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Category Archives: Art
Ramen Infographic
Filed under Art, Design, Food, Propaganda
One Tiger Eight Breasts
the image now known as “一虎八奶图” one tiger, eight breasts (I can only spot 4)
According to an article in the Guardian : Ai Weiwei is now being charged with spreading ‘pornographic’ images all over the web. Ai invited some 网友 (net friends) over to his studio, shot some nudies and put them up on the web and then forgot he had done so. The Chinese government view Ai as a tax evading dissident who is supported and praised by those in the west. The government are often cracking down on online pornography (they arrested 5,394 for disseminating online porn in 2009)
Ai told associated press: “If they see nudity as pornography, then China is still in the Qing dynasty,”
In a similar story the French government have removed works of Henri Matisse from gift shops all over Paris and put his grandson under house arrest.
Filed under Art, censorship, Dispute, Fashion, Politics, Propaganda
Ēggel hazâhâḇ flak at “Best Village in China”
Not since Aaron’s notorious idol misjudgement on Mount Sinai has a life-size aureate bovine caused quite such a stir. Jiangsu Party guy Wu Renbao’s decision to install a £31m solid gold statue of an ox on the 60th floor of rural Huaxi’s new 1,076ft supertower has been branded a gross extravagance by some, particularly as many of the farmers who live in its shadow earn low wages.
you COW!
Villagers have reportedly started a helicopter business to give visitors a better view of the tower – which could be seen as indicative of the sort of Wu-instilled entrepreneurial zeal that has made Huaxi one of the richest villages in China and led to him to be decorated as a “Top National Contributor to Poverty-Alleviation”. However I am not convinced of the long term economic rewards of skyscraper one-upmanship.
That Ai Wei Wei controversial review of Beijing in full.
So you want to know what its like being in a Chinese state prison? It is a bit like the Kafka-esque nightmare of trying to get a westbound cab on a street that only goes east. I tried to make Beijing my home. Built a nest.
But a bird like me needs a solid tree for my nest. Beijing is a withering polluted willow tree. Having said that, there are some great places to go for cocktails.
If you want a cheap and cheerful night in Beijing. Mix and Vics are a safe bet. Blu bar is pretty cool.
Lychee Martinis are excellent in Beijing. It is really hard to get a cab sometimes. In summer Beijing gets super stuffy. Aircon is a must.
Apartments are getting more and more expensive. You can pay a fortune in Chaoyang for a room that is barely the size of a cell. (I should know). The apple store can get really busy sometimes. er. Am I allowed to say that?
Crowds at the Apple Store Beijing
How to imitate the “Four Wangs”
I just went to see Xu Bing‘s (徐冰) excellent installation at the British Museum.
Xu Bing is a contemporary Chinese artist and has been described as a member of the Chinese avant garde movement. The installation in the British Museum is an innovative “shadow painting” copy of a Wang Shimin 王時敏 piece from 1641.
Wang was one of the “four Wangs”, who make up four of the Six Masters of the early Qing period (清六家) : Yun Shouping, Wu Li and the Four Wangs: Wang Shimin, Wang Jian, Wang Yuanqi and Wang Hui.
In the installation Xu Bing uses discarded leaves (from Kew Gardens), old newspapers and twigs to create a shadow image of a classic Chinese landscape (山水).
Xu Bing is famous for much of his work playing with language, including a book with over 4000 different characters which are entirely original and of his own making.
He has also invented ‘New English Calligraphy’ in which he makes English look like Chinese:
Here he has written the nursery rhyme Jack and Jill: look carefully and you can read it!
Jack and Jill
Went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water
Jack fell down
And broke his crown
And Jill came tumbling after
The installation is on at the British Museum until July 10th
Filed under Art
Chinese Black Swan
Chinese Party Officials try to recreate a seen from Darren Aronofsky’s Oscar Winning Black Swan
The Officials photographed are decked up in environmentally friendly clothing to promote a ‘low carbon lifestyle’. The event was held at a Beijing CPPCC annual gala on the evening of January 18. I am not really sure what else to say.
Filed under Art, comedy, environment, Fashion, Film, Propaganda
Keep off the sunflower seeds
Old news, Beijing artist, dissident and ex-studio owner Ai Weiwei has loaded the Turbine Hall at the Tate Modern with 100,000,000 individually handmade porcelain replica sunflower seeds. Though billed as a sensory and immersive installation, you are sadly no longer permitted to walk accross the seeds. I suspect this is becuase people couldn’t resist the temptation to pinch one as a souvenier. I was disappointed, as I had been hoping to pinch one as a souvenier. This decision was made on October 16th last year, making this old news too.
People who timed their visit better than me
Sunflower Seeds is at the Turbine Hall untill 2 May.
http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/unileverseries2010/default.shtm
Filed under Art
