All posts by Chen Yuan

Carved in Stone

December 22, 2017 2017年12月22日

Created by multimedia artist Song Hyoung Kang, Carved in Stone is a sculptural project that superimposes familiar architectural elements onto objects modeled after rocks. With an attentiveness to detail and a focus on textures, Song has crafted a series of surreal, miniature worlds out of unlikely materials.

《Carved in Stone》系列的创作者系生于韩国长于美国的艺术家Song Hyoung Kang。在她这系列的作品中，Song结合了自己对结构和纹理的兴趣，将细腻且迷你的建筑叠加在圆形的“岩石”表面上，以类似浮雕的形式塑造了一个看似在石头中的超现实微观世界。

Born in Korea and raised in the U.S., Song cites her exposure to the two cultures as an influential factor in her artistic sensibilities. From the age of four onwards, she frequently traveled between the two places. “When I’m not going to Korea, I try to travel as often as I can afford,” she explains of her habits. “I think my love for scenic, organic, and architectural subjects matters is reflective of my love for travel and new experiences.”

Song现在的创作和灵感，某种程度上得益于她从4岁起长年往返于韩美和美国各州之间的经历，接触到交融的文化。“即使有时我不打算回韩国，我也会尽可能多多旅行。我觉得我对风景、有机和建筑主题的热爱，正是反映出我对旅行和增加阅历的喜爱。”

Despite her impressive sculptures, Song’s interest with the medium didn’t begin until college. With limited resources at the time, she relied on materials she could easily get her hands on. “The majority of my sculptures are made from recyclable or found scrap materials: cardboard, smaller plastics, straws, foam, and even dried pasta,” she explains. “[…] The priority then was to be budget friendly. For the Carved in Stone series, the bases of the sculptures are all made out of foam. I shaped them and used paper maché to create the stone-like appearance. Using found scrap materials like wooden reeds, beads, and clay, I built the architectural structures along the curved surface of the ‘stone.’”

这样的雕塑主题其实是Song在进入大学之后才接触到的创作形式。“我的大部分雕塑都是用可回收的材料或找到的废料做的……当时首先要考虑的是是否能符合预算。在这个《Carved in Stone》系列中，雕塑的基座都是用泡沫制成的。我把它们先做成型，然后用纸塑来创造像石头一样的外观。我用的材料都是找到的废弃物，比如芦苇杆、珠子和粘土，之后我就沿着‘石头’的弯曲表面建造了这样的建筑结构。”

Even though 3D sculptures and 2D illustrations are quite different from one another, Song has observed that the two mediums are able to influence each other. “My sculptures are a way for me to reimagine forms and create new textures that I can apply to my drawings. My drawings are ways for me conceptualize space that I can later condense into physical objects. I feel like by making both sculptural and flat works, I have a greater understanding of what I hope to convey in my art as a whole.”

现在的Song，在三维雕塑和二维插画间进行着交互创作，她觉得：“对我来说，我的3D和2D是一回事。我的雕塑是我重新构思的形式和创造新的纹理，可以应用到我的绘画中去。而我的绘画是我概念化空间的方法，我可以将其压缩成物理对象。我觉得通过雕塑和平面两种方式，我会对我作品中所表达的内容有更全面的了解。”

Website: www.song-kang.com
Behance: ~/song_kang


Contributor: Chen Yuan
Image Courtesy of Song 형 Kang

网站: www.song-kang.com
Behance: ~/song_kang


供稿人: Chen Yuan
图片由Song 형 Kang提供

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Drama & Absurdity 画面里戏剧的张力

December 15, 2017 2017年12月15日

Born in 1982, Tang Dixin is a Hangzhou-born multimedia artist whose creativity seems to know no bounds as he effortlessly crisscrosses between painting, performance art, installation art, and more. Despite his artistic diversity, Tang’s works are united through a similar sense of dramatic apprehension and his love for absurd metaphors. In paintings, he invokes tension through the use of bright, vibrant lines, which slice through slabs of solid colors. Seemingly abstract at first glance, a closer look at his paintings reveals recognizable human forms and hidden layers of emotion. Tang’s painted works feel quite organic with his background as a performance artist, as each painting carries a visual dynamism that makes them feel closer to staged performances rather than static pieces of work.

1982 年出生于杭州的艺术家唐狄鑫，他的创作领域横跨绘画、装置和行为艺术等多种媒介，充满戏剧性的张力，亦充满荒诞的隐喻。野性的张力通过大面积颜色和高亮度的线条轮廓呈现出来，看似具有模糊抽象的含义，实则在描绘具体而现实的躯体和情感，似乎正在通过画面上演一台“虚构表演”。

In earlier years, Tang’s projects as a performance artist often involved putting himself in dangerous situations, such as leaping onto an active train track and hopping back onto the platform right before the train pulls in. Explaining with an impish smile, he tells us, “It’s using fear to stimulate my id.” And though he’s moved on from this risky method of creative expression, Tang’s paintings still adhere to the theme of “mutual destruction” that fascinated him as a performance artist; nowadays, it’s just explored via a different approach. “As a performance artist, it’s me physically conducting a certain act. When I paint, I’ll simply depict someone performing what I might’ve originally done. The message is the same, but it’s interesting to present it in a new way.”

早些年，唐狄鑫也创作行为艺术的作品，他常常会将自己置于十分危险的境地——比如俯身跳下铁轨，再在列车来临前果断跳上站台。他俏皮地说，那是因为“想把心中住的小神仙吓一跳”。相比行为艺术，他的油画亦传达出背后那个“互撕互毁”的过程，他说：“一个是我跳到人群中，另一个我描绘有个人跳进人群。要表达的内容其实也没什么不同，但一点也不想同归。”

Tang Dixin’s newest works are now on display at AIKE DELLARCO in Shanghai.

