NO INTENT OF ARRIVING...

Guardian Figures: trying to keep evil away as darkness falls

My favorite place to watch the sun set in Beijing is at the Drum and Bell Bar by the Drum and Bell Tower. Unfortunately, it is slated to be destroyed in China's race to modernize. I think the government plans to make it into another soulless shopping plaza where people will not buy "famous" luxury brands.

The Bell Tower

China thinks that modernization means smashing and bulldozing the old. They have not realized that a society can modernize while preserving even celebrating antiquity. It is not a new coat of paint but a whole shift in paradigm such as potable drinking water in the faucets that leads to modernization.

I love this area at dusk because people emerge from the mazes of the hutongs and congregate in the square as the sun disappears behind the towers and the gentle breezes off the Mongolian steppes rise. It is one of the few times I feel a sense of community here. Parents and children play badminton in the streets. Grandmothers turn on the traditional music and do their choreographed dancing. Old men smoke and walk their birds.

The Drum tower

For a few hours each night, the grey muted walls become a screen where people can laugh and gossip out loud. People seem less fearful and more joyful. And the shadows where most people seem to spend their lives during the day disappear.

courtyard home in the hutongs

I like to hear the laughter and the traditional folksongs as a drink a nice, probably fake Tsingtao before hopping on bike and weaving my way back home down the walled streets.

Here I feel the charm and the draw of Chinese culture.

The Bell Tower

People can take rickshaws through the hutong

Neighborhood shop with Beijing-style yogurt for sale

This weekend was my second The Creators Project event in

Beijing at the UCCA in the 798 Art District.

“OctoCloud” by SuperUber

As with anything music related, I arrived super early and was

lucky to get watch the screening of SHUT UP AND PLAY THE

HITS, LCD SOUNDSYSTEM film of their farewell show in NYC.

Shut Up and Play the Hits - LCD Soundsystem

I had gone to the show in NYC and was delighted to relive

that night and see glimpses of faces of my lovely New York

friends singing along in the crowd.

After the screening, I went to explore the art installations.

I love the art at The Creators Project event! They are

both thought provoking and whimsical. Fun....

Check it out.... Like Icarus I want to fly to the sun with my

might wings.

“The Treachery of Sanctuary” by Chris Milk

This might be my most favorite installation ever at The

Creators Project. In Chris Milk’s Treachery of Sanctuary,

each panel of his avine themed triptych projects and

absorbs the viewer into the scenario.

“The Treachery of Sanctuary” by Chris Milk

In one instance, you are the creator as your body breaks

into a million birds taking flight. I felt happy as my

gravity-bound body took to the sky, freed.

“The Treachery of Sanctuary” by Chris Milk

I stepped in front of the next panel and I was instantly

attacked by birds who pecked at me until I was nothing but a

stump. I won't lie I felt a little anxious because the scene

from the great Hitchcock film,"The Birds," scared me silly

when I was a child.

“The Treachery of Sanctuary” by Chris Milk

The last panel transformed me from fearful to feeling

powerful. When I lifted my arms, huge wings emerged in

swooping sound. I felt as if I had great armor and was

omnipotent. Pretty wicked stuff!

The next piece was called "OctoCloud' by SuperUber.

“OctoCloud” by SuperUber

Viewers could use their mobile phones to “fling” virtual balls

onto the computer graphic sculpture. If the ball hit the

target, an animation would appear on the surface.

In the far room, fashion designer Vega Zaishi Wang's

Alpha Lyrae piece made feel like I was at Fashion Week on a

spaceship to another galaxy.

Vega Zaishi Wang's Special Collection "Alpha Lryae"

Her special collection was inspired by astrological

constellations.

Vega Zaishi Wang's Special Collection "Alpha Lryae"

As her frozen model or aliens stood on the

runway,the ambient music composed by Carsick Cars front

man Zhang Shouwang pulsed while Wang’s garments

interpreted symbols of the universe as the images from the

projection mapping by UFO flashed upon them like the

paparazzi's cameras.

The last room I entered was Yang Yongliang’s beautiful video

installation The Day of Perpetual Night.

The Day of Perpetual Night” by Yang Yongliang

The piece reminiscent of classical Chinese art was

redesigned to reflect the modern Chinese experience where

nature is no longer viewed as source of inspiration but

instead the city as a landscape is the now the symbol of

innovation and beauty.

It actually reminded me of Hong Kong at night....

As always, I found some great light and did my own creation

project. I love both light and lines. I think I was taking

photos of the grid's reflection on my face for 30 minutes.

Lost in art and the light....