Redirection and Network Timeout

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.

It is Day 1 of the residency in Chongqing, and I have mainly used it to catch up with sleep, get to know the area, make a few trips to the supermarket and art shop for supplies.

I am very impressed with the area; as well as a little overwhelmed by the heat, noise, sound and smells of it all. After a 24hour journey, I arrived last night at 5pm Chongqing time. YanYan, the director of the 501 Artspace, kindly came to collect me from the airport, and drove us back to the studio and apartment where I am staying. The studio block is just off the busy main street of HuangJuePing, which is full of market stalls, art materials store (for the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute students), food stalls and shops for just about everything. I am initially amazed that, despite the supermarket, each shop or stall, specialising in one product or good, and that only, and seems to be thriving on it. What is available is also carefully catered for the need at that time of day. There is a small winding line on the other side of the art centre, that also has an elementary school behind its other wall. This late afternoon, when the children were leaving school, and whole group of vendors set up stalls of sweet treats, cooked meat sticks and juices that the young students could eat, as they walked up the hill home. When I returned home later, the lane was clear of bustling activity with only a few pedestrians.

Last night, YanYan showed me around the very generous sized studio space and adjacent apartment. I was surprised at the large spaces that many of the artists have, they are huge in comparison to the poxy spaces that we rent in the UK for a ridiculous cost. We walked around many of the other artists studios, and I was very pleased to see some really interesting, and ambitious work. I will post some images on later posts, once I go round again to talk to the artists in more depth. I met two of YanYan’s assistants – Shu Wen Wang and Zhi Zing Lin. They are both students at the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, and will be helping me out when I need it. They were both lovely girls, with excellent english – it put me to shame!

We all went for HotPot – a Chongqing speciality, similar to Japanese Nabe, except the vegetable and meat are cooked in oil and broth, and it is very very spicy! Although apparently the one we had was mild! They are interesting flavours of chilli – much earthier and grittier than the chilli’s that we use in the West.

Afterwards, we went to have a look around the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute Campus, which I revisited today to see some of their Final Degree Show. YanYan showed me around the Tank Loft Art Center, which has several galleries and studio spaces. Again, we met some really interesting artists, and I will be sure to go back and document these.

Today I have spent the day trying to catch up on some sleep, however my body is still in London time! My first stop was the supermarket, which I loved, as I adore going to food stores in other countries. The supermarket was very well staffed and very reasonable indeed – the UK have something to live up to!

This afternoon I visited some of the other art centres and galleries in the area, firstly the large HuangJuePing Art Centre which is in the complex I am staying in. As you can see from the photograph, the space is gigantic and on the scale of a aircraft hangar building. The work inside is mainly painting, as which was common in quite a few of the other gallery spaces I visited today.

I also attended the opening of the ‘Evolution’ exhibition at the 501 Art Space, and visited part of the design degree show and watched the very big budget open air fashion show! It was dumplings for tea tonight (yumyum!), an early night and onto start work tomorrow!

Well, the time has come to head off to Chongqing to undertake my research project there. I can say that I am very excited and a little bit nervous too. It has been a busy few weeks, getting ready, finishing off teaching and projects here…

Elizabeth Wewiora and I completed our drawing, ‘Please allow 30 days for search results’, for the ‘usergeneratedcontent’ exhibition at MadLab, Manchester. The exhibition opening is this coming Thursday 2nd June 2011, from 6-9pm, and the show runs until 16th June. Please do make it along if you can.

This past week, I finally managed to get onto the Beaver Press at London Print Studio to make some large prints of my woodcut. I had forgotten what a lovely, relaxed place it is, and there was some very interesting work going on there too. They also have an interesting and diverse exhibition on in the gallery space; Cuban Gold: Viva La Reproduccion, which showcases a range of Cuban printmakers work today. There is also an exhibition, ‘In Relief’, in the print studio itself which displays a range of relief prints by current users.

I have also had some interesting meetings with fellow artists, Harriet Hill and Hannah Westwood, who I will in a 3 person show with at Hatchspace this October. We have been developing our ideas around ‘MULTIPLE OCCUPANCY’, I will say no more, but there will be more to follow.

I have been back to the Constance Howard Research Centre at Goldsmiths College to measure up the exhibition space for my show in September, and chat with Lizzie Cannon who currently works there. It is a big space I have to fill – exciting! The show is set for the 6th September until 6th October 2011.

Last Friday was my last working day at RUTC College, we went for leaving drinks, and they were very kind to give me some lovely books as a leaving gift, which was very generous of them. Thank you guys! I will be back to visit!

Last but not least, I leave on Wednesday for Chongqing, and will be in residence there until the 2nd July. I will be posting daily with updates!