Christine

I’m back, guys! But at my new home on Tumblr. Now let’s get this bloggybus on the road.

After a month of hardcore maxing/relaxing and just a lil’ bit of work, the Neateater is back and ready for some good chompin.

To be discussed soon…

+ Andrew Keen’s new book about the downside of new webbernet trends: “..What the Web 2.0 revolution is really delivering is superficial observations of the world around us rather than deep analysis, shrill opinion rather than considered judgment.” Blasphemy! Without Web 2.0, what forums would Perez Hilton and the owners of dancing cats have to express themselves?!!

+ the high ridiculosity of the iphone madness. iAmBeyondOverIt. And very, very disdainful about the whole thing. Sorry, just being honest.

hey all,

so i know i’m “the neateater” and all, but i’ve been sorta late in getting on the SNS 2.0 train. So i’ve devoted the first few hours of today to gettin active on some of these awesome time-wasting sites.

Twitter – where you can broadcast to everyone exactly what you are doing, when you’re doing it, via IM, online, or SMS. and you can check out what other twitterers are doing. sounds stupid and pointless, but it’s actually really addictive and fun. for example i just received this update from MistralNLS: “I’m still in angnst….hey I’m almost 65! Kids understand this STUFF…I guess! OH, how can an aging lesbian comprehend this.” And from MLPrince: “looking in awe at my drink cup, ’cause the coffee barista spelled my name correctly. am i dreaming?” No you’re not, MLPrince – you’re TWITTERIN!

Yelp – i’m sure y’all have been peeping this for a while now, but if not, it’s a user review site for restaurants, stores, shops, etc all over the world. Kat’s are some of my fave (her kat and randy days did her well), and this guy also writes some sassy, informative ones about NYC. Here is mine – hope to update soon.

Ok that’s it. Sorry just two for now. but check back soon, because my good friend Raj will soon be unveiling his serious masterpiece that will revolutionize the way you look for things in new york.

Oh China, my China!

Thousands of miles away, I’m still thinking about my home away from home. Granted, there are a lot of things about China that make me angry/cringe/want to barf. But right now, as I watch the latest nasty Nor’easter wash away New York’s grime from my tiny-ass, overpriced apartment, I am struck with a bit of nostalgia for my quasi-Homeland. Here are some things that I currently love about China:

The Chinese art scene – so hot right now. This past week, two good friends of mine launched Neocha.com, a smart, customizable social networking site for Chinese artists, designers, musicians, and other creative folks to meet one another and share their work. The founders threw a huge launch party on Saturday at a warehouse near Suzhou Creek (pictures here). Thousands of art/party-lovers attended the event, while over 60 vendors, artists, and musicians showcased their goods and talents.

China finally steps up to Sudan (thanks, Hollywood!). Finally, China listens to its conscience (and PR consultants): last week, Zhai Jun, a senior Chinese official, traveled to Sudan to persuade the government to accept a UN peacekeeping force in the face of the Darfur crisis. China, holding strong ties to Sudan through business and oil, has been under mounting pressure to address the killings in Darfur and push the Sudanese government to do something about it. This sudden giving-a-f is attributed to the success of Mia Farrow’s campaign to connect the Beijing Olympics with the killings in Darfur, which China has, until now, turned a blind eye towards. More about this here and here.

China gives aging musicians a second chance (unironically). I love anything that reminds me of junior high, so I was pretty pumped to find out that NOFX played in Beijing on April 13, and that Shanghai would host Sonic Youth later this month. And for you older-generation hip hop heads, the Roots will be rocking Yunfeng Theater Monday night, despite the government’s notoriously low tolerance for Western rap and hip hop acts. The way things are going, it’s only a matter of time before Blink 182 and Snoop Dogg find their way to the Shanghai Concert Hall…

Christine Huang investigates whether contemporary art in Shanghai lives up to its growing reputation.

The world of contemporary art is not invulnerable to economic forces, and this is nowhere more apparent than here in commercially minded Shanghai. What was once limited to the purview of elite artists and culture vultures has become an open marketplace for a growing number of artists and connoisseurs to buy and sell.

In the last three years, and at an ever growing rate, Shanghai has witnessed the emergence of a handful of large-scale modern and contemporary art museums, along with the openings and expansions of more than a dozen new galleries and alternative art spaces. This growth matches the increase of international recognition Chinese artists have garnered in recent years which has lured aesthetes and collectors to Shanghai to reap the benefits.

Though its evolution began more than a decade ago, the Shanghai contemporary art scene entered a new era with the opening of the Duolun Museum of Modern Art in 2003. The unveiling of the Duolun, self-styled as the “first professional modern museum of contemporary art in China;” signified Shanghai’s emergence as an important player in the international art world. The non-profit, government-funded museum has already presented groundbreaking exhibitions featuring both foreign and local works, including a Basquiat retrospective earlier this year and China’s first group printing exhibition in 2004. Biljana Ciric, former Director of the Curatorial Department at Duolun, now sees the opening of the museum as a significant moment in the development of the contemporary art, even beyond China: “In the last three years, museums have flourished in Shanghai… Twenty years ago, there weren’t very many contemporary art hubs. Now, there is a multitude. The art community is global, multi-city, multi-centered…Indian, Thai, Korean, Chinese centers are building – it is the shift from the center-periphery concept to the multi-centered – that is the important transformation in the last 10 years.”

