Apologies, friends, for the very sporadic posting on my part. Of late, most of my blogging energies have gone into a new project for me, the Chinese version of artforum.com.cn.

Maintaining this already wonderful site is now one of my responsibilities, and finally getting off the AWW manuscript to MIT Press, and the new year hibernation, etc…. The 2010 spring thaw will bring wonderful things, and happily, with most of my editorial energies pouring into the artforum.com.cn site, sinopop can become become more personalized, more suibian, and a place for stories and ideas that don’t fit the scope of the other site.

Please look for us in the future, as we hope to start adding some new Chinese language columns to the artforum site, attempting to add some thoughtful content and commentary to a crowded cybersphere of art news from China, of various qualities.

朋友们、亲爱的读者， 非常抱歉！最近忙一堆事没有更新博客。今年要开始投入美国artforum杂志网站的中文版，担任一些编辑的工作。 如果你还不熟悉，应该过来看，网站上有大量的杂志译文，也有亚洲地区的展评。

随着我的在官方网站的参与，之后sinopop的内容就更加自由， 更随便和主观一些， 我会尽量把“严肃艺术编辑”的精神集中在artforum.com.cn了。（如果您，读者还没有看到此精神，请不要急––之后有人赞助我就好说！哈！）

What more is there to say? If we should learn from history, and images are the most powerful medium of our age, then the following should need no introduction. For all the love of spectacle we endured, 2009, thank you most of all for introducing me to the perils of the Caonima, watch your back, river crabs are everywhere.

Click on photos for news links.

The death of celebrated translator, scholar and poet Yang Xianyi was mourned this morning in western Beijing at Baobaoshan cemetery.  Hundreds of well-wishers and media were there to pay respects to Yang Xianyi, he was 95 years old.

Yang Xianyi’s life was ripe with celebrated achievements, he and his wife Gladys Taylor produced definitive translations of Chinese classics and Yang was full of intellectual vibrancy, an “upright scholar” if modern China ever produced one.  In China’s pivotal century, his life might well be the quintessential definition of inter-cultural exchange.

Yang Xianyi and his wife Gladys Taylor met at Oxford in the 1930s, and returned together to a war torn China, where they roamed in the southwest before they began translating, eventually moving to Beijing in 1951 in support of the Communists, they engaged in decades of translation, political persecution, and loving companionship.

The funeral hall was filled with flowers, and well wishes from leaders as high as Jiang Zemin, Wen Jiabao and Wu Bangguo, nearly the entire staff of the Foreign Languages Press came to pay respects, but the passing was only made easier to know that Yang Xianyi’s tremendous contributions will outlive him for many decades to come.

Never afraid to speak his mind, always standing on the side of righteousness and humanistic and sympathetic to the people, the passing of an intellectual such as Yang Xianyi brings an era of heroism nearer to a close.

R.I.P. Yang Xianyi 杨宪益 (1915-2009)
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The Guardian has an excellent obituary by old friend John Gittings
看卫报的中文版的讣告： 大翻译家杨宪益
DANWEI has translated some of his more political vignettes in an obituary here
看新浪的杨宪益告别仪式报道
Yang Xianyi NYT obituary
more from the Independent

Wang Wei manipulates spaces, most often building spaces in spaces. In “Historic Residence” he recreates the lavish bathrooms of cottage that was built for the Chairman and his wife Jiang Qing in the south of China. They are built into the gallery, tile floors and all; while the toilet, bathtub etc, are built to proper proportion, the space itself has been blown up to exaggerated proportions.
The cavernous spaces say something about the cult of personality, the fact that Mao himself only stayed there for a total of 10 days, while it was always kept pristine lends it a sacred air.
Highly recommended, in the new Space Station, now occupying the former space of the China Contemporary gallery in 798.

