AX Mina

AX Mina (aka An Xiao Mina) is an author, artist and futures thinker who follows her curiosity. She co-produces Five and Nine, a podcast about magic, work and economic justice. 
Posted inArt

The INTERNETworked Bridge: Connected But Unequal

by AX Mina

BEIJING — I moved to China almost a year ago now, into a country where I knew no one and where even the internet was foreign. I pulled away from my main social circle geographically, but did what I could do stay connected via the internet and phone.

And yet, just as I turned to the internet for social connection, I also realized it was increasingly difficult to rely on my usual circles. Timezones, the Great Firewall and the weak internet connection in my neighborhood all made me realize that the utopian ideal of global connection was far from being achieved.

Posted inArt

Asian Art Guide: Gwangju and Asia’s Oldest Biennial

by AX Mina

BEIJING — It’s a four hour train from Seoul — two trains, to be precise, as a transfer is necessary. With a population of a little over a million people, it’s the sixth-largest city in South Korea. That city is Gwangju, whose name means, literally, the bright province. It’s a city of flashing neon lights, love motels, high-energy dance clubs and some of the best restaurants in Korea. Amongst international creative circles, it’s also known as the home of Asia’s oldest art biennale, the Gwangju Biennale.

Posted inArt

Restless and Peaceful with Li Wei

by AX Mina

Li Wei’s “Being Absent,” which showed at Linda Gallery this past June. BEIJING — I arrived at Dongfeng Art District one afternoon, a 20-minute drive east of the more famous 798 and Caochangdi arts districts in northeast Beijing. It’s a short but somewhat winding drive away from the shinier parts of Chaoyang District, Beijing’s most economically-developed area. “Dongfeng” […]

Posted inArt

The Art of Political Memes

by AX Mina

Just a few days after I wrote posts on the state of cosplay in China and the street art-like responses to the Wenzhou train collision on Sina Weibo, I found this image circulating around Weibo. What’s striking about it is how quickly it leapt from the online world into the offline world. I’m used to to thinking of Internet memes, political or not, as restricted to online space.

Posted inArt

China’s Instant Messenger and Why New Media Types Need It

by AX Mina

It’s a well-known truism that the internet in China is lousy. But business has to be done and file transfers have to be made. New media artists in particular, who can work with large complex files, would be at a loss if they relied on Western sites like YouSendIt (blocked), DropBox (blocked) and even Skype (routed through servers outside China). Any file over 50 MB can literally take hours to download from the web, if not longer. What’s a file-heavy new media artist or denizen to do? Enter Tencent QQ, China’s top instant messaging system.

Posted inArt

A Taste of Beijing’s Large New Media Art Triennial

by AX Mina

Last night, the National Art Museum of China (中国美术馆) launched Translife (延展生命), their triennial of new media art from around the world. Curated by Zhang Ga (张尕), Translife is divided into four parts and three floors: Sensorium of the Extraordinary, Sublime of the Liminal, Zone of the Impending and, outside, The Weather Tunnel.

Posted inArt

Beijing’s Williamsburg, Caochangdi

by AX Mina

If Beijing has a Chelsea, 798 Art Zone, then surely it has a Williamsburg. That “alternative” neighborhood is Caochangdi (草场地). According to legend, Ai Weiwei moved out here in early 2000 to set up his studio and the China Art Archives and Warehouse. It was a strange move at the time, but galleries and artists soon followed, and the area is now home to a number of well-known spaces.

Posted inArt

The Father of 视频艺术

by AX Mina

Zhang Peili (张培力), frequently dubbed the father of Chinese video art, has a retrospective ongoing at Shanghai’s Minsheng Art Museum (民生现代美术馆). Dubbed Certain Pleasures (确切的快感), the show extends over two floors and three main gallery spaces, showing Zhang’s videos and high conceptual work.