 

Date: November 8, 2017 ~ December 31, 2017
Opening hours: Tuesday ~ Sunday 10:00am ~ 6:00pm

Address:
AIKE DELLARCO
Building 6, No. 2555 Longteng Avenue
Xuhui District, Shanghai
People’s Republic of China

 

Contributor: Chen Yuan
Image Courtesy of AIKE DELLARCO

目前，唐狄鑫的最新作品正在艾可画廊呈现，欢迎大家前往观瞻。

 

展期: 2017年11月08日 —— 2017年12月31日
开放时间: 周二至周日 早上10点至下午6点

地址:
中国
上海市徐汇区
龙腾大道2555号6号楼
艾可画廊

 

供稿人: Chen Yuan
图片由艾可画廊提供

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The Moments In Between 王家卫的御用摄影师

December 12, 2017 2017年12月12日

Despite having worked as director Wong Kar-wai’s official set photographer and accumulated years of experience under his belt photographing strangers, landscapes, and countless celebrities, this legendary photographer still isn’t accustomed to being the focus of attention. With cameras turned on him at a recent press conference, he tells the room, “Feel free to ask plenty of questions because I don’t really know what to talk about.”

That’s Wing Shya for you.

他是香港著名导演王家卫的御用摄影师，也曾为张国荣拍过个人写真。他拍过许多明星，也拍过无数路人和风景。但是在面对几个记者的镜头时，他却说，“你们可以多问我一些问题，因为我好像不知道要说什么。”

这就是夏永康。

Wing prefers keeping a low profile and to let his camera do the talking. Even though he’s always on movie sets and working with famous celebrities, he remains humble. “Everyone is busy filming the movie, and I’m there, crouched on the ground, trying to snap a few photos.”

On movie productions, there can be no interruptions when a take begins. It’s only after the director yells “Cut” that any photographs can be taken. As a result, what’s captured is the moment immediately following a take, a split second where the actors let their guards down and show themselves in a more vulnerable state. Wing loves to capture these authentic moments.

夏永康喜欢把姿态放低，躲在镜头背后。虽然时常出没于大牌云集的片场，但通常都是“大家都在拍电影，只有我蹲在地上拍剧照。”

那是身为“剧照师”的工作习惯——在正式拍摄的时候，不能够打扰入戏的演员们，只能在导演喊停了之后再拍。这样一来，镜头会捕捉到情绪和姿态都一下子放松的演员，那照片所呈现的感受，也就常常更为私密。夏永康很享受这样的视角，能够躲到背后记录下人们最真实的一面。

Wing says, “I like to document what happens after we wrap on set. People will often ask me, ‘Everything’s finished, so what is there left to shoot?’ But I pay them no mind and keep shooting.” Wing’s always ready on the side, waiting for the right moment – it’s this patience that has allowed Wing to capture his iconic image of Leslie Cheung in contemplation as the actor waited to begin a take. His understanding on the importance of waiting has also allowed him to document the honest range of emotions experienced by directors and crew members alike on various movie sets.

“I won’t try to overshadow the moment. I always try to make myself as ‘small’ as possible. I just enjoy the process of photography; I want to take in the atmosphere and people I’m photographing.” Wing confesses he won’t even look at photographs he’s taken in the past. For him, photography is about being present – it’s about witnessing the moment in real time. 

夏永康说：“我喜欢拍大家收工之后的状态。大家说，都结束了，怎么你还拍？我就还是拍。”缩在角落，等到最后，或许正因为这样，他拍到过张国荣在等开机时的沉思，也拍到了从导演到工作人员或忙碌或放空的神情，人世百态好像尽在其中。

“我没有把自己放得太大，我把自己缩得很小。我就是享受，享受拍东西的过程，享受当下的那个环境，那些人。”夏永康甚至不看自己曾经拍下的照片，对他来说，拍下的那一刻过去也就过去了，唯独当时当刻、此时此景，才是拍照最真实的意义。

Of course, the subjects, environment, and lighting aren’t always in ideal conditions. Often, Wing has to play around and experiment. “I like mistakes. So a lot of the time, I’ll just have fun and create something out of a mistake.” Wing recalls a time when he was faced with the challenge of shooting in an almost pitch-black room. After improvising and moving light sources around, he ended up taking a three-minute-long exposure. When the photograph was finally developed, he described the shot to be “beautiful, similar to shadows cast by tree branches.”

当然，人物、场景、光线，不可能时时刻刻都完美，这时候夏永康就会想着和光影玩游戏。“因为我喜欢错误。所以常常会在错误中去玩些什么。”曾经有一次，在近乎全黑的空间里摄影，他亲自上阵打光，上下左右移动光源，最后把接近三分钟的长曝光照片洗出来，光影显得影影绰绰，像是“枝叶树林的影子，很好看”。

Wing’s affinity for making mistakes is linked to his love of authenticity. As someone who’s passionate about capturing genuine moments, Wing prefers using film cameras, seeing it as a medium that’s able to better reproduce reality. The inherent constraints of analog film limit how much his photographs can be manipulated in post-production. What’s initially captured with the camera will often be the final result. For Wing, this is infinitely more fascinating.

所谓喜欢错误，其实是因为喜欢真实。夏永康偏爱使用胶片相机，无法加工修改，无需合成处理，照片中定格的瞬间往往就是最终呈现的模样，这对夏永康来说却更为迷人。真实就是有错误的。

Sometimes Wing will design a narrative and a setting to allow his subjects to better ease into a certain mood. But according to Wing, more often than not, he won’t set anything up at all. Instead, he’ll just let his models chat with an assistant, and he’ll start shooting from the side. “When shooting different people, I’ll use different methods.”

夏永康会设定一个剧本和环境来告诉被拍摄的人，好让人进入情绪，去捕捉情感流露的瞬间。但夏永康说，有时候他也不会假设场景，只让助理和那人先聊起来，他在一旁拍，“拍摄不同的人，方法是不一样的。”

These past few years, Wing has started photographing landscapes. Hazy, dark, and cryptic, his landscape photography is representative of the photographer’s own changing outlooks on life. Nowadays, when a day isn’t going right, he’ll embrace it as is rather than lamenting. “When it suddenly rains, I used to blame the weather. But now, I’ll work around the weather’s temperamental nature. I treat the weather as if were my girlfriend.”

For Wing, he sees many of his photos as a direct representation of his feelings at the time of capture. As life goes on, his photography changes with it. But to him, there’s never a need to look back and over-analyze the past – Wing lives and shoots in the present.

