BEIJING — “BEIJING AUTUMN: OFF THE RADAR ART RESISTANCE IN CAOCHANGDI —CCD300” is the SMS that was sent to advertise an exhibition project called Manmade and Natural Disasters, started by a group of artists living and working in the Caochangdi art village to the northeast of Beijing. A similar notice was posted on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter. There were no other forms of advertising: Everybody knew in advance that the topic of the show and some of the artworks and the names involved would attract the attention of government censors.
Caochangdi
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Want to Work in Beijing? Check Out These Residencies
LOS ANGELES — Now that I’ve written so extensively about residencies and their benefits, maybe you’re wondering: which residency to join? As mentioned in my series of articles, the Alliance of Artist Communities is a great resource, with well over a thousand sites here and abroad.
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Artist Sleeps Outside Till the Grass Grows
LOS ANGELES — I first noticed a few pictures of a curious performance piece on Sina Weibo and then Ai Weiwei also posted about it on his Twitter account. Since March 24, He Yunchang, also known as A Chang, has been sleeping outside in the Beijing artist village of Caochangdi (whose name literally means “Grassland/s”) until the grass is fully grown.
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The INTERNETworked Bridge: Connected But Unequal
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.
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Beijing’s Williamsburg, Caochangdi
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.
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Critiquing America from China
Joseph DeLappe, known best for his performances situated in first person shooter (FPS) games, has unveiled the beginning of a new series of work at Where Where Exhibition Space (“哪里哪里”艺术空间) in Beijing’s Caochangdi neighborhood.