Until Nov 14

from my ARTiT blog, visit for more exhibition images

read curator’s statement on art-ba-ba

Today is the third day of the “Negotiating Differences” conference in Beijing, and the atmosphere is sparkling. Overall more productive than the May conference “China Contemporary Art Forum” that called together scholars such as Hans Belting and Hal Foster, the conference is progressing with productive debate. This second day of presentations looks promising, Sinopop will post more later, including selected papers.Negotiating Difference. Contemporary Chinese Art in the Global ContextVenue: Haus der Kulturen der Welt, TheatersaalAddress: John-Foster-Dulles-Allee 10, 10557 Berlin, GermanyDate: 22 to 24 October 2009Organiser: East Asian Art History, Freie Universität Berlin“Negotiating Difference. Chinese Contemporary Art in the Global Context” is hosted by:Freie Universität BerlinDepartment of History and Cultural StudiesInstitute of Art HistoryEast Asian Art History (more…)

The “Green” art fair recently ended in China’s World Trade Center. Young artists sent their works directly to the fair, applying through an online form, and buyers, gallerists came to root through the weeds, in hopes of finding young sprouts to cultivate. Each artist was only allowed to display one work, and there were some rather established artists present, such as Yang Fan, who sent a portion of the massive carpet she installed last spring, and even some artists under pseudonyms (one included in the photos below).  In its first year, the fair’s website is as ‘green’ as the artists it promotes: only a portion of works are shown online, and the site often malfunctions. Despite that, some editor’s picks are below, click on image for detailed information.

(more…)

Hopefully these pictures can let you experience China’s national day parade as it was enjoyed by hundreds of millions on the morning of October 1st (only the very loyal, and high ranking cadres and military folk actually made it to the bandstand that morning). The painting of Mao looking over the square has been replaced with a smiling, benevolent and satisfied looking comrade, “Old Hu” inspected the troops poking out of the sunroof in the same Hongqi from 1949, and after a very proud and spine-tingling display of “model” soldiers and firepower, the parade began. Perhaps the most elaborate display of socialist pagentry possible today, the parade cost billions of RMB, and (of course) made the DPRK’s birthday celebration look like a mere joke.

Below are some shots of thrilled, smiling crowds and saluting policemen and soldiers. Judging from the blue skies, and the nicely balanced crowds of citizens, we’re pretty sure these were “filler shots” filmed at the rehearsal that happened the previous week.

Aerial shots provided uplifting views of the poignant messages that were delivered via cards flipped by the masses seated in the square they read as following:

“loyalty to the party”/ “socialism is good” / “protect world peace”

The final image is an amazing recreation of the Fu Baoshi painting that hung in the Great Hall of the People. It was commissioned for the hall in 1959 and for decades it provided a most dramatic background for diplomatic missions.

(more…)

On the eve of the 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic, things are beginning to look red here in Beijing, deep red, like a profuse wound. On the Beijing streets, some of the visual celebratory feast residents drank in last year during the Olympics is being recreated in billboards, television galas, parades, mass performances and wide-ranging worship for spectacle, but the festivities this year are tinted with more eulogizing, more solemnity, more red. In a commemorative fine art exhibition at the National Art Museum of China (closed on Sept 14) red not only prevailed in the literal sense, its ideological presence was overpowering. In this exhibition that sprawled out over the entirety of the NAMOC’s exhibition halls, co-sponsors Cultural Ministry of China and NAMOC pulled sixty years of revolutionary masterpieces out of storage from all of Beijing’s major collections, including the Military Museum and the former Revolutionary Museum (soon to reopen as the Museum of Chinese History). It was a mind-blowing show, by scale and quality alone. Also, by their omissions, curators highlighted what isn’t included in the sanctioned visual lexicon that is “fine art” in China today. This became especially apparent when viewers started to wonder on what floor the “contemporary” were being hidden.

 

Divided into three main sections, oil painting, traditional painting, and propaganda posters with comics and animation, “masterpieces” of recent art history, were in every room.

 

Heading directly to oil paintings, I was intercepted by the captivating magnificence of Chen Yifei’s Seizing the Presidential Palace, (1977), a work that could inspire anyone to make revolution. More familiar as Chen’s work was his Looking at History From My Space (1979), also by Chen Yifei. Perhaps the most iconic painting in contemporary art history was Father (1981) by Luo Zhongli, displayed adjacent to My Space. This work was much more three-dimensional than ever imagined, through a painting technique the “dirt” on the ‘father’s’ eyebrows and on his turban look as if they might literally crumble off the canvas onto the floor.

