi, Qiu Zhijie, Din Yi, Fang
Lijun, Cai Guoqiang, Zhou Tiehai, and Yang Pei Ming. He Juxing, the
president of the Museum stated that the purpose was "to let audience
review the historic development process of China's contemporary art".

The exhibition space consists of five main rooms and two floors. No.1
and No.2 are on the first floor and No.3-5 are on the second floor.
No.1, No. 3, No. 4, and No. 5 are all a single room, whereas, No.2 is
divided into sections. The walls and ceilings are all painted white
and the floors are painted grey. There is a security guard for each
room and they will follow you around from a distance.

Most of the works are quite large and are usually oil on canvas works.
The works displayed in No.1 have an apparent motif of common people
and laborers. When you first enter No.2, the motif seems to be about
Christianity, but as you move on into the next section, the motif
begins to blur. By the time I was finished looking at the works in
No.2, I had no idea what the common theme was that strung those pieces
together. No.3's works mainly consisted of portraits, but the
portraits made me feel a little uneasy. No.4 and No.5's motifs are
also unclear.

There is an entrance fee. A regular ticket is 20RMB and a student
ticket is 5RMB. You have to check-in your bags, but you can bring in a
camera.

Bldg F, 570 Huaihai Xi Lu,
near Kaixuan Lu

淮海西路570号F座，
近凯旋路

Amy Chou

Amy Chou

The Women on Women Exhibit is set in the beautiful Taoist Hong Miao,
literally meaning 'Red Temple,' built in the Ming Dynasty. Renovated
and reopened as a gallery in 2006, the Hong Miao Gallery's ancient
interior design, high ceilings, and windows allows outer light to
stream in adding an ambience that other galleries are unable to
achieve. Complimenting the female Buddha, Guan Yin, who is situated in
the temple, the exhibit displays works from eight women artists all
striving to show their thoughts about the society around them. Ann Yen
(Chinese), Barbara Edelstein (US), Chen Xiao Dan (Chinese), Christin
Kalweit (Germany), Gao Qian (Chinese), Lige Ye (Chinese), Virginie
Lerouge Knight (French). The works are created from a range of media
from a sculpture made of sponges to traditional paintings. One
particular piece that I liked was by Lige Ye. Her hanging scrolls of
traditional rice paper had paintings of floating faceless people. The
fact that there was no face made it difficult to connect with the
people in the paintings, but at the same time, it felt like there was
a connection to all people. Most of the other Chinese artists' works
were done traditionally and seemed to be more about looking beautiful
than carrying a political message.

MinSheng Bank Art Museum Reviews for this week by Christina Xiong

Title of Exhibition: 30 Years of Chinese Contemporary Art at the
MinSheng Art Museum, Shanghai

Artists (more than 80 artists) Include:  Shi Chong, Wang Chuan, Zhou
Chunya, Cheng Conglin, Chen Danqing, Fei Dawei, Shao Dazhen, Peng De,
Fan Dian, Jia Fangzhou, Yang Feiyun, Chao Ge, WEI Guangqing, Wang
Guangyi, Hou Hanru, Lu Hong, Yu Hong, Wang Huangsheng, Wu Hung, Xu
Jiang, Geng Jianyi, Yin Jinan, Zhao Li, Fang Lijun, Wang Lin, Meng
Luding, Zhong Ming, Gao Minglu, Yue Minjun, Lv Peng, Wen Pulin, Zhu
Qingsheng, Shu Qun, Li Shan, Jin Shangyi, Gao Shiming, Yin Shuangxi,
Liao Wen, Li Xianting, Liu Xiaochun, Liu Xiaodong, Zhang Xiaogang, Li
Xiaoshan, Ai Xuan, Mao Xuhui, Ding Yi, Yi Ying, YU Youhan, Yin
Zhaoyang, Luo Zhongli, Huang Zhuan

