Time for Chinese architects to come off the 'Eggshell'
(China Daily) Updated: 2004-06-29 08:38

With Paul Andreu's "Eggshell" - the National Grand Theatre, still under construction in downtown Beijing, the National Stadium, dubbed the "Bird's Nest," designed by top Swiss architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, broke ground some 15 kilometres north of the "Eggshell" site.
[image] A model of the logistics hub designed by British architect Zaha Hadid for the southeast outskirts of Beijing. [China Daily]

To the east in the Central Business District, Ram Koolhass, a Dutch architect, won the bid for CCTV's new building, "Z-crisscross."

On the southeast outskirts of the capital, Zaha Hadid, a Baghdad born British woman architect, has joined hands with Pan Shiyi, one of the most successful real estate tycoons in China, to develop a logistics hub. The project is expected to be a huge complex of conference facilities, shopping malls, hotels, office buildings, theme parks and top-quality residential areas.

All big names in architecture circles, they are noted for their novel designs, use of new materials and high tech and their sky-scraping costs.
[image] Wu Liangyong [China Daily]

Apart from these top architects, with their landmark projects in Beijing, many other architects from abroad have also been lured by the huge Chinese market. They are involved in either public buildings or residential developments, many of their jobs won through public bidding.

No matter whether famous or not, these foreign architects have also received their share of both praise and criticism. They have brought not only new designs to this country, but also heated debate: Does China really need foreign architects to design Chinese buildings?

A big cake

"China is now the largest construction site in the world. That makes us, as architects, excited," said Neil Leach, a professor of architectural theory at the University of Bath, UK, who attended a recent seminar on avant garde architecture at Tsinghua University.

At the seminar, initiated by the organizing committee of the first Architectural Biennial 2004 Beijing, 12 architects from both home and abroad presented their designs and shared views on avant garde architecture.
[image] British architect Zaha Hadid [China Daily]

Starting from the early 1990s, foreign architects began to swarm into China to take part in the development of the Pudong New Area in Shanghai. Celebrated architecture firms such as AS&P, Atkins, OBERMEYER, RRP and SOM Planning submitted winning bids for some of the big projects in the new area. According to Beijing-based International Herald Leader, foreign architects took 30 per cent of the projects in Shanghai in the late 1990s. Following the 2008 Olympic fever, many of them moved to Beijing and won almost all the big public projects in the city.

According to the Beijing-based Architecture Journal there are now more than 120 foreign and joint architecture firms in China. Over 140 of the 200 top world engineering companies and design consortiums have set up branches in the country. Design contracts for a great number of landmark buildings in major cities have gone to foreign firms.

Like them or not, these buildings are being erected.

Controversial reaction

Much criticism centres on the one problem most new designs have: their failure to achieve a harmony with Chinese culture.

Consider, for example, the "Eggshell" next to Tian'anmen Square. Those who like it say it is unique and avant garde, and those against it call it a "dirty dropping" or "a tomb."

Paul Andreu has been accused of damaging the harmony of the area, which includes the Great Hall of the People and the Tian'anmen Rostrum. Forty-nine academicians of the Chinese Academy of Science appealed to the central government reconsider the design, but their request fell on deaf ears.

The heavy cost is another major point of dispute. According to a report from the International Herald Leader, the "Eggshell" costs are running way over original budget. The cost has reportedly increased from 2 billion yuan (US$241 million) to 5 billion yuan (US$603 million).

The whole construction area, including the theatre and a pool, now covers 260,000 square metres, 143,000 square metres more than in the original design.

The "Bird's Nest" has also exceeded its original budget of 3 billion yuan (US$362 million), escalating to 3.5 billion yuan (US$422 million). For the new CCTV "Z-crisscross," the cost is now expected to far surpass its original 5 billion yuan (US$603 million) estimate.

"I'm not against novel ideas, or unconventional or unorthodox designs, as that is what the art needs," said Wu Liangyong, one of the great contemporary Chinese architects.

"But we cannot put aside engineering and structure, we cannot overlook our culture, or the cost. China is not rich enough not to care about 5 billion yuan," Wu said.

"Some cities in China have become 'experimental sites' for both noted foreign architects and some second and third level ones," he said.

However, some disagree.

Wang Mingxian, an architecture critic, says: "We'd better first have a welcoming attitude towards these new things. City planning and historical protection must allow for a combination of old and new.

"We really wish that our Chinese architects were able to win the bidding for these landmark buildings. Unfortunately, they were not able to do so," Wang said. "Why should we reject these great architects whose previous experiments have been recognized in international architecture circles," he said, adding that their experiments in China offer more benefits than harm to the evolution of Chinese architecture.

Among those architects who have come to Beijing, Koolhaas was the recipient of the Pritzker Architecture Prize for 2000, the foremost authoritative prize in the field of architecture; Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron won the prize in 2001; and Zaha Hadid was the winner in 2004.

Fei Qing, a New-York based Chinese architect, said: "From the point of view of Chan (the Chan Sect of Buddhism, known in the West by the Japanese name Zen, which emphasizes simplicity, spontaneity and self-expression), putting unrelated things together might produce something new."

"When the East meets the West; traditional concepts give in to modern ones, and vice versa. The two might compromise. This can happen in every art form, including architecture."

But Luo Li, secretary general of the first Architectural Biennial Beijing 2004, pointed out that to improve the ability to judge beauty, or in other words, to judge art and culture as a whole, is crucial for decision-makers, architects, developers and ordinary people alike.

"For quite a long time, we have lagged behind in art education," Luo said, adding that in designing a new building city planners must keep in mind the unique local cultural fabric of their city.

"What is most important is not to let new buildings break the cultural line," she said. "We must encourage foreign architects to deepen their understanding of Chinese culture before they work on projects in China."

Chinese architects

The failure of local architects' bids for some major projects has not only revealed the inferiority of architectural education in China, but also the dilemma Chinese architects face.

Architectural education in the modern sense started late in China, in the early 20th century, and failed to keep abreast of changes because of the country's closure of its doors to the outside world from the 1950s to the 1970s, when the world of architecture was experiencing dramatic development in ideas, design and technology.

Zhang Yonghe, a noted Chinese architects, once said that Chinese architects have been trained in classicism and are more concerned with form and style in design.

"I have to admit that Chinese architects cannot compete with their foreign counterparts when it comes to imagination and design," said Dou Yide, deputy chairman of the China Architecture Society, who has worked as a jury member for many international bidding competitions during the past years. "Most of them know very little about new materials and new technology, which has badly limited their creativity and imagination," he said.

However, Chinese architects complain that many developers have blind faith in foreign designs.

