Redirection and Network Timeout

Today has been very interesting – YanYan drove me to the New Campus of the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute which was welcome change from the hustle and bustle of the city. The new campus is on the outskirts of the city, and has a more spacious layout, and an environmentally disgusting amount of tall trees that have been imported from further afield. It is considered that small trees would look unappealing and not visually impressive or powerful, the trees are also not local to the area, so they are changing the pattern of nature.

The graduating fine art students were presenting their degree show. The amount of students in the institution was evident by the large amount of works on show, with many only exhibiting one work, and many spaces appearing crowded. The work was a real mixture – some laboured oil painting in heavy gild frames, to very interesting three dimensional sculptures and installation. I was also interested to see that quite a few of the graduating artists concerns discussed the never ending architectural uprising, and issues of the environment.

Lara, YanYan’s assistant, showed me around the workshop building which presented large and spacious resources for each discipline from Fashion to weaving to photography. Lara also took me to a Chinese version of KFC – Dico’s.

I had some very interesting conversations with YanYan and Zheng Li with regards to teaching in a Visual Arts Higher Education institution in our respective countries. We discussed the process of entry requirements in China to study at art college – you must achieve a high score in a general exam, and it is not on a portfolio as in the UK. We discussed the atmosphere whilst at university – I explained that many of my students can be very anxious and upset about their grades and progress. YanYan explained that mainly in China that students relax once they are in university. Zheng Li talked about an academic in central China that started an independent university, that accepted students outwith the general exam system. YanYan explained that the government and the president of the university’s peers have encouraged him to close this perhaps more democratic version of education. YanYan explained that it is very difficult to change the way things are done in Chinese Higher Education.

We also discussed the skill based programme, which teaches all students to work in a particular way for the main part of the programme before they are allowed to apply these skills to a more conceptual body of work. YanYan is very critical of this approach, but as he says it is the way it is always done. I asked if there are any foreign universities in China, say American or British, as there are in the UK, and he explained that there are a few ‘American’ universities in big cities – but over time they have been made to adapt to the Chinese admissions and education style.

It was also interesting to discuss the situation of an artist supporting their practice with teaching, and the balance of this. I explained that teaching in FE/HE Art Education is a lot of work, with actual teaching hours being almost doubled in work with preparation, administration and marking. Since I graduated from my MFA in 2007, I have supported myself through FE/HE teaching, as well as undertaking a PGCE in HE Art Education, which most institutions now ask you to undertake. YanYan said that there is such a demand for Visual Art Education, the job is not so pressurised, and that someone can do very little and stay in the job for a long time!

Tomorrow I will go back to the new campus to join in on a woodcut printmaking class with second year students. It will be good to get to know the facilities.

I can’t believe that it is already day 5 of the residency. It has been very hot today, and the sun has been shining which has been a welcome break from the cloud. I have been working in the studio for most of the day on my first map drawing. The drawing is based on the layout of the junction that I am living on, with aspects of digital forms from the interfaces of fanfou and renren (two chinese only social networking sites). I will continue with this in the morning tomorrow before I go to the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in the afternoon with YanYan, and his assistant Lara.

I met Lara for the first time today, as she has been finishing off and hanging her degree show. She graduates from a painting degree this year, and she has been assisting artists on this residency programme since it started with David Hancock in 2007. Next week, we will go to Huguang Guild Hall (a traditional complex) and the Chongqing Planning Exhibition Gallery together, when she gets back from a trip to Beijing. I am hoping to visit some other traditional compounds later this week too, in particular Laitan.

I have also been walking around photographing some building facades, that I will use for my next two drawings. Some treats that YanYan brought me were Zongzi, dumplings wrapped in Bamboo with sweet soy bean paste inside that have been steamed. Very tasty, and very sweet!

Bad news, however, that the mouse that I thought I had scared off with the mouse airwaves alarm that Shu Wen and I bought in the street, has scuttered through the apartment. Poisin is illegal in China, so it looks like I will be off tomorrow to buy a trap! How very un buddhist!

I went to Ciqikou today with Shu Wen to look at the traditional town, which was built in the Ming Dynasty and follows the traditional layout of the town, with the most important areas of the town in the centre, with an outer city and an exterior wall. We took two buses to get there, which took 1 hour 45 minutes, and cost 2 yen each way.

The town is a historic preserved site, and although it is a very popular attraction, quite a few of the original buildings (most of which are still occupied) have been damaged or modified with more modern appendages or modifications. In the centre of the town, is the Baolun Temple, which is a beautiful spot, and we lit some incense and made a wish. As it was a national holiday today, it was very busy, and many sweet treats were on offer. We had some hawthorn fruit and walnuts on kebab sticks coated in toffee – tasty and sticky! Another delicacy on offer was fried insects and chilli, maybe next time for this one!

I have also been discussing with Shu Wen how she and her contemporaries use the internet (she is currently studying Fine Art at the Sichuan Arts Institute). She uses ‘renren’ often, but not ‘fanfou’ although she is aware of it. She had heard of facebook, but the other websites she was not aware of as she has never left China. She too is pretty nonchalant with regards to the strict control over internet use.

I have been completing some more research into censorship online, (which is quite contradictory as I can access it within China), http://www.cfr.org/china/media-censorship-china/p11515. In particular, a paper that the government released internationally about their stance on internet control. I am going to continue with drawing tomorrow.