The name of this exhibition seems to speak for itself, featuring a
collection and "coming together" of various Chinese Contemporary Art
ever since 1979. Before visiting the exhibition, I had just returned
from a trip to the YunNan province, known for its diversity and
presence of over 25 ethnic minorities. During our stay in Shangri-La,
we had our first encounter with a predominant Tibetan population, an
experience that certainly resonates with Chen Danqing's Tibetan
series. As a leading realist painter, Chen is known for contributing
largely to breaking away from authority. Despite the general Han
Chinese perception of ethnic minorities as inferior, Chen portrayed
them as a "dignified" group, determined to follow their own values and
principles. This is very typical of what I saw in Shangri-La. Many of
these Tibetans still led pastoral lives, farming and herding yak and
yet, they were perfectly satisfied with their conditions. Moreover, as
our Tibetan driver put it, they desired and demanded every hint of
respect, a sign of equality and offer of friendship. Thus, the truth,
often hidden and difficult to attain, is very much apparent in Chen's
works, from two men in town to a couple carrying a child and striding
(Tibet 1982) forward.  In reality, this concept of expressing the
feelings of the common people, whether it be depression during
political strife, excitement over a new age or uncertainty over
materialism, correlates with the museum's aim of showing China's
history through different perspectives.

Another piece that I liked at the MinSheng Art Museum was Fang Lijun's
1998 work, 98.10.1, which once again included the same bald men with
ambiguous expressions. Fang Lijun is a cynical realist and often, his
works consist of an underlying satire and mockery. However, I'm used
to seeing more scrunched up faces and more surprised by his use of
vibrant colors and falling flowers. As you can see in the picture I
took, the faces, looking up into the sky, express more amazement,
sudden realization and thought. It reminds me of rural farmers who,
having not felt a drop of rain in years, is ironically taken aback by
the fortunate turn of events. Once again, this painting is also very
"timely" in that it symbolizes wonder, and the surprising optimism
towards China's future at the turn of the century.

Response to “Transexperiences” by Melody Song

Melody Song

Response to "Transexperiences"

I think the interview of Chen Zhen by Zhu Xian was very profound.

The discussion revolved around how leaving China for France in 1986
affected Chen Zhen's art and perspective on life.

Chen Zhen discussed how leaving China allowed him to break away from
all he had known – the Chinese culture, himself, and his
relationships. By not being fully integrated into Chinese or French
culture (or by being a part of both), Chen Zhen reached a
"transexperiential" state. It is a position where he can see the
conflicts and exchanges between these cultures, their similarities,
and transcend cultural paradigms of thought to reach a more global,
humanity-centered outlook. Chen Zhen is like a ghost that is "loosed"
from his cultural ties and previous perspectives. He can observe human
networks and society in a more objective, and also understanding way.
He "does not belong to anybody, yet [he] is in possession of
everything."
This manner of observing and absorbing things, of seeing networks
among culture and people, becomes Chen Zhen's stable approach to the
world. His attitude towards life (which feeds his art) is constant
amidst the physical changes around him. He quotes that even if we
travel ten thousand miles on the globe, "we should be able to move our
body with our heart remaining still." Chen Zhen means that he holds an
internal peace and attitude that is aloof from exterior surroundings.

I follow a similar life perspective with Chen Zhen. I was brought up
in Korea all my life, but always received an American education. I
rarely had Korean friends who went to Korean school and followed the
"average" Korean track in life. However, when I went to the US for my
university degree, I had immense culture shock. I was neither Korean
nor American. This sense of physical homelessness and loneliness made
me make "myself" (my interior) a home. Wherever I go, I am at peace,
because I am at home with my values and open outlook on life. My
belief in God contributes to this. An analogy would be the sea.
Although the exterior world may rain down on the surface or change
temperatures, the deep inner core of the sea remains constant and
peaceful. It is never changing. I think this way of thinking develops
when a physical home ceases to exist.

The Minsheng Art Museum by Alexa Haas

The Minsheng Art Museum
Thirty Years of Chinese Contemporary Art 1979-2009

This exhibit marked the opening of this new museum, and it proves
itself to be quite promising. Visitors follow a path and linearly go
through the decades (Though the work itself is not in any
chronological order, and I wonder why). It is a unique experience to
look through a collection is the context of its place in history.
There was one viewer who literally ran through each room, looking at
the plaque, glancing at the work then running to the next one.
Literally, running. There is a somewhat clear line in the shifts of
the work, but those clear divisions are continuously stepped on and
redefined. At the end of Exhibition Hall 2 you can see the rise of
color, while the 1980s remains very Earthy. Particularly when you
reach Exhibition Hall 3 ~ the 2000s, there is the rise of pink ~hot
pink~ which I'd like to coin as the 'color of our generation.' We can
see this quite obviously in Li Shan's 2001 work, "Reading" to Liu
Wei's neon "Landscape" in 2008. I think hot pink has a specific
connotation for this era in time, for some reason its usage just looks
like it was made in the 2000s. It is the same in America, if we look
at musical artist Dan Deacon's performance art or Os Gemeos' new mural
on Houston Street. This neon pink represents happiness and the
playfulness of the work, because it does not conjure any negative
feelings, it is just highly pleasant for the eye to look at.