Cui Kai, one of the top young architects in China, in his late 40s, complains about the imbalance in design charges. "Many developers know nothing about domestic architects," said Cui, who has won many awards in design including his "See and Seen" villa for the Commune by the Great Wall. Together with 11 other architects, Cui won a special prize at La Biennale di Venezia in 2002.

Cui said that in a joint project, the developers usually pay two-thirds of the bill to the foreign firms, leaving only one-third, or even less, for the domestic designers who have usually done much more of the work than their foreign counterparts.

Some top Chinese architects have to work for some foreign firms that don't have enough designers to handle all the projects they are involved in. All the foreign designers do is signing their names on the final sketches.

The experience of Cui Hongbing, a Shanghai architect, is a good example. Once when he was on a jury assessing international bids for the renovation of a downtown area in Shanghai, he was confused by four plans. Though coming from four different countries, the proposed plans shared the same space and planning concepts used at Tongji University in Shanghai.

After hearing the presentations of the leading designers, Cui got the answer - all four of them were graduates from Tongji University and one had even been his classmate.

Guan Zhaoye, a noted Chinese architect, also a professor from Tsinghua University, urged giving more opportunities to Chinese architects. Only when they are given more chances, he says, can they demonstrate their abilities.

"Chinese architects should improve their own abilities instead of complaining," said Wu Huanjia, a professor from Tsinghua.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-06/29/content_343702.htm

*****************

Chinese, foreign experts discuss grotto relic conservation
www.chinaview.cn 2004-06-28 23:11:50

DUNHUANG, Gansu, June 28 (Xinhuanet) -- Over 200 experts and scholars from the United States, Britain, Australia, Germany, Japan, India, Singapore as well as China gathered on Monday at the renowned Mogao Grottoes in northwest China's Gansu Province to discuss the conservation and restoration of grotto and fresco relics.

The six-day Second International Conference on the Conservation of Grotto Sites, cosponsored by the Dunhuang Academy and the US Getty Conservation Institute, will focus on the protection and management of cultural heritage along the ancient Silk Road, the conservation and research on fresco art, and relevant environmental, meteorological, historical and art research, said Deputy Director Tong Mingkang of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage at the opening ceremony.

The Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, which boast over 1,000 Buddha sculptures, was among the first Chinese cultural relics included in 1987 on the World Cultural Heritage list by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

As early as 1944, a special institution was set up to protect the Mogao Grottoes. In the early days of protection, some simple work was done to conserve and salvage the endangered cultural relics, but recently advanced scientific and technological means have been introduced and tried to protect the precious heritage more effectively, said Director Fan Jinshi of the Dunhuang Academy.

Now remarkable achievement has been made in fields of cultural relic security, fresco repair, environmental supervision and grotto management, and Mogao has become a model for the efficient conservation and reasonable use of the Chinese cultural relics, Fan said.

The Dunhuang Academy has actively participated in all sorts of international cooperation to better protect the Grottoes since 1980s. In 1988 the Dunhuang Academy and the US Getty Conservation Institute started their exchanges and cooperation in this field, and in 1993 they jointly hosted the first International Conference on the Conservation of Grotto Sites.

The Dunhuang Academy and the Tokyo-based National Research Institute for Cultural Properties have also made joint efforts to protect Caves 53 and 194. Thanks to international aid, the Dunhuang Academy successfully fulfilled the digital reproduction of grotto fresco art that can prevent the frescos from being damaged by carbon dioxide and moisture exhaled by visitors.

"The truly sustainable, truly meaningful conservation requires a lengthy and deep commitment and no one organization can succeed by itself," said Director Tim Whalen of the Getty Conservation Institute at the meeting. (by Chen Gang, An Bei )
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-06/28/content_1552364.htm

*********************

Deutschlandradio Berlin
27.6.2004
Inspiration und Spannung
XI. Rohkunstbau-Ausstellung im Spreewald
Von Barbara Wiegand

[image] Wasserschloss Groß Leuthen (Foto: Ommo Wille)
Seit 1994 findet in Brandenburg im Raum Spreewald einmal im Jahr eine Ausstellung unter dem Namen Rohkunstbau statt. Junge und international anerkannte Künstlerinnen und Künstler entwickeln dort ortsbezogene Kunstwerke. In diesem Jahr findet die Ausstellung unter dem Titel "Ein europäisches Porträt #2" im Wasserschloss Groß Leuthen statt. Eine inspirierende und spannende Auseinandersetzung mit dem Haus auf dem Land.

[image] Installation von Kristina Inciuraité (Foto: Arwed Messmer)
Die Geschichte, die Kristina Inciuraité von einer Groß Leuthenerin erzählen lässt, sie geht nicht gut aus. Der junge polnische Edelmann Vladislav Rapski. Ertrinkt bei dem Versuch der Geliebten zu imponieren indem er einen zuvor in den See geworfenen Ring wieder heraufholt. Eine Legende, die zur wechselvollen Geschichte des Hauses, vom Renaissance Schloss bis zum Waisenhaus, gehört. Und die nun, von der Litauischen Künstlerin aufgegriffen, eine Art der Auseinandersetzung mit dem Gebäude ist. Senior Kurator Marc Gisbourne:

Das Essay des Kataloges heißt ja: Ein Haus auf dem Land. Die Idee ist also, dass das Haus die Hauptrolle spielt bei dieser Ausstellung. Und zwölf verschiedene Künstler spielen dann ihre Rolle in und mit diesem Gebäude. Und ich hoffe beim Rundgang durch die Ausstellung werden die Bezüge klar, die ich hervorheben wollte - die Arbeiten beziehen Brandenburg, das Dorf Groß Leuthen, die Umgebung des Wasserschlosses oder das Haus selbst mit ein. Die Natur wird von draußen sozusagen hereingeholt, aber es gibt auch abstrakter umgesetzte Ideen.

Innen, im ehemaligen Gesellschaftsraum etwa erahnt man auf Eichenlaubbedeckten Waldboden vom Fenster gleichsam gerahmt, den sommerlichen See draußen. Ein fast poetischer Effekt der Spiegelung im die Fotografie von Thomas Florschuetz schützenden Glas.

Die Aufnahme hat ein spezifisches Licht, am Ende des Winters. Und das bringt sie in den Raum, also, sie bringt das außen in den Raum.