(more…)

一凡新作展的名称《看不完》与展览本身十分契合：大量的录像、装置作品让观众目不暇接，同时，每一件作品都包含着过多的文本，恐怕没有哪个观众可以真正地将某一件作品“看完”。王一凡在创作中始终关注着时间维度，并对其进行挑战。《监视时间：王一凡的钟表》是他的代表作之一。在这件装置作品中，王一凡利用中国家庭中常见的石英钟作为道具，采取机械的方式记录下石英钟24小时的状态，通过对24小时的钟表的纪录，王一凡在石英钟上以隐晦的方式将自己的名字演变为产品logo，试图在其中建立一种崭新的秩序，以期实现对时间的掌控。纵观王一凡的作品，他似乎总是在关注生活中稀松平常、微不足道，但却真实存在的细小变化。不管是记录空间状态的录像作品，还是密密麻麻誊写下来的小说，经过王一凡的聚焦与放大，这些不引人注意的细微末节突然从默默无闻的角落被抛向聚光灯的中心。随着微小平常的生活点滴成为作品的主体，看与被看的角色也随之错位。时间由隐形的控制者转变为被窥视的角色，话语权转移到观众手中。观看与否，观看的完整与否，都取决于观众自己。同时，观众与艺术家二元对立的角色设置也产生了微妙的变化；王一凡的作品提供了一条纽带，让观众和艺术家联手，正视并解构时间。Author: 景晓萌 2009.08.08-2009.09.07 星空间艺术中心|Star Gallery谢谢artforum.cn, 访问原文

While we’ll never keep up with AWW’s news appearances, here’s a few recent articles on his activities, his activism, and an interview with ARTiT from Japan following his first major museum show at the Mori Museum in Tokyo.  The photo is him photographing in an elevator from a cell phone while detained by the police, the blog it was found on titled this image “Ai the God” or 《艾神》. 

From ArtAsiaPacific, a magazine on “Contemporary Visual Culture” from Asia:

Ai Weiwei Continues Activism Against China; Government Responds
By Katherine Grube

On New Year’s Eve 2008, during a conversation with curator Hans Ulrich-Obrist at Vitamin Creative Space’s Beijing branch, artist-provocateur Ai Weiwei predicted: “2008 was the first year that China safeguarded legal rights; it’s when people started to wake up. But in 2009, I think China will confront greater problems.”

These words now seem unnervingly prescient, given that the first six months of 2009 in China were marked by politically sensitive anniversaries and often-violent protests including riots by members of the Uighur minority in Xinjiang province. From his Beijing studio, Ai continued his calls for a more responsible government even as China stepped up its response to the artist’s efforts.    [read the rest of this article on the AAP site]

From ARTiT, the Japanese webjournal on contemporary art:

Ai Weiwei Interview: “I’m fighting for freedom of speech. I never settle for less. I don’t engage in negotiation.”

Read the interview in English here, on the ARTiT site

王一凡个展“看不完”的确贯彻了“看不完”的根本要义——展出作品包含五件时长24小时的录像作品和抄写在十一幅画布上面的两万多字的小说（小说作者为王一凡），完整地看完这个展览，至少需要不合眼地“看”上120个小时以上，所以对观众而言，“看完”的可能性简直微乎其微。通过超乎寻常的长度，平凡的画面被王一凡改变，常识遭到质疑──“观看”的过程与方式遇到了一个难题──在作品面前，是不是去思考它的意义比用眼睛观看更为重要呢？

那些透过树叶撒在楼梯上的“阳光”，是王一凡于2008年拍摄的作品《安静》。水泥地面上斑驳的树影唤起了艺术家在烈日下等待的日常记忆，只有你心怀沉静、默默观察，才能够在树影中察觉树叶的微微晃动。

王一凡创作观念的成熟从“黑板”系列开始，2005年，他开始在黑色画布上书写他的“故事”。本次展出的题为《马利》的11幅作品是他这一系列的最新代表，画面上的文字讲述了主人公马利从高中到大学毕业的恋爱经历；文字由王一凡撰写，他邀请了11位朋友共同把两万字的小说抄写在画布上，于是形成了面前这番风格迥异的画面形态。 (more…)

Wang Yifan films Xie Molin from lee ambrozy on Vimeo.