Double Infinity by Alexa Haas

Double Infinity

In the Double Infinity exhibit, artist Liu Gong has a photo of a
satellite town in Shanghai where it is made to replicate a little
Holland. His photo is of a real tree in front of a billboard of a
picture of a windmill in little Holland. At the opening of the
exhibit, we talked to him. A student asked, "Why doesn't the plaque
say that it is a billboard? Or else no one will know!" He replied by
saying, when people look at it everyone has their own interpretation,
even if there was a plaque. This interpretation is always
misinterpretation, always a miscommunication between the artist and
the viewer. He pointed out, "Even right now, talking, we are
miscommunicating. I am explaining to you my idea, but you understand
my words on your own terms, and not the way I am thinking…We can't
fully explain to each other what we are thinking."

Historian Lynn Pan, mentioned that you cannot understand a
culture without understanding the language. I read online that she
does not consider Amy Tan, the writer of The Joy Luck Club, as Chinese
but as an American, on account that Amy Tan does not speak Chinese and
therefore does not understand the Chinese mindset. There are words in
every language that another language cannot translate. And in that
there are entire concepts and observations of the world that cannot be
articulated full from language to language.

John Lennon in his song 'How?' has this line, "how can I have
feeling when I don't know if it's a feeling" There are feelings and
emotions that different languages note on. In Japanese, おもいしろい
(omoishiroi) is often translated into English as interesting, but it
really means interesting in the sense that it is very funny. In
Portuguese there is a word saudade which means longing for something
you never had, sort of. It cannot be fully conveyed in English words.
In Chinese 开心 (kai xin ~ open heart) is constantly being translated to
me in two different ways: funny or happy, so I am still sort of unsure
how to use it. There is an eternal disconnect from country to country,
culture to culture, person to person. This is miscommunication.

Culture and morals are embedded in the language. The Double
Infinity symposium held last weekend was trying to figure out what
would be written in the textbooks of our era ~ to figure out if a
globalized history is possible ~ and to have a conversation between
different countries' timelines. One of the speakers, an art historian,
Dr. Paul Gladston asked if it was even possible to have a unified
history of anything. Specifically with China and 'The west,' who to
their core have huge philosophical differences in their outlooks on
life; societal, religious, sexual, cultural differences. He said our
timelines would have "polaristic narrative."

For the whole weekend I listened to Chinese artists speak about
their art, opinions and lives through these rechid headphones and an
Chinese to English translator's heavy breathing and salivating mouth.
I couldn't help but feel like I was missing something entirely. The
audience would laugh and I heard nothing funny. The entire weekend
revolved around this whole idea of miscommunication. I would be
writing down quotes of the artists, but in the translator's words. I
couldn't help but feel like I was looking at this entire event through
her eyes and her own personal opinions on the matter. During the
English speakers, the speakers would often use words I didn't even
know, so I wondered how it was translated into Chinese. Did the
translator know these words? English is especially hard to translate,
I would imagine, because one definition has so many words. And each
other those words are used in a specific context that one could only
know after hearing it used in those contexts! How difficult it is to
get around this miscommunication!

At the end of the first day of the symposium, there was a
performance revolving around this very idea. It was called "Rites of
Passage" by Julika Rudelius. A native English speaker stands at the
front of a line with four Chinese translators. They play a game of
telephone, translating her English phrase to Chinese, back to English,
then back to Chinese and finally at the end we see how it was
ultimately translated in english. In this performance, or experiment a
sentence goes through 5 different contexts. 5 different outlooks on
the world. The story Julika Rudelius was telling was kind of
scandalous, with a strong erotic feeling through the entire thing. In
the English translation at the end this raunch was hardly every
conveyed. Every language has their own poetics. English has their own
idioms. The Chinese language definitely has their little sayings and
three character sentences that I think native-Westerners will never
fully understand.