Hinauf gestiegen in den ersten Stock führt der Rundgang an Cornelia Schleimes passenderweise im ehemaligen Schlafzimmer gehängten, irritierend den Ungewissen Raum zwischen Schlaf und Tod bebildernden Portraits vorbei ins einstige Badezimmer. Das die junge indische Künstlerin Shilpa Gupta für die schrill schräge Inszenierung eines Thrillers nutzt, indem Menschen, ja ganze Häuser im wirbelnden Sog des zum schwarzen Loch mutierten Abflusses der Badewanne verschwinden

Das sind Gebäude aus der Kolonialzeit in Bombay. Ein Baustil, der immer wieder auch europäische Schlösser imitierte. Westliche Architektur also inmitten Bombays. Dabei geht es mir nicht so sehr darum, ob die im Video um den Abfluss herum gruppierten Gebäude die teils mit Tarnanzügen bekleideten Menschen verschlingen, oder ob auch die Häuser selbst in den Bafluss gesogen werden. Es ist vielmehr ein sich wiederholender Kreislauf. Meine Arbeit ist damit auch ein Kommentar zum Verhältnis zwischen östlicher und westlicher Kultur. Mit immer mehr militanten Gruppierungen auf der einen Seite und einer bis heute vom westlichen Kolonialstil geprägten Architektur auf der anderen Seite.

[image] Werke von Chen Shaofeng (Foto: Arwed Messmer)
Während einige also nach draußen blicken, andere nach innen oder zurück auf Geschichte und Geschichten des Hauses, hat Chen Shaofeng in den Gesichtern der Dorfbewohner die Gegenwart erforscht. Er portraitierte Groß- und Klein-Leuthener und ließ sich gleichzeitig portraitieren. Etwa vom Hausmeister des Wasserschlosses Wilfried Wolf:

Ganz spontan, ich bin vorbeigekommen und dann hat er mich gegriffen von hinten. Und ich wollte nicht, hatte keine Zeit. Und musste dann. Ja und so sieht das Bild auch aus, was ich von ihm gemalt habe. Er sieht darauf mehr aus wie ein Europäer als ein Chinese.

Shaofeng hat den Groß Leuthener wie die anderen naturalistisch, fast poppig gemalt. Seine aus der Unsicherheit geborene Unruhe festgehalten. Wohingegen seine jeweiligen Gegenüber den spitz und schnauzbärtigen Chinesen rudimentär, comicalartig, expressivst gestrichelt oder impressionistisch angehaucht auf die Leinwand brachten. Damit gleicht Chen Shaofeng so wie sie ihn im Spreewald sehen ganz dem Chen Shaofeng, wie ihn chinesische Bauern in der Provinz Hebei bereits gemalt haben. Das Konzept hier wie dort umgesetzt vom in Peking lebenden Künstler zeigt, dass internationale Kunst eine! internationale Sprache spricht, die den Ausstellungstitel ein europäisches Portrait etwas gewollt erscheinen lässt.

Handelt es sich doch beim diesjährigen Rohkunstbau mehr um eine selten rein dekorativ und damit uninspirierte, oft dagegen eigene und darum spannende Auseinandersetzung mit einem Haus auf dem Land.

Service
Die XI. Rohkunstbau "Ein europäisches Porträt #2" findet vom 27. Juni bis 21. August 2004 im Schloss Groß Leuthen in Brandenburg statt.

http://www.dradio.de/dlr/sendungen/fazit/280801/

**********************

Taipei Times
A decade of breaking new ground
Works from the 1980s offer Taiwanese artists' perspectives on a decade of social and political upheaval
By Derek Lee STAFF REPORTER
Sunday, Jun 27, 2004,Page 19

[image] Wu Tien-chang defiantly interpreted the late president Chiang Ching-kuo's characters in five different periods of his life in 1989. 1 PHOTO COURTESY OF TFAM

The politically turbulent decade of the 1980s, with the close of the KMT's authoritarian regime, released an immense energy into Taiwan's art world. No sooner had martial law been lifted in July 1987 and Chiang Ching-kuo (???) died in January 1988, and the accumulated "social forces" of the past two decades swept through almost every area of Taiwanese society.

Visitors to the recent exhibit of "The Transitional Eighties -- Taiwan's Art Breaks New Ground" held by the Taipei Fine Arts Museum witness a sizzling decade of artwork full of experimental spirit and forceful social and political critique. In fact, some of the prominent artists, such as Yang Mao-lin (???) and Wu Tien-chang (???), during this period participated in street demonstrations to demand immediate political democratization and social reform.

As curator Chen Yen-ing (????) pointed out, artistic development in Taiwan pursued two main courses during this dynamic period. Some artists vigorously promoted "new" ideas and "new" thinking by way of group exhibitions, leading to the development of Taiwan's minimalism, a flourishing of experimental spaces and "new material" painting in Taiwan. Others, they were keen on addressing gender, social, political and environmental issues and sought to express their views through neo-expressionist styles and performance art.
[image] 2

These artists would found their own artistic circles, such as the 101 Painting Society (101???) and the Taipei Painting Society (????), for intellectual discussions and social support. They tended to focus on exploring conceptual art and experimenting with various media. They were asking the basic question of "What is art?" and were determined to achieve their goal of "art for art's sake" through rational simplification of art expressions and paying close attention to color effects.
[image] 3

The latter group of artists were inclined to deal with meaningful international and domestic topics, such as the Three Mile Island nuclear accident in the US, the arrival of fast-food giant McDonald's in Taiwan, the appearance of the Sogo Department Store in Taipei and even the construction of long bridges and elevated highways in many cities in the 1980s.
[image] 4

>From there, these artists would attempt to reflect on the humanities and would subsequently raise the issues of proper interaction between people and the environment, the alienation of modern urban living and the impact of consuming cultures on society, etc, in their artwork.
[image] 5

Shifting away from traditional Chinese art and culture, these young and avant-garde artists experimented boldly with subject matter and possible artistic forms, even including body art. For instance, body art advocate Chang Jian-fu (???) performed Air Inhaling by using a plastic bag to cover his head in 1982 in a reference to the martial law period when people felt oppressed and, from then on, found a new way of protest on the streets. These artists cared more about innovation based on modern ideas and independent thinking. The term "new" later became a trademark for these artists.

The exhibition features about 100 works, including two-dimensional works, mixed media works, spatial installations and sculptures by some 50 Taiwanese artists working in the 1980s. Another curator Liao Tsun-ling (???) concludes her observation by saying that the innovative expressions of art in the 1980s had a very strong impact on contemporary artistic development in Taiwan.

In particular, the sudden outburst of energetic creativity right after the end of authoritarian rule helped local artists gain confidence to go on experimenting with each their unique artwork. Out of this confidence, they prepared and were eventually ready to participate in large-scale international art exhibits in the late 1990s, showcasing Taiwan's newfound artistic identity around the world.

