Trip 2: Week 13 Looking Backwards/Forwards

Saturday night. August 16, 2008
Full Moon.
Screened "How to Live in the FRG" by Farocki.
Not many people made it out, but I guess I'm competing with the Olympics. Just glad to have had time to have a heart to heart with my new friend Lucy. She should be coming out to New York for a visit, so ya'll will get to meet her.

Hopefully next weekend will be better. The first two went really well. The last one on Sat 23 is Mike Mill's "Does Your Soul Have A Cold?" on recommendation of Ms. Mitchell (Thank You!). Its kinda depressing and beautiful at the same time. Will be trying to make it a birthday party for Lucy too, so should be fun. The next day, I am having an open studio. Showing work for the first time in ages to strangers. It will be a good exercise. Then I'm out of here. Last day in Residence. Good to be leaving with new work.



Friday night. August 15, 2008

The moon looks full over Beijing. Its not quite full, but will be tomorrow. The sky opened up yesterday with rain and thunder and has left us with a beautiful clear and cool atmosphere. Just back from dinner at the Saddle in San Litun. It was frenzied with Olympic mania and loud booty music. The food was pretty good, but we had a terrible time trying to order and be served. And that was with Mandarin speakers at the table. Henry was rushed, needing to get to work by 10 m for his overnight shift. A bit stressful but we got to see a friend who has been consumed with work for SportsMark during this Olympic madness. After Henry left, we were Angela, Lucy, Flora, and me. We finished our wine and decided to take the party to Kokommo. It is a bar with a rooftop and plays mainly reggae and has a beachy theme. The servers wear Hawaiian shirts. The tall drinks come with plastic palm tree stir-ers. I had my regular: a champagne mojito. Lovely.

The crowd was thick and full of out of towners looking to party. There was a Corona sponsored event there with a live band and dancers and dj. It was packed and that hook-up vibe was everywhere. Its not really what I enjoy. Im not sure I liked it when I was single either. Its not the kind of atmosphere where you meet interesting people with interesting things to say. Its more just about being at a party. But a frat party. Not a chill reggae party, like I was hoping for. The city at least felt alive tonight. Though it was mostly tourists and Olympic visitors, there was a nice feeling of urban-ness, which seemed to have been quieted in the weeks leading to the games.

Henry and I were just given two tickets to volleyball for this Sunday. It will be Henry's first day off in a while. And it will be his transition day to normal waking hours.

Quick Recap of my summer in China.

Arrived in Hong Kong May 16, 2008. (Rain check on train trip to Beijing) Flew to Beijing May 17.

Week 1: May 18 - 24
Week 2: May 25 - 31
Week 3: June 1 - 7 Weekend Trip to Qingdao.
Week 4: June 8 - 14
Week 5: June 15 - 21 Started my Residency at Art Channel.
Week 6: June 22 - 28
Week 7: June 29 - July 5
Week 8: July 6 - 12
Week 9: July 13 - 19
Week 10: July 20 - 26 Night at Red Capital Ranch.
Week 11: July 27 - Aug 2 WITNESS: Chung Kuo
Week 12: Aug 3 - 9 WITNESS: Titicut Follies
Week 13: Aug 10 - 16 WITNESS: How to Live in the FRG
Week 14: Aug 17 - 23 WITNESS: Does Your Soul Have a Cold?
Week 15: Aug 24 - 30 Open Studio/End of my Residency.
Week 16: Aug 31 - Sept 6 Last week in Beijing for a while.
Taking the overnight train to Shanghai for my last weekend.

Stateside:
Sept 7 Fly Shanghai to Atlanta
Sept 8 Sleep and cuddle with Meta
Sept 9 Drive North
Sept 10 Still Driving
Sept 11 Arrive in New York
Sept 12 Pick up Henry at JFK and drive further North
Sept 13 Polly's Wedding in Tiverton, RI
Sept 14 One Night in Boston
Sept 15 - 20 Back to Brooklyn with Henry
Sept 20 - onward TBA

Long Term Plans
Back to Beijing through August 2009
Return to Brooklyn with Meta September 2009


August 13, 2008 Wednesday
Went to my first Olympic event.
Rowing at Shunyi Rowing and Canoeing Park.

