Our collapsed apartment building in To Kwa Wan is turning into a real mystery and I'm already all agog because there will be a police investigation into what happened.
Psychics, take heed! What the police are so suspicious about is the ten minute warning that minimised the death toll.
Seems two men who were renovating the ground floor came running out of the building screaming "Get out! It's going to collapse!" and then stood on the street screaming up at the apartments, bringing folks to their windows to tell them to get out immediately. Since this is HK, where panic is honed to a fine art, most folks in the front apartments heeded the warning, ran around their floor hammering on surrounding doors and shouting for their neighbours to get out too, so it was a stampede down the stairs to the street, but by-standers who watched the collapse say there were a number of more intrepid souls who they saw come to their windows to see what was happening and who simply wafted away the screaming like it was beneath their notice. Grumpy old men and young mothers with sleeping babies! Those sorts!
And those are the folks who we're now seeing in the most offensive and gruesome photographs - HK really needs to stop doing that - although the English papers don't do it nearly as badly as the Chinese papers - being taken out of the rubble.
The up-side to HKers constant "Chicken Little-ing"? Sometimes the sky does indeed fall on you.
Anyway, now the two kindly fellows who screamed to such great effect are the subject of a police investigation with the intent of bringing them up on a wrongful death charge.
Personally, I think they deserve a medal for all those lives they did save: Officers of The Order of Effective and Judicious Shrieking!
Of course, it's always possible it's something they did during their renovation that actually caused the collapse but I doubt it. I mean, what can you do on the ground floor that would bring down an entire apartment building? I'm sure Al Qaeda would love an answer.
And the other interesting and notable incident in this is that one of the collapsed apartment-dwellers who stampeded to safety that night received a call from India saying his wife in India collapsed round the time of the building collapse and is now in hospital fighting for her life. Strange, huh? But the poor fellow isn't allowed to go back to search through the rubble for his passport so he can't get back to her, although several Christian charities have come on board to attempt to facilitate a compassionate return home without one.
So are you too longing to know what happens with all this? I'll follow the story for you and pass on the highlights.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
What Kills Us This Week
An apartment building collapsed on Friday afternoon. Five dead. Naturally HK is now in a frantic panic mode and there's to be an immediate inspection of all buildings over 50 years old in the triad-built areas of HK.
That's us, folks. Wan Chai is triad-built and our building is about 60 years old. And I'm very pleased about this inspection. In fact, I've been longing for one for years. Ever since we moved in, all the landlords around have been rubbing gleeful hands, throwing out existing tenants and renovating "Western-style" in order to attract Foreign Devil Sorts, all of whom expect to pay massive rents and so are pigeons ripe for plucking.
And naturally, "Western-Style" means larger windows and larger rooms and so all around us, for the past five years, jack-hammers butcher away at the fabric of this building, knocking down walls and I was starting to worry about whether engineers were inspecting this work and thinking that maybe the answer was no.
It takes about a two months in HK to get the permits to demolish a building. However, in this weird world of "New New New" and "Latest is Greatest" it takes between five and seven years to get permits to renovate, so naturally, in such a stupid and insane situation that practically demands people break the law, no one gets permission to renovate for small changes like ripping out windows and internal walls.
And this goes on all around us, in old apartment buildings everywhere. No, actually it's only in Wan Chai, Sheung Wan, Eastern District, Sham Shui Po, Kowloon City and Yau Tsim Mong; places that the wrecking ball hasn't yet reached so still have old buildings with apartments owned by individual landlords rather than entire blocks owned by giant corporations.
And who can blame these individual landlords from wanting big rents. And getting those big rents mean making changes.
Although they're all relatively small changes, when everyone in a building is doing them, these little changes all accrue and so it was only a matter of time. And now it's happened: HK's first ever apartment collapse. And yes, the newspapers are reporting that the collapse was caused by individuals making their own individual renovations.
And, naturally, in these hush-hush jack-hammer operations, no engineers are brought in to check out the structural integrity of this place. In our building, I've asked and it's all "Structural Engineer? What's that, la?" And, yes, cracks started to appear in our walls about two years ago and we are "spalling" something chronic.
Never heard that word "spalling" before this but now everyone's throwing it around. It means that plaster is flaking and dropping off the ceilings, and, yup, we too are "spallers".
And now we're on the list of suspect buildings and it's about bloody time. And I guess everyone around here now knows what a structural engineer is, la!
So that's my choice for this week:
That's us, folks. Wan Chai is triad-built and our building is about 60 years old. And I'm very pleased about this inspection. In fact, I've been longing for one for years. Ever since we moved in, all the landlords around have been rubbing gleeful hands, throwing out existing tenants and renovating "Western-style" in order to attract Foreign Devil Sorts, all of whom expect to pay massive rents and so are pigeons ripe for plucking.
And naturally, "Western-Style" means larger windows and larger rooms and so all around us, for the past five years, jack-hammers butcher away at the fabric of this building, knocking down walls and I was starting to worry about whether engineers were inspecting this work and thinking that maybe the answer was no.
It takes about a two months in HK to get the permits to demolish a building. However, in this weird world of "New New New" and "Latest is Greatest" it takes between five and seven years to get permits to renovate, so naturally, in such a stupid and insane situation that practically demands people break the law, no one gets permission to renovate for small changes like ripping out windows and internal walls.
And this goes on all around us, in old apartment buildings everywhere. No, actually it's only in Wan Chai, Sheung Wan, Eastern District, Sham Shui Po, Kowloon City and Yau Tsim Mong; places that the wrecking ball hasn't yet reached so still have old buildings with apartments owned by individual landlords rather than entire blocks owned by giant corporations.
And who can blame these individual landlords from wanting big rents. And getting those big rents mean making changes.
Although they're all relatively small changes, when everyone in a building is doing them, these little changes all accrue and so it was only a matter of time. And now it's happened: HK's first ever apartment collapse. And yes, the newspapers are reporting that the collapse was caused by individuals making their own individual renovations.
And, naturally, in these hush-hush jack-hammer operations, no engineers are brought in to check out the structural integrity of this place. In our building, I've asked and it's all "Structural Engineer? What's that, la?" And, yes, cracks started to appear in our walls about two years ago and we are "spalling" something chronic.
Never heard that word "spalling" before this but now everyone's throwing it around. It means that plaster is flaking and dropping off the ceilings, and, yup, we too are "spallers".
And now we're on the list of suspect buildings and it's about bloody time. And I guess everyone around here now knows what a structural engineer is, la!
So that's my choice for this week:
THREATDOWN
Ripe-For-Plucking Pigeons like us
who are willing to pay higher rents.
And the landlords willing to indulge us.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Those Silly Dunderheads!
Don't know if you're following the story, but all our Pro-Democracy Legco Councilors are trying to force Beijing's hand - to allow Hong Kong democracy - so have resigned en masse in order that The People will have to vote for them and thus we'll be a democracy.
Beijing's response is that no one is allowed to contest them thus stopping it being a real election, with all the subsequent publicity and debates with Pro-Beijing types and all that stuff, and has ordered the Punti voters to simply sign them in again, thus turning the whole thing into an anti-climax.
