Rustic Sculpture Gallery

This evening I met a few Chinese friends of Saschas and enjoyed Chongqing hot pot with them until my lips tingled and tastebuds were rendered completely useless. Seated atop purple plastic chairs that would be considered by most people reading this too small for a 12 year old, Sascha couldn’t take the intense evening humidity of the city and took his shirt off. Sweating all over and yelling in local dialect, he looked most like the people he seems to most loathe: the everyday adult male citizen of western China. Equally enjoying the irony and spicy challenge at hand, we spoke about the labratory which we’d visit after the meal which reveals itself to be somewhat of a sculpture gallery.

Not just a gallery though, this is the workplace of a local Chongqing sculptor who’s work is featured around the world. After a quick drive in his bright red VW Golf we arrive in what looks like a rural farm setting. Mere steps out of the car reinforce my initial suspicion when I see the parking area surrounded by overgrown grass, abandoned buildings, and heaps of rubble – but among these signs of neglect sits a beautiful 6-foot tall stone sculpture of an outstretched hand. It seems evident that it’s religious – surely buddhist, and here I begin to understand the magic of this place.

Years ago, after a 3-year struggle for it, the site was acquired and developed as a sprawling workshop. Once a communist-era facility and later a factory, what now remains are hollow shells of the former buildings – walls but no floor, roof but no doors. But this place isn’t made for comfort. No, it’s an art factory and gallery. Each of the numerous empty buildings are minimally decorated with large paintings and photo prints on the wall, many of them the victim of extended sun exposure, but they only add to the character of the place. Which is a quaint farm-like art facility set in the middle of the most populated city in the world.

The most special area that I was introduced to was a long tunnel lined with lit candles and wooden couches. Once a storage area for generators, it’s now a supremely unique gathering center. Six of us are seated around a small table surrounded only by candles and a fan, drinking aged tea and talking about the history of this place. It’s always a pleasure to be in the company of new people, but the atmosphere was almost overwhelming. Photos to follow.

July 31, 2006|

18 Steps

I’m in Chongqing now, enjoying a full day here after a gig I had last night at a club called Falling. The show itself was somewhat of an affirmation after several mediocre club gigs, that every once and a while things will get out of hand (in a good way) and I’ll have an unforgettable time.

The promoter that I came to Chongqing with is named Duncan, but Sascha and I started calling him Egon, from Ghostbusters, and Beaker, from Sesame Street. Yesterday on our way to Chongqing he told me something which stuck with me for a few hours; he said that in Chongqing people especially like tech house. This immediately drew suspicion and excitement from me because it’s not ordinarily the kind of music that I’m encouraged to play by sponsors, because of the “what is this” reaction it often garners from a less-educated and close-minded foreign crowd. Happily that was anything but the case last night as Egon was exactly right. I played an hour of tech house and the place was going nuts, and played an hour of breaks afterwards, a lot of Autobots, and Aquasky, and general Botchit-style beats. I was surprised at how well accepted the selection was, it being as fringe as it is in Western China, but it absolutely could not have gone any better. I recently finished developing a t-shirt design which I spent a few months working on, because I think that throwing shirts out during the show would be a big hit. That suspicion was also confirmed when the club brought some white shirts with their logo on them to the booth where I signed them and threw them into the crowd. Before I threw them out I held them up as everyones hands raised and eyes opened; an incredible feeling, but it’ll feel better when they’re the shirts that I’ve been envisioning. The gig itself was near the top, definitely along with the first incredible show that I had in China, last summer in Xian.

Before the show I met a friend of Sascha’s named Fu who’s a local musician who has a shop which sells music and framed artwork – I’ll try to go back there tonight to pick up some pieces which I was eyeing yesterday afternoon. There’s a workshop here as well which I’m told must be seen, and is along the same lines as the lab that some of us in Chengdu have been¬†thinking about starting¬†for a long time. Lastly, and most recently..

I was taken to a part of Chongqing called Shi Ba Ti, which means 18 Steps. Chongqing is an unusually hilly city with varied topography, but one descent is very special. It’s the site where a deep tunnel was dug during the second world war for Chinese citizens to hide from Japanese bombs being dropped on what was then the capitol of Western China. 4,000 people scurried into the hole during a Japanese attack on Chongqing as countless more flooded to the hole of the tunnel to find a way inside where they thought they would be safe from falling bombs. Chaos ensued and those who rushed inside seeking safe haven were suffocated, leaving a tunnel kilometers deep filled with thousands of bodies. The tunnel remains in the same place, closed by a sobering rusty gate which keeps any would-be occupants out, but is a constant source of cold air which emerges from deep inside the tunnel. During the hot summer months, hundreds gather in front of the tunnel to enjoy the breeze while drinking tea, playing chess, and spending time with their families. Truly an incredible site with an incredible history.

July 30, 2006|
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