A knock on the studio door and Yan Yan’s voice telling me ‘I’ve brought a friend to meet you’… Another impromptu surprise!
Xiao Q! A huge longhaired dog and my companion for the remainder of the week. A really good surprise I have to thank Yan Yan for arranging.
Before leaving for Chongqing I met with artist Philip Davenport, he was artist in residence at 501 earlier in the year. Philip recalled taking Yan Yan’s dog, Xiao Q for long walks, Xiao Q disrupting art students sketching at their easels, causing mayhem chasing other dogs and the access a dog grants you to areas you might not otherwise venture. Philip’s instruction for me was to take Xiao Q for a walk then with a wry smile he mentioned Xiao Q’s size.
One of the first things I enquired when I arrived was about Xiao Q. It turned out that he was living with a different owner, Yan Yan unable to keep up with the demands of caring for such a large dog. At that moment I thought I wouldn’t get to meet him and gave up on the thought of fulfilling Philip’s instruction. But such is the way of the people here, it seems Xiao Q has several homes happy to share and that Yan Yan can bring him back as and when he likes.
I spent most of today walking Xiao Q which was as enjoyable for me as for him. With only 4 days to go, the exhibition is on my mind but as I have mentioned previously, I have made the decision to keep working right up to the last day and this was the opportunity to follow Philip’s instruction with the possibility in mind of discovering something new.
Link to read Philip’s experience with Xiao Q:
http://arthur-and-martha.blogspot.com/2009/11/day-…
Nina Chua
2nd December