 

这些年夏永康也拍风景。镜头对准的内容有时候迷雾朦胧，有时候昏暗晦涩，很难让人不去联想到那是否是因为镜头背后的人产生了心境上的变化。夏永康说，“如果突然下雨，以前我会怪天气，想为什么今天这么不顺利。但现在我会去和天气玩，把它当作我的女朋友。”

但要说什么变化，夏永康却觉得他拍的内容只是当时情景和感受而已，每个阶段都有不同，不曾回头琢磨，也不曾思量过心态的改变——活在当下，就拍在当下。

So when approached with the opportunity to organize a solo exhibition, Wing delivered over 10,000 photographs to Karen Smith, the curator of the exhibition, allowing her to choose which images to showcase. The exhibition isn’t separated by celebrity portraits or personal projects; it spans across different time periods and is difficult to categorize into a single, all-encompassing theme. When asked about this, Wing chuckled, saying, “Theme? It’s hard to paint this exhibition in a single color. If you want to talk about the theme, it would be reality.”

所以在要办展览的时候，夏永康就把一万多张照片统统交管给策展人Karen Smith挑选，最后呈现时既没有刻意区分明星摄影和随手拍的内容，却又都涵盖到了各个时期，他很喜欢，却也让人很难一以概括，用一种相似的底色去描述。对此，夏永康笑着说：“底色？那很难说是一种颜色。要说底色的话，就是真实吧。”

Wing Shya’s solo exhibition is currently on display at the Shanghai Center of Photography. He’s also recently released a personal photography compilation book, which is available for purchase here. 

现在，夏永康的个人摄影展正在上海摄影艺术中心举行，他的个人摄影集也同期发售，点击此处可以购买。

Event: ACTING OUT – Wing Shya
Exhibition Date: 11/8/2017 ~ 1/10/2018
Opening Hours: Tuesday ~ Saturday

Address:
Shanghai Center of Photography
2555-1 Longing Avenue
Xuhui District, Shanghai
People’s Republic of China

Website: www.wingshya.com

 

Contributor: Chen Yuan
Images Courtesy of SCoP 

活动: “越轨・夏永康”
展期: 2017年11月8日——2018年1月10日
时间: 周二至周日

地点:
中国
上海徐汇区
龙腾大道2555-1号
上海摄影艺术中心

网站: www.wingshya.com

 

供稿人: Chen Yuan
图片由上海摄影艺术中心提供

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Lu Yang on Death & Illness 生老病死何足怪？

December 7, 2017 2017年12月7日
A snippet from Delusional Mandala 《妄想曼陀罗》片段

Her works are strange and provocative – she’ll employ a tampon as a skateboard, prescribe artificial nerve stimulation as a means to create mystic states of consciousness, or even choreograph dance sequences using electrical shocks on the corpses of dissected frogs. Born in 1984, new media artist Lu Yang offers a matter-of-fact response to questions about her controversial works: “My works will often incorporate themes of death and illness, but aren’t these things that all living things experience?”

她的作品缤纷诡谲，把生理卫生巾当滑板、用神经刺激模拟妄想状态，甚至把医学解剖后的死青蛙接通电极……这位出生于1984年的新媒体艺术家陆扬，在被问及关于这些近乎禁忌的话题时，只是说：“我作品里面出现很多关于死亡疾病这类信息的体现，但这难道不是我们每一个生物都会经历的东西么？”

A video still from Delusional Mandala 《妄想曼陀罗》截图
A video still from Delusional Mandala 《妄想曼陀罗》截图
A video still from Delusional Mandala 《妄想曼陀罗》截图

The open discussion of death and dying have strangely become taboo subjects in our world. This cultural norm puzzles Lu Yang, who says her befuddlement is similar to how others are unable to understand why she confronts these taboo subjects. Meshing concepts from science, medicine, art, and religion, Lu Yang creates abormal worlds such as Delusional Mandala, a multimedia work that explores nervous system stimulation and thought control as an examination of death and dying.  Much like this project, many of her other works also incorporate a multidisciplinary approach to support her ideas and theories.

奇怪的是，偏偏对这样无可回避的终结问题，人们讳莫如深。陆扬说，这个原因她也不知道，“就像他们不理解为什么我不避讳一样吧。”不仅不避讳，陆扬甚至结合科学、医学、艺术、宗教，来创造了一个“怪奇世界”。《妄想曼陀罗》就是一部这样的作品：通过深部脑刺激，控制情绪和物理思想，进而深入探讨脑死亡。在陆扬的作品中，各个学科交融，各自成为某个理论的辅助理解。

A snippet from Delusional Mandala 《妄想曼陀罗》片段
A snippet from Delusional Mandala 《妄想曼陀罗》片段

Lu Yang is quite introverted and anxious about social interactions. “Normal” activities like traveling, socializing, or engaging in romantic relationships don’t appeal to her. Instead, she immerses herself in sixteen-hour work days. “Perhaps my brain is just wired to create,” she explains. “Working on a computer has a lot of advantages for me; it complements my personality. I’m an impulsive person, so I’m able to execute my ideas quickly through technology. […] Computers allow me to stay at home and just work. I’m happy that I’m able to be a recluse and also be able to support myself.”

打造出光怪陆离“颅内世界”的陆扬其实挺内向的，非常害怕社交。不论是旅游、交际、谈恋爱，那些大家觉得好玩的事一点都无法满足她。她的工作时长，保持每天在16小时。“可能我的大脑结构就是喜欢做作品的大脑吧。电脑对我来说好处很多，太适合我的性格特征了。我是个急性子，电脑可以很快完成我的想法……而且电脑可以让我宅在家里工作，很开心地当个阿宅但是又能养活自己。”

A snippet from UterusMan 《子宫战士》片段
A video still from UterusMan 《子宫战士》截图
A video still from UterusMan 《子宫战士》截图
A snippet from UterusMan 《子宫战士》片段

Lu Yang’s creative work has not only given her a passion to work for, but has also brought her new perspectives. Her UterusMan project was created in collaboration with an asexual Japanese individual who succeeded in the removal of their reproductive organs. For the project, they created a sexless superhero that uses an armored uterus shield and reproductive superpowers to defeat enemies. Doing away with traditional concepts of gender, the animation incorporates reproductive science through a groundbreaking and unconventional way.