王一凡为了个展《看不完》在弄新的作品拍艺术家谢墨凛的一张画。我偷偷地拍下来这里的小记录片。此作品系列的名称是《王一凡拍摄谁谁谁》，用固定的拍摄方法艺术家王一凡按照他“自然的时间单位” 24小时录像拍摄对象艺术家工作室里的画。除了阳光的变化，没有声音或其他变化。

看不完
Kàn Bù Wán
王一凡个展
Wang Yifan solo exhibition
策展人：安静
Curator: Lee Ambrozy

开幕酒会：2009年8月8日下午4点
Opening: Aug 8, 2009, 4:00 pm

2009.8.8 – 2009.9.7 / Aug 8, 2009 – Sep 7, 2009

地点：星空间、北京市朝阳区酒仙桥路2号、798艺术区D09
Star Gallery，D09, 798 Art Zone, No.2 Jiuxianqiao Road，Chaoyang District, Beijing
Tel: +86 10 5978 9224

The feelings of the Chinese have been hurt once again, but this time, they demand an apology.

Five days ago three Chinese filmmakers withdrew their entries into the Melbourne International Film Festival, most prominently was Jia Zhangke (the World, Platform), Tang Xiaobai (aka Emily Tang), and Zhao Liang (a rising documentarian). The film behind the hurt feelings and the withdraws is “Ten Conditions of Love,” by Melbourne film-maker Jeff Daniels, it is a documentary, filmed over seven years, that tells of Rebiya Kadeer’s relationship with her activist husband Sidik Rouzi and the impact her campaigning had on her 11 children. Rebiya Kadeer is a Uigyher activist and advocate who has been demonized by Chinese media as the driving force behind the recent riots in Xinjiang. For readers who can’t make out the Chinese animosity towards her, we could compare her role in China to that of Osama bin Laden in the US.

Many Jia Zhangke fans overseas were shocked and dissapointed that he would make such a polical decision, but according to this writer’s gossip channels, the film-making community in Beijing seems overwhelmingly convinced that the decision was made from coercion. Considering Jia Zhangke is filming his first attempt at a blockbuster hit, a kung fu film, can we really doubt the motivation behind his withdraw from the MIFF? The nationalist fervor surrounding the issue seems to guarantee his investors would demand his withdraw.

Demonstrating the harmonious feelings of all Chinese, the first paragraph of the China Daily report reads as follows: “Chinese directors Jia Zhangke and Tang Xiaobai say they have quit the biggest film festival in Australia because of personal beliefs - - not because of any pressure from the Chinese government.” (Source China Daily) Tang Xiaobai was quoted elsewhere saying that she was practicing “self-restraint” by pulling out from MIFF; Zhao Liang, whose entry was a documentary film on petitioners who come to Beijing to voice their grievances to the deaf ears of central government, has stayed relatively silent on the issue. His film Petition, already touches on sensitive issue in Beijing, perhaps its easy to understand why he remains silent.

Everyone is feeling the pressure these days: according to news sources, director of MIFF Richard Moore received a phone call from the Melbourne-based Chinese consulate last week.

“She told me that she was ringing to urge me to withdraw the particular film (more…)

We all remember “Running Teacher Fan,” the poor sap who, after abandoning his students in the classroom during the Sichuan earthquake, proceeded to be butchered by Chinese media as the anti-hero. “My sense of self-preservation is too strong,” he was quoted as saying.

Later, Ai Weiwei defended him in his legendary blog, commending his honesty and bravery in admitting his un-noble actions in a time of hero fetishizing, especially in comparison to the Sichuan Ministry of Education, which still won’t face up to the sub-standard construction on schools that caused their collapse.

As if taking Ai’s lead, Zhu Qi, artistic director for the upcoming “798 Biennale” will include Fan Meizhong, the notorious “Running Teacher Fan” in the biennale as an artist. Publicity stunts, or significant attempt to bring art in 798 to a new social dimension? We will have to wait until August 15th to find out.

In a post on the artnow.com.cn site , Zhu Qi writes: “I’m not saying that I agree with Running Teacher Fan’s sense of values, however, the fact that he can honestly voice his opinion is worthy of appreciation.”

