Friday, January 30, 2009

new NIU year



happy new year, happy NIU year. fireworks are still exploding overhead in beijing. one tradition says that today, the 5th day of the lunar new year, lighting firecrackers drives out the demons. obviously nobody is taking any chances this year, because it's currently a COMPLETE war zone outside my window. this morning half-asleep, i mistook the sound of firecrackers for a heavy rainstorm. no complaints though, i'm very happy to be demon-free.

so here's the latest: we're going to japan on sunday. ww and i will be there for the next 2 months doing an artist residency at ZAIM in yokohama, organized by the generous and lovely folk(s) at far east contemporaries. not sure what's going to happen while we're there, but we're leaving it open enough so that something interesting can. i think there might be something exhibition-like going on in the near future. i'll keep you posted. if you are in japan, or know of something interesting in japan that ww and i should do/see, drop us a line. i'll definitely be posting more while we're there as well as uploading copious amounts of random photos (like the one above which was taken last month in a taqueria in san francisco).

stay tuned....

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

neighborly


Latest News from the Arrow Factory: our most recent offering features new work by esteemed video installation artist, Wang Gongxin. here's the press release...


Beijing based artist Wang Gongxin and Arrow Factory are pleased to present It’s Not About the Neighbors, a video installation that engages with the immediate visual and social context of Arrow Factory’s hutong alley location. Replicating the façade of the adjacent pancake shop and projecting video during nighttime hours, Wang creates an eerie sensation that fluctuates between alternate states of absence and presence, image and reality, day and night.

During the day, It’s Not About the Neighbors is a sculptural installation, an uncanny imitation of the neighboring pancake shop’s façade—a simple aluminum and glass storefront commonly found in Beijing’s older neighborhoods. At nightfall, a video projection on the façade depicts the neighbors at work making and selling their bread and noodles. The work’s relationship to the adjacent business changes depending hour of the day; at times it is a physical imitation, at times it is a virtual simulation, and sometimes it’s both. The overriding visual connection between these two adjacent spaces is undermined by their different functions: one is an operating business that depends on local residents and neighbors for its income; the other is independent and non-functional, relying instead upon the visual economies of the hutong and patterns of everyday life. The dual meaning of the word “neighbors,” proposed by Wang’s installation refers to both those who occupy the adjacent shop as well as those who frequent the shop for their daily meals. Offering an indexical relationship to its own location It’s Not About the Neighbors also uncovers new questions about presenting contemporary art in public contexts.

Wang Gongxin (b.1960) is an internationally recognized artist specializing in video and video installations. His practice centers on conceptions of reality and imagination as represented across cultural, economic and historical divides. Moving to New York City in 1987, Wang’s work contained a strong element of self-exploration, and upon his return in the mid-1990s took on a renewed perspective on China’s social and economic transformation. He was a key force in what is known as Apartment Art in the mid-1990s and other pioneering art groups in China. Based in Beijing, Wang is a guest professor in the New Media Art Department at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing.

王功新作品《与邻居无关》

北京箭厂空间荣幸地推出 王功新的录像装置作品《与邻居无关》。该作品借助于箭厂空间位于胡同之中这种直接的社会语境,复制了邻近饼铺的店面外观,在夜间巧妙地通过影像的投射,王 功新在此成功地营造出一种怪诞的感觉,一种摇摆于缺失与在场、影像与现实以及白昼与黑夜之间的交替状态。

白天的时候,《与邻居无关》是一件雕塑装置,它是隔壁饼铺店面的离奇复制—北京的胡同里经常可以见到的一种简易的铝合金玻璃店面。夜幕降临后,在店面上呈 现出的影像则描绘了邻居店铺制作和出售大饼与面条的工作场景。作品同隔壁商业活动之间的关系变化取决于日昼之间的光线差异;有时它表现为一种真实的复制, 有时它只是一种视觉上的戏仿,而有时又两者兼而有之。两个近邻空间之间至关重要的视觉联系被它们不同的功能所破坏了:一个是仰仗当地居民来获得收入的营业 场所,而另一个则是独立的、不具备任何实用功能的,但又有赖于胡同和日常生活模式的视觉机制。王功新在作品中提出的“邻居”一词在此也具有双重意义,既指 的是占据隔壁店铺的人,又是那些每天光顾小店购买食品的人。由于为其自身的特定现场搭建了一种既明确且模糊的指向关系,《与邻居无关》在这里提出了一种在 公共语境下创作当代艺术作品的新的可能。

王功新(生于1960年)是一位在国际上获得公认的录像装置艺术家。他的创作以现实和想象之间的矛盾作为 概念的核心,并尝试在作品中跨越文化、经济和历史的边界分隔。 他是1990年代中期所谓的“公寓艺术”和中国新媒体艺术群体的核心力量。目前,王功新在北京生活和工作,任北京中央美术学院新媒体艺术系客座教授。



if you're in the area, feel free to swing by. the projection gets turned on after dark.