而做作品本身给了陆扬以激情，也给了她新的角度。陆扬的《子宫战士》和日本一名成功切除了自己身上性器官的无性人合作，创造了一名无性战士作为主角。说是无性，但它又来源于女性体征的“子宫”，使它身披铠甲，以一系列生物遗传功能的“超必杀”孤勇作战。它消除了二元的性别对立，却把更广泛的生物信息科学问题纳入进来。

A snippet from UterusMan 《子宫战士》片段

The central theme of many of Lu Yang’s works is an examination of human nature or lack thereof. For example, dead frogs are able to dance when stimulated by electric shock, but this kind of display is completely devoid of human nature. Speaking on the distinctions between animal and man, Lu Yang says, “There are definitely differences. For example, the instinct of morality. But it really depends on what perspective you take. If you look at the distinctions through a human-centric perspective, you can find all kinds of differences, but if you look at it from the perspective of the universe, then maybe there aren’t any differences at all.”

陆扬主要的创作理念，有很多都在试图展现生而为人的“本能”：比如死去的青蛙依然能够通过电极反应抽搐“跳舞”——这样的“本能”其实是消除人性的。关于其中人性和动物性的差别，陆扬说：“区别肯定是有的，比如道德感之类？但是看你这个问题基于怎样的基数上看，如果你从人类中心主义看，肯定可以提出各种各样的道理和区别，但是缩放到宇宙范围去看，那可能根本没差别吧。”

A video still from Wathful King Kong Core 《忿怒金刚核》截图

Lu Yang’s work forces us to reconsider our humanism and our preconceived beliefs. She views the world through a detached perspective – for her, art is never done just for the sake of art. “I like to think of these things as works or creative endeavors, I really don’t like to use the word ‘art.’” As for what inspires her, Lu Yang cites a diverse influences, including the likes of manga artist Hiroya Oku, film director James Wan, screenwriter Kankurō Kudō, Japanese writer Osamu Dazai, the theories of behavioral psychologist B. F. Skinner, and various religious philosophies. According to her, “The great works that they have created assist me in building a more prolific inner world. They’ll let you come to terms with the feeling of shame you experience in your shell as a human being. It’s fulfilling for me to explore the inner worlds that I’ve created. Through this perspective, the world is a wonderful place.”

陆扬的作品撇开了人类中心主义，也打破了人们惯常的观看习惯。她的视角很宏观，因为艺术并不仅仅是艺术。“我更喜欢把这些东西叫做创作，作品，我非常不喜欢用‘艺术’这个词。”影响陆扬的大师有漫画家奥浩哉、电影导演温子仁、编剧宫藤官九郎，作家太宰治，行为主义心理学家B.F Skinner和很多宗教大德的理论……陆扬说：“他们这些厉害的作者作品，可以辅助我创造更丰富的内在世界，可以让你抛开自己作为人类没有一副好皮囊的羞耻感，遨游在自己创造的内在世界中也很快乐。从这些角度来说，地球很好玩。”

A video still from Crime and Punishment 《陆扬妄想罪与罚》截图
A video still from Crime and Punishment 《陆扬妄想罪与罚》截图
A video still from Crime and Punishment 《陆扬妄想罪与罚》截图

Looking at life from a grander perspective, what is there to fear about birth and death?

Lu Yang’s exhibition, Lu Yang: Encephalon Heaven, is currently on display at Beijing’s M WOODS Museum, see below for details.

的确，跳出地球回头去看，生老病死又有什么可怕的呢？

目前，陆扬这些充满个人风格的作品可以在北京M WOODS – 木木美术馆看到，欢迎大家前往观瞻。

Images Courtesy of M WOODS 图片由木木美术馆提供
Images Courtesy of M WOODS 图片由木木美术馆提供
Images Courtesy of M WOODS 图片由木木美术馆提供

Event: Lu Yang – Encephalon Heaven
Exhibition Dates: October 28, 2017 ~ February 11, 2018
Opening Hours: Tuesday ~ Saturday 10:30am ~ 6pm (Last entry at 5:30pm)

Address:
M WOODS
D-06, 798 Art Zone
No. 2 Jiuxianqiao Road
Chaoyang District, Beijing
People’s Republic of China

活动: 陆扬：脑髓天国
展期: 2017年10月28日 —— 2018年2月11日
时间: 周二至周日 早上10:30 至晚上 6:00（最后入馆时间下午 5:30）

地址:
中国
北京市朝阳区
酒仙桥路2号 中二街
798艺术区 D-06号
木木美术馆

Website: luyang.asia
Vimeo: ~/luyang

 

Contributor: Chen Yuan
Images Courtesy of M WOODS and Lu Yang

Website: luyang.asia
Vimeo: ~/luyang

 

供稿人: Chen Yuan
图片由木木美术馆与Lu Yang提供

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Tokyo Storefront 东京街头的小店们

December 5, 2017 2017年12月5日

Polish-born and Japan-based artist Mateusz Urbanowicz is the talented illustrator and painter behind Bicycle Boy, a series we’ve previously featured on Neocha. Known for his vivid usage of watercolors and eye for detail, Urbanowicz has worked as the background artist for many anime TV shows and movies over the years, including the critically acclaimed Your Name. This year, Urbanowicz expressed hopes of shifting more of his attention towards personal projects. This reprioritization has led to a continuation of the ten-part Tokyo Storefront series that he released last year. The extension to the series comes in the form of a bilingual book that includes the original ten illustrations along with 40 new drawings.

艺术家Mateusz Urbanowicz生于波兰，目前居住在日本。他也是我们先前报道的另一个水彩画系列《自行车男孩》（Bicycle Boy）的作者。才华横溢的他以细腻精致且清新生动的画风而闻名，更曾为许多动漫和电影创作背景插画，包括广受好评的电影《你的名字》（Your Name）。今年，Mateusz表达了他专注创作自己的艺术作品的希望。他将去年已有10张作品的《东京店面》（Tokyo Storefront）系列进行了增补，并将以双语书的形式面向大众，其中将包括最初的10幅插图以及40幅新创作的作品。

“When I moved to Tokyo more than three years ago, I was really surprised that on my walks I encountered so many shops still in business inside really old buildings. Differently to Kobe, where the earthquake wiped out a lot of these old downtown houses and shops, in Tokyo they still survive,” Urbanowicz recalls, and inspired by their beauty, Tokyo Storefront is his attempt to document these charming buildings.