So it's all go, go, go here on the political front! And that's me exercising my left pre-frontal parahippsomething gland, better known as "the irony chip", which, apparently, Asians from China don't possess.
Mind you, neither do Americans, which is why they always let you know they're being ironic by saying "Not!" afterwards.
However that's all by-the-by because the story here is our big political drama - NOT!!! - and the very latest on that front is that, because everyone walked out on their resignation speeches, they took back their resignations in order to resign again next week so they do get to give their speeches ... only no one will listen again, so they can keep on doing this silliness forever.
It's all quite odd, isn't it! Don't quite get it myself, but, you know, vive le roi or whatever.
Beijing's response is that no one is allowed to contest them thus stopping it being a real election, with all the subsequent publicity and debates with Pro-Beijing types and all that stuff, and has ordered the Punti voters to simply sign them in again, thus turning the whole thing into an anti-climax.
So it's all go, go, go here on the political front! And that's me exercising my left pre-frontal parahippsomething gland, better known as "the irony chip", which, apparently, Asians from China don't possess.
Mind you, neither do Americans, which is why they always let you know they're being ironic by saying "Not!" afterwards.
However that's all by-the-by because the story here is our big political drama - NOT!!! - and the very latest on that front is that, because everyone walked out on their resignation speeches, they took back their resignations in order to resign again next week so they do get to give their speeches ... only no one will listen again, so they can keep on doing this silliness forever.
It's all quite odd, isn't it! Don't quite get it myself, but, you know, vive le roi or whatever.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Chocolate Rain
In a recent post, I talked about Ianbo's incredibly cute giant statue sitting on the pavement next to his shop. Let's see if I can find it again:
In the previous post I suggested that he'd made it for Chocolate Rain.
He didn't.
Chocolate Rain is a tiny HK company run by two of the sweetest little girls ...
... who are trying to teach always flashy 'latest, newest, most expensive' Hong Kong to love old and recycled. I've been to a couple of their Exhibitions and I really admire what they do. Let's see if I've kept any of the photos:
Looking at that, you can see how Ianbo's giant statue is from a different aesthetic, so now I've got to track down which artist I think he's created it for.
I know I've been to an Exhibition of this other artist's work recently, so I'll go hunt through my photographs now and hopefully be back in a minute or so with a name:
Wouldn't you just LOVE to have those chairs in your garden?
Of course it would have to be in a heavily forested garden, maybe in a little private copse where you'd come across them unexpectedly and ... mmmm, now I'm off in some fantasy of my 'one-day' dream garden, which is a very nice place to be so I might stay here for a while.
In the meantime, check 'em out: Chocolate Rain and Carrie Chau, three very fine Hong Kong artists.
Later:
Hey, just found out. The statue above is indeed by Carrie Chau and is called "Blind Fly", and you can buy miniature 9" versions for HK$3500. Go into her website and you can order them there
In the previous post I suggested that he'd made it for Chocolate Rain.
He didn't.
Chocolate Rain is a tiny HK company run by two of the sweetest little girls ...
One of our two tiny little gorgeous artists.
... who are trying to teach always flashy 'latest, newest, most expensive' Hong Kong to love old and recycled. I've been to a couple of their Exhibitions and I really admire what they do. Let's see if I've kept any of the photos:
Only a tiny sample of Chocolate Rain's work.
Do you love?
I know I've been to an Exhibition of this other artist's work recently, so I'll go hunt through my photographs now and hopefully be back in a minute or so with a name:
No, I cannot find a single photo I took at the Carrie Chau exhibition, so if you're interested just click on the link above and you can check her out for yourself and see if I'm right.
However, if the statue Ianbo has sitting outside his gallery means that temporary installations are returned to him ... and what an exciting thought that is ... maybe it means I can lay my hands on these Chocolate Rain gems ...
Wouldn't you just LOVE to have those chairs in your garden?
Of course it would have to be in a heavily forested garden, maybe in a little private copse where you'd come across them unexpectedly and ... mmmm, now I'm off in some fantasy of my 'one-day' dream garden, which is a very nice place to be so I might stay here for a while.
In the meantime, check 'em out: Chocolate Rain and Carrie Chau, three very fine Hong Kong artists.
Later:
Hey, just found out. The statue above is indeed by Carrie Chau and is called "Blind Fly", and you can buy miniature 9" versions for HK$3500. Go into her website and you can order them there
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Warn the Pope!
Have just been sent this and found it hilarious:
1981 & 2005
Two Interesting YearsInteresting Year 1981
1. Prince Charles got married
2. Liverpool crowned soccer Champions of Europe
3. Australia lost the Ashes.
4. The pope died
Interesting Year 2005
2. Liverpool crowned soccer Champions of Europe
3. Australia lost the Ashes.
4. The pope died
Interesting Year 2005
1. Prince Charles got married
2. Liverpool crowned soccer Champions of Europe
3. Australia lost the Ashes.
4. The pope died
Lesson to be learned:
2. Liverpool crowned soccer Champions of Europe
3. Australia lost the Ashes.
4. The pope died
Lesson to be learned:
The next time Charles gets married,
someone warn the Pope.
someone warn the Pope.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
What Kills Us This Week.
This week, Hong Kong is back on form with yet another huge crisis. Once again melamine has turned up in our milk products from China. Yup, barely has the ink dried on the death certificates for the last lot of unscrupulous Chinese dairy farmers and here they are, back at it again.
At least this time it isn't hexavalent chromium; the "bad, bad stuff" from the movie Erin Brockovich. Remember that? How, when the Chinese dairy industry took the melamine out after the last lot were caught and sentenced to death, they put in leather factory waste instead? I blogged it back then. Let's see if I can find it. Yup, here.
However, the really good news about this latest panic is for the New Zealand dairy industry. Milk from Kiwi cows, bottled in New Zealand before being shipped over is now making a killing in HK. Keith's buying it, although, for him, it's a patriotic thing. At least that's what he's saying, the big fat scaredy cat.
Me? I'm fine with the milk from the local Trappist Dairy. Keith keeps telling me that it hasn't been run by Trappist Monks in a century and these days it's just a name, but I keep the faith.
And isn't it great that New Zealand has such a fabulous reputation here in China. Clean and Green! There's no place that can match it in the minds of the Chinese. Everything that's wrong with China is right in The Land of the Long White Cloud, so it's no wonder they're moving there in such numbers.
So that would have to be my choice for this week:
At least this time it isn't hexavalent chromium; the "bad, bad stuff" from the movie Erin Brockovich. Remember that? How, when the Chinese dairy industry took the melamine out after the last lot were caught and sentenced to death, they put in leather factory waste instead? I blogged it back then. Let's see if I can find it. Yup, here.
However, the really good news about this latest panic is for the New Zealand dairy industry. Milk from Kiwi cows, bottled in New Zealand before being shipped over is now making a killing in HK. Keith's buying it, although, for him, it's a patriotic thing. At least that's what he's saying, the big fat scaredy cat.
Me? I'm fine with the milk from the local Trappist Dairy. Keith keeps telling me that it hasn't been run by Trappist Monks in a century and these days it's just a name, but I keep the faith.