I got a ticket through a friend who has a few to spare. Thought, might as well see what the hoopla is about. It was an ordeal to get to and from there. First finding the Olympic Bus Depot. Sounds easy enough, but it was like any cab ride in Beijing. Much more difficult to get anywhere than you can imagine. From there a 75 min bus ride, but it was free. Then we arrived at the gate. Security checks and then the backs of bench seating. It seemed anti climactic to arrive, find seats, then see not much of anything. The best view being the large video screen across the man-made water run. No overhead coverage. Just open air and it was muggy and grey. The kind of day you'd decide not to wear sunscreen and get burnt.

We watched the single, double, and 4 man teams row across the narrow water way. Trying to call up any enthusiasm I could when they came into sight in real life, not just on the monitor. US was not well represented either in the sport or in the stands. It felt a bit like it was a non-spectator sport, but with seating crated to sell tickets. I admit, I know very little about rowing and was in a bit of a scrambled circadian rhythm, as I have been experiencing a bit of sympathetic sleep deprivation due to Henry's overnight schedule this past week.

Getting back by taxi cost us about 1.10 hrs and 161 RMB. We fell asleep for most of the way.

To Do List:
1) Re-watch and put together an email invite for the screening of
"How To Live In The FRG" on Saturday night.
2) Write an artist statement for Open Studio at Art Channel (Aug 24, last day in residence).
3) Wednesday, Aug 20, pick up my prints and framed work.
4) Thursday, Aug 21, send out email about Sat screening of "Does Your Soul Have A Cold?"
5) Friday, Aug 22, install photos and pack things for departure.


Wish List:
The only event I would really like to see is the Kerin racing at the velodrome.

Saturday, August 16, 2008
Time	Code	Event Session(s)	Venue
S 16:30 E 19:35	CT02	Cycling - Track M Indv'l Pursuit 1st Rnd; M Kerin 1st Rnd; W Indv'l Pursuit Qual; M Kerin Repechage; M Points Race Final; M Kerin 2nd Rnd; M 4000m Indv'l Pursuit Final; M Kerin Final	Laoshan Velodrome

Meant to go to Club Obiwan to see a free rooftop screening of the Big Lebowski, but I am so beat and have a tummy ache, so White Russians alone seems not worth going out for. I think that the Olympics have put a real damper on the fun and liveliness of the city. Not sure what all the out of towners are doing, but they aren't seeing Beijing as its normal self. I'm doing as the locals are and just staying in and avoiding the mess.

Interesting Scoop:
found out that all movie theaters have half off tickets (60 rmb regular admission) on Tuesdays for everyone and Thursdays for women. Pretty radical. Though all that is playing might be Kungfu Panda, I might just check it out for the China populist cinema experience.

Trip 2: Week 12 The Long Awaited 8.08.08 at 8:08 PM

An official bomb diffusing devise in a subway station.

Strictly Speaking, since China is on Military Time or the 24:00 HR Clock, the Opening Ceremony should have started at 08:08, as in AM. Instead, Bush opened the new Embassy near Ladies Street. A humongous building that flew in "American" workers to build the structure to save from any information from being leaked. We aren't the only ones to fly our own in. And when all is said and done, it probably is not a bad idea. Just expensive and seems like something made up for the movies. But as we have come to realized, life does imitate art. I use the term "art" loosely here.

One of hundreds of new "soft monuments" planted around the city.

