Lanterns
Thursday morning it was off to the 798 art district of Beijing. Today we’d get a chance to not only get a taste of the Chinese art scene, but also interact with local artists as well. We started off the day perusing a number of smaller artist specific galleries with some truly amazing work. I’d probably show more pictures of pieces we saw, but there’s something about being there that makes the experience more tangible and better representative of what the original artists’ would have a viewer to experience. I really don’t’ feel like trampling on that right now. All this to say: book a flight. It’s worth your time.
We split up within the art district and had lunch at many of the local shops, and eventually all met up back at the Iberia Center for Contemporary Art, where we not only got a guided tour of the art exhibit on display, but also were personally introduced to a lot of what Iberia was involved with as far as Chinese Independent Film. All of it had an odd feeling of pomp and circumstance to it that I wasn’t particularly accustomed to. For instance, as we were shown around by our hosts and introduced to the various pieces, two photographers followed us around and captured our every move. For me, this is what we call irony, and gave me a bit of a glimpse of the ‘bug in a jar’ feeling I really hope I don’t cause in others when I’m working. Sigh…
After our tour, Offering set up in the main hall, and played a three song set. The band captivated attendees and passers by alike, and afterward we got a chance to walk around and visit even more of the local galleries. One of these had engineered a large screen video game demonstration where the player stood in the middle of the hall and had a full view of the level on one side and a close up view of their character on the other. This was my inner five-year-old’s dream come true. Too bad it controlled more like an art exhibit than a real video game (read: poorly).
Once our time in the 798 art district was done, we stopped back by Iberia to pick up all of the bands equipment and then headed off to the Beijing Opera, where Offering played another show for the actors and attendees. Crazy. Afterward, we were treated to not only a short Chinese Operatic presentation, but also had the honor of being able to see the actress apply her makeup prior to performing – something that apparently is not something the average person gets to see. Again, crazy.
The entire day had a beautiful creative air to it. To see contemporary art in China and to experience the different methods of expression used was a really eye opening thing for me creatively. In one of the galleries an entire piece was presented in a pitch black room with nothing but blinking colored lights supplying color to the painting. Another piece used an almost etching-like effect within an all white painted surface to show the image. Still another used high-powered wind fans to blow painted murals of children on black cloth. I really could go on and on about how varied and refreshing it all was only to top it off with classic Chinese opera – but as I said at the outset, I can’t do it justice here. Book a ticket. Go. In the meantime, enjoy the pictures.
Tomorrow is Arts in the Alley, day one, and seriously… I took over 3000 shots on those last two days alone. Get excited. See you soon.
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