“我并不认同范跑跑的价值观，但范跑跑能真实地表达自己的态度和看法是值得欣赏的。”

And he’s not the only “vocal” participant, in an exhibition titled “The Soulful Society VS The Net Spirit” (社会魂vs网络魄）infamous Chongqing “rustynail” dweller（钉子户） Wu Ping, the woman who refused to vacate her home (pictured at left) will also be participating, as well as some disabled, and there’s even a program that trains unemployed workers to be artists, the “Laid off Art Rehabilitation Program.” Hm. How does one qualify?

The whole thing will be going off in the 706 space within the 798 complex, one of the main venues of the Biennale. Dates are August 15 to September 12, 2009. Although a little unclear on the details, or what, exactly, they will be making “art” of, Zhu Qi seems unhindered by the fact that these folks have probably never considered themselves artists before they received a call from his assistant.

Zhu Qi gives two reasons for his decision in his post: the first, Chinese contemporary art should take its lead from reality; the second, a biennale shouldn’t necessarily be a collection of highlights, but also a platform for which to discuss issues.

Read Zhu Qi’s post here (Chinese only)

Preview the Biennale at the official website

The Gao Brothers were recently in Moscow for the second annual awards ceremony of the Kandinsky Prize, their well received performance was part of the “Art and Power” themed event.

For their performance, a golden “Miss Mao,” their giant fiberglass bust of Mao’s head with naked breasts, sat in the middle of the stage. The brothers came on stage in similar masks and imitating politicians, waving, etc., before they embraced in a hug, and then taking a hammer to Miss Mao’s head. Inside was a red bust of Lenin, which was bust open to reveal a black skull.

The Gaos were in good company, Dinos Chapman presented the award, and screened a recent video work on the death of famous artists, and Marina Abramovic also gave a performance. The awards ceremony itself was a bit of a scandal, with the award going to Moscow artist Alexey Belyaev-Gintovt, who has been called “ultra-nationalistic” and “neo-Stalinist.” Leftist internationalists protested outside …

Read about the awards ceremony at Frieze.com /  on ArtInfo

www.gaobrothers.net

ART iT was a promising Japanese-English art print magazine with contemporary art coverage from primarily Japan, Asia and the rest of the world. Last month it made the migration to an online format, sad for subscribers and paperphiles, but a triumph for trees and blog readers around the globe.

The online magazine and communities is just starting out, but features “official bloggers” from around Asia, myself included. To celebrate and support this new platform, and try to enrich the Asian art community, I’ll be posting short exhibition profiles and photos on the site, please check it out at the link below.

The site features a few other bloggers from China, such as curator Ou Ning. Those interested in on-the-ground Japanese artists couldn’t find a better site, there are tons of blogs from Japan, and local arts news. The “automatic translation” tool is not as bad as one would expect, either.

Read more about the site in this article from the Japan Times: ART iT transforms into a digital forum
Link to my exhibition reviews and my official blog on ARTiT

http://www.art-it.asia

Today marks the inauguration of the “China-DPRK Friendship Year,” which also coincides with the 60th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations.  Surely this will be the DPRK’s only chance at a “friendship year,” so, to mark the beginning of what will be a long, nauseating year in public relations coverage, I examine the aesthetic features of some DPRK photography sanctioned by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA); these have all been released on Xinhua.com, China’s media equivalent. Stark, almost Brutalist qualities mark these photos, recalling the regime that created them.

Click on each photo for related Xinhua article.

Both nations have a history of enforcing civic and aesthetic harmony. Wen Jiabao stands here with his DPRK counterpart, Kim Yong Il. What a patriotic name Mr. Kim has! There is something very “progressive” about this photo, note that instead of posing with a traditional painting as backdrop, we are treated to red and yellow color combination (Chinese flag? Olympic opening ceremony 西红柿炒鸡蛋 anyone?).