"The Transitional Eighties" runs through Sept. 5. Taipei Fine Arts Museum is located at 181 Zhongshan N Rd, Sec 3, Taipei (???????3?181?).

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2004/06/27/2003176791

***************
´
Aachener Zeitung
Letzte Aktualisierung: 27.06.2004 | 19:59 Uhr
Ein kleines chinesisches Paradies mitten in der Stadt

Herzogenrath. Unversehens tritt der Besucher ins Paradies. Wenige Schritte eine versteckte Treppe in der Apolloniastraße mitten im Herzogenrather Zentrum hinauf, dann steht er schon mitten in China.

Das hat nichts mit gastronomischen Angeboten à la «Gebratener Reis mit Hühnerfleisch» zu tun, sondern mit der Landschaftsarchitektin Susanne Krawczak sowie dem Ehepaar Marlies und Wolfgang Vorpeil. Das betreibt im Erdgeschoss ein Geschäft und hatte sich immer geärgert, dass es außer zur Offenbacher Lederwaren-Messe eigentlich nie aus der Stadt kommt.

Die Vorpeils wollten dafür wenigstens daheim einen Ort haben, wo sie sich nach des Tages Mühen gründlich erholen konnte. Diesen Ort hat ihnen die Aachenerin Krawczak mit ihrem Dachgarten verschafft. Ihre ungewöhnliche Kreation wurde am Samstag im Zuge des bundesweiten «Tages der Architektur» der Öffentlichkeit vorgestellt.

In der Tat: Was der Landschaftsarchitektin da unter dem Motto «Ferner Osten trifft Deutsche Nordsee» eingefallen ist, beweist Mut zum Experiment. Aus allem spricht eine Einstellung zur Natur, die so gar nichts zu tun hat mit der üblichen Idylle. Dieser kleine Garten Eden vor der Balkontür im ersten Stock, zu dem auch eine Sauna gehört, zeugt von einem spirituellen Blick auf alles, was wächst.

Chinesische Sinnsprüche auf einer hohen Bambusstange oder kleinen aufgekleben Schildchen zeugen von einer bewussten Hinwendung zur Welt von Yin und Yang sowie feinem Gespür für die Rolle der Natur in der geistigen Welt. Zugleich wurzelt alles, was über dem Getriebe der Apolloniastraße wächst, von der Liebe zum Hier und Jetzt. Denn Susanne Krawczak versteht ihre Schöpfung als «Garten für die Sinne».

So nimmt es denn auch kaum Wunder, dass der Blick des Betrachters zuerst auf einen kleinen Springbrunnen fällt. Kinder haben ihn zuerst für sich entdeckt. Denn es ist drückend warm am «Tag der Architektur». Gleich in der Nähe zum erfrischenden Nass entdeckt der Besucher bei näherem Hinsehen einen Trick der Planerin.

Mitten im Erdreich hat sie ein metallisch glänzendes Rohr versteckt. Das sieht aus wie ein Gestaltungselement, was es auch ist - aber nicht nur: In jenem Rohr nämlich endet der Abluftschacht aus dem Geschäft darunter. Die Kunst, das Nützliche leicht aussehen zu lassen: Hier ist sie gelungen.

Vor allem aber gibt es, Susanne Krawczaks Absichten folgend, jede Menge Labsal für die Sinne. An Salbeiblättern reiben und den feinen Duft riechen, hören, wie der sanfte Wind das Laub des Bambus streichelt - diese Erfahrungsräume und noch mehr hat die Aachenerin geschaffen.

Auch an Kargheit, die an die Askese buddhistischer Mönche gemahnt, hat sie gedacht: Vor dem Kaminzimmer der Vorpeils liegt ein Steingarten mit feinkörniger Lava und niedrig wachsenden Pflanzen, die nicht viel Pflege verlangen. Wem aber so etwas zu sparsam ist, der mag die Sinne weiter sättigen und über die pelzigen Blätter des Hasenöhrchens streichen, derweil nebenan gelb das Currykraut blüht.

Kennengelernt haben sich Krawczak und die Vorpeils, denen es nach eigener Aussage nicht viel Überwindung gekostet hat, ihren Garten zwei Stunden lang zur allgemeinen Besichtigung zu öffnen, übrigens via Internet. Rund ein Dreivierteljahr hat es gedauert, bis nässebeständiges Bangkirai-Holz die Beete umschloss und die Fußpfade markierte. Dass es hierbei um zertifiziertes Tropenholz geht, erfüllt die Beteiligten mit nicht geringem Stolz.

Und damit sich die Pracht auch erhält, haben Christian Baum und Thomas Schotten aus Langerwehe, die sich «Natur-Gestalter» nennen und wahre Gartenbau-Künstler sind, samt ihren Mitarbeitern vier Wochen lang Zeit für den Dachgarten der Herzogenrather Familie genommen und ein ausgetüfteltes System von Muttererde und speziellen Matten verlegt.

Die Besucher zeigten sich höchst interessiert: Schon zur Halbzeit hatte der Mann der Landschaftsarchitektin, der am Eingang die Stellung hielt, 73 Neugierige gezählt - gewiss keine unbefriedigende Statistik.

Von unserem Mitarbeiter Eugen Breitmann (27.06.2004 | 19:59 Uhr)

http://www.aachener-zeitung.de/sixcms/detail.php?id=347788&_wo=News:Wirtschaft&_wobild=menue_news.gif&template=detail_standard

**********************

Die Welt
Dienstag, 29. Juni 2004 Berlin, 22:52 Uhr
Die Bäume wachsen nicht in den Himmel: Auktionen mit Asiatika in London
von Heidi Bürklin

Vielfältig war wieder das Angebot der asiatischen Auktionen an der Themse und kritisch wurde es aussondiert. Dass auch die beste Publicity die Bäume nicht allzu sehr in den Himmel wachsen lässt, wenn eine Hauptingredienz zum Erfolg fehlt, mussten Sotheby's am 8. Juni erfahren. Mit einem aufwendigen Katalog hatte man die 494 Lose umfassende japanische Sammlung aus dem ehemaligen Besitz des renommierten belgischen Sammlers Adolphe Stoclet ans Herz gelegt.

Beste Provenienz, berühmte Künstlernamen, etwa Hokusai, Utamaro und Hiroshige: Alles stimmte, außer dem Zustand. Zwar frisch auf dem Markt, waren die Farben vieler Holzschnitte doch häufig verblasst, die Blätter oft verschmutzt. Und so wurden denn auch 37 Prozent der Lose und 25 Prozent nach Wert abgelehnt.

Amerikanische und japanische Händler griffen bei den Top-Zehn zu, ohne dass sie die Schätzung erheblich überrunden mussten. Vier Utamaro-Blätter dominierten, wobei ein US-Händler drei Grazien zum Höchstpreis von 66 000 (37-40 000)Pfund erlag.