Following the opening of the Duolun came the arrival of the Zendai Museum of Modern Art in spring of 2005, the first art museum to be built in Pudong as well as the city’s first completely private art museum. Though separate entities, the Duolun and Zendai are frequent collaborators and share a director, Shen Qibin. The Zendai, located in the Zheng Da Big Thumb Plaza, is known for its mixed-media exhibitions, like the ambitious “ElectroScape: International New Media Art” show it held in 2005.

Rounding out the major additions to the art scene was the long-awaited unveiling of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai, in September 2005 at People’s Square. As “Shanghai’s first private and non-profit museum,” it flexed its muscles by opening with a retrospective of works by Pierre et Gilles, the French duo known for their provocative and pop culture-laden photographs. The introduction of the museum was flanked by openings and re-vampings of several other noteworthy spaces, including the Zhu Qizhan Art Museum, the second 1918 Art Space exhibition area, the relocated ShanghART Gallery, and Da>space, Shanghai’s first art gallery (as well as studio and shop) focusing on urban art. The emergence of alternative spaces like these along with the ambitious MOCA Shanghai capped off a momentous three-year period of rapid change in the cultural backdrop of the city, reflecting the rise of Shanghai (and China) as a significant force in the art world.

While aficionados, collectors and traders take advantage of this new crop of offerings, art makers and intelligentsia have developed differing viewpoints on how capricious market forces are affecting the quality of Chinese contemporary artwork being produced. Zhao Yonggang, Director of 1918 Art Space, sees the booming market and the ignorance of much of the new audience as contributing to the decline in the creativity and craftsmanship of many artists’ work. “People like to use art as a background – it’s what’s popular. But a lot of people don’t know anything about it. People in cities – in Shanghai – they see a lot of things but don’t understand them. They don’t know what ‘art quality’ is.” Zhao contends that many young artists have begun catering to the interests of (mostly foreign) buyers, losing sight of their own identities and voices in order to accommodate the hackneyed themes that foreigner buyers expect. “Artists are doing what customers like. They are not creating from their hearts.”

History hardly supports Zhao’s argument. An injection of cash, even from clueless foreign buyers, normally gives artists greater freedom to express themselves, not less – artists don’t have to starve, or use money as a reason to be lazy. Indeed, Biljana Ciric has not lost faith in the works and intentions of the serious contemporary artists in Shanghai. She agrees that most collectors are foreign, and that some artists are producing work with themes that “ buyers (especially foreigners) are looking for – statements on China, reflections of what it means to be Chinese.” But overall, she remains confident that the promising young artists are motivated more by the desire for self-expression than marketability: “[Artists] are still sticking to their artistic visions. [Political issues] are not the only thing Chinese artists want to discuss… It is becoming increasingly important for them to be recognized in the international art scene not as Chinese artists first, but as artists.” She points to the growing currency of alternative media (performance, video, installation art) which are traditionally less sellable than painting and sculpture as proof that artists aren’t putting profits before their craft.

And some, like Victoria Lu, the creative director behind MOCA Shanghai, have taken a pragmatic yet positive stance. A founding board member of the Taipei Contemporary Art Museum and a long-standing veteran of the modern art scene, Lu believes this stage in the development of a contemporary art community and market in China is organic and has been witnessed before in other cities at other times in history. She says quite simply, “Art is for sale – this is nothing new; it has been happening for centuries, even in the Renaissance… Only in the last century with Modernism have we encountered the idea of art for art’s sake. Finally, China has an art market – [its] blooming doesn’t surprise me; it’s only the beginning.” And the infancy of the market, she contends, should not be a cause for concern: “Some people worry that Chinese art prices are too high, that this is a bubble. I’m not worried. The Chinese market is just starting to have a taste…” Art, like other industries, is simply obeying market forces, Lu argues, and young Chinese art artists are merely following suit. “Artists have to make a living. Why condemn the artists who have their art for sale? Only if we have more people participating in the marketplace will we have diversity in the production of works – this is healthier.”

