I have chosen to follow my conviction, rather than my instinct that tells me not to spend too much time at the river, today I returned to the banks of the Yangzte with the intention of making work.
On the riverbank, I noticed that the vegetable patch had doubled in size since 3 days previous and that more land had been turned ready for planting. It constantly amazes me how quickly things change here.
Over the past 10 days I have watched people transport all manner of goods and objects on foot about the city. Yesterday I carried objects to various locations including our studio. Today I fetched bags of sand and bottles of water from the river.
Jessica undertook her second studio residency in Wang Jun’s studio. I made a visit around late afternoon, force of habit caused me to call ‘hello’ which broke the quiet and marked my presence. Jessica was in the process of moving objects around the studio. Other objects were balanced on pieces of studio furniture.
Wang Jun shares his studio with another artist. There is a line that runs the length of the studio floor that marks a divide, concrete on one side, black lino on the other. The line also seemed to mark a boundary around the work that I chose not to cross, partly in fear that any little vibration I caused might unbalance the objects.
I felt like a giant, the proverbial elephant in the room, my footsteps huge and noisy disturbing a moment of concentration. Actually, from previous conversations I know that Jessica is used to working whilst other people are around, it’s part and parcel of using someone else’s studio; even so, I hid behind a curtain, peeping out. As I left I took a quick snapshot from the door.
Nina Chua
22nd November