And isn't it great that New Zealand has such a fabulous reputation here in China. Clean and Green! There's no place that can match it in the minds of the Chinese. Everything that's wrong with China is right in The Land of the Long White Cloud, so it's no wonder they're moving there in such numbers.
So that would have to be my choice for this week:
THREATDOWN
Mainland Chinese with too much money
and too little taste in architecture,
rocking over in such large numbers
erecting jarring buildings all over
that spoil New Zealand's pristine aesthetic perfection.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Two New Artists to Love!
I just loved that bust out there on the street, so stopped to ask the shop owner where he'd got it, and realised we were face-to-face with the model himself:
Sam and Sam.
He's an artist called Sam but his business card is all in Chinese so I can't tell you anything more about him, except his work is truly amazing (double-click to see the quality of his art), he's drop-dead gorgeous, his e-ddress is: hhf56301@163.com and his phone number is 13613038535.
His English is excellent so I asked who'd made his bust and he called out and this lovely fellow emerged from the shop across the way:
Ianbo
Turns out the bust was a gift from his friend, a young artist called Ianbo, who owns the gallery across the way and who, under the name Bison Art, makes the most amazing sculptures, including large temporary seasonal public displays, and who is astonishingly in demand:
Heather looks at the record
of recent work
and realises she's seen
many of his installations before,
in Hong Kong.
Including this one for ...
is it Chocolate Rain?
is it Chocolate Rain?
Although there are many pieces he's made that I don't like, he can obviously turn his hand to anything and the standard of workmanship is amazing. He does "Portrait Sculpture" too from photographs which are so astonishingly good, I'd love him to do stuff for me.
And if you'd love him to do stuff for you too, Ianbo's business card is in English, so I can tell you he can be reached at:
And if you'd love him to do stuff for you too, Ianbo's business card is in English, so I can tell you he can be reached at:
bisonart@sina.com
bisonart@163.com
Phone: 690693156
And his address is: Shop 6, Lane 5, Laowei West, Dafen, Shenzhen, China.
I imagine Sam's address is virtually the same, so you probably could use that address for both artists.
I imagine Sam's address is virtually the same, so you probably could use that address for both artists.
Over lunch, Heather decided that she is definitely bringing her daughter to Dafen when she visits next month, so asked if I'd take her around once more so she'd have her bearings, so we did one more walk-through ... and came across Sam again.
Just LOOK at what he's doing. In the morning, he was painting a seascape, and four hours later he's doing a commissioned portrait:
So there you are: two new artist's to love. And if Liam from Newfoundland is still looking for an artist, just look at the quality of Sam's work. How can you not commission him?
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Going All Kevin McCloud!
There's a building up in Dafen that we've talked about in here many times:
This is the Qing Dynasty Courtyard House that was most successfully and beautifully restored.
On our first Dafen-Drop-By, when Margaret and I first laid eyes the place, for me it was truly a knuckle-biting epiphany and going through the building I fell in love. You're forbidden to take photos that include the paintings, so you just have to imagine the interior; two floors of cool white gallery rooms with perfect flow-through from space to space, and all exquisitely carved dark wood window panels and strong thick dark wood floorboards, and, first visit, three entire wings full of the most unimaginably beautiful paintings of mist over white waterlilies. All up, the entirety was so exactly right this instantly became my dream house; the blueprint for the home where I want to live out the rest of my days.
I was so enamored, everyone I've taken to Dafen since I've excitedly shuffled round to see it for themselves, and you may recall how Kelly A., on seeing it the second time, said "Oh my god, it does exist. It's so incredible and surreal, I thought I'd dreamed it."
And it's so great they have several lovely resident English speakers on the premises who are proud to talk architecture, and a particularly knowledgeable one explained what they'd done: how, a decade earlier, they'd bought the derelict building and totally rebuilt it so it looked exactly the same, leaving only the back part in the original state:
But ...
OK, I know I'm an opinionated git who always knows how she feels about everything, but, alas, not here. There are just so many mmmms! I kept thinking how much I'd love to see a Grand Designs episode on the place; to have Kevin McCloud go through and analyse it all.
Like this:
It's immediately below the skylight I've shown you above, and ... well, it's a single wall from the old Qing house that was originally on the site, and it immediately struck me as wrong.
So there I was madly channeling "my inner Kevin McCloud" and asking myself why it was wrong - maybe something like, "too much New York sensibility thrust into Qing" - when Heather said "There is something mildly offensive about extracting something from reality and turning it into Art. That was once a house where people were born, lived and died, and now it's appropriated as a random piece of sculpture." and I realised that when Heather was right she was sooo right and it wasn't the architecture I was really having these odd thoughts about, but rather ... gosh, what? The Morality?
But nonetheless, this moral issue aside, it's still a gorgeous restoration. Kinda!
But ...
Yes, I know it isn't yet finished and maybe they have something "totally tah-dah" and "final filip" to round it all off, but to me it doesn't really gel with the sheer perfection of what previously existed and I'm not sure what I think.
Gosh, I would so LOVE Kevin McCloud to go through the place and give us all his Grand Design thoughts on the subject.
A Dafen Art Gallery.
This is the Qing Dynasty Courtyard House that was most successfully and beautifully restored.
On our first Dafen-Drop-By, when Margaret and I first laid eyes the place, for me it was truly a knuckle-biting epiphany and going through the building I fell in love. You're forbidden to take photos that include the paintings, so you just have to imagine the interior; two floors of cool white gallery rooms with perfect flow-through from space to space, and all exquisitely carved dark wood window panels and strong thick dark wood floorboards, and, first visit, three entire wings full of the most unimaginably beautiful paintings of mist over white waterlilies. All up, the entirety was so exactly right this instantly became my dream house; the blueprint for the home where I want to live out the rest of my days.
I was so enamored, everyone I've taken to Dafen since I've excitedly shuffled round to see it for themselves, and you may recall how Kelly A., on seeing it the second time, said "Oh my god, it does exist. It's so incredible and surreal, I thought I'd dreamed it."
And it's so great they have several lovely resident English speakers on the premises who are proud to talk architecture, and a particularly knowledgeable one explained what they'd done: how, a decade earlier, they'd bought the derelict building and totally rebuilt it so it looked exactly the same, leaving only the back part in the original state:
Through that door is a dining room,
a sleeping loft running the length of the wing,
and a large, modern kitchen.
And all the various wings were centered around a courtyard which they'd pretty well left alone as well:
Courtyard and a lovely gentleman from Beijing.
We both individually partook of the gallery's
afternoon tea ceremony, became friends,
and sat there for ages
chatting about the Qing Dynasty.
However, what's now happening is that the gallery is so successful they've begun buying up the surrounding Qing Dynasty Courtyard Houses as well:
The Qing buildings around the side
of our wonderful gallery.
To me, this should have been bliss; that nothing should have been more wonderful than having these visually-gifted folk buy the other Qing buildings to restore them as well.
And now it's happening.
But ...
"Mmmm, wonder what Kevin McCloud would say about this." I muttered last week. And then I tried to imagine.
I wasn't allowed to photograph the latest however they did permit me to take this carefully placed photo of Kiwi Heather:
See behind her head, the door
linking the original space to the new?