What does this all mean? I don't really know. It's sort of a
pity that we will always misunderstand each other, but it's sort of
beautiful. I am so scared that during this time of Chinese
'modernization' in light of the Western model, that Chinese ideals
will lose itself. I don't even like how the West has modernized,
because they forgot about Mother Nature in doing so! But an
appreciation of the body, and nature and the heavens are embedded in
the Chinese language, so hopefully the Chinese can reinterpret the
definition of modernization.

“Phoenix Project” Unveiled at Today Art Museum, Beijing, On View Through April 6th, 2010

From:

Xu Bing Studio Blog

“Phoenix Project” Unveiled at Today Art Museum, Beijing, On View Through April 6th, 2010

Posted in Exhibition, Phoenix Project, Upcoming Lecture by xubing on March 26, 2010

“Phoenix Project” Unveiled in Beijing

Events include outdoor installation, document exhibition, catalogue and series of scholarly lectures…

Xu Bing Studio is pleased to announce the inaugural public exhibition of Xu Bing’s towering Phoenix Project at the Today Art Museum, Beijing.

Consisting of two 28 meter long birds pieced together from construction debris gathered at the site of the new Beijing World Financial Center and weighing 12 tons, the Phoenix Project will be on display, suspended from cranes in front of the Today Art Museum, from March 28th to April 6th, 2010. As the sun sets each night, small light emitting diodes embedded within the phoenixes will illuminate in a constellation like pattern.

In addition to the outdoor installation of Xu Bing’s phoenixes, The Today Art Museum will also host a document exhibition of sketches, reports and models providing insight into the artist’s creative process (March 28th to April 16th) and an exciting series of talks focused on the Phoenix Project (March 28th). Speakers include critically acclaimed director Jia Zhangke, renowned critic Li Tuo, President of The Central Academy of Fine Arts Pan Gongkai, poet Ouyang Jianghe, and the artist.

Organizers: Today Art Museum, Xu Bing Studio, Ravenel Art Group
Opening Reception: 4pm, 27 March, 2010
Outdoor Installation: March 28th– April 16th, 2010
Document Exhibition: March 28th – April 16th, 2010
Venue: Art Square & Building No.1, Today Art Museum
Address: Pingguo Community, No.32 Baiziwan Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing
Tel: 8610-58760600-100
Website: www.todayartmuseum.com

——————

Xu Bing Phoenix Academic Conference: 28 March, 2010
Venue: 2nd floor exhibition hall of building No.1

Conference 1: 10:00-13:00
The Origin and Meaning of the Phoenix
Keynote Speaker: Li Tuo

Capital and Art: Tension within Conspiracy
Keynote Speaker: Jia Zhangke

Conference 2: 14:00-17:00
Phoenix: The Intersection between Art and Reality
Keynote Speaker: Pan Gongkai
Guest Speaker: Ouyang Jianghe

Returning to the Basics of Art: Understanding the Artistic
Language of the Phoenix
Keynote Speaker: Xu Bing

Olafur Eliasson and Ma Yansong at Ullens Center for Contemporary Art

Olafur Eliasson and Ma Yansong at Ullens Center for Contemporary Art

Olafur Eliasson, "Your Atmospheric Colour Atlas", 2009. Courtesy the artist: Gallery Koyanagi, Tokyo. Photo: Studio Olafur Eliasson. ©2009 Olafur Eliasson.