Ah… that’s more like it. You can’t help but notice the turbulent ocean waves depicted in this classical backdrop, and the matching key-lime, flowered carpet, Kim sits so perfectly in-between those blossoms, with his feet just dusting the petals of each. In DPRK history, the stones that are breaking those waves surely have some courageous, patriotic symbolism. Note to woman in turquoise: there’s only one person who should be standing out in this photo (nice beige jumper). (more…)

昨天在纽约时报看到的一则新闻中提到了尼古拉·齐奥塞斯库收藏的 ‘宣传’ 油画在罗马尼亚的当代美术馆展出，策展人展示这些敏感题材作品的方法给我留下深刻印象。罗马尼亚共产党时代的独裁者尼古拉·齐奥塞斯库的收藏源于上世纪70至80年代，馆长兼策展人Mihai Oroveanu的想法是把这些肖像画全部歪歪扭扭地挂在展场的墙上，目的是不要误导观众––这些油画不是因崇敬而展示，展览具有历史性的意义。尼古拉·齐奥塞斯库与他的妻子埃琳娜曾经是当时罗马尼亚宣传画的主要题材,强大的个人崇拜，最终结束于1989年的革命，夫妻俩被一排手持AK-47行刑队员所杀。

这里，我并不打算强调两个社会主义国家间可能存在的相似性，有趣的是罗马尼亚美术馆歪歪的展示方法。在他们革命之后不到20年，展现这段历史的重点是接受、包容和忘却。如果在中国举办类似的展览一定会对中国美术史的片断有无数的帮助，文革这段历史虽然没有被掩盖但仍然在当代文化背景里只能表现为当代美术符号化的元素或者装模作样的消费文化的产品。当代中国的主要艺术渠道也仍然对这时期的宣传画文物视而不见。罗马尼亚式的展览，如果能够在当代中国出现的话将会是多大的跃进。

看更多的幻灯片

Artist Lu Hao and curator Zhao Li were announced earlier this month as the curator of the China Pavillion at the 53rd Venice Biennale. The 40 yr old artist has participated before in the Venezia Biennale as artist, as well as the San Paolo and Busan Biennale.  Lu Hao told reporters in while in France that he wanted to confront Italians with more challenging problems, and discussed mirroring the walls and projecting images from various corners of the pavilion, to create a “gaudy and grotesque site”. (more…)

Two nights ago was the end of the Spring festival in China, at the celebration called the “Lantern Festival” where people let off their final blammo of fireworks, Beijing’s new pride and joy — the new symbolic CCTV tower by Rem Koolhaas/OMA — was engulfed in flames! It was an incredible fire, in a few hours it made a shell of the production studios, the Mandarin Oriental hotel, that was in the adjunct building next to the more symbolic “Mobius strip”. With an estimated  5 billion in losses–so much for this vanity project of the government propaganda machine!
What is the estimated cause? (Aside from these battling felines of good and evil?): “CCTV hired staff from a fireworks company to ignite several hundred large festive firecrackers in an open space outside the nearly-completed Mandarin Oriental Hotel, which is part of the iconic CCTV tower complex, said Luo Yuan, spokesman and deputy chief of Beijing Fire Control Bureau.”

“… these fireworks were much more powerful and explosive than what was available at roadside stalls during the Spring Festival and therefore needed approval from the municipal government before being allowed in the downtown areas.”

“Owners of the property ignored police warnings that such fireworks were not allowed.” from the China Daily: CCTV Hotel Fire Caused By Fireworks

This year marked only the fourth year that they were allowed after a more than 10 year prohibition. See more doctored images at Mop.com

国际女性博物馆邀请各位提交作品
请为妇女、权力与政治全球在线展览提交您的作品

请在2008年12月31日前向国际女性博物馆提交您的论文、电影短片、诗歌、摄影和漫画等原创作品，参加妇女、权力与政治在线展览。妇女、权力与政治展览以每个月引起人们兴趣的新主题为中心，使用社区提交的作品开始有关问题的讨论。可以使用阿拉伯文、英文、法文和西班牙文直接在线提交作品。直到9月才将为提交过程提供中文协助。如有任何问题，请发送电子邮件至：submissions@imow.org。如需了解提交及如何提交作品的更多信息，请访问www.imow.org/submissions。如需了解妇女、权力与政治展览，请访问www.imow.org/wpp。

I.M.O.W. 很感兴趣中国女士们的故事, 请转发！

重建－70后艺术家将以义卖全部所得为地震灾区损赠一所希望学校展览日期： 2008年6月15日  至  6 月20日 展览地点： 星空间 / 798 艺术区 / 8456 0591

Jin Jing returns home from a heroic Torch run in Paris!
Read about China’s reaction to the events in Paris
See an excellent photo series documenting the attack and heroic recovery

Read more at Xinhua: “… a terror group worse than Bin Laden”