Die frühe Periode Anfang des 18. Jahrhunderts fand allerdings häufig zum Mehrfachen der Taxe Anklang. Ein vehement gepinseltes Blatt mit einer Schauspielszene von Kiyomasu überrundete mit 30 000 (3-5000) Pfund die Schätzung um das Zehnfache. Eventuell die ersten Signale - so deuten die Sotheby's-Experten- für mehr Geschmack an dieser expressiven "primitiven" Phase. Fazit: Mit 1,5 Mio. Pfund ein solides, aber nicht glänzendes Ergebnis.

Mehr Erfolg hatte man mit einem weiteren Angebot aus einer renommierten Sammlung: Am 9. Juni konnten Sotheby's 100 chinesische und koreanische Keramiken aus dem Toguri-Museum aufrufen. 1987 von einem japanischen Geschäftsmann gegründet, zählt das Museum in einem Residenzviertel von Tokio heute über 7000 Objekte. Aus Raummangel, und da man sich jetzt eher auf japanische Kunst konzentriert, deakzessionnierte man.

Vor allem chinesische Händler und Sammler griffen bei den wohlpublizierten Keramiken zu. Eine äußerst rare mit Pfingstrosen geschmückte schwarz-weiße Balustervase der nördlichen Song-Dynastie rückte für 600 000 (600-800 000) Pfund zu einem Händler aus Taiwan. Ein Exemplar der beliebten Wucai-Gefäße, auf denen sich bunte Fische und allerlei Pflanzen und Getier wie in einem Aquarium tummeln, begeisterte zu 360 000 (250-350 000) Pfund. Monochrome Stücke wurden überhaupt oft weit über Gebühr begehrt.

Christie's spielten bei ihrem Angebot am erfolgreichsten die Karte des Dekorativen aus. Am 7. Juni riefen sie rund 300 Lose von monochromen chinesischem Porzellan aus dem Besitz des 2001 verstorbenen Physik-Professors Edward Hall auf. Asiatische wie europäische Sammler konnten zu 87 Prozent nach Losen und 94 Prozent nach Wert nicht widerstehen.

Die begehrtesten Vasen und Schalen wurden dabei zu einem Mehrfachen der Schätzung umworben: Am höchsten eine blassblaue "Clair-de lune" Vase um 1700 mit 110 000 (25-35 000) Pfund.

Artikel erschienen am 26. Juni 2004
http://www.welt.de/data/2004/06/26/296517.html

*****************

Sun-Sentinel
Posted June 24 2004

(...)
"Masterworks of Chinese Painting: In Pursuit of Mists and Clouds" will showcase artwork from the collection of world-renowned Chinese art historian James Cahill. The exhibit includes 60 paintings in various traditional Chinese formats, including hanging scrolls and fan paintings dating from the 12th to the 20th centuries.
(...)

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-pnorton24jun24,0,1895190.story?coll=sfla-news-palm

********************

Financial Times
Visual arts: Breaking down a Chinese wall
By Michael Glover
Published: June 24 2004 17:35 | Last Updated: June 24 2004 17:35

Most of the new sculptures by the Harbin-born artist Zhang Dali hang upside- down from the ceiling of the gallery. Just one crouches, on the floor beside the wall, looking up interrogatively. The sculptures are body casts made from resin, over-painted in the palest of skin colours.

Their ankles are tethered with ropes. There is some thin, red over-painting down the backs, and around the genital areas; other figures clasp their hands behind their heads. All are painfully thin, suspended in this white gallery space like carcasses in an old-fashioned butcher's shop. Their collective title is Chinese Offspring .

These are body casts made from some of China's marginalised people: migrant workers who come into the cities in pursuit of a living; prostitutes. "I would say that of all the younger Chinese artists alive today," says Julia Coleman, an art historian, "Zhang Dali's work perhaps comes the closest to being an attack on [the] official policy of rebuilding Beijing and the disintegration of the welfare system that has allowed the creation of the migrant welfare class."

How have artists who live in China responded to the tumultuous eradication of the past? Zhang first came to notice in the late 1990s when walls of buildings all over Beijing began to be covered with a human profile in graffiti, simplified, close to cartooning. This was the artist's own profile, his mark of protest. In the process he became Beijing's leading graffiti artist - and perhaps its first. He made his mark in the old hutong, ancient alleys or lanes, just before they were flattened by the bulldozers; then he turned his attention to the new high-rises. It was at this moment that the authorities came after him and he dis- appeared from view for a while.

"The changes are too quick," he wrote in 2002. "The Chinese environment is like a meat-mincer, crushing policy, economy and culture." Now Zhang is tolerated but he is not exactly embraced - some of his hanging-body sculptures were first shown on the fringe of the first Beijing Biennial last year. The point is this: they were on the fringe.

Zhang's response is one way into an understanding of what has happened to the visual arts in China since the death of Mao in 1976. The closing years of Mao's China, with the benefit of hindsight, now seem like a time between times. The years from 1966 until his death saw the temporary death of culture. Only official art, an art of empty exhortation, bereft of the personal touch, was permitted to exist. Artists were reduced to being banner-makers. Then, within three or four years of Mao's death, artists were bringing back their stamp of the personal.

The crucial year was 1979. The universities reopened. Western avant-garde art was seen at last. But how were artists to reconcile what they were now seeing for the first time with that burdensome legacy of socialist realism? Some, such as Zhang Xiaogang and Zhou Chunya, mixed realism with tinges of surrealism. Perhaps artists could coexist with the state after all. Then, in 1989, another blow fell: Tiananmen Square. There were many artists in that crowd. In the early 1990s came the movement called Cynical Realism, extraordinary images of rebels with gaping (or perhaps yawning) mouths and shaven heads. Its best-known exponent was Fang Lijun. The 1990s was the decade in which performance art took hold in China for the first time. "Most of the performance pieces dealt with the body and the body under duress as a parallel to the extreme living conditions," says Coleman. But it was painting that became the leading medium of the 1990s. A brand of political pop art came into being that wittily combined western icons from popular culture with a style of presentation that harked back to the old socialist realism of the banner-maker. Wang Guangyi's Coca Cola Great Criticism series of 1993, for example, shows a triumphal trio of muscular workers brandishing a red banner beside a giant Coca Cola symbol. Who will be the victor in the end?, the painting seems to ask.

Now new museums are opening in Shanghai (The Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art), Beijing (The Millennium Art Museum in Beijing) and elsewhere. Younger Chinese curators with international experience are taking over from the old guard. Gao Minglu of the Millennium Art Museum, for example, divides his time between Beijing and New York.