BEIJING.- The Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA) presents the exhibition "Feelings are Facts", from 3 April to 20 June 2010, fruit of the first collaboration between Olafur Eliasson, the Danish-Icelandic artist, and Ma Yansong, one of the most prolific Chinese architects. Together the artists have created an installation specially conceived for the of UCCA’s Big Hall, uniting architecture, light and fog. Eliasson is known for his exploration of human perception, and he often works with light, shadows, color, water, wind, or fog to create a specific environment in order to move us to think about our experience of our surroundings – perceptions we usually take to be self-evident. Ma's architecture stands at the forefront of new experimentation in building structures, refashioning form in bold pursuits of perfection. Their collaboration invites the audience to enter an endless space of fog, with color emanating from fluorescent tubes of red, green and blue. By moving through the space, the colors blend, and so the viewers will endlessly create their own color spectrums. In Feelings are facts, Olafur Eliasson and Ma Yansong challenge our everyday patterns of spatial orientation, thereby suggesting the need to invent new models for perception. The installation was specially crafted to fit the Big Hall of the UCCA, the dimensions of which were altered by substantially lowering the ceiling and constructing an inclined wooden floor. “UCCA is proud to present Feelings are facts, an exhibition which catalyzes a dynamic cross-fertilization between art and architecture. The final result is born of a unique collaboration between Eliasson and Ma. This breathtaking installation promises to transport the viewer on a journey which reverses his normal art experience. Here the spectator, rather than simply viewing an art object from the outside, surprisingly witnesses himself becoming an integral part of the artwork. The viewer enters a world of extra-sensorial perception whereby color, light and architecture enable him to re-evaluate his relationship with his surroundings,” says UCCA Director, Jérôme Sans. Basing this project on a series of previous experiments with atmospheric density, Eliasson introduces condensed banks of artificially produced fog into the gallery. Hundreds of fluorescent lights are installed in the ceiling as a grid of red, green, and blue zones. By permeating the fog, these lights create colored walk-through spaces that, in Eliasson’s words, function to ‘make the volume of the space explicit’. The colored zones introduce a scale of measurement in the gallery, their varying size and organization referencing urban-planning grids. At each color boundary, two hues blend to create transitional slivers of cyan, magenta, or yellow, and so the visitors will create their own unique color spectrum when making their way through this seemingly endless space. The artists use this structural marvel to present inquiries into the nature of reality. What should be the basis of our thinking and judgement in a space where reality and illusion interconnect? As we stand amidst such accomplished phenomena, can we re-examine with greater concern our sensations and experiences of that which is around us? Olafur Eliasson is a Danish-Icelandic artist living in Copenhagen and Berlin. Upon completing his studies at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 1995, Eliasson established Studio Olafur Eliasson in Berlin. His Berlin studio today numbers around thirty craftsmen, architects, geometrists, art historians, and other cultural workers. In his studio, he deploys light, colour, and natural phenomena such as fog and waves to test how physical movement, sensual engagement, and the interaction of body and brain influence our perception of our environment. Eliasson represented Denmark at the 50th Venice Biennale in 2003 and later that year installed The Weather Project in the Turbine Hall of Tate Modern, London. In 2006, on the occasion of the reopening of Palazzo Grassi, Venice, Eliasson realised a special commission for the façade on the Grand Canal: Your Wave is. Take your time, a survey exhibition organised by San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in 2007, travelled to several venues in the United States and is currently on display at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney. Eliasson has engaged in a wide array of public space projects, including the Flower pavilion, as part of the 5th Shenzhen International Public Art Exhibition in Shenzhen, 2003, the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2007 in London, designed with Kjetil Thorsen; and The New York City Waterfalls, commissioned by Public Art Fund in 2008. As professor at Universität der Künste Berlin, Eliasson also founded the Institut für Raumexperimente in 2009, a public educational research project affiliated with the College of Fine Arts at the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK). Feelings are facts is the first time Eliasson has worked with Chinese architect Ma Yansong and is his first exhibition in China. Ma Yansong, originally from Beijing, received his Master of Architecture from the Yale University School of Architecture in 2002. Prior to founding MAD in 2004, Ma worked as a project designer with Zaha Hadid Architects in London and Eisenman Architects in New York. He has taught architecture at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. His works have won numerous international design competitions, including: the 2006 Absolute Tower Competition in Toronto which is under construction and scheduled to complete in 2011. Ma’s work has been exhibited internationally. Two of his projects WTC Rebuilt – "Floating Island" and "Fish tank" were featured at the Beijing Architectural Biennale and the National Art Museum of China in 2004. His art installation "Ink Ice" was featured in the Chinese Calligraphy Art exhibition in 2005. In 2006, "MAD" was shown at the "MAD" in China exhibition in Venice during the 10th Architecture Biennial, and the "MAD" Under-Construction exhibition at the Tokyo Gallery in Beijing. In 2007, "MAD" in China, a floating city of MAD's work, was shown at the Danish Architecture Centre in Copenhagen, Denmark. MAD’s concept proposal, "Super Star-A Mobile China Town" was on exhibition in the Uneternal City of the 11th Architecture Biennale in Venice. In 2009, MAD was featured in the exhibition, "Heart-Made, The Cutting-Edge of Chinese Contemporary Architecture in Brussels", for the Europalia-China.