Day 3 in Chongqing

I have spent the day in the studio getting to work on my project. I have been creating some sketches from the photographs of local architectural structures, and online research into popular community websites within China. I have been thinking about formats that I can create this through; a series of drawings, an installation using found objects, and I have also been thinking about a painting installation outside. I will also hopefully be undertaking some woodcuts later this week.

I have sourced some interesting architectural planning paper from one of art materials shop on the main road. I have been there now three times and am making friends with the daughter and son of the owner who are high school students. I am going to use the planning paper for the larger drawings, that will focus on different aspects of my research. Within my first drawing, I want to have a layout of the junction that I am living upon. I intend to use this haphazard junction from which to juxtapose architecture of various websites – some ones I can access, and some which I cannot. In the next drawing I am going to focus on drawing facades of local architectural structures, again juxtaposing with digital architectural elements. Already, the building facades are very different to any western facade, there is much irregularity in most facades, with many windows and areas being personally modified by inhabitants.

The junction where I am living is very busy – with continual traffic going to the railway, industrial buildings, shops and a restaurant, and several industrial stores on each part of the intersection. It seems to be a good starting point, as it is the location from which I have learnt to navigate myself. People and vehicles are constantly travelling through at a loud noise and speed.

I also visited the town planning graduate exhibition at the Sichuan Fine Art Institute, and I would like to reference some of the styles of visually communicating town layouts in their maps and diagram within my drawings.

Today, I was also given some vines from my studio neighbour. These are supposed to bring good luck if I clean my floor and my body with them, in advance of the Dragon Boat Festival tomorrow. It is a festival where you can see dragon boat races and eat zongzi (dumplings made from rices wrapped in reed leaves and bamboo), and it celebrates the story of Qu Yuan, a poet who threw himself into a river in order to protest against the government. Tomorrow, I will go with YanYan’s assistant to Ciqikou, an old traditional town on the outskirts of Chongqing to look at the traditional architecture for my research.

On Wednesday, I will go to the new campus of the Sichuan Fine Art Institute, where I will discuss doing some printmaking in their department. It is a shame that the department has now moved to a new campus an hour away, as it was previously based just across the road. I will need to get a few drawings completed by then – so I had better get to work!

Day 2 in Chongqing

My body is starting to change its clock, and I managed to get a better sleep last night. Today I met with the artist, Tian Xing Diao Su, who has a space next door to Yan’s, and his partner, who is also a painter, and they both teach at the Sichuan Fine Arts Intitute with YanYan. Tian Xing Diao Su is a sculptor who is well known in China showing individual sculptures and undertaking dozens of commissions nationally. He uses this space as an office space/gallery to present his work and meet with clients, and also has another workshop space where he makes work with support of assistants. It is clear that he makes a very good living indeed by these prestigious public artworks that are mainly funded by the government. We went for noodles at a stand below my studio which was delicious, I will go back there for more.

Afterwards YanYan drove me to Yang Ja Ping, a busy shopping area, after which we came back and did a few more studio visits. I first met a young artist Shen Hua who creates three dimensional photo realistic sculptures painted onto fabric and then fixed with plaster. He is currently working towards a solo exhibition which will open in a few weeks at 102 Space in Chongqing. I also very much liked the mixed media artworks of Huang Xiao Ping, who uses everyday objects such as wire, cassette tape, industrial tubes and foil to create humorous, camp and kitsch forms. Another artists work who I visited at the Tank Loft Center that I very much liked, was Li Cao, who creates work that discuss the architectural structures and skyline of the ever emerging industrial landscape in Chongqing.

I spent this late afternoon walking around the neighbourhood, looking and photographing buildings and architectural ‘town planning’. Although I was aware of the never ending construction, I did not anticipate the extent of the ‘regeneration’ in both height, form and finish. My project before leaving focused on how traditional architectural layouts demonstrate control over its inhabitants, as there is the current control within the censorship upon the Internet. However, as I was aware, 90% of all traditional buildings have been demolished with tall multi storey blocks, often up to sky scraper levels. The government wants to provide more accommodation for the city to grow, but the majority of these buildings are not considered, as YanYan says it is ‘too much, too soon’. The buildings are hap-hazardly placed together, and although the buildings are made of bricks, there is a make do and mend aesthetic in many areas. The majority of structures are not visually pleasing, and are further not well cared for.

I am interested in the number of lanes and walkways that lead to new blocks of flats, amenities, and today, many outdoor games of mah jong, cards and a kind of chess, that I do not yet know the name of. As I walked today through suburban areas, I often felt lost and disorientated by the make shift walkways, that are very well clear of any grid system of the traditional layout. I will hopefully be going to one of the traditional towns on the outskirts of Chongqing on Monday with Shuwen, one of YanYan’s students.

I have also been finding out today about more about censorship online. So far, I have I cannot access YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Blogger and any video streaming such as Ch4 or BBC. YanYan and I discussed how many sites are simply inaccessible, and he explains that there is no way around it unless you purchase a specific software programme. YanYan explained that he is not bothered much about it, despite finding the internet useful for information, he does not hold as much in it as a potential space as I do.

As I was aware of before, there are blogging programmes within China, as well as the China specific Twitter and Facebook – Fanfou, Jiwai, Digu and Renren. I met an artist yesterday KangCan, who has his own blog – http://blog.artintern.net/kangcan. With regards to setting up a multi user blog within my project this needs to be considered, WordPress is accessible, but I will research further into possible locations online.