Cyclo-Cross, Eugene, Or.

Just something I've been doing since I've been home.

Writing with Xu Bing's "Book from the Earth," Moca, Shang Hai

I think the art museums in china had the biggest impact on me. I kept reading about this Chinese contemporary art scene and how it was booming in China. Here in this video we're using Xu Bing's "Book from The EArth, " the piece uses pictographs so that any language can comincate with each other. To me ominous in it's cool break down of our diferences across the globe and inspiring in it's ability to make people think about the modern era and it's universal cominication. What would we ever do without all this information at the finger tips. maybe it's a handicap maybe it will take us into space. For me, I thnk I'm suffering from the information overload. How to make work about that?

Drawing @ the MOMA, Sahng Hai

Drawing at my favorite place in Shang Hai, the MOCA. Here's an example of the kind of work I was doing while in China. Part of my work, in keeping with a mobile theme, was a hand made journal, which I drew in every chance I got. This kind of mobile work was challenging for me in that my work is trapped in a book.

Subsequence blog

We're home, we're back to working at the restaurant and school starts today. I tell people who ask me how China was, that it was unreal, I can't believe I was there and it happened at all. Three weeks with good people and an amazing staff and the a 5000 year old country named China.

Most of all the biggest affect China had on me was my work. Art had to be created in a mobile on the go setting among a different and old culture, mostly walking around the big cities of Beijing, Shan Dong and Shang Hai. Among a saturated city with good people where contemporary Chinese art has been having a renaissance, we explored wide-eyed Jin Mao Tower, original cite of the Communist Congress and my favorite The Shang Hai Museum, The shang Hai Museum of Modern Art and Shang Hai Biennial. All the big Chinese artists of the last 20 years had work there and it seriously pushed my mind to want to make art. And in the heat of the moment during our travels in China I pulled off some work, some complete and some left behind, like ink wash experimental drawings left hanging at our exhibition in Shan Dong, and some work not yet realized, like the six tapes of video footage waiting to be born into something. Work-on-the-go was challenging for me but I came through; for example, for our last critique in Shang Hai I was able to pull off some printmaking (with the help of some inspiration from Beijing printer Kang JianFei) which involved the six sides of a giant Mars eraser, left-over ink wash experiments, emergency asian paper, wood block and stamp pad, I was
able to come up with a "mono-print mass" yet to be signed, which, in it's presentation became a kind of emotional, visual and artistic view into feelings I had in Shang Hai.

With more work ahead of us at the Lavern Krause, I've been getting the buzz from emails, of a kind of Urban Street Scene Theme of China for exhibit at L.K. I'm into the idea as long as some visions of mine can meld with the theme. I would like to fully exploit and meld into the show anything we found or bought or drew or made, anything we as a group philosophized upon during our adventure. In China I had this feeeling the whole time that anything we did or brought couldn't go to waist, and China as a whole seemed so good at using materials. This to me sums up the feeling China had on me: this kind of on-the-go art work and overwhelming importance of material since we were all far away from home.

I think we can express that at Laverne Krause, certainly that is what my goal is.

Thanks, to be continued...

Shang Hai

Shang Hai is a great city! We've been here for about five das or so and I have to say we've been to a few places. We've been to the top of Jin Mao, you get a free fresh water pearl with the purchase of a ticket to the top(80 plus stories) and a great view of one of my favorite buildings in the cityscape, the Shang Hai Financial Building. This particular building has made it in to the sketch book and into a small wood cut that needs work.

The coolest thing so far in Shang Hai was the ShangHai Bieniale where I finally saw live work by Yin Xiujin and Yue Minjun and a new favorite Chinese artist Wang QingSong. Yin Xiujin made a plane car combo (life size)conected by modern textile cotton t-shirts (more portability and travel themes)"Flying Machine". Yue Minjun had an amazing piece commenting on cars and fossil fuel, made from steal and car paint of humanoid dinosaur anti-heroes called, "Colorful Running Dinosaurs."

Suzhou city was old, amazing and surrounded by canals. The only garden we got to spend time in was out of this world, shot footage, we'll see what we can do with it. Bai Ta Pagoda was a spiritual experience to climb to the 7th floor and take in Suzhou's 5 million residence and watch people perform insence cerimony. the train ride home an impressive example of Chinese life and what it's like to be a chinese trying to get around by train. Edwin is the MAN! He was reading chinese maps and characters and getting people in taxis, and making sure everyone was having fun.

A Few Words At the ShanDong U Art Opening

Edwin and I are just saying a few words of appreciation at the art opening in Shan Dong that just came to an end this Tuesday. I feel very accomplished and have made a new partner and friend in Fan Yi Ming. We pulled off the animation of the 3D art journal and I was able to get some polaroid packaged exhibit and my journal was out there with some Chinese ink paintings I struggled with and left in Shan Dong at the show. Thanks ALL!

YES! we pulled it off, here are Fan Yi Ming and I at The Shan Dong University art show, look forward to seeing the animation of the 3D art journal that got titled "Traveling World". Also here is some product design in my polaroid photos, "Polaroids, Chin Is The Place," "Hand Made Journal" and ink paintings. Thanks ALLL!

Now we're in Shang Hai after a 9 hour over night sleeper train car ride!