Artist/activist Ai Weiwei has produced an eight-part documentary about his last trip to Chengdu in August 2009 to testify on behalf of imprisoned acti

From http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2010/04/ai-weiwei-艾未未-laoma-tihua-老妈蹄花-video/

Ai Weiwei (艾未未): Laoma Tihua (老妈蹄花) (Video) (Updated)
Artist/activist Ai Weiwei has produced an eight-part documentary about his last trip to Chengdu in August 2009 to testify on behalf of imprisoned activist Tan Zuoren. The video includes footage of the incident in which Ai was beaten by security guards. Ai later underwent emergency brain surgery while traveling in Germany due to injuries sustained during the beating.

On Twitter, Ai Weiwei said today that he returned to the Xi’an Road police station in Chengdu, together with lawyer Xia Lin, Professor Ai Xiaoming, and three documentary filmmakers to file a report about the beating. He spent four hours filling out forms. The police brought one video camera and Ai’s crew had four, so the two sides videotaped each other throughout the process.

The video below has English subtitles. Thanks to Diane Gatterdam for providing the links.

The video below has English subtitles. Thanks to Diane Gatterdam for providing the links.

Update: ChinaGeeks summarizes the key moments of the film, and gives an update on Ai’s recent activities, here.

Update: ChinaGeeks summarizes the key moments of the film, and gives an update on Ai’s recent activities, here.

Zhou Tie Hai by Christina Xiong

Artist name: Zhou Tie Hai by Christina Xiong

Zhou Tie Hai, a local Shanghainese artist who works from his Moganshan Lu studio, is one of the leading conceptual artists in China. Although he was originally trained as a painter and designer, Zhou Tie Hai is more known for his satiric representations, and “poking fun at the absurdities lurking behind China's contemporary art scene”(ArtZine). After visiting his “Desserts” collection at MOCA Shanghai, I became deeply impressed by his ability and love for “conceiving ideas”. Unlike other artists, he does not paint his own works. Instead, the entire process includes conceptualizing an already-existing piece, directing his staff to create digitized replicas and to alter certain aspects of the original work to fit his own concept. All of the computer-generated images are done by his staff, which makes me wonder, for a man who admits that he doesn’t know how to use Photoshop, how is Zhou Tie Hai so successful?

Besides his unique implementation and perfection of air-brush painting styles from the 1990s, Mr. Zhou is an essential figure to the “emergence of Western modernism” (Allen) and influence in Chinese contemporary art. Compared to his compatriots, Zhou Tie Hai could be considered as revolutionary. Whereas local artists of his time portrayed Communist ideals, from Mao Ze Dong to “red guards with Coke bottles, Zhou created fake Western art and news magazine covers” (HoneWatson) Perhaps his most well-known works are the “Joe Camel” paintings, in which the head of this American cigarette icon is affixed to a variety of settings, from a European noblewoman to more recently, Koons’s “Michael Jackson and the Bubbles”. I believe that it is this rebellious nature and creativity of the artist, along with public’s openness and desire to see Western elements in Chinese art, that made Mr. Zhou one of the most influential artists today, even internationally. He once said, "The way foreigners thought about Chinese art was too simple," he said. "They just thought about politics. So I thought I'd do something different."

2010MOMMY基金方案征集

Mommy Foundation after two projects in 2009 continues its work
presenting following projects:

Project supported by Mommy Foundation:

Exhibition: Hai Bao is coming- Young artists of Shanghai subject
photograph exhibition

Time: April 17th-June 30th, 2010

Address: Red One Art Area,Caochangdi, JiChangFu Road,Chaoyang District,Beijing.

