Sunday Selections

Back to Sunday Selections again, which is always fun! This week my images are from a Buddhist mountain village in China called Wutai Shan. One day, when exploring the temples, we stumbled upon the preparations for a festival. What amazed me were the repetitions; candles and peaches laid out in rows, and flowers and mushrooms lying to dry on the ground.

Pingyao ancient city China

The mysteries of centuries lie behind Pingyao's gates and walls.

When a city becomes both the subject and the host of an annual international photography competition you cannot fail to acknowledge that something magical has been discovered. Pingyao can claim its own distinct aesthetic. An aesthetic which chimes in the twist of bicycle spokes, the steely patterning of turning wheels and the soft tones and gradients of the city walls and its crumbling brick gateways. I was not free from its monochrome spell. Labyrinths of allies which drowned you in stone surfaces turned the play of light and shadow in to a game of photographic hide and seek. In Pingyao time slipped endlessly in to past and present at every corner and through every arch way. Hundreds of years passed in a single circuit of the city walls.

Shadows create alternative perspectives, Pingyao collapses in on itself.


The sense of a world still yet undiscovered, relic still coated with the dust of its discovery. Pingyao teeters between touristic manipulation and the genuinely undisturbed.

Pingyao, in the North of China in Shanxi Province, may not be found on your typical China-itinerary, but it is gradually developing a niche market for the Western tourist and is an enriching stop-over to make between Xi An and Beijing. The survival of the walled city has earnt it the status of a UNESCO World Heritage site. Pingyao remains as a relic of an ancient China which has largely been swallowed by industrialism and urbanisation in recent years. My advice would be that however long China has been depriving you of your Western comforts (coffees, English breakfasts, pancakes and Spaghetti bolognese) you resist being enthralled by Pingyao's central axis of tourist honey-traps. There is little charm in the courtyards which have been painted and converted in to luxury hotels and inconsequential museums; it is the crumbling and derelict outskirts of Pingyao which are truly magnetic. For a pound a day you can cycle its streets and allies exhaustively and learn more about China than the entire Lonely Planet guide book can offer...While we are on the subject of the Lonely Planet, be wary of its advice and instructions when it comes to the often neglected province of Shanxi. While Hostels like the Harmony guesthouse appears to offer an Oasis to the traveller in China (which includes access to all those beautiful yet oh-so-difficult to get to places in Shanxi and a hand in the black-market of train tickets,) the Deng's don't always hand over these things graciously and will always put profit first....They are not like the harmless old couple who owned the B&B you always go to on your family holiday!

Translating Art

When I wrote about Wu Guanzhong, I quoted him and mentioned how beautiful I find Chinese in translation. There is an inherent poetry and an innocence of language which can be seen in this translated title. 'I could never see a blossom/ After I grew up' could fluidly open a poem or a folk-tale, but it is beautiful not for its complexity. Unfortunately translation is not always quite so elegant or successful, and this is a post dedicated to those failed moments, where pretentions become absurd and quite funny too. Posters for new art shows, directions for interaction, I hope you enjoy them.

And here are some words of wisdom for aspiring artists, click on the photograph to make it bigger. Of course, the Western baby is speaking with a hint of irony.

Ju Ming Sculpture

Here is a bright, surreal post to brighten up your day and mine. More retrospective memories of China. I was really struggling in Beijing until I decided to take a day to myself and make the trip to the China Modern Art Gallery. It offered me my first real reason to love China. In the Modern Art gallery you have to navigate your way through countless displays of traditional-style Chinese painting but there are really exciting things to be discovered too. Here are the sculptures of Taiwanese artist, Ju Ming.

Ju Ming painting sculpture for the Living World Series

Mostly carving in wood, Ming's sculptures can appear at first glance to be western-style pieces of garden furniture, the kind of thing you might find in a children's playground. But his sculptures should neither be dismissed nor ignored. Ju Ming's sculptures had an incredible and surprising emotional intensity for me.

Initially I did dismiss them but they commanded my attention and I realised that they transcended the possibilities of the medium. Sculpted in wood, stainless steel and polystyrene these figures should have remained firmly in the realm of unreality. But when I looked at them through my camera lens I realised how human they were. Ming's Living World Series seemed to be an anthropological storybook of human life. Polystyrene communicated anger, pain, frustration, illuminated in dark and light. Human expression became living theatre before my eyes- Kaleidoscopic Humanity.

Hi stainless steel synchronised swimmers had incredible lyrical fluidity and grace of movement.

"I do not imbue my sculpture with any one particular story; rather, interpretation is solely the domain of the viewer. I neither intend to tell a story while sculpting, nor do I go back and write a story to fit the final product. "

The whole thing astounded me, so here are some images for you:

'The abstract technique is a synthetic one, both concrete and abstract, trying to lead the viewers into a charming realm. The journey brings them into contact with snow mountains, oceans, cliffs, sands, deep valleys, remote antiquity, clouds, and springs. More importantly, the vastness, undulation and surge of the picture satisfy viewers with a sense of majesty.'

