Tag Archives: art

“It’s not enough to love her”

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My three-day weekend was a huge relief. The weather was beautiful every day. I bought fresh vegetables and cooked a pot of spring pasta. We went on long walks around the city, ate Xibei-style oat noodles and homemade tofu with friends, and attended a block party at the 696 Weihai art district.

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696 Weihai is a formerly state-owned automobile parts factory turned artist enclave. Maleonn (an artist I have followed since I was in high school) was the first to set up his art studio, and have invited many of his friends to move into the building. I was so excited the first time I stepped onto Weihai. Unlike Shanghai’s many carefully planned and developed “arts” areas, 696 Weihai felt like an organic community.

Unfortunately, all of this will be demolished in a few weeks all for development’s sake. So Saturday marked a bittersweet, yet wonderfully festive celebration of Weihai Lu and its creative community.


We were intrigued by the red-lit room and stumbled into artist Chris Gill’s studio


Susan Junker’s final installation at stage候台BACK featuring functional sex dolls:

Using a sex doll as the representation of this period of time in the development of Shanghai city and female individuals in general Junker hopes to create an iconic image of the development of the local society that gives audiences pause for thought on the various issues she would like to raise.
-Artist statement from stage候台BACK



Susan Junker’s beautiful stage候台BACK art space

Maleonn's Studio

“就像失去了家一样，知道自己必须抛弃很多东西，很不舍得。但无可奈何，在中国什么东西都在改变，飞速的变化，我们不得不面对这样的动荡，并且活在这样的混乱里。

I feel like I’m losing my home. Many things needs to be discarded, but it’s really difficult to get through the process of cleaning everything out. But there is nothing we can do. Everything in China is changing dramatically and we must face the turmoil and survive the chaos.”

-An excerpt from an interview with Maleonn by Bound Editorial

mstudio_4 Maleonn’s Photo Studio No. 004

mstudio_7 Maleonn’s Photo Studio No. 007

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*All photos are mine except for the two by Maleonn

The impossible return

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These past few weeks, I have noticed a growing sense of accomplishment for successfully building a comfortable life in a brand new country, yet an unshakable feeling of uncertainty and nostalgia for a home I have left behind.

As we witness horrific natural disasters and unbearable economic crisis shake our world, I find myself feeling more powerless than ever. But I know that creative solutions and brilliant ideas come out of the most difficult situations, in the most challenging environments.

Because of the literal and metaphorical disconnect with the rest of the world, I’ve been feeling utterly alone in my journey. But I continue to keep my head up high. I think there are more of us than I realize.

So here is to maintaining “normalcy” and documenting the highs and lows of everyday life:

“The Greek word for ‘return’ is ‘nostos.’ ‘Algos’ means ‘suffering.’ So nostalgia is the suffering caused by an unappeased yearning to return. To express that fundamental notion most Europeans can utilise a word derived from the Greek (‘nostalgia, nostalgie’) as well as other words with roots in their national languages: ‘anoranza,’ say the Spaniards; ‘saudade,’ say the Portuguese. In each language these words have a different semantic nuance. Often they mean only the sadness caused by the impossibility of returning to one’s country: a longing for country, for home.” - From Milan Kundera’s “Unbearable Lightness of Being”

Happy New Year!

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We spent New Years Eve at the Minsheng Art Museum drinking red wine with good friends and watching almost all 30 minutes of Der Lauf der Dinge. I’ll be doing an art review of the NYE show for Bound Editorial, a Shanghai-based literary webzine edited by my good friend Hunter. If you’re curious, here’s my latest art review of Zhou Yilun’s solo show at the Andrew James Art Gallery.

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Our first photo of the year!

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Lazaro Valiente from Lazaro valiente on Vimeo.

It’s hard to believe I celebrated 2010 in D.C. deathly ill at the Brightest Young Things party. I had only just graduated college with a degree in Literary & Cultural Studies and Sociology. I had no idea what to do with my year/life. By late February I was living in Mexico City and by March I found a home at la casa de Lázaro Valiente (take a look at the his sound experiment video above). Now I’m here in Shanghai.

So this is the beginning of the year of the rabbit. I am not quite sure where I’ll be once my contract ends in June. My nomadic tendencies are already kicking in. 2011 will be filled with unexpected adventures, for sure.

Happy New Year, everyone!

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