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 WednesdayWent 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.
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.