It can be difficult to predict how expanding investment in the contemporary art market will shape the works coming out of Shanghai, a city whose identity is so inextricably linked with commerce and commoditization. Though experts might not agree on what direction the Shanghai art world is heading, most come to a consensus about one thing – how very young it is. With another contemporary art gallery set to open in the new World Financial Center upon its completion in 2008, even more widespread international attention will be drawn to the blossoming scene. Also slated for 2008 is the opening of an “art hotel” by the collective mind (and money) behind Zendai, the Zheng Da Group. It will include a 108,000-square-foot museum and will also be located in Pudong. And just last September, the sixth Shanghai Biennale introduced over 90 artists from over 30 countries including China to a welcoming audience made up of both locals and foreigners  

As Eddie Yip, one of the creative directors of Da<space, remarks about the evolution of urban art in Shanghai, “[Street art] began with a lot of Western influence, and there is still a lot of mimicry, but distinct voices are evolving. Artists are trying to narrow down their own personal styles, but we are still on a learning curve.” It is evident that this is the only the first chapter in the new history of the Shanghai art world, and that while the art community has undergone unprecedented growth in last few years, there is still a lot of room to grow. But this should be approached head-on and with no fear, as Victoria Lu assures: “The art scene in China is getting more interesting…This is only the beginning. I don’t understand why people are so worried. We are just a baby.”

Gone are the days of zoning out to People’s Court reruns and counting split ends. In this glorious age, we have the world at our fingertips – as well as a new, nearly infinite set of ways to waste time. If you’re like me though, even in your lazy mode you like to be doing something atleast marginally productive. So here are some of my favorite time-wasters that are actually worth the time you waste on them:

TED Talks – Hosted in Monterey, California, these lectures on “Technology, Entertainment, and Design” (as well as Business and Science and lots of other subjects) are given by some of the greatest creators, innovators, and scholars alive today – and you can download a lot of them for free! Some favorites of mine – Kevin Kelly talking about futurism, and Bono being Bono.

If you’re a music junkie, then you probably already know about Hype Machine. If you don’t – get on it – one day’s worth of internettin’ will give you atleast a few week’s worth of hipster stred cred. Discover what artists and songs are topping the music blogs today and even listen to some tunes while you’re at it (and rumor has it a 2.0 version is on its way). It’s how I discovered the Music Slut!

MAN vs. WILD. Discovery Channel really knows how to do it up. I don’t usually support reality tv, but this series offers some pretty darn good advice for what to do when you’re stuck in the middle of the Sahara/Arctic/Colorado River. Hey, we’ve all been there.

Pretend like you’re going on vacation. ZUJI is Travelocity’s Asia-oriented website. I found some pretty good deals on this when I was planning my hundreds of escapes out of Shanghai. Some other good sites to shop around on if you’re travelling in Asia: AirAsia, Tiger Airways, Dragon Air, 1-2-go, and Jetstar Asia.

Watch TV shows and movies in the privacy of your own cubicle. TV-Links is probably breaking every copyright infringement law on the books, but hey – I’m riding this sucker til it crashes!

Hello!

For links I’m discovering in REAL TIME, you can check out my del.icio.us feed to the bottom right side of the page. The list is constantly updating and full of whimsy – promise.

But today, I’d like to highlight a few that deserve special recognition:

www.edge.org This site is all deep stuff, all the time. It’s stated goal: “To arrive at the world’s knowledge, seek out the most complex and sophisticated minds, put them in a room together, and have them ask each other the questions they are asking themselves.” Heady! One of my favorite psychologists slash philosophers, Steven Pinker is on their front page – so I gotta respect.

UNIVERSE A friend sent me this link a few days ago – and it gave me a fuzzy feeling inside and made me smile. After finding out a little more about Jonathan Harris, the creator of ..uh, the Universe, as well as the project’s origins, I became even more intrigued. (And not just because he’s a tall drink of water. Okay, maybe a little bit because of that – so sue me.)

Home is where the heart is. I may be thousands of miles away, but I’m still thinking about you, Shanghai. Thanks to photographer Jakob Montrasio, I can remember it as the comic book Future-Fantasyland I had dreamt it to be. Oh man, my poetics are making even me nauseous. I’ll stop here.

Nothing says, “I know the way you think!” quite like a well-groomed beard.

Dr. Philip Zimbardo, the psychologist behind the shocking but enlightening Stanford Prison Experiment, is back on the scene (is there a social psychology scene? not so sure..) promoting his new book, “The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil” (Random House). The NY Times features a short Q & A with Zimbardo, relating his study to the Abu Ghraib prison incident and other examples of human atrocity. If you’ve never heard of the SPE, these are good reads, and they’ll leave you wondering… are we all all just bad seeds on the inside? How much can our rationality and “will” take before being overwhelmed by situational pressures? Are the shamelessly sexist, arrogant expats at Ladies’ Nights in Shanghai just products of their hedonism-condoning environment?

I believe the answer is – as always -  it’s not that simple. Call me Capt. Obvious, but I think it’s important to remember that it’s a combination of external and internal forces that turns people into monsters. Not every soldier in Iraq did what those at Abu Ghraib did. And not every expat in Shanghai is a sleazebag. Institutions may enforce, even promote evil, but it’s in us – the free/random-willed beings that we are – to act and react. Ah the blessing (and burden) of civility.

(And for an interesting perspective on exactly what our “free will” entails, this article on the emerging field of Neurolaw from the NYTimes is worth a read.)