They've cut a doorway through the side of their building that leads into a night-club-looking enormous room that's ... no, not weird as such ... rather it's all " Hmmph! ARCHITECTURE!!!" as that old cowboy said looking at some new post-modern building in Santa Fe!
However some things they got sorta right, like this piece of glass in the ceiling that shows the old roof design:
And I love the new hallway linking one building to the next building along the row:
Again with the sneaky photographing.
And I LOVE the new back door to the place:
OK, I know I'm an opinionated git who always knows how she feels about everything, but, alas, not here. There are just so many mmmms! I kept thinking how much I'd love to see a Grand Designs episode on the place; to have Kevin McCloud go through and analyse it all.
Like this:
It's immediately below the skylight I've shown you above, and ... well, it's a single wall from the old Qing house that was originally on the site, and it immediately struck me as wrong.
So there I was madly channeling "my inner Kevin McCloud" and asking myself why it was wrong - maybe something like, "too much New York sensibility thrust into Qing" - when Heather said "There is something mildly offensive about extracting something from reality and turning it into Art. That was once a house where people were born, lived and died, and now it's appropriated as a random piece of sculpture." and I realised that when Heather was right she was sooo right and it wasn't the architecture I was really having these odd thoughts about, but rather ... gosh, what? The Morality?
But nonetheless, this moral issue aside, it's still a gorgeous restoration. Kinda!
But ...
Yes, I know it isn't yet finished and maybe they have something "totally tah-dah" and "final filip" to round it all off, but to me it doesn't really gel with the sheer perfection of what previously existed and I'm not sure what I think.
Gosh, I would so LOVE Kevin McCloud to go through the place and give us all his Grand Design thoughts on the subject.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Another Day in Dafen
My plan to transform and transcend language barriers using nothing but goodwill, mime and a few sketches?
Nah, didn't work.
Kiwi Heather and I dashed up to Dafen yesterday, as we thought we were meant to, to pick up our commissions only to discover the paintings weren't ready and that the artist appeared to be awaiting our feedback in case he had to make changes before sending them to be framed. Guess yesterday was "what do you think?" day and not "pick-em-up" day like we thought.
Damn that perpetual language barrier!
For an entire week, Heather was so very excited about what the artist would do with the photo of her children she was "counting sleeps" and so was most disappointed he hadn't put his own strange spin on it. But nonetheless she had to admit it was an excellent painting so she OKed it.
And the portrait I commissioned? It too wasn't what I asked for. With my fulsome mime and elaborate sketches I thought I'd illustrated that I wanted Father Bransfield's image extracted from Irish photographer Frank Kearn's gorgeous photo and placed instead against a background of stained glass windows with all this different-coloured light streaming through. So simple, yes? Instead...
But just double-click to look what he did with it? Nothing very much, actually; simply playing up the strange subtextual narrative features that made me select that photo in the first place.
I commissioned this painting to be donated, if it was good enough, to Laucala Bay Parish in Suva, Fiji, where our dear friend Father Bransfield had his last posting. I thought it would be nice to have him still there, for all time hanging on the wall in his study, since that was the place where he spread so much love and comfort, working his own particular brand of magic, for so many people.
Since I also intend to have other portraits done, only with Father much younger, to donate to Tutu Seminary, which he built, and a slightly older-version portrait for Lomeri Seminary, which he also build much later, this was just a test to see if it were possible.
So what do you think? A success?
Hey, how churlish and too-too-surreal would it be to demand an artist do "bizarre and interesting" things in his paintings! Imagine hitting one over the head and shouting "More weird! More weird!"! Nah! Not on! Although there's a part of me that thinks it would be rather fun.
Anyway, Heather and I talked about it over lunch, deciding that we did love our commissions, and that neither of us have any real complaints because, honestly, although they may not be what we wanted, nor what we thought we were paying for, the rendering is just so stunning and our paintings so beautiful just as they are, we are well served. And, sure, we speculated long and hard over why he didn't "Go All-Out Original" like he usually did, and ended up deciding that, because of that damned language barrier, our artist was too worried about misunderstanding us so just went with what we gave him.
Oh, and here's something else very interesting. On the artist's desk there was a days'-old English language newspaper which I found really bizarre considering the gentleman doesn't speak English, so, while Heather was reviewing her portrait, I went through it, genuinely curious as to why it would be there ... and then I saw ...
Nah, didn't work.
Kiwi Heather and I dashed up to Dafen yesterday, as we thought we were meant to, to pick up our commissions only to discover the paintings weren't ready and that the artist appeared to be awaiting our feedback in case he had to make changes before sending them to be framed. Guess yesterday was "what do you think?" day and not "pick-em-up" day like we thought.
Damn that perpetual language barrier!
Heather reviews a photograph
of her finished portrait.
We never saw the actual paintings
which were clearly someplace else.
It's minions doing the grunt work
in an alcove in some back alley,
I'm telling you.
For an entire week, Heather was so very excited about what the artist would do with the photo of her children she was "counting sleeps" and so was most disappointed he hadn't put his own strange spin on it. But nonetheless she had to admit it was an excellent painting so she OKed it.
And the portrait I commissioned? It too wasn't what I asked for. With my fulsome mime and elaborate sketches I thought I'd illustrated that I wanted Father Bransfield's image extracted from Irish photographer Frank Kearn's gorgeous photo and placed instead against a background of stained glass windows with all this different-coloured light streaming through. So simple, yes? Instead...
The artist's cutie-pie minion
shows me my painting.
But just double-click to look what he did with it? Nothing very much, actually; simply playing up the strange subtextual narrative features that made me select that photo in the first place.
I commissioned this painting to be donated, if it was good enough, to Laucala Bay Parish in Suva, Fiji, where our dear friend Father Bransfield had his last posting. I thought it would be nice to have him still there, for all time hanging on the wall in his study, since that was the place where he spread so much love and comfort, working his own particular brand of magic, for so many people.
Since I also intend to have other portraits done, only with Father much younger, to donate to Tutu Seminary, which he built, and a slightly older-version portrait for Lomeri Seminary, which he also build much later, this was just a test to see if it were possible.
So what do you think? A success?
Hey, how churlish and too-too-surreal would it be to demand an artist do "bizarre and interesting" things in his paintings! Imagine hitting one over the head and shouting "More weird! More weird!"! Nah! Not on! Although there's a part of me that thinks it would be rather fun.
Anyway, Heather and I talked about it over lunch, deciding that we did love our commissions, and that neither of us have any real complaints because, honestly, although they may not be what we wanted, nor what we thought we were paying for, the rendering is just so stunning and our paintings so beautiful just as they are, we are well served. And, sure, we speculated long and hard over why he didn't "Go All-Out Original" like he usually did, and ended up deciding that, because of that damned language barrier, our artist was too worried about misunderstanding us so just went with what we gave him.
Oh, and here's something else very interesting. On the artist's desk there was a days'-old English language newspaper which I found really bizarre considering the gentleman doesn't speak English, so, while Heather was reviewing her portrait, I went through it, genuinely curious as to why it would be there ... and then I saw ...
First double-click on this photo,
then check out the news photo
and immediately look upwards.
It's like deja vu all over again!