“我搬到东京的前3年，连散步时都会很惊讶，因为一直会偶遇在那些已经很老旧的建筑中仍在营业的商店。在日本神户，地震摧毁了许多老城区的房子和商店，但在东京它们还屹立不倒。”Mateusz的《东京店面》系列正是想要记录下这些风景。

The majority of the storefronts featured in the book comes from Urbanowicz’s exploration of Tokyo. However, his approach is more than a mere recreation of his observations. In the illustration above, Urbanowicz shares that the signage was already torn down when he showed up in his location hunt. Disappointed, he took a few photos of the shop in its current state and went home to scour the internet for old images of the store. In his final illustration, the original signage has been restored in its retro glory, and as a master of details, a small chair he observed in one of the old photos was also included.

这系列的大多数店铺，Mateusz都是在东京闲逛时偶然发现的，但画中不仅仅只是纪实。正如这张画上方的圆形标志，在Mateusz前去这家店之前，商标就已经不幸被拆了，当Mateusz到达那里的时候只能拍一些照片，再不得不用互联网上找到的旧照片，在画中把商标加上去。而其中一张照片里，商店门前放着一把小椅子，细节如它，当然不能被忽视，Mateusz把它也画了上去。

Commenting on the series, Urbanowicz shares, “I didn’t want to copy all the retro guides that already exist for Tokyo. Because of that we, of course, had to go again to those places, take more photos, and look more closely at the details of the shops. But that also gave us a chance to talk with the owners to learn more about the interesting history behind each of the shops.”

Mateusz表示，“我不想照着市面上已有的怀旧导游册拷贝，因此在创作过程中我们不得不再次走访这些地方，拍下更多照片，关注更多细节。这也给了我们和店主交流的机会，深入了解到店铺背后有趣的历史。”

In the upcoming book, Urbanowicz not only explores Tokyo shop facades but will also include historical details presented in both English and Japanese as well as sketches of shop interiors.

Tokyo Storefronts – The Artworks of Mateusz Urbanowicz is now available for pre-order on Amazon.

在以纸质版面世时，《东京店面》将并不仅仅包含东京的店铺店面，也会有一些店铺的内部插画和文字介绍。

目前，《东京店面——Mateusz Urbanowicz绘作》（Tokyo Storefronts – The Artworks of Mateusz Urbanowicz）系列已经可以在Amazon上预售。

Website: mateuszurbanowicz.com
Facebook: ~/urbanowiczmateusz
Instagram: @mateusz_urbanowicz


Contributor: Chen Yuan

网站: mateuszurbanowicz.com
脸书: ~/urbanowiczmateusz
Instagram: @mateusz_urbanowicz


供稿人: Chen Yuan

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Soap Operas as Inspiration

November 23, 2017 2017年11月23日

A snippet from Episode 3 of Hello, Finale!  《你好，尽头！》第三集 片段

无法观看？前往优酷

Chinese multimedia artist Tao Hui’s newest series, Hello Finale!, follows nine different individuals making a phone call to close acquaintances. Inspired by film, soap operas, and even local news, the series explores topics of love, life, and death through the overarching theme of “all things must end.”

这是艺术家陶辉的作品。他的新作系列《你好，尽头！》讲的是9个不同的人分别给各自亲友或他人打电话，这些灵感来源于对电影、电视剧，甚至市井新闻报道内容的再创作，内容则“讲述的都是一些和尽头相关的主题，爱、生命、死亡等等”。

For Tao Hui, who grew up during the peak era of cable television, TV has been central in his creative growth. Observing his mother, an avid fan of Taiwanese writer Qiong Yao, cry when watching Yao’s shows, Tao began to wonder, “What is the relationship between reality, television, and film?” and “What role can art play in exploring that dynamic?”

对陶辉来说，他成长在电视媒体的发展和顶峰时期，从小的媒体启蒙就是电视。陶辉曾说自己的妈妈特别爱看琼瑶剧，看得入戏时常常会边看边哭。这让陶辉不禁反思起现实和影视剧之间的关系究竟是怎样的？艺术创作又将以怎样的身份介入？

Tao Hui’s goal is to clearly define the often blurry line between TV shows and reality. In Hello, Finale!, Tao intentionally cherry-picked footage with minor acting slip-ups. “I don’t want the audience to fully believe what I’m showing them. I want them to see the flaws and understand this is what a performance is. There are parts that are real and parts that are fake.”

那根模糊于戏里戏外的分界线，陶辉想把它挑出来。在这次《你好，尽头！》的制作过程中，陶辉故意选了一些没那么完美的成片，“我希望观众不要完全相信我提供的内容，就是想让观众看到出错的部分，意识到这就是表演，有真实有虚假。”

As thoughtfully produced television shows and movies become increasingly difficult to find in China, the public has grown accustomed to the visually grandiose films made for fast profit. “This is to be expected in our modern life. The pursuit of beauty has always been a large driving force behind human motivation, and as our society develops, people have more money to spend on their pursuit of beautiful things. Hence, it’s even more important to separate works that are made for profit and works with artistic intentions.”

现在耗时长且制作精良的影视剧越来越少，公众视线似乎更容易聚集在“美色”创造的商业电影之中。陶辉说，“这是这个时代的必经之路啊，美色一直都是一股强大的生产驱动力，而且社会的发展导致消费力大增。但是我们还是要把这种类型的影视剧和有艺术追求的影视作品做个区分。”

Discussing favorite directors, Tao Hui names Abdellatif Kechiche, Asghar Farhadi, and Michael Haneke to be his current picks. And even though the three don’t share any stylistic similarities, the common denominator is that their films are far more thoughtful than typical Hollywood blockbusters. “I feel like for-profit movies are made for the average consumer, created for mass appeal and satisfying the public,” Tao says with a shrug. “For-profit films and video art should be differentiated. The former is a product; it’s something for people to consume. The latter is created with the goal of provoking discussion and making people think.”