So, lets see. It is Sunday, August the 10th. This week has been a bit of a blur and not in a good way. The Olympic opening ceremony was chilling. So, over the top, that I couldn't hardly stomach it. It lasted over 4 hours btw, so be glad that tickets weren't easier to get! The city felt much different than I imagined it might. There wasn't excitement in the air or masses in the streets enjoying China's big moment in the spot light. Instead, the air was thick with humidity and a strange ghost town air. Most of the city looked deserted. I headed to the center of town to the Forbidden City with my friend Mia to photograph what we could. Its not what I would usually do, stick myself in the middle of a huge tourist trap, but I figure, its a historic moment and it is close to home, so I could jet if things got too sticky. Well, we took a can from 798, after a hyped lecture by Norman Foster and Ai Weiwei, that I conveniently couldn't get into. Mia went and gave me the brief version sans having to stand in a crowd to hear it. Instead, I enjoyed a coffee at Time Zone cafe across the street from Ullens Center, reading a year and a half old men's magazine. All the available zines were 2006 or 2007, so this was new-ish. Fascinating article about a young American who went to South Korea to teach English and got busted smuggling hash into the country from a trip to the Philippines. How he spent 3 years or so in a Korean jail and eventually went home and wrote a book about the experience. I was captivated.

Hard to see, but the little specks are thousands of people walking the streets around the southern gate of Tiananmen.

Back to the FC (short hand for Forbidden City)...Mostly Chinese tourists. Few foreigners sprinkled in the crowd.
All the Chinese seemed to be wearing Olympic paraphernalia and shooting off their cameras to record evidence of their presence in front of this historic structure. There were multiple umbrella stands, where police and other uniformed gentlemen stood. Each there to carry out some crowd control duty.

I had my Leica instead of my Holga and brought my digi too, but didn't bring it out. It felt more like a Leica moment though I'm not a journalistic photographer. But I do like to document for my personal archive. I'll upload any good ones I get as soon as I get the film back.

The heat was unbearable. The FC had fountains spraying water in a grand display of water ballet, but there wasn't a vendor around to purchase drinking water from. I think they had been banned, along with other outdoor friendly activities to clean up the streets for the Olympics. Not sure how true that is, but there was no arguing that they were no where to be found.

Mia and walked the eastern perimeter of the outer streets around Tiananmen Square. The whole square was cordoned off and no public traffic was allowed to enter. So, we along with the bazillion Chinese tourists, waddled along photographing towards the empty space. We were heading toward Qianmen, the new old city, which had just opened the day before. Its the place Henry wrote about, where many of the generations old family residents, where being pushed out in favor of high end development. An outdoor mall with all the prestige brands. We didn't quite make it there because we just were exhausted from the exertion. We are not used to being shuffled around like cattle in that kind of heat and humidity, without proper hydration and air! We found our way to a safe haven from the thousands of pedestrians. The new Legation Quarter. It is the site of the old US Legation Quarter established in 1862. The first US embassy was built there in 1902. The Architecture still stands out today as very classical Western architecture, mimicking English estate architecture with a grand entry into an open space surrounded by an arch of buildings. Now it is the hot new place to dine and see the whose who. There is even an art gallery in the complex. I've heard the salads in the French restaurant are 200 RMB (roughly $30). That is high even at New York prices! Well, to enter, you are met by two standing guards at a gate with an ominous grey stone blockade just beyond. Like a cross between a ballast and a huge "Welcome" wall at the entrance. Needless to say, there were no Chinese tourists accidentally wandering into this compound. You must be in the know and walk in with confidence or the guards may question you. At least that has been my experience walking into guarded entrance ways. It is the curse of looking "Chinese." Once I was stopped by a new guard at Henry's Apartment block. As soon as I rambled in English he just waved me in, but its like that.