Exhibition: "The Youth Sale Store"

Time: June26th-30thSeptember,2010

Address: Pekin Fine Arts, Beijing

“Women on Women” at the Hong Miao Gallery

Christina Xiong

Artist names: Yan Zheng'an, Chen Xiaodan, Gao Qian, Li Geye, Barbara Edelstein, Virginie Lerouge Knight, Christin Kalweit and Zane Mellupe

Experiencing art involves connecting history and one's environment to
the artist's own perspective. When I first walked into the gallery, I
did not know the history of the Hong Miao temple. However, I was
familiar with the "Guan Yin Pu Sha" from folklore; her presence on
altars in the temple created a feminine ambience, one of unconditional
love, compassion and kindness. Of course, this personification of the
"patron of mothers" is one way of viewing what an ideal woman should
be. However, the roles of women seem to change with time and our
cultural environment. As I have observed from the artwork, even women
themselves, have different reflections on how their own identities fit
into society. Among the 8 female artists, there are two distinct
groups; 4 of them are Shanghainese, the other 4, Westerners. I am
curious about this grouping based on nationality. How do Chinese and
Western artists' perspectives differ?

The Western artists featured at Women on Women seem to be more vibrant
and assertive with their opinions. For example, Christin Kalweit's
prints on canvas express discontent with the domestic life commonly
associated with women and encourage women to unite and liberate
themselves, especially since "my hands are of your color". "Cycle"
resembles a month of 30 days on a calendar, symbolizing stages in life
or what is expected, especially motherhood, of a woman. Barbara's Tree
of Life notes the importance of the "life-giving and life-sustaining"
abilities of a woman. Like the roots of a tree, women give birth and
provide sustenance for diverse civilizations (leaves) and it is
because of this, women should be even more confident about their
roles. I feel that this concept of empowering women is somewhat
lacking in a few pieces by the Chinese artists. Li Ge Ye, in
"Floating", certainly portrays the challenging environment that women,
as an underrepresented group, face. Whereas the women are just
"floating", struggling to navigate the waters, men seem to be moving
forward. Although this piece certainly brings to point a female's life
difficulties, I feel that the tone is less liberal than Kalweit's
pieces. Personally, it serves less as a motivating force for me to
take initiative, because there is less of a connection. Then again,
perhaps this is Li Ge Ye's objective. This more conservative
perspective can very well be associated with the cultural norms that
she grew up with.

“Make Over Exhibition” at the Oriental Vista Gallery

Christina Xiong

Artist names: Bird Head, Chen Hangfeng, Jutta Friedrichs, Gao Mingyan,
Ben Houge, Jiang Hongqing,

 Ji Wenyu, Jin Feng, Maya Kramer, Lu Jiawei, Ning Zuohong, Qiu
Anxiong, Christina Shmigel, Su Chang, Wu Ding

The entrance and appearance of the gallery itself is a piece of art.
From its barbed wire, camouflage print, goldfish, and sacks forming a
barricade around the automatic front door, I expected the Make Over
exhibition to be unique, modern and an artist's innovative approach to
expression. Unlike the Propaganda Poster Art Collection, the pieces at
Make Over invited a lot more interaction with guests. Whereas the
slogans and pictures portrayed on the Propaganda posters were blatant
and obvious with respect to Chinese history and the major events
occurring during the same time period.

A Review on Dingyi’s Artwork after studio visit

On the first sight of Dingyi’s artwork ,it stroke on me the name of a linguist---Ferdinand de Saussure. He holds the idea that language is nothing but linguistic signs, which is composed of signifier and the signified, and possibly has a referent. That seems to be the same with Ding’s work, which express no specific meaning from the surface. His series artworks of cross-tens are fill with these elements of all colors , thus making irregular patterns at random. Ding said that he wanted to return to the simplest way of expressing and what truly conveyed by these artworks were hard to define. He tried his best to avoid traditional way of expressing emotionally but to be logically by giving of figures (yixiang in Chinese) striving for signs. Surly, it turned out to be a big success in Ding’s work People of different culture and civilization can be deeply impressed by the considerable quantities of glorious and shining cross-tens at first sight. Taking a close look ,all the cross-tens are delicately painted .As if you turn a distant view of the artwork, ignoring all the small components ,you’ll find bigger cross-tens mixed up with numerous and uncountable small cross-tens.

But to me ,I wonder what’s the different inherent among all these cross-tens series. It was really frustrating .So I asked Ding .He said that kind of meaningless was the symbol of contemporary art. But to different audience .You could make sense from them through your own experience. For example ,from these shining cross-tens ,you can get a feeling of vigor of the city and modern life. It all depends.