Doesn't Chinese just sound amazing in translation?

For more information about Ju Ming, take a look at this article; http://www.thingsasian.com/stories-photos/2688

Between the Books

A Book in the Hand, Jessa Leff

Something caught my eye the other day, a poster for an exhibition called 'Between the Books' in Cambridge library. As a literature student who loves art, this has an obvious appeal. Anyway despite the horrendous weather I decided to venture out for some fresh air, I didn't quite know what was in store. So let me tell you about the books and the bees...

Smooth sea do not make skillful sailors, Gill Collinson

Armed with a list of the 30 pieces of book art on display the visitor is instructed to 'hunt' the bookshelves and workspaces of libraries to find them. At 2o years old, peering down each aisle of books, I felt a little embarrassed (mostly because I was sure that the regular library users had no idea what I was doing), but also very, very excited.

Steampunk, Deborah Barker (http://rustycage11.blogspot.com) This was the first book I found and definitely one of my favourites, it reminded me of surrealist photomontages and cubist collages from the early 1900's.

The book hunt was a return to the simple pleasures of childhood and I had to use my imagination to find them. Initially my search was fairly fruitless because I assumed that the books would only be on top of the shelves, they couldn't be in amongst the books themselves? But they were. I scoured three floors and countless catalogued sections in an attempt to find as many as possible. As an adult, the books were as exciting as chocolate eggs had once been.

Where is the spider? Hilary Moreton

Exploring the diverse possibilities of putting together a book; from the materials involved to technical methods such as Japanese punch binding, the exhibition presents an innovative selection of experiments. I took sneaky photos of some of my favourites but other highlights included; 'Ten weeks of Off-cuts' by Rosemary Bangham which collected and laminated waste material to form a new book; Wing Yee Mak's 'Spice Trail' which had secret spices hidden in pockets; and 'The A-Z of Bury Farm' by Candida Bradley which collected a wealth of material and included some beautiful lettering.

Mapping, Henrietta Eagle-Wilsher, made up of maps of Cambridgeshire and including journeys and memories.

The exhibition reminded me of something I saw in China, 'The Change Heart Reading co.' by Jin Shi. Jin Shi created a whole bookshop for the perusal of the viewer, with books crammed, stacked in a labyrinth of shelves. However in China I could only experience the visuals of the installation; colour, the shape of chinese characters and bright illustrations. In the library my interaction with the artworks was far more important because I could experience the linguistic message too.

Had I been able to read Mandarin perhaps I would have pulled books from the shelves, taking time to absorb that lush sensation of being immersed in a beautiful bookshop. Instead the exhibition showed me closed possibilities, language shut me out.

'Book Arts bypass the constraints of the gallery-giving the creator complete control. The 'walls' or pages, of the book are the limit of your gallery. One can transform the form of a book from how we are accustomed to it, to something much more creative and thought-provoking.'

Between the Books is on at the Cambridge library until January 9th.

The Beauty of Lettering

Travels combined with dissertation research has given me an appreciation for the beauty of lettering. It is particularly striking when you go to a country or a experience a language with an entirely different alphabet. The inability to recognise these forms or read them leads to an appreciation of their form and music alone. Letters contain an inherent beauty in their function, and Eric Gill certainly approved of this. Here are a few photographs to stir your own interest. In China I saw a few examples of people writing on the streets in water, it is still a mystery to me why they were doing it, although I like to imagine it was spontaneous park-poetry! Above you can see a calligrapher in the Temple of Heaven park and below in Beihai Park, Beijing.
Unfortunately in this picture you can see the spots of rain threatening to erase the whole work of art and labour before its time. But this poetry has to be fast and fleeting because in the heat of Beijing it quickly disappears. Words in to air without a trace.
In Marrakech I discovered an appreciation for the incantatory forms of Arabic lettering, mysteriously marking walls and the sides of buildings. I experience these letters as the deaf do, blind to the richness of intonation and suggestive meaning, left soothed by their most basic aesthetic appeal and grasping nothing more.
There is a kind of magic to these unexplained letters, perhaps they are as mundane as road signs and shop fronts, but while I don't understand and can't know the answers they hold all the power in the world.

A little research has yielded an answer to the mystery of water-park-calligraphy in China; http://www.thememagazine.com/stories/yang-yingshi/

It seems my instinct wasn't so far off when I guessed it might be poetry, but this isn't intended as performance art, but just practice! Just another example of why parks in Beijing are so beautiful, hives of afternoon activity.

Chinese Vogue- 5th anniversary September Issue

My blog got a hit from a google search for Chinese Vogue. I was the fourth search result, this excites me a lot but also made me realise how unsatisfying my first post may have been. Here are some sneak peak scans from the issue to satisfy any searches a little more sufficiently. Here is a sneak peak at some of the pages inside the issue, remember you can click on the scans to see a bigger image.

The issue features some gorgeous photoshoots which really explore asian identity and beauty.

This picture reminds me of some of the numerous fabric markets that were dotted around Beijing, in China tailored clothing is affordable to just about any Western tourist as long as they have savvy bartering skills.