他谈起喜欢的电影导演：柯西胥，法哈蒂，哈内克——很难一以概括的风格，但可以肯定的是，三者都绝非商业大片的导演。“我认为商业电影是为了消费观众情绪、满足观众情感。我们还是要把商业影视剧和有艺术追求的影视作品做个区分，一种是商品，只是为了消费；而另一种却是为了引发思考。”

 

无法观看？前往腾讯视频

Website: ~/TaoHui

 

Contributor: Chen Yuan
Image Courtesy of Tao Hui and Rockbund Art Museum

网站: ~/TaoHui

 

供稿人: Chen Yuan
图片由陶辉与上海外滩美术馆提供

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Tibet Trilogy

November 21, 2017 2017年11月21日
Roof 雪顶

Matt Lindén is an English-Finnish photographer who, for many years, has journeyed again and again to a place dear to his heart: the Himalayas. A graduate from the Master’s program in documentary photography at the London College of Communications, Lindén prefers his life of photographing distant lands to a life spent chasing society’s status quo. When traveling, he spends a large portion of his time learning about the local people, cultures, and histories of the places that he visits. In the two years that he spent living in Tibet, Lindén experienced everything from coming down with altitude sickness, to communicating in the Tibetan dialect that he learnt while living in Lhasa, to living with and alongside local families. While immersed in the local culture, Lindén documented his experiences in the Tibet Trilogy. a series of works that captures the majestic mountains and endless skies of Tibet in both color and monochrome.

马特·林登（Matt Lindén），芬兰籍英国摄影师，他常年会出没于挚爱之地：喜马拉雅。毕业于伦敦传媒学院纪实摄影硕士的他，不爱名利爱江山——他钟爱去到荒芜而严酷的环境中拍摄，用大量时间去了解特定地区的人文历史。在西藏旅居的两年中，他体会过高原反应、用在拉萨学会的藏语与当地人沟通、与藏民一同生活起居。深入了解当地的文化的时候，他亦创作了系列摄影作品《西藏三部曲》，有彩色、有黑白，有凌厉的雪山、也有包容的蓝天。藏地的自然风景，在他的镜头下，展现出浸润着情感的微光。

Overcome 征服
Stupas From Hepo Ri 哈不日山的佛塔
The King 万山之王

In Lindén’s Black and White series, the contrast between the land and the sky creates a stunning visual impact. Without having to worry about color, Lindén was able to capture the interplay of light and shadow to express the desolate mood of the unforgiving environment.

在对比分明的《黑白》系列中，贫瘠的山石和耀眼的天光相互映衬，Matt试图用黑白照片向大家阐述藏地严酷艰苦的生存环境。

Energy 能源

“I felt like I was so far away from everywhere,
from Lhasa, from the world, from everyone.
Almost as if I’d found some distant, long-lost world.”

— Matt Lindén

那一刻我感觉世界上所有地方都离我很远
我远离拉萨，远离所有人
就好像我找到了一个失去已久的全新世界
——马特·林登

Stormy clouds near Sera 色拉寺的雨云

In Lindén’s eyes, Tibet isn’t only a monochromatic world – it’s full of color as well, especially in moments when the sun highlights the fissures of the mountains, revealing them in all their splendor. His Colour series seems almost like a love letter from the photographer to his surroundings, recounting his treks through the Karuola glaciers.

但是在Matt眼里，西藏不仅仅是非黑即白的世界，它充满着独特的色彩，高原上强烈的阳光往往也会让山脉上的色彩更加生动。《彩色》系列，就是摄影师献给卡若拉冰川徒步之旅的情书。

Yak at Kharola 卡若拉冰川的牦牛
Slide 坡
Kharola I 卡若拉冰川 I
Blur 模糊

Lindén’s Electric series documents the photographer’s trip across Tibet by automobile. Capturing dusk and nightfall outside of his car’s window, Lindén somehow makes the vastness of the landscapes seem smaller and quieter. Through long and double exposure, Lindén reveals the blur of mountain ranges, shapes, and animals in dreamlike images.

Matt开车穿越西藏时拍摄了《电光》系列。透过夜晚昏暗的车窗，那些广袤的风景似乎变得更加渺小了，山峦、动物，形象模糊且不可辨认，经过他的长曝光加二次曝光的艺术化处理，《电光》系列中令人着迷的显影映入眼帘。

Swim 游泳
Squiggle 波纹
Jump 跳跃
Earth 大地

Tibet Trilogy is currently on display at the BROWNIE Gallery Store in Shanghai, see details of the exhibition below.

 

Exhibition Dates: November 9th to December 7th, 2017
Opening Hours: Daily, 10am~10pm

Address:
Kerry Center (North Section)
1515 Nanjing West Rd, 2nd Floor, 06B
Jing’an District, Shanghai
People’s Republic of China

现在，马特·林登的摄影展《西藏三部曲》正在BROWNIE Gallery Store展出，欢迎大家前往观瞻。

 

展期: 2017年11月09日——2017年12月07日
时间: 早上10点至晚上10点

地址:
中国
上海市静安区
南京西路1515号 二楼 06B
静安嘉里中心北区

Website: www.mattlinden.co.uk
Instagram: @itsmattlinden

 

Contributor: Chen Yuan
Images Courtesy of BROWNIE

网站: www.mattlinden.co.uk
Instagram: @itsmattlinden

 

供稿人: Chen Yuan
图片由 BROWNIE 提供

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Unconventional Fairy Tales

November 16, 2017 2017年11月16日

Using fairy tales as the foundation of her work, Taiwanese artist Chang Chia-ying creates colorful oil paintings steeped in a wondrous sense of mystery and innocence. Many of Chang’s paintings are unexpectedly large, with some being more than two meters tall, a surprise for people who assume her delicate brushwork is done on a smaller canvas. The size of her paintings help accentuate one of the most prominent features of her works – her doe-eyed characters. With penetrating gazes that demand a viewer’s full attention, these characters invite viewers to immerse themselves into Chang’s surreal world. Chang beckons viewers to use their own imagination to fill in the blanks, form their own interpretation of her work, and essentially create a fairy tale of their very own. Describing her art, she says, “Like Moebius’ illustrations, my paintings are a fairy-tale paradise without an entrance or exit, a fantasy that goes on infinitely, stories without a beginning or end.”