Perhaps one of the most vital clues to what is happening to art now is in a complex of buildings 15 minutes from Beijing's international airport. Factory 798 is a huge industrial complex from the Mao era, created with some assistance from the fraternal government of the former East Germany. The buildings, once used to make munitions, are in the Bauhaus style. At the end of the 1990s the complex was in decline. Soon afterwards, artists, dealers and others began to colonise it. Lofts, studios and retail spaces were carved out of the sprawling complex. Now it is where Galliano may go to launch his latest collection, where you can buy international art books and where you can eat well. About 30 artists have studios there; galleries from London, Singapore, Germany and Japan have opened, including Zhang's London dealer, Chinese Contemporary. But nothing is simple in China. The complex is threatened with demolition. This new vibrant cultural colony, the SoHo of Beijing, may be destroyed. "There is no margin of discussion between the citizen and the state," says Zhang. Perhaps the very fact that he has said so, and that he can now show his art across the world, may help to bring such discussions about for art, humanity and China's sake.

'Zhang Dali - Chinese Offspring'. Chinese Contemporary, London W1. Tel 020 7499 8898. Until July 17

http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1087373247707

**********************

The Capital's Controversial Panda Public Art Project

June 24, 2004 -- What animal is black and white and controversial, all over the nation's capital? Day to Day reporter Eric Niiler reports on an art project in Washington, D.C. to place panda statues throughout the city -- and the debate it's stirring up about public art.

There are up to 150 brightly painted pandas placed all over the city and the surrounding metro area. The city government of Washington, D.C., spent at least $850,000 on the project -- money the project's detractors say could be spent on crucial city services.

City officials hope to get much of their investment back when the pandas are auctioned off after the project ends in September.

Photo Gallery
Web Resources
http://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=1974219

***********************

International Herald Tribune
Alan Riding: The art of schmoozing, in France and in China
Alan Riding IHT
Thursday, June 24, 2004

Entr’acte

PARIS Earlier this year, as part of a cultural extravaganza called the Year of China in France, a score of Chinese writers were invited as special guests of the annual Paris book fair. Gao Xingjian, the China-born, Paris-based novelist who won the 2000 Nobel literature prize, was pointedly not among them. The official explanation was that Gao is now a French citizen. The real reason was simpler: As an exile from the Beijing regime, he might have spoiled the party.

As it happens, Gao would probably have stayed away anyway. A shy man who devotes himself to painting and writing, he has never exploited his Nobel fame for political ends. But too much was at stake to risk embarrassing Chinese officials. Behind the screen of culture, France and China are counting on significant political and economic returns from the Year of China in France, which ends next month, and the Year of France in China, which opens this fall.

The idea of using culture to promote less-ethereal interests is something of a French specialty. Other countries have occasionally followed suit: during the cold war, Washington and Moscow also used culture as a propaganda weapon. But France has been flaunting its culture since Louis XIV in the 17th century — and China is now catching on. Making it easier, both France and China have highly centralized governments that control most of their cultural institutions.

Unsurprisingly, then, this exchange, which some officials describe as the largest ever between two nations, was born, not of cultural nostalgia, but of a hard-nosed political decision by France’s president, Jacques Chirac, and Jiang Zemin, then China’s president. Three years went into planning the Chinese celebration in France, while the program for France’s cultural jamboree in China, which runs from October through July 2005, is now being finalized.

The two governments have different aims. Eager to woo Beijing as a political ally and to boost its share of China’s economic boom, France is using the Year of China in France as a way of flattering China by treating its culture as equal to its own. To this, Paris has added some flourishes: to mark President Hu Jintao’s state visit here in January, it lit the Eiffel Tower in red and organized a noisy Chinese New Year parade down the Champs-Elysées.

China, in contrast, is interested in absorbing French technology and considers Paris a useful partner in taming Washington’s unilateralist instinct. More concretely, though, image-building through the Year of China in France fits into Beijing’s long-term strategy of gaining acceptance as a global power and opening itself up to the world. This design also includes playing host to the Summer Olympics in Beijing in 2008 and the World’s Fair planned for Shanghai in 2010.

The Chinese have nonetheless struck a tough bargain: Of the roughly $31 million cost of the exchange, France has paid $24 million, with $12 million provided by French corporations with business interests or ambitions in China, including Airbus, Alcatel, Renault and Saint-Gobain, which are among 20 French groups companies contributing $600,000 each.

‘‘We’re talking here of good value for money,’’ said Olivier Poivre d’Arvor, director of the French Association for Artistic Action, the French government’s cultural arm abroad. ‘‘It’s a small, almost derisory amount to pay in order to stimulate political and economic relations, to intensify relations at all levels. The $600,000 spent by Electricité de France on lighting up the Eiffel Tower in red was a splendid investment. It was an image that went round the world.’’

Certainly, culture is often a cheaper way of raising a country’s profile than traditional propaganda or publicity. For instance, ‘‘Aztecs,’’ a show in London last year, made Britons more aware of Mexico than at any time in years. (‘‘Aztec Empire,’’ an expanded version of ‘‘Aztecs,’’ will run at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York from Oct. 15 to Feb. 13.) Cultural exchanges also have the advantage of preserving deeper ties at times of political differences: French and U.S. museums continue to work together despite government tensions over Iraq.

For the Year of China in France, the plan was to ‘‘blanket’’ this country with Chinese culture. Thus, while Paris has held major shows such as ‘‘Confucius’’ and ‘‘Heavenly Mountains: Treasures from Chinese Museums,’’ many of the 300 or so events, from art, photography and calligraphy exhibitions to concerts and circus, acrobatics and puppet shows, have been placed in provincial cities. On display is Chinese culture of all eras: ‘‘eternal,’’ traditional and contemporary.

In early July, a separate ‘‘Shanghai Week’’ is also being held in both Paris and Marseille, evidence of Shanghai’s interest in polishing the image of a city that was the main entry port of shameless British and French meddling in 19th-century China. Here again, while exhibitions, concerts, ballets, sports events, outdoor entertainment and fashion shows provide a cultural calling card, Shanghai business leaders will be on hand to tout their city’s explosive growth.

The Year of France in China is no less ambitious. ‘‘It was quite a challenge imagining how we could make an impact on a vast country with 1.3 billion people,’’ Poivre d’Arvor said, ‘‘so we decided to focus on eight cities and make as much use as possible of television and other media.’’ As a result, French culture will be paraded through Beijing, Shanghai, CantonGuangzhou, Hong Kong, Macao, Shenzhen, Chengdu and Pingyao.