Last week I noticed the artist taking sneaky photos of us and wondered why. Now I know. In his bio, he's a newspaper photographer who decided to throw it all up to pursue a career as an artist, but, from this, I guess he's kept all his newspaper contacts and bolsters his income by still free-lancing here and there.
And, hey, how embarrassing is it that my New Year Resolution was to become more Planet-Friendly by being less of a consumer, and here it is, only two weeks later, and I'm being used to represent "Shenzhen's Consumer-Led Economic Recovery!"
Planet-Killing Consumer-Monster: C'est Moi!
But the up-shot of all this is ... we have to go back again next week. Heather was almost cross about it but me? Oh no! Definitely not so much! And last night, when I told him, Keith kinda sneered a little and drawled "You obviously deliberately misunderstood so you could sneak in yet another visit to buy lots more paintings."
He's not right, although, you know, he's not entirely wrong either. On both these recent visits I've bought home more paintings; just ones I've seen in passing that I couldn't live without, and there are still a great many I really, really NNNNNEEEED and would love to go back for.
And, yes, we have definitely run out of wall space. Maybe, in future, we'll have to borrow other people's walls. Any volunteers?
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Nothing Doing!
Just for an experiment, I'm now going into my files to grab a random photo, chosen with my eyes shut, which I'll then post. If it's anything interesting, I'll talk about it. And if it isn't, I'll let it speak for itself.
See you later.
Ribbons in ApLui Street.
See you later.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Chinese New Year Plans!
Last night, Keith said "I need to go to the dentist. During Chinese New Year, I think we should fly to Chiang Mai, spend several days exploring, then catch that new Orient Express down to Bangkok and visit that nice lady dentist ABC always recommends."
The only reply to that was "Yes, and we mustn't forget to pick up milk and laundry on the way home."
Gosh, I do love Keith. It's hardly surprising we've been married so long when this is his idea of taking care of his teeth.
Mind you, I have never heard of Chiang Mai before and have no idea where it is nor even why I'd want to go there but I'm sure, with the help of google and a few Lonely Planet guides down at the local library, I can quickly remedy that. I'm sure Keith doesn't know anything about it either, except that's it's the starting point of the two day journey down to Bangkok on the newly refurbished 1930s style Orient Express and steam trains are Keith's new big thing.
Me? Mmmm, yup sure! I like steam trains.
However, my real new big thing, along with sacred caves, is canals. Hearing a lot about them lately and they've really caught my imagination. My Aunt Laura, who's 86 and honestly thought her traveling days were behind her, has recently discovered canals and is raving about them, saying that you just sit there and watch beautiful landscapes pass by, and you get to see all these old and beautiful cities and towns along the canals that are all "places you've only read about in history books." and "once rich, prosperous and important but now lost to history". So far, she's traveled by river boat through all the canals and rivers from Turkey up to Russia, right across Russia and into Europe proper, and she plans in future to continue her river boat journeys across Europe and end up doing various canal boat tours through the more obscure parts of England.
Sounds like a plan to you too? And did you know there's a river boat tour through India's Northern canals, through the areas where they invented Ayurvedic Medicine and Massage, and you get to discover where everything happened and - the bliss of this! - sample all the different therapies. I keep leaving articles about it all over the house hoping Keith will get the hint, but nothing so far.
But, in the meantime, that's the big plan for next month: Cheing Mai, Orient Express, Bangkok, dentist.
And yes, where I go you go, so - if Keith can make this happen for us and he has let us down a couple of times in the past - within a month, you'll know all about it too.
Later:
Googled Chiang Mai and turns out it's yet another Ancient Thai capital. Thailand seems to have changed capitals often, doesn't it, and I still have others I've been to and not yet posted anything on.
Mmmm, yes. Old capital means you ride elephants around some interesting ruins and take tuk tuks to lots and lots of sodding wats! I still have five different famous wats posts I've yet to get around to writing up, all in different parts of South East Asia and all very interesting in their own right, I'm sure ... and please don't notice the yawn I'm hiding behind my hand.
I'm obviously going to have to learn more about wats and how they're subtly different from each other in order to find them interesting again, aren't I! I managed to do that with stupas, so I'm sure I can generate new enthusiasm for wats ... and is that another yawn coming on?
No, I'm just spoiled rotten, aren't I. I'm sure this will be lovely and I'm really looking forward to it. Although ... hey, maybe the place will also have lots of sacred caves. That would be seriously cool. I'm off to the library now to find out.
Later still:
Yes! Yes! Yes! Lots and lots of sacred caves, most off-limits to tourists, sure, and rightfully so, but there's a whole pile - the Chiang Dao Caves - that even have an organised tour where you get your own tour guides, equipped with lanterns, to take you around and through them. I am now happy again. Ah, the sheer bliss!
I'm excited!
The only reply to that was "Yes, and we mustn't forget to pick up milk and laundry on the way home."
Gosh, I do love Keith. It's hardly surprising we've been married so long when this is his idea of taking care of his teeth.
Mind you, I have never heard of Chiang Mai before and have no idea where it is nor even why I'd want to go there but I'm sure, with the help of google and a few Lonely Planet guides down at the local library, I can quickly remedy that. I'm sure Keith doesn't know anything about it either, except that's it's the starting point of the two day journey down to Bangkok on the newly refurbished 1930s style Orient Express and steam trains are Keith's new big thing.
Me? Mmmm, yup sure! I like steam trains.
However, my real new big thing, along with sacred caves, is canals. Hearing a lot about them lately and they've really caught my imagination. My Aunt Laura, who's 86 and honestly thought her traveling days were behind her, has recently discovered canals and is raving about them, saying that you just sit there and watch beautiful landscapes pass by, and you get to see all these old and beautiful cities and towns along the canals that are all "places you've only read about in history books." and "once rich, prosperous and important but now lost to history". So far, she's traveled by river boat through all the canals and rivers from Turkey up to Russia, right across Russia and into Europe proper, and she plans in future to continue her river boat journeys across Europe and end up doing various canal boat tours through the more obscure parts of England.
Sounds like a plan to you too? And did you know there's a river boat tour through India's Northern canals, through the areas where they invented Ayurvedic Medicine and Massage, and you get to discover where everything happened and - the bliss of this! - sample all the different therapies. I keep leaving articles about it all over the house hoping Keith will get the hint, but nothing so far.
But, in the meantime, that's the big plan for next month: Cheing Mai, Orient Express, Bangkok, dentist.
And yes, where I go you go, so - if Keith can make this happen for us and he has let us down a couple of times in the past - within a month, you'll know all about it too.
Later:
Googled Chiang Mai and turns out it's yet another Ancient Thai capital. Thailand seems to have changed capitals often, doesn't it, and I still have others I've been to and not yet posted anything on.
Mmmm, yes. Old capital means you ride elephants around some interesting ruins and take tuk tuks to lots and lots of sodding wats! I still have five different famous wats posts I've yet to get around to writing up, all in different parts of South East Asia and all very interesting in their own right, I'm sure ... and please don't notice the yawn I'm hiding behind my hand.
I'm obviously going to have to learn more about wats and how they're subtly different from each other in order to find them interesting again, aren't I! I managed to do that with stupas, so I'm sure I can generate new enthusiasm for wats ... and is that another yawn coming on?