No one really in there, so we could take a breather and go see some art in an air conditioned building. It seemed so bougie. There are moments where you realize that the new China is not exactly for "the people," but for the elite and White Euro looking foreigners. Those moments I am glad Henry told me to keep my passport on my at all times, but it still sucks that I feel like I need to. Just in case. A Chinese friend of Henry's told me she just has to make sure she is dressed really well, to distinguish herself to get the appropriate treatment. As a low key American and "artist-type," I am usually dressed in an understated manner, but maybe just the sense of entitlement I have to give off, gets me by. Its a curse and a blessing to not stand out racially. If I could speak Mandarin, I could get discounts but I might get refused at the door of some snotty place like the Legation Quarter. Who knows.

Its hard to know what is the best way to get the most of what you want out of this city. Saturday an American couple was attacked my a Chinese man, who evidently came to Beijing to carry out some crazy act of violence against some foreigners to have his moment of fame and not die without distinction, as he threw himself off the Drum Tower. You've probably heard a lot about this, but that is all I know. Details about his motivation have not been made clear. But it seems that they were not chosen for any reason other than obviously being foreign. The American man died due to injuries and his wife is alive, but without her husband. It seems so senseless, but I keep hearing about these desperate acts of violence in repressed societies, mainly in China and Japan. There must be more to it than an isolated incidence. A bubbling up of a deep festering sore. Something to fight the helplessness. This has cast a dark shadow on the whole situation here in light of how much emphasis has been put into the show aspect of the games, rather than the individual human stories. Here the athletes are manufactured. There aren't personal stories of a love of the sport or personal triumphs against all odds to become an Olympic athlete. They are like little bonsai trees in the art exhibit at the Legation Quarter. I think that is why when they win, the whole country can claim a victory, but when they loose, they can just be discarded. There are a billion where that one came from.

Do I sound jaded. Why is that the term to describe this feeling? Jaded.
I like the connection to Chinese/Japanese Jade better! But please read on.

AH HA:
entry from the Word Detective to root it out...
(AK, is this you?)

Dear Word Detective: What can you tell me about the word "jaded," meaning "world-weary" or "worn out"? Does it have anything to do with "jade," the mineral? -- A.K., New York, NY.

You know, when I first started writing this column, a question such as yours would really get me going. I'd race to the bookshelf and spend hours plowing through obscure tomes to glean every last nugget of information for my readers. Now, for some reason, it just seems such a chore. I'll make you a deal -- you go look it up and I'll go watch TV. Let me know what you find out.

Wait, come back! I'm not really jaded. I love reader questions, and this is an above-average question. So just sit back and I'll be with you right away.

Ok, I'm back. It turns out that no, there's no connection between the two "jades" -- they are completely separate words. Although we tend to associate "jade," the green stone, with jewelry and sculpture from Japan and China, the word itself comes from Latin. The Latin word "ilia" (which became the Spanish "ijada" and eventually our English "jade") means "kidneys," and in Roman times jade was thought to cure ailments in that part of the body. Apparently the Greeks had the same idea -- another name for the mineral jade is "nephrite," from the Greek word for kidneys.

The other kind of "jade," found today only in "jaded," comes from an Old Norse word, "jalda," meaning "mare." Imported into English as "jade" in the 14th century, the word originally meant just "mare," but then came to mean "old, broken-down mare." As a metaphor, "jade" then was used to mean "worthless person," or, more specifically, "prostitute." This noun form of "jade" is now obsolete, but the sense lives on in our word "jaded," applied to someone who has, as they say, been there, seen that, and done it all.

To end on a humorous note, here is an amazing image I saw on the street.
It is part of a banner advertising the Olympics. Look carefully at her right eye (that is your left side).
Notice literally an eyepatch!
This is to illustrate my new favorite bad word:
Cha bu duo.
Its a kin to the Vietnamese saying,
Same Same, but different.

See Lost in Beijing. A brutal portrait of life in Beijing. Amazingly profound.

Updates on screenings to follow...
tonight I'm beat.

Signing off,
Good Morning New York & Good Night Beijing.

PS
Henry and I will be in New York mid Sept, so pencil us in to your social calendar.