The French year, which opens Oct. 10 with an outdoor concert by Jean-Michel Jarre in the Forbidden City of Beijing, will include several exhibitions under the category of romanticism and creativity: Impressionist treasures from the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, contemporary French art from the Georges Pompidou Center in Paris and shows focusing on Napoleon and Louis XIV, whose envoys first reached Beijing in 1687. French music, cinema and literature will also be promoted.

But France’s economic and commercial ambitions will hardly be hidden. One traveling show will display French industrial creativity over the past 100 years. Another will focus on French architecture, already present in China through Jean-Marie Charpentier’s design of the Shanghai Opera and Paul Andreu’s design of the still unfinished National Theater in Beijing. France’s luxury goods industry, from fashion to wines, will also use the occasion to expand its presence in China.

The economics of cultural exchanges are of course difficult to measure. True, French culture has long drawn tourists — and the Chinese are now becoming world travelers. And for China, culture helps to remind the world that it is more than a marketplace. But the politicians and businessmen in both countries who are now waxing poetic about culture clearly have more in mind. For them, culture is also the art of schmoozing. The payoff should come later. Alan Riding can be reached at pagetwo@iht.com.

http://www.iht.com/articles/526298.html

********************

The China Post
'NAVIGATOR' ¡X digital art on show at Taichung Museum
2004/6/29
TAIPEI, Taiwan, The China Post Staff

An exhibition with a theme of historical vision toward the global art scene, dubbed "NAVIGATOR ¡X Digital Art in the Making" will be open to the public at the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts in Taichung on July 4. The exhibition, supervised by the Council for Cultural Affairs and organized by the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, will run through Sept. 5.
As the first large-scale public spectacle under the National Digital Art Promotion Program, the exhibition is one of the major events the museum has had planned for 2004 since its reopening after renovations.

Designed as Taiwan's first exhibition that focuses on the aesthetics of digital art, the exhibition will show international pioneer artists' works ranging from Internet art to digital interactive installations. Among them are Rafael Lozano-Hemmer's "Frequency and Volume, Relational Architecture 9" and Christa Sommerer and Laurent Mignonneau's "Interactive Plant Growing".

Some outstanding Taiwan artists will also challenge the traditional concept of visual art and concentrate on digital sound and architecture.

The exhibition will focus on historical research for presenting the paradigmatic art works in digital art ¡X in terms of digital technology as an artistic medium. It is also expected to introduce the international development of contemporary digital art to the public here. By showing examples of the integration of digital technology and art, the organizers hope to help promote and stimulate the local discussion of digital art on an academic, creative and educational level.

More than 20 international artists and art groups have been invited to attend the exhibition's opening ceremony set for the evening of July 3. Artists coming from Britain, Japan, Finland, Mexico and Germany include Masaki Fujihata and Blast Theory.

For more information, visit NAVIGATOR website at http://navigator.digiarts.org.tw

*************************

The Straits Times JUNE 29, 2004
A space for art films
A proper arthouse cinema can ensure that independent films do not have to compete with blockbusters, thereby developing Singapore's film scene
By Ong Sor Fern

IT IS a good time to be a film buff in Singapore.

The mushrooming of independent film distributors like Festive Films, Lighthouse Pictures and Storm Pictures has resulted in a smorgasbord of indie fare this year, from Lars von Trier's arty and controversial Dogville to the unabashedly cult zombie flick Undead.

The Singapore Film Society's highly successful country-themed film festivals are practically a monthly institution.

Then there are the occasional surprise offerings, like the Animation Nation film festival over the weekend. It extended its run to tomorrow because of sold-out screenings and has clocked in an attendance rate of over 80 per cent.p> The increasing sophistication of the cinema-goer, the burgeoning of mini film festivals throughout the year and the entry of so many independent players into the scene are proof of a market for alternative film.

While this is a healthy trend, Singapore is crying out for a proper arthouse cinema - one dedicated solely to the screening of alternative films.

Of course, the arthouse cinema concept is not new to Singapore. In the 1990s, Cathay Organisation's Picturehouse and Shaw Organisation's Jade Classics and Lido Classics tried and failed.

There were many reasons for their failure - the concept was premature, the audience not sufficiently developed and the programming was weak.

But it is time for a more sophisticated Singapore to take a second look at the issue.

The perennial bugbear, of course, is commercial viability. This is an especially thorny issue in Singapore where audience size really matters.

This is where there is a case to be made for the Media Development Authority (MDA) to provide funding support for a dedicated film space.

While this may seem like the typical Singaporean response - asking the Government to step in - it is not unknown in other countries. In Scotland and England, for example, arthouse cinemas get financial aid from their respective film councils.

Such arthouse cinemas also depend on membership drives to bring in subscription fees as well as box-office receipts.

But when it comes to Singapore, where the audience pool makes independent films a risky business, having the MDA support an independent cinema is not only logical, but also necessary.

It should not just be a top-down effort, of course.

The industry needs to get its act together. The independent distributors, as well as the seasoned players like Shaw, Cathay and Golden Village, should get together to promote their arthouse products as a collective, and not individually.

This would give their independent products more visibility, rather than having them buried under blockbuster rubble.

For example, there is one screen for Baran at Lido and one for Japanese Story at Orchard Cineleisure. But given the glut of offerings at these two cinemas, it is easy to miss these small gems.

If all the arthouse offerings were consolidated into one space, cinema-goers will know exactly where to go, and when a new independent film hits town.

The film space will need to be curated carefully in terms of content, but it is possible to tap into various audience niches.

After all, the line between art house and mainstream is becoming more blurred with the entry of big Hollywood players into the independent film scene.

This can be an advantage for a struggling independent cinema trying to make ends meet.

It does not have to limit itself to solely high-brow fare. Instead, it could expand its range to become a repertory cinema, tapping into the broad crossover audience.

Films like Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, Lost In Translation and 21 Grams, for example, could be given a second run at a repertory theatre.

In a commercial hall, these films need to fight an unequal battle against the big blockbusters. But in a dedicated art film space, they can be the big-ticket items to support even more alternative fare.

Besides programming contemporary quality fare, the space can also dedicate time to retrospectives of classic works or even completely trashy cult films.

The advantage to programming quality mainstream fare is that a flat fee deal can be worked out for second-run films with the commercial distributors. This can be much cheaper than the usual percentage-of-box-office-takings contract.

Retrospectives and cult films can often be negotiated for less money too, as such prints make the rounds of the festival circuits.

But ultimately, this sort of programming template should be driven by an educational imperative - an additional impetus for the MDA to get involved.

After all, its mandate under the Media 21 plan is to develop the media industry.