No, I'm just spoiled rotten, aren't I. I'm sure this will be lovely and I'm really looking forward to it. Although ... hey, maybe the place will also have lots of sacred caves. That would be seriously cool. I'm off to the library now to find out.
Later still:
Yes! Yes! Yes! Lots and lots of sacred caves, most off-limits to tourists, sure, and rightfully so, but there's a whole pile - the Chiang Dao Caves - that even have an organised tour where you get your own tour guides, equipped with lanterns, to take you around and through them. I am now happy again. Ah, the sheer bliss!
I'm excited!
Monday, January 18, 2010
What Kills Us This Week.
Sunday's Hong Kong Book Fair in Causeway Bay was HUGE, with a great many stalls and a massive turnout.
Yayyy!
What makes this particularly memorable, and a cause for great celebration, is that it was held on the site of last month's Sogo Acid Attack. I'm just so proud of HK showing its defiant feisty side, with everyone determined to be oblivious to any danger, although it must be noted that there were zillions of crates of water everywhere, just in case.
Besides, they caught the perps for that one: two young men doing a copy-cat. They still haven't got the Acid Bomber himself, who I'm still convinced is "Shenzhen Pervy Cop" as I talked about in an earlier post.
I love it when "HK Does Feisty" because they do it so well. It really is part of the character of the place as much as the constant Chicken Little-ing and the biophobia. All up, it's this interesting mix that separates the people of HK from the Mainland Chinese.
However, that's not my choice of threatdown for this week. What I want to talk about is Avatar. Like nothing else before it, this film has captured the HK imagination and, yes, has even started to shape the actions of the people.
You probably know, don't you, that the City-State of HK consists of The SuperRich and The People, and that the SuperRich are a tribe from the North called the Punti, while The People are a mix of Hakka, Hokai and Hokla rice farmers brought in from the North by the Ming Emperor back in the 16th century to work the Punti's newly gained land. Oh yes, and let's not forget the Tanka, the original inhabitants - all the pirates, fishermen and boat-people of the region - although they were Outsiders and thus never part of this setup.
And in this set-up, the Punti were and still are, despite a century of British Rule, the Landlords, the Developers, the Own-Everythingers, and, in HK's skew-whiff take on Democracy, even today only the Punti vote. THEY are what HK is all about and all 7 million of The People are just there to serve 'em.
And that's where Avatar comes into play. It's a new HK phenomena that The People have been standing up to The Rampant Punti SuperRich. As you know, it only started three years ago, and right across the park from us at Wedding Card Street ...
From viewing this film in such enormous numbers, HK has not only learned they are allowed to resist but they even have entire chunks of dialogue to throw around too. No, honestly. Villagers on the brink of having their villages destroyed in the name of progress and superhighways are, as we speak, manning roadblocks and chanting lines from Avatar at the bulldozers and actually telling reporters that Avatar is their inspiration to fight back.
Astonishing, isn't it, that an American film about Americans is capable of bringing about such a massive and speaking "identification"! Maybe it's because the Good Guys have blue skin they aren't immediately identifiable with a single group and thus can be seen to stand for any people on our planet.
Wonder if James Cameron thought of that. Probably not, if his stupid comments at the Golden Globes are anything to go by. He seems to think the success is due to the technology, without realising it's doing even better in 2D in the poorer areas of the world.
It's NOT the technology, James honey. It's the message.
And did you know that the reason Avatar has earned nearly two billion at the box office is because it's also caught the imagination of the people of China. Up there, right across the Mainland, this film is in constant rotation, with tickets like hen's teeth and waiting lists months long. Originally it was going head-to-head with Confucius, but within days Confucius was kow-towing out. Seem The People crave the message of Avatar more than their own now-rehabilitated philosopher, Kung Fu Sai, and I'm now even wondering if they don't follow HK's example and, not long in the future, we'll see Avatar dialogue and quotes being thrown around every place up North where justice is not being seen to be done.
Whathisname once said "The Medium is the Message", but that's not the case here. It really is the message, James honey, and NOT the medium.
Even my old friend Richard, who hates everything about the modern world, is raving about Avatar and saying he feels all inspired and wants "to go All-Jihad on American Arse!" but I'm arguing with him that it isn't that simple. This film is bigger and more universal than that. I will even say it's an invitation "to go all-Jihad on Anyone's Arse." Everywhere on earth where the little people are being trod on by Giants - whether Corporations or Ideologies or Religions or Banks or Developers or anything else huge, destructive and/or impersonal - this film is an invitation to "Go All-Out-Jihad" in the name of Justice.
In the past, the platform and language for resistance came from religious text, and then from those massive, worthy, wordy 19th century tomes that were so complicated they were too difficult for most folk to read and understand. (Although I must confess I unexpectedly found The Communist Manifesto very poetic, very beautiful and very readable.)
Today?
So that's my choice for this week:
Yayyy!
What makes this particularly memorable, and a cause for great celebration, is that it was held on the site of last month's Sogo Acid Attack. I'm just so proud of HK showing its defiant feisty side, with everyone determined to be oblivious to any danger, although it must be noted that there were zillions of crates of water everywhere, just in case.
Besides, they caught the perps for that one: two young men doing a copy-cat. They still haven't got the Acid Bomber himself, who I'm still convinced is "Shenzhen Pervy Cop" as I talked about in an earlier post.
I love it when "HK Does Feisty" because they do it so well. It really is part of the character of the place as much as the constant Chicken Little-ing and the biophobia. All up, it's this interesting mix that separates the people of HK from the Mainland Chinese.
However, that's not my choice of threatdown for this week. What I want to talk about is Avatar. Like nothing else before it, this film has captured the HK imagination and, yes, has even started to shape the actions of the people.
You probably know, don't you, that the City-State of HK consists of The SuperRich and The People, and that the SuperRich are a tribe from the North called the Punti, while The People are a mix of Hakka, Hokai and Hokla rice farmers brought in from the North by the Ming Emperor back in the 16th century to work the Punti's newly gained land. Oh yes, and let's not forget the Tanka, the original inhabitants - all the pirates, fishermen and boat-people of the region - although they were Outsiders and thus never part of this setup.
And in this set-up, the Punti were and still are, despite a century of British Rule, the Landlords, the Developers, the Own-Everythingers, and, in HK's skew-whiff take on Democracy, even today only the Punti vote. THEY are what HK is all about and all 7 million of The People are just there to serve 'em.
And that's where Avatar comes into play. It's a new HK phenomena that The People have been standing up to The Rampant Punti SuperRich. As you know, it only started three years ago, and right across the park from us at Wedding Card Street ...
Wedding Card Street
And although The People didn't win that one ...
See across the park there?
On the left?
That's the empty space
that was once Wedding Card Street.
... The People did manage to save several of the buildings.
Three of the eight buildings we saved.
Wan Chai Market
The Brothel from "The World of Suzie Wong"
The Wan Chai Post Office.
Yes, I know I'm saying "we" when we didn't actually take part, but it all happened right outside our window, so we saw the whole thing and were with them in spirit and I did manage to photograph it all for the historical value, although I can't actually lay my hands on the photos right now so can't share them with you.