来自台北的80后艺术家张嘉颖，创作了许多以童话为画本的油画作品，看起来绚丽多彩、天真烂漫的画面背后，仿佛蕴含着隐隐超现实的神秘感。

张嘉颖笔下的这些画看起来玲珑精致，但其实有很多尺寸不小，甚至有些高达2米，接近半面墙。凝神细看，画中的每一个形象似乎都有一双“会说话的大眼睛”：而当你被这种深邃的魅力牢牢攫获时，想象力便会将你儿时的童话故事串联起来，自行补充上画面中断层的联系，从而人人都可以谱出各不相同的故事。那是迷你微观世界里的大故事，用张嘉颖自己的话来说，就是“如同一处既无入口也没出口的童话天堂，无穷尽地运行着，永无终点或结局的莫比斯童话。”

To see Chang Chiaying’s paintings in person, the Project Fulfill Art Space in Taipei, Taiwan is currently showcasing her solo exhibition.

 

Event: Mini Me
Exhibition Dates: October 20, 2017 ~ November 25, 2017
Opening Hours: Tuesday ~ Saturday 11am~7pm (Sunday by appointment only)

Address:
Project Fulfill Art Space
1F., No.2, Alley 45, Lane 147, Sec. 3, Xinyi Rd.
Da’an District, Taipei
Taiwan

现在，张嘉颖的作品正在台湾“就在艺术空间”展出，欢迎大家前往观瞻。

 
 

活动: 迷你谜
展期: 2017年10月20日——2017年11月25日
时间: 周二至周日 早上11点至晚上7点（周日仅供预约）

地址:
台湾
台北市大安区
信义路三段 147 巷 45 弄 2 号一楼
就在艺术空间

Website: www.changchiaying.com
Facebook: ~/Changchiaying

 

Contributor: Chen Yuan
Images Courtesy of Project Fulfill Art Space & Chang Chiaying

网站: www.changchiaying.com
脸书: ~/Changchiaying

 

供稿人: Chen Yuan
图片由就在艺术空间与Chang Chiaying提供

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Manhole Covers in China

November 14, 2017 2017年11月14日

Have you ever paid attention to what the manhole covers in your city look like? Maybe you’ve noticed that they don’t all look the same – they might be different for natural gas, for running water, for sewage, or for electrical cable systems. Manhole covers actually play many different roles, and their artistic designs are often ignored.

Captivated by manholes covers, street photographer Horsefly1988 created a photo project centered around his observations (filing the project under a Chinese hashtag that translates to #snappingrandommanholecovers). Since 2015, he’s toured almost thirty cities across China, amassing a collection of around 300 photographs of unique manhole covers. As to why he chose this particular hobby, he tells us with candor: “Manhole covers are a part of the city, and those that are well designed bring beauty to their surroundings.” In the interview below, he shares more about why he’s so fascinated by these overlooked manhole lids.

你所在的城市，路上的窨井盖是什么模样？也许你已经发现它们长得并不都一样：燃气有燃气的井盖，消防有消防的井盖，自来水、污水、电缆……其实窨井盖上大都会写明自己的“身份”，有很多甚至有专用的设计。

热衷拍井盖的业余街拍摄影师 黑乌鸦的嘴 ，开了个私人摄影项目 #携机乱拍窨井盖# ，自2015年至今，他跑过了全国各地将近30个城市，现在已经集齐将近300只形色各异的窨井盖。对于为什么想拍窨井盖这个问题，他坦然地告诉我们：“因为窨井盖也是城市的一部分，美丽的井盖能给城市增色不少。”但对于常常被人忽视的窨井盖，他还有更多想要和我们分享的故事——

Neocha: Out of all the manhole covers you’ve photographed, which one stands out the most?

Horsefly1988: There’s the one with double dragons from a water utility company in Wuhan. It was actually huge, with a diameter of about 70 centimeters! And this was a manhole cover that I came across early on in my project. I considered it a real milestone. For most people, they probably think of manhole covers as boring, and it was even hard for me to find interesting ones when I first got into photographing them. But after finding that particular one, I began finding more and more good ones, it was like a valve suddenly being opened.

Neocha: 拍了这么多窨井盖，让你印象最深刻的是哪个？

黑乌鸦的嘴: 武汉自来水公司的，双龙的那个。它其实很大，直径大约70厘米！而且这是我开始拍井盖没多久遇到的一个有趣的井盖，可以算是一个里程碑吧。你知道井盖在普通人看来比较无趣，我开始拍的时候也没遇到多少好看的。但自从发现了这个，后面发现的就很多了，感觉像打开了阀门。

Neocha: What kind of manhole covers are you personally drawn to?

Horsefly1988: My favorites are the ones that incorporate Chinese cultural elements, such as Chinese dragons and more ornate patterns. Next are the ones with interesting landmarks, and then it’s the ones with beautiful textures. It’s pretty difficult to find one that have all three of these traits, but I’m still hopeful that I’ll find more. There’s the one with the Shenyang Imperial Palace on it that combines all of these characteristics, I guess it counts.

Neocha: 你个人比较喜欢怎样的窨井盖？

黑乌鸦的嘴：设计含有中国元素的井盖是我的最爱，比如龙虎、传统纹饰这类。其次是有趣的地标，再次是美丽的花纹。要是三者完美结合比较难，但还是希望能看到。像这个沈阳故宫的就算是结合了吧，哈哈。

Neocha: Have you ever looked into who designed or manufactured these manhole covers?

Horsefly1988: I’ve thought about it before, but most of the time I wasn’t able to figure out exactly how to go about it. All of these manhole covers have designers, perhaps on the manufacturer side, or an engineer from the city government. Last year at Shanxi’s Datong Huayan Temple, I took a photograph of a manhole cover and looked into it a bit. It had what appeared to be English script written on it, and no matter how I tried, I couldn’t decipher what it said. After awhile I tried a different approach and used a translation app to look up the word “REGISTRO” and realized it wasn’t English but Spanish. One of my readers, Fein, helped to decipher the text as “Ayuntamiento de Madrid alcantarillado,” indicating that it was made for the Madrid sewage system. I made an educated guess that this cover was from an order of manhole covers that Madrid made to have manufactured in China, and for some reason they were made defective, so the Madrid contractees decided to just leave them to Datong city. After following these clues, I found the original manufacturer in Shanxi and sent an email to them inquiring about the matter, but I haven’t received a response yet.

