Thirty Towers of the Great Wall

Before we left Beautiful Beijing, We hiked thirty towers of the Great Wall. Wow! an impresive piece of stone winding up and down the highest and lowest chunks of mountain. I made many sketches, I was very happy with. One of the Funnest things to do on the Great Wall is to ditch the old ladies who walk the wall everyday to make a living off the tourists. As you walk the wall, you will be aproached by all sorts of people making their living uop there, one kind is the spontaneous tour guide who will adopt you as their leage. These ladies walk the wall everyday and are very strong and nimble up on the wall and if you're looking for a little entertainment and a chalenge, you can try to lose them by out walking them, they ARE persistent! I managed to loose one such tour guide and break a fine sweat doing so, the pay off is some time alone to take in the Chinese mountain geography and impressive stacks of ancient brick. Oh, Yeah, the zip line is only scary until you get passed the rocks and over the water.
Cheers!

On Asignment at the Temple of Heaven, Beijing

Ni Hoa!
Six days have elapsed since last writing in here, but believe you me I've been a good journalist, in my very special way ofcourse. Here are some on asignment photos at the Temple of Heaven, Beijing; the ancient sight where the Ming Emperors came to communicate with heaven and God. As usual the temples are a compound of relic culture and masive achievment, here are two large temples, one circle(for communion with god, in Chinese culture the circle is heavenly and the square terrestrial), one square. In the photos above, you can see yours truley making sketches in my hand made sketch book and meditating about what it would mean to hold discourse with god like the Emperors of old China. If a higher power were to be listening (or leaning over my shoulder and looking in on sketch book) it would hear from me a plea for time and patience for our kind as I feel our kind have strayed from the rhythm. Also an opportunity to make a small sacrifice came to me( The emperors of old made many sacrifices at this Sight), in the form of a pair of older ladies as they aproached me for their picture to be taken with my polaroid. My first reaction was to walk away since my polaroid film is expensive a slim pickings but soon it hit me that it was my asignment to make a sacrfice while here at the Temple of Heaven so I shot the couple o' older chinese ladies and gave them the polaroid. I must have made their year! People don't seem to have easy access to pictures here and I'm sure the pair of ladies apreciated it.

Day two, Beijng, Ni HUn Nyo!

Hello out there!
Beijing is a beautiful city with a busting art scene nice people, cheep everything, much transportation, and vry old cultural centers Like The Forbidden City.

The airport was too clean but I was put at ease when we hit the more urban center, lots of bikes and scary driving. We eat well and its customary to try and eat too much. Whre we stay is at the temple hotel is close to the people it feels like, we walk through their lives every day.

I dont have much technology to get pictures onto this page but that's nevr been my thing any way but don't worry I'll be binging you'all the narartive in my own special way. I'kicking much ass in the Journal I bound in the States and making babysteps towards my 3-D portable suit case journal, getting some sewing done and finding stuff in the streets.

798 or ChiJioBa was an ispiring space, artists space and direct retail for their work. I was really drawn in to work BY a printmaker maybe called Kang JinFei. Woodcuts mostly, he also pulled off a some installation with the printing blocks that I will be taking inspiration from.

CAFA or The Central Academy of Fine Arts seemeda great school, The Printmaking space was inpresive and sulpture studio open and spacious, I would go to school there. We were treated like rockstars.

Hi, I gotta go find some found object and draw.

Zai Jian!

Gita and Christian, last day in Eugene

Hi from Eugene, Oregon. My girl, Gita and I are spending a little time together on our 6 year aniversery and the last day before I head out to China. I'm a little nervous. I've acumulated a ton of of material to make art in China. Stay Tuned.
CHEERS!

"Portable Cities," 2006
"Dangerous Things In Baggage," 2006
by Yin Xiuzhen

Recent Screen Prints, Summer 2008, CSW

         

Art and more

Hello, 

As we get closer to leaving for China, I'm starting to get excited about how I'll make art in China, which will be in a mobile setting.  I've been looking into art by contemporary chinese artists Yin Xiuzhen, Weng Fen, Ai Weiwei and He Yunchang.  I'm interested in these artists for their language and debate with ideas of identity and movement into a so called modernity and consumerism.  I would like to think that I confront these same issues in my own work, which at home in the U.S. I achieve through Printmaking, street art and the 3rd dimension or sculpture.  But I understand part of the glory and challenge of our whole Art In China art adventure is that I will be limited in those mediums available here at home.  Taking inspiration from especially Yin Xiuzhen and her Portable Cities, 2006 where she created a kind of 3-d  urban narrative, using found fabric and object collected around the world, about the cities she had traveled to which all fits into a brief case.  I fell in love with Portable cities for the piece's mobility and ability to absorb the energy one feels when traveling.  So, with some anxiety, and inspiration from contemporary chinese art, I've gutted a typewriter suitcase to take with me into China in where hopefully a mobile 3-d journal will grow.