However, back then, Resistance was new to HK and no one was quite sure how to go about it. All they had was the inchoate emotions and sure knowledge that something they valued was being taken away, but they had no language to express what they were after and no sure way of being effective in their actions to defend their land, homes, life-styles and rights.
But all this appears to have changed in recent days, and it appears to be all thanks to Avatar. Yes, James Cameron's Giant Blue Humanoids are providing the rhetoric for resistance and even appear to be building that resistance itself.
From viewing this film in such enormous numbers, HK has not only learned they are allowed to resist but they even have entire chunks of dialogue to throw around too. No, honestly. Villagers on the brink of having their villages destroyed in the name of progress and superhighways are, as we speak, manning roadblocks and chanting lines from Avatar at the bulldozers and actually telling reporters that Avatar is their inspiration to fight back.
Astonishing, isn't it, that an American film about Americans is capable of bringing about such a massive and speaking "identification"! Maybe it's because the Good Guys have blue skin they aren't immediately identifiable with a single group and thus can be seen to stand for any people on our planet.
Wonder if James Cameron thought of that. Probably not, if his stupid comments at the Golden Globes are anything to go by. He seems to think the success is due to the technology, without realising it's doing even better in 2D in the poorer areas of the world.
It's NOT the technology, James honey. It's the message.
And did you know that the reason Avatar has earned nearly two billion at the box office is because it's also caught the imagination of the people of China. Up there, right across the Mainland, this film is in constant rotation, with tickets like hen's teeth and waiting lists months long. Originally it was going head-to-head with Confucius, but within days Confucius was kow-towing out. Seem The People crave the message of Avatar more than their own now-rehabilitated philosopher, Kung Fu Sai, and I'm now even wondering if they don't follow HK's example and, not long in the future, we'll see Avatar dialogue and quotes being thrown around every place up North where justice is not being seen to be done.
Whathisname once said "The Medium is the Message", but that's not the case here. It really is the message, James honey, and NOT the medium.
Even my old friend Richard, who hates everything about the modern world, is raving about Avatar and saying he feels all inspired and wants "to go All-Jihad on American Arse!" but I'm arguing with him that it isn't that simple. This film is bigger and more universal than that. I will even say it's an invitation "to go all-Jihad on Anyone's Arse." Everywhere on earth where the little people are being trod on by Giants - whether Corporations or Ideologies or Religions or Banks or Developers or anything else huge, destructive and/or impersonal - this film is an invitation to "Go All-Out-Jihad" in the name of Justice.
In the past, the platform and language for resistance came from religious text, and then from those massive, worthy, wordy 19th century tomes that were so complicated they were too difficult for most folk to read and understand. (Although I must confess I unexpectedly found The Communist Manifesto very poetic, very beautiful and very readable.)
Today?
Avatar!
So that's my choice for this week:
THREATDOWN
Resistance all dummied down, simplified
and so easily digestible it's available to everyone.
Many Days Later:
China has stopped Avatar in the much cheaper 2D version showing in the cinemas. I can only imagine this is because they want to limit the number of poor folks who see the film. Mmmmm!
Even More Days Later:
China has stopped Avatar in the much cheaper 2D version showing in the cinemas. I can only imagine this is because they want to limit the number of poor folks who see the film. Mmmmm!
Even More Days Later:
Everyone's now talking about how Avatar took on Confucius in Mainland China, and guess which won? Here's one article on it:
New Zealand Film
Yes, we have been neglecting New Zealand but I honestly do intend to come back to the subject. And today I shall.
Here's something I discovered that really surprised me: what was on the published list of 2009's top grossing films in the country.
Taking them from highest to lowest, here they are:
Here's something I discovered that really surprised me: what was on the published list of 2009's top grossing films in the country.
Taking them from highest to lowest, here they are:
NZ'S FAVOURITE FILMS
2009
Avatar
Gomorrah
Up
District 9
An Education
The Class
Mary and Max
Man on Wire
Samson and Delilah
I've Loved You for So Long.
500 Days of Summer
Hunger
In the Loop
The Cove
Star Trek 11
Tyson
Julie and Julia
Milk
Inglorious Basterds
Frozen River
Extraordinary, isn't it, how many of these none of us have heard of. In fact, I'm going to look them up and find out what I can because ... well, why didn't the rest of us ever get to see 'em.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
A Mystery Solved
Many times in here we've talked about an artist in Dafen who's work I love but who is never home.
Margaret and I first met this "Angry Young Man" in person back in 2004 on our first ever Dafen-Drop-by and thought him exceptionally talented. We loved the startling originally of his work and the depth of his vision, but, back then, both of us found the paintings very disturbing, like they were a sublimation of very dark, angry and sinister desires and so, speculating that he perhaps would burn out before he got anywhere, we didn't bother to find out his name.
However, over the years, whenever we've gone to Dafen, I've kept an eye on what he's up to and, instead of witnessing the expected deterioration or detonation, watched him grow and develop both as an artist and a man and seen for myself how he's shaken off "the horror, the horror" while keeping all that was good about his work. Extraordinary stuff!
But once we recognised this flowering of genuine genius and became serious fans, he stopped being home. Like, not ever. Nonetheless it was interesting to watch his life unfold just from looking at his gallery - which has morphed over the years into many different forms with very different vibes - and so we've always speculated on what it was reflecting about what was happening in his life, on the assumption that the outer was mirroring the inner.
Like, how's this one? We can guess what's just happened, can't we:
The latest transformation, by the way, I'm really not liking much:
Margaret and I first met this "Angry Young Man" in person back in 2004 on our first ever Dafen-Drop-by and thought him exceptionally talented. We loved the startling originally of his work and the depth of his vision, but, back then, both of us found the paintings very disturbing, like they were a sublimation of very dark, angry and sinister desires and so, speculating that he perhaps would burn out before he got anywhere, we didn't bother to find out his name.
However, over the years, whenever we've gone to Dafen, I've kept an eye on what he's up to and, instead of witnessing the expected deterioration or detonation, watched him grow and develop both as an artist and a man and seen for myself how he's shaken off "the horror, the horror" while keeping all that was good about his work. Extraordinary stuff!
But once we recognised this flowering of genuine genius and became serious fans, he stopped being home. Like, not ever. Nonetheless it was interesting to watch his life unfold just from looking at his gallery - which has morphed over the years into many different forms with very different vibes - and so we've always speculated on what it was reflecting about what was happening in his life, on the assumption that the outer was mirroring the inner.
Like, how's this one? We can guess what's just happened, can't we:
Yes, our "Angry Young Man" had become a dad.
The latest transformation, by the way, I'm really not liking much:
In Fiji we call that colour
"Government Green"
and associate it with
bad domestic architecture.
And those tyres? Like, huh?
And because he's never in, we've simply peered through the door at his latest crop of paintings and watched the subtle transformations of his vision, and more and more I'm realising he's there as an artist and ready for The Big Time, and thinking I really should buy something by him. And soon too. (I could have bought a Yue Mingjun painting I loved back in 2003 for US$5,000.00, and that exact same painting recently sold at auction for US$16 million. Damn!)