Neocha: 有没有尝试调查过这些井盖是由谁设计和制作的？

黑乌鸦的嘴: 这个曾经想调查，但不知道如何下手。应该都有人设计，也可能是井盖制造厂设计的，也可能是市政工程师设计的。
我去年在山西大同华严寺旁边拍到过一个窨井盖，算是调查过一下。那个窨井盖上面有一串英文字样，我怎么断句都没有成功。后来我突然开窍，拿翻译软件输入了“REGISTRO”，发现是西班牙语，一位读者Fein帮忙确定断句应该是“Ayuntamiento de Madrid alcantarillado”，西班牙排水的意思。我果断地猜测这是马德里市政在中国订购的井盖，因为做错了，厂家把这些残次品处理给了大同。然后我根据线索一直找，应该算找到了当时做这个井盖的山西供应商吧，发邮件去咨询了，但是至今还没有回复。

Neocha: In all of the cities you’ve visited, which one has the best manhole covers?

Horsefly1988: I feel like the developed coastal port cities always hold surprises. Presently, Wuhan, Beijing, and Dunhuang are the cities where I’ve discovered the most interesting manhole covers.

Neocha: 在你现在拍过的窨井盖中，哪个城市好看的窨井盖最多？

黑乌鸦的嘴: 我觉得以前开放口岸的城市井盖都会给人惊喜。目前在武汉、北京拍到的好看的最多，然后敦煌也发现不少。

Neocha: What kind of role do you think manhole covers play in the greater context of the city?

Horsefly1988: I think that they’re like the finishing touches of a city. If a city has developed to the point that it can consider something like the designs of manhole covers, then it says something about how well-managed that city is. If a city hasn’t developed too well, but their manhole covers are well designed, then it says something about the cultural inclinations of the city government.

Neocha: 你觉得窨井盖在城市文明中扮演怎样的角色？

黑乌鸦的嘴: 井盖应该是扮演着一个点睛的角色，如果一个城市的文明都已经考虑到用井盖来体现了，说明这个城市的管理基本面已经比较到位了；如果一个城市管理还未到位，然而他们的井盖却很有趣，说明这个城市的管理者有一定的人文情怀。

Horsefly1988’s ongoing #snappingrandommanholes project continues to bring attention to these neglected, metallic works of art, hopefully inspiring more people to be mindful of the beautiful details that can be found in their own cities, which might just very well be right beneath their feet.

黑乌鸦的嘴的私人摄影项目 #携机乱拍窨井盖# 依然还在进行中，这些我们脚下被忽视的“铁皮画布”所呈现的美，也让越来越多行色匆匆的人停下了脚步，去留意和记录以往不曾发现的城市细节。

Instagram: @horsefly1998

 

Contributor: Chen Yuan

Instagram: @horsefly1998

 

供稿人: Chen Yuan

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Inkee Wang’s Strange, Quirky World

November 13, 2017 2017年11月13日

A master’s graduate from the Royal Academy of Arts in London, Inkee Wang is a Shanghai-based illustrator with a lovable and colorful style. Her quirky sense of humor shines through in her characters and their strange, elongated limbs. In recent years alone, she’s collaborated with notable publications and brands such as Bloomberg, Art Bazaar, and ONE.

从伦敦皇家艺术学院硕士毕业的Inkee Wang（王颖琦）目前居住于上海。她的插画风格很受欢迎，活泼欢乐的主题、长手长脚的画中人，怎么看都有一种奇妙的幽默感。近年来，她与Bloomberg、Art Bazaar、“一个”及其他各大商业或文艺媒体都有过合作。

With regard to her unique style, Inkee tells us that it developed almost accidentally. “My older works were more rigid because I was just learning how to use the Path tool in After Effects and creating twisting motions was the best way to express this tool’s features so I created a dancing black cat. The long limbs came about because I thought they were aesthetically pleasing.” Inkee has always enjoyed sharing the untold stories of different individuals. While the characters in her works are not necessarily direct portrayals of people in real life, they’re nevertheless subtly inspired by the mannerisms and personality traits of the people that surround her.

对于这样的诙谐画风，Inkee表示它来自偶然，“我之前的画比较僵直，因为那时候我刚学会在 After Effect 里面用 Path 做动画，扭动比较能体现这个工具的特征，所以就创作了一只舞动的黑猫。而长手长脚是因为我觉得相对有美感。” Inkee一直想要展现人物背后的小故事，画中的人们在现实生活中虽然没有一对一的参照，但其性格特征、说话方式，都会受到长期生活的身边人所影响，所以也都会在她的画中潜移默化地展露出个性。

For Inkee, inspiration comes mostly from people and plants. Even in a piece that was clearly themed around music, Inkee is able to find a way to incorporate her favorite subject matter. “I wanted to use the boiling of of my four favorite vegetables to depict the rhythmic qualities of music – together, they become a healthy and tasty quartet.” (QUARTET was featured in the Soft Candy manga series published by ONE)

对她来说，画画的灵感来自人，也来自草木。比如明明主题是音乐的作品，Inkee却“希望能通过烹煮最喜欢的4个蔬菜来提现音乐的节奏感，他们是很健康美味的四重奏组合。”（《四重奏》系列插画刊登于一个App工作室旗下软糖漫画的条漫）

From attending school to working full-time, Inkee has persevered with her illustrations. “The most simple reason is that I like it,” she says. Inkee describes herself as “still having a lot of questions about the world” and plans to improve on her visual storytelling, learn more about 3D art, and create more works by hand. But for now, Inkee says that her most important task at hand is to read more books so that she can satisfy her sense of curiosity.

从学业到工作，Inkee一直坚持在画画，“最直接的理由，是因为喜欢”。Inkee说自己“对世界还抱有很多疑问”，接下去还会继续尝试画故事、学学3D、做一些立体的手工，重要的还得“多读书解疑”。

Website: cargocollective.com/inkeewang
Behance: ~/InkeeWang
Weibo: ~/InkeeWang

 

Contributor: Chen Yuan

网站: cargocollective.com/inkeewang
Behance: ~/InkeeWang
微博: ~/InkeeWang

 

供稿人: Chen Yuan

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