That may be true.But it’s still hard for me to figure out the meaning of these artworks .I guess maybe they are just signs depicting the irregular life of modern society and people’s hazy of the life and choice while confronting crossroads

“Desserts” at Moca Shanghai

Christina Xiong

Title of Exhibition: “Desserts” at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA)
Artist names: Zhou Tiehai

When I think of France, I think of not only its lavish and yet violent political history, but also its fashion, luxury and beauty, all of which are aspects its language and food – as the title of this exhibition suggests. The collection hosts about 400 pieces, all of which carry the deep-rooted cultural and historical past associated with the names of 12 desserts: “diplomat, juge, ministre, prof, commissaire, sycophante, caroleuse, blancheresse, financier, bouffon, chiffonnier and sabotajnik”. When I had first entered the museum, I was confused, struggling to find a connection between the chocolate tart and a courtroom of judges, or a strawberry mousse cake and bargirl. However, it soon made sense because Zhou, with his ironic approach and amusing displays, is stimulating our “intellectual appetite” by offering us a different perspective on the character of French culture.

I was interested in the way women were portrayed at various points in time, from a replica of Marie Antoinette, to a ballet dancer, bargirl at a nightclub, or a professional model. Although the pieces were not arranged in chronological order, I did notice that each new generation had a more “sophisticated” connotation. Traditionally, whereas men were the breadwinners of the family, women were used for marriage negotiations, selling their beauty for a climb up the social ladder. Marie Antoinette, who once said, “Let them eat cake”, is very much like the cakes next to her. She is covered up with make-up and “decorated” with extravagant dresses. Ultimately, her sex appeal is what upholds or what has become, her status. As a woman strives to create her own career, an attempt to free herself from the binding social norms, she, like the dancer spreading her arms out, may succeed. Nevertheless, it is still difficult to permanently escape from the perception of inferiority. Even the successful models (seen on next page), coated with vibrant and florid designs, are like edible desserts.

on National Grand Theatre of China

From: Alexa Haas

The geomancer of the Ming Dynasty who designed the city of Beijing,
"traced the body of Nezha, a young God credited with taming the waters
of the Beijing plain." His Eight-armed body became the structure of
Beijing's layout. Originally, a landmark in the city represents each
of his organs and ligaments: Zhengyang Gate at the South of Tian'anmen
are his eyes (Mao must have known, since he preserved them).
Tian'anmen Square is his brain. The road on the North-South axis into
the Forbidden City is his esophagus. (Ian Johnson, Wild Grass) Now
with the new egg-building 'National Grand Theatre of China' just 500
meters from Tian'anmen, Nezha will turn to his left and wonder "Whose
egg is this?!" Little does he realize there is an Olympic bird's nest
in the city beside his feet.

"The decision to build the Grand National Theatre in a place of such
historical and symbolic import clearly testifies to the importance
given to culture in its relationship with history and the contemporary
world. In such a context, it was out of the question to make an
obscure, less prominent building of lesser importance. But neither
could it pretend to be an isolated structure onto itself. For this
reason, we strove to create a building that shows respect for the
buildings around it…"

(http://www.archdaily.com/1218/national-grand-theater-of-china-paul-andreu/)

I wonder had Paul Andreu and other developers had researched the
architecture and symbols of Beijing? Old Beijing followed the
principle: Earth is square, and heaven is round. Is there a deeper
meaning to this opera house being round? It then becomes a physical
representation of the break in the link from the past and now.
Beijing, though, was a masterpiece.

Beijing was a perfect representation of primitive human thought,
solely based on our five senses and the mystery that lie beyond that.
Before science, before world maps, before the future. This was the
center of the Earth. The entire city was a shrine to the heavens, a
home for heaven's son. "They said that this Beijing was the earthly
termination of the axis of the universe…" (Jeffrey F. Meyer, The
Dragon's of Tiananmen) It was, I cannot stress, perfect. Every detail.
Perfect. It had to be. This is the heavens we are talking about! Does
society no longer ponder the mystery of the heavens? Even NASA still
has questions. Maybe the ancient Chinese were wrong about it being the
center of the Earth, why must we no longer honor their conviction? I
cannot help but mourn the old layout of Beijing. Why can't we just add
to it! This egg to me is foolish really ~ he sits next to Nezha like a
true bastard, saying "You were wrong, you old and dying man ~ I am the
new baby, I represent the truth."

--