Its that time of year again, when sweaty gallerists flock to art academy campuses, eager to snatch up the next big thing. Here’s a few choices from the exhibition of students from the sculpture department. Head of the department Sui Jianguo was in attendance, admiring the works while a swarm of his admirers hovered behind him. Sub-themes seemed to include creepy, horror film make-believe and the creative use of hair…

This igloo piece was hiding under a tree, it was made of spray foam used in construction, covered in a sheet, and holes were cut in the walls. It was made on location, and although it looked a little dubiously constructed, it was an anomaly as the only work deviating from figurative representations, shiny materials or nostalgic antiques and tropes. (more…)

In a CCTV documentary titled “798″, photographer Zhu Yan made the comment: “The factory workers displaced the farmers, the artists displaced the workers, and now…” but the director left out what should have followed, “… the tourists displaced the artists.”

Of course, the myth that 798 is a “cultural production zone” is perpetuated by the mainland media, and almost obsolete industrial patches across China look to the success of 798 as a model of “cultural industry”, a revival area preserving the remnants of an industrial past, but where creativity and commerce can meet to copulate and produce healthy economic offspring.

While that may be a lovely image, the fact is, there is some truth to it. The documentary is a rather sobering look at the quickly vanishing former life of “798″––Factory 718. In the 1950s it was a state of the art center of production, a place of national pride, and a household name that symbolized a better future. Workers were hand-picked for their class background, plucked from the fields and clad in blue to make radio electronics, among other classified military gear; they worked with some of the most “avant-garde” technologies of the day. Military components aside, none of this sounds unfamiliar with the tourist “cultural production zone” we know as 798.

Fifty years later, the changes are incredible. In the five-part documentary we meet laid-off former workers who are now janitorial staff, and the dwindling industrial staff (once more than 10,000, now less than 3000) tells stories of the past: homes of the newly-wed were furnished with a bed, a desk and a cabinet (many had never had their own bed), 8 hour shifts were followed by night school, and infants were picked up from an parking-lot sized nursery, while not-yet school aged children were locked in the one-room apartments while their parents “struggled” to build a strong China. “None of this was looked at as strange,” comments Ms. Gao, who still works in th ecomplex. Her last student, Ding Ding, a young worker and his very dour wife are filmed in their run-down apartment; his 700 RMB monthly salary is barely enough to feed them. I don’t think I can stomach buying a substandard 35 RMB coffee there ever again.

With nary a mention of contemporary art, the series is a historical and grimly patriotic portrait of a very different 798; it was filmed in late 2007/early 2008.  The CCTV site has photos and some historical background here. I thought of an article translated last year for the Timezone8 book “Beijing 798 Now” on the former incarnation of Factory 718. It is especially interesting to read how earthquake standards in construction had to be enforced by the East German engineering team. Its a long article, but has some interesting facts. For Chinese, switch languages on upper right.

从718到798

李洋

北京东北部的大山子
地区在半个世纪内已经历了两次命运的转折：50年前，平地而起的718联合厂让它闻名全中国；现在，798艺术区的崛起则让这片土地带着“复兴”的荣耀蜚声海外。
718有着显赫的身世和近乎传奇的经历。“一五”期间，在原德意志民主共和国专家的援助下，来自五湖四海的年轻人建起了国营华北无线电器材联合厂（718 联合厂）——我国电子工业的摇篮。当初，798只是联合厂的第三分厂，而现在这里已成为北京市、朝阳区首批文化创意产业集聚区之一和中关村电子城创意产业 基地之一。
现在，798内标志性的包豪斯建筑群依然耸立，它们保留着一个城市的工业记忆，而从718到798的变迁，则记录了城市产业调整的轨迹。

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