Educating the film audience as well as budding film-makers through a dedicated film space which programmes eclectically - not just for commercial but for aesthetic and educational purposes - is not only necessary, but also crucial if the scene here is to develop any further.

While building a new cinema may be impractical, given the costs involved, locating a space within an existing multiplex should not be difficult.

In fact, there is a ready-made space at the Screening Room at the Old Parliament House. The tiny 75-seater hall may be modest, but it could serve as a good incubator for an experiment in arthouse programming.

It has already tested the waters by programming Robert Altman's lowkey ballet ensemble film, The Company. The movie, which lasted a mere week in the commercial halls, went on to play for six weeks at the Screening Room.

But the Screening Room suffers from a zero profile with film-goers at the moment, as well as weak programming.

There are plans afoot though, to raise its profile with an upcoming gongfu film festival which will feature Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill, Vol. 2.

It will not be easy for whoever takes on the task of running an independent cinema. p> But given audience response to arty fare, the glut of new pro ducts and Singapore's aim to be a media hub, it is about time someone bit the bullet and tried.

Who knows? Maybe the third time will be a silver screen charm.

Send your comments to stlife@sph.com.sg
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/life/story/0,4386,258779,00.html

*********************

People's Daily UPDATED: 09:43, June 28, 2004
Chinese farmers' paintings to be exhibited in France

A total of 400 print works of Chinese farmers, or pictures printed from an engraved or etched plate, will be exhibited early July in Toulouze, France, a local official said Sunday.

It is part of the ongoing "Chinese Culture Year in France", said Gui Huanyong, director of the Farmers Print Academy of Qijiang County, Chongqing Municipality in southwest China.

Gui has been busy these days in preparing the print works. Print art by farmers in the county started to bloom in the 1980s, reflecting mainly life of local villagers with unique ruralism.

Since 1984, print works from Qijiang farmers have been sent for exhibitions in major Chinese cities and in more than 10 countries including Britain, Canada, Japan, Italy and the United States.

The county was honored as home for modern Chinese folk painting by the Chinese Ministry of Culture.

http://english1.peopledaily.com.cn/200406/28/eng20040628_147758.html

**********************

The Korea Times
Getting Lost Between Art and Architecture

By Bridget O’Brien
Contributing Writer
``Rolling Space,’’ an experiment involving three architects and seven artists in ``between those who design spaces for everyday life and those who create their works by means of special formative techniques ’’ continues until July 31 in the Marronnier Art Center of the Korea Culture and Arts Foundation.

Kim Mi-hyung, Kim Eull, Kim Jun-sung, Kim Ho-deuk, Park Ki-won, Park Sang-sook, Choi Gene-uk, Helen Ju-hyun Park and Pidgin Jegong collaborated in an attempt to redefine what our constructed spaces mean.

Not only looking at general ideas of space, the curators here are continuing with the theme of an annual series of exhibitions aimed at helping them understand the physical structural realities of the art center in the way it relates to the surrounding area of Taehangno, a cultural and university district in Seoul.

Some of the artists and architects worked with materials like plastic sheeting, or basic wooden planks, to create their message, while others draw from the external environment by discussing landscape painting or even gravesites and the memories of loved ones.

Mulberry paper, plastic vinyl and heating bricks are the three basic elements that build around the existing white surfaces in the first gallery, offering deceptively simple air and openness. The works, as a whole, look at demonstrating not only the most basic of architectural elements, but also, as assistant curator Kim Hyoung-mi found after asking the opinion of gallery-goers, it expresses, in their words, ``very traditional Korean concepts.’’

Kim Ho-deuk, with traditional brush and ink in dramatic black and white represents the movement of space and time, and also comments on air currents and absence. The artist, currently a professor at Yeungnam University in Daegu, Korea, manages traditional spatial concepts of painting and merges it with contemporary abstract principles.

Park Sang-sook’s installation of a ``Guedeul’’ (fuel hole), the Korean floor heater, works on a shared historical and psychological level, but remains in the gallery space quite different from the real. The brickwork merely serves as a reminder of the way families huddle together in warmer sections of the home in winter.

Park Ki-won covered the whole walls and ceiling with a subtle yellow-gold vinyl, intending to create another sense of the warm places we build. The plastic work, entitled ``Hot Place,’’ is ``intending to exist and not seeming to exist at the same time,’’ while trying to suggest meditation, the work has a more personal and physical sensation such as when synthetic clothes stick to the body from heat and sweat.

Personal ideas of space really relate to the body and human relationships. Just as a house is an extension of the heating or cooling mechanism of the body, the way we interpret the landscapes around us really tells us more about our placement of the body in space.

With ``Corridor,’’ Helen Ju-Hyun Park helped point out to the curators the actual design of the gallery space by emphasizing the corridor. Park practices architecture, and landscape architecture, and studied physics at Harvard-Radcliffe Colleges, architecture and landscape architecture at Harvard Graduate School of Design, and obtained a Ph.D at Seoul National University, so fortunately she is well qualified to make this statement.

Out of an arrangement on the floor, Kim Mi-hyung created ``Breathing Space.’’ His art usually consists of punching holes into numerous things, in this work, giant leaves, which ``although dead, also represent life.’’ Right next to it, the work by Kim Eull looks at tracing the actual geographic location of the ancestor’s burial grounds. ``Namchon-ri # Mt.113’’ is a haunting rediscovery of identity in relation to the land.

The exhibition of ``Rolling Space’’ also asks the audience how the arrangement of space changes their perceptions. Architecture, acting as a kind of landscape, breaks down the three-dimensional worlds we often passively place ourselves in, under the guidance of the expert or through tradition, and asks how that confers meaning into our lives as human beings.

``Between art and architecture’’ _ a forum to be held on July 7, led by a lecture from Kim Uchang, Professor of English at Korea University, promises to provide further enlightenment on this philosophical quest into space.

`Rolling Space'
When: Until 31 July
Where: Marronnier Art Center, Taehangno, Hyewha Station, exit line 4
Symposium:`Between Art and Architecture' 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on July 7
Info: (02) 760 4705, www.kcaf.or.kr

boricha@graffiti.net
06-25-2004 19:20

http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/culture/200406/kt2004062519185011690.htm

 

____________________

Matthias Arnold M.A.
Digital Resources
Institute of Chinese Studies
University of Heidelberg
Akademiestr. 4-8
69117 Heidelberg
Germany

Phone: ++ 49 - (0) 62 21 - 54 76 75
Fax: ++ 49 - (0) 62 21 - 54 76 39

http://www.chinaresource.org
http://www.sino.uni-heidelberg.de

www.fluktor.de
www.zhaomo.de.vu