This visit, however, for the first time in four years of dropping by, the gallery was open and manned, only by a very charming woman instead of the artist himself, but I didn't get to buy. Aussie Christine was feeling sick and HAD to eat immediately thus we couldn't spend any time among his art.
But we did, however, find out his name:
CAI JUN
And if you trust my judgement enough to want to buy into him, his number is: 13428729115, and his e-ddress is cai junyi1981@163.com.
And now I know who he is, I think I'll Google him and see what I can find out. And, naturally, I'll let you know if I discover anything really interesting.
Later:
Discovered there's a famous Chinese artist called Cai Jin but I've tracked down his work, which I don't like nearly as much, and it definitely isn't our guy, Cai Jun.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
The Engine Room of Dafen
Artists at work. Since this is the engine room driving Dafen, let's wander down through the backstreets to see how it's done:
First off, and large, possibly the best photo I've ever taken in my life. Just love the story in this:
Too poor to rent an alcove,
Oh no! My photo program has mixed up old and new photos of Dafen, but still I'm sure you can cope seeing some taken yesterday and some from earlier visits.
See how most work in little alcoves or on the street and some combine rent and work together in a larger studio. And please note how they never get paint on themselves. I once saw an artist in an Armani suit painting a portrait of a gorilla and was almost finished and was still spotless. (Wonder if I can find that photo.) Like, huh? How do they manage it? OK, maybe they don't wipe their paint brushes on their pants like I do, but still!
But these artists! Always so clean. And damn, aren't they so talented. I can even say that when I don't like the work they're doing.
And there's several photos I know I have that are so beautiful and which I can't find, but I'll go looking and insert them when I eventually do find 'em.
First off, and large, possibly the best photo I've ever taken in my life. Just love the story in this:
The One Shot!
I see him as a farmer from the countryside
somewhere deep in China who has come here
with his young family
to see if he can earn a better life for them
from a gift he's always possessed.
After much pleading, gallery owner
has given him a chance to show
what he's capable of.
Too poor to rent an alcove,
and living in the streets
he's taking this one shot in a back alley
and giving it all he's got.
Every person in Dafen has a story. Talented painters rock up from all over China to take a chance on a future in art. And yes, here art is the commodity and in demand and they usually end up prosperous. Let me show you some more stories.
Oh no! My photo program has mixed up old and new photos of Dafen, but still I'm sure you can cope seeing some taken yesterday and some from earlier visits.
See how most work in little alcoves or on the street and some combine rent and work together in a larger studio. And please note how they never get paint on themselves. I once saw an artist in an Armani suit painting a portrait of a gorilla and was almost finished and was still spotless. (Wonder if I can find that photo.) Like, huh? How do they manage it? OK, maybe they don't wipe their paint brushes on their pants like I do, but still!
But these artists! Always so clean. And damn, aren't they so talented. I can even say that when I don't like the work they're doing.
And there's several photos I know I have that are so beautiful and which I can't find, but I'll go looking and insert them when I eventually do find 'em.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Dafen Again
Took Kiwi Heather and Aussie Christine up to "The Magic Land Behind the Hand" yesterday:
As we already know, since this blog has visited many times in the past, this magical land is my favourite place on earth: The Artist Village in Shenzhen up in Mainland China:
For me, it was the usual lovely day. In fact, I can't think of any other way I'd prefer to spend my time than loafing around among art and artists with a fine meal thrown in for good measure.
Hey, on our wanderings, we actually found out the name of the strange artist who does those really dark and interestingly misshapen original paintings ... but that's so special it's a post for another day. And we also finally met an artist I've been admiring for a long time who does really interesting and often quite bizarre, dark and 'deeply subtextual' takes on portraits-from-photographs. Amazing stuff from a very original and exciting mind. Kiwi Heather was so inspired she handed over a photo of her children to be turned into one of his wonderfully strange oil paintings.
(He was very taken by the colour of her hair, by the way, and seemed very pleased when he saw that her kiddies shared that strange and beautiful gold colour, so I'm betting he'll do something around that theme.)
Also ... umm, Keith doesn't know and I don't think I should mention it until I've told him myself personally and face-to-face ... but ... but ... but ... the artist is soooo good and his work sooo interesting, and even though he didn't speak English I had to - like, really HAD to, because it would be a crime otherwise - commission him to do the painting I've had in my head for several months now.
But anyway, that's also for another post I think: what happens when you commission a painting from an artist who doesn't share any language in common with you, with only the odd rough sketch or two thrown in to explain. Really, really good fun and only 300 yuan complete with mounting and framing, and we pick them up late next week, so don't you too long to see the result?
(Two portraits completed in one week? Like, huh? How fast does this guy work! He must have many minions to do the grunt-work for him, la!)
However, there are so many other posts in this, since I took a lot of photos, today I'll just show you different shots to those I've shown previously of what Dafen looks like physically, and we'll do the other posts later:
And since the entire place is all about art, let's end this post with a shot of a wall of paintings for sale:
Love? And if you want a piece of Dafen but can't make it there yourself, here's a person who can make it all happen for you:
Information for how to reach her is in a previous post. I'd find it for you only ...
Kiwi Heather meets "The Hand"
DAFEN
Dafen Dining!
Kiwi Heather (on right) loved the place
but Aussie Christine (on left and not feeling well)
says she vastly prefers
Hui-An Artist Village in Vietnam.
For me, it was the usual lovely day. In fact, I can't think of any other way I'd prefer to spend my time than loafing around among art and artists with a fine meal thrown in for good measure.
Hey, on our wanderings, we actually found out the name of the strange artist who does those really dark and interestingly misshapen original paintings ... but that's so special it's a post for another day. And we also finally met an artist I've been admiring for a long time who does really interesting and often quite bizarre, dark and 'deeply subtextual' takes on portraits-from-photographs. Amazing stuff from a very original and exciting mind. Kiwi Heather was so inspired she handed over a photo of her children to be turned into one of his wonderfully strange oil paintings.
(He was very taken by the colour of her hair, by the way, and seemed very pleased when he saw that her kiddies shared that strange and beautiful gold colour, so I'm betting he'll do something around that theme.)
Also ... umm, Keith doesn't know and I don't think I should mention it until I've told him myself personally and face-to-face ... but ... but ... but ... the artist is soooo good and his work sooo interesting, and even though he didn't speak English I had to - like, really HAD to, because it would be a crime otherwise - commission him to do the painting I've had in my head for several months now.
But anyway, that's also for another post I think: what happens when you commission a painting from an artist who doesn't share any language in common with you, with only the odd rough sketch or two thrown in to explain. Really, really good fun and only 300 yuan complete with mounting and framing, and we pick them up late next week, so don't you too long to see the result?
(Two portraits completed in one week? Like, huh? How fast does this guy work! He must have many minions to do the grunt-work for him, la!)
However, there are so many other posts in this, since I took a lot of photos, today I'll just show you different shots to those I've shown previously of what Dafen looks like physically, and we'll do the other posts later:
And since the entire place is all about art, let's end this post with a shot of a wall of paintings for sale:
Love? And if you want a piece of Dafen but can't make it there yourself, here's a person who can make it all happen for you:
Annie,
the resident English speaker
at Hui Dan Gallery
Information for how to reach her is in a previous post. I'd find it for you only ...
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