This scan shows the full-range of a make-up shoot featured in the magazine, i love the way the chinese characters look on the page.

This scan didn't come out very well, you can still see the rainbow of the laser as it moves across the page. But I couldn't resist trying to show you this page, the black and white photoshoot of female Chinese celebrities is my favourite in the magazine. It really plays with ideas of western elegance and glamour. I think Asian beauty wins out in the end though.

Wu Guanzhong- retrospective

First of all I have to apologise for the extremely cropped scans, it is difficult trying to get good scans whilst protecting the spine of your book! When I was in China I saw a retrospective of the this giant of Chinese Modern Art, Wu Guanzhong. These examples may look like fairly typical of Chinese painting but placing them within the context of the rest of the museum it becomes evident that Guanzhong's delicate diversions from the traditional model make him stunningly modern.

'Exploring in the world of art is just like hunting tigers and panthers in deep mountains or shooting eagles. If they do not catch their preys, both artists and hunters will be greatly depressed and have nothing to fall back on. An artist may use up all of his energy for persistent hunting in the field of art. But his spirit is reviving.' Wu Guanzhong.

Only the Chinese can get away with being quite so imagistically poetic.

After I saw his exhibition I couldn't look at China without seeing it through the lyrical brush strokes of Guanzhong. His paintings have come to represent for me what I love about that country.

798 Art District Postcards

Just more random scribbles on the backs of postcards!

Vogue China- 5th Anniversary

I'm going to write another retrospective post about China, internet censorship meant that a lot of this wasn't possible while I was there, so there are things to catch up on.




During our last few days in Beijing we tried desperately to get in to the newly opened exhibition for Vogue China's 5th anniversary. One night we were turned away, 'This is just for press!' they chided us and on another occasion they allowed us only a glimpse of the first floor, but eventually we made it in! All of this added to the mystique of the exhibition and the sensation that we were witnessing something vital in Chinese culture. Perhaps you don't think fashion is particularly important, but in Beijing's Chaoyang it is certainly beginning to dominant and direct the cultural atmosphere.



Vogue China is incredibly modern, the exhibition was the ultimate symbol of modernity and the rising power of the East. The exhibition, encased in a kind of space-age pod with white elevators and mirrored walkways, transported you in to a new elegance which celebrated Asian models and the Asian aesthetic. For a country which worships the strange power of western beauty and sells skin bleaching moisturiser at an alarming rate, the exhibition had a powerful resonance.


The exhibition was fabulously curated, so that every display curled in to elegance.

The Western dream may be pasted across the glass shop windows of Sanlitun and occupying empty shops which announce the imminent arrival of Chanel and Dolce &Gabbana, but at the heart of the shopping complex there is a sense of rebellion, of independence. The Chinese fashion industry has a power and momentum of its own.


Computer screens displayed some of the hundreds of photographs from the history of Vogue China's photoshoots.

China's fashion world is ultimately exclusive. As a Westerner I had access to a growing culture which would be completely alien to a large proportion of the Chinese population. 20 kwai or 2 pounds seems like a small price to pay for a fashion magazine in England, but in China it could buy four meals or a new item of clothing for your wardrobe. If you think British Vogue promotes impossible lifestyles then Chinese Vogue is the ultimate hyperbole!


The heavy tomes which tipped my luggage over the limit; Vogue China's 5th anniversary september edition and the special collection of photographs from the exhbition. For four pounds I couldn't resist sacrificing a few ragged clothes and well-leafed books to own two pieces of luxurious China.

798 Art District, Beijing

This summer I spent just under 2 months living in Beijing. It is an amazing city, and it really felt like I was living in the midst of significance, rapid change and excitement. There are lots of things I miss about being in that vast city, but the thing I miss most is being able to take several buses and metro lines to the Art district in Chaoyang


The root of the rebellion lies in the manipulation and deconstruction of communist propaganda, although it is so common now in 798 that you can become a little saturated by the political satire.

Modern art in China, as 798's central Originalty Square might suggest, is a reasonably underdeveloped concept due to Chairman Mao and his stifling communist regime. But from underground Beijing's creatives rebelled, taking over an abandoned factory complex and transforming it in to a theme park of modern art. The art district is now a complex of commercial and fine art galleries, installation and outdoor sculpture, souvenir shops and western-style cafes.
It is a genuinely awe-inspiring place where a community of artists are working hard to promote and inspire modern art in China, giving everybody a platform to experience and create.



Civilised Chaoyang is the ideal location, it is Beijing's rich and up and coming district. Essentially it is the place to be.

There is also an absolute gem of an institution to be found at the heart of the district; UCCA, Ullens Contemporary Chinese Art hosts magnificent, if small, shows. While you can spend hours trawling through galleries and not finding anything of particular value, UCCA, once it has been located on the map, will never fail to disappoint.


An example of the graffiti which makes the complex a living and breathing canvas for art and statement.


In the short time I was living in Beijing I spent four days in the art district, and I wish I could have had more. It just had the right atmosphere, perhaps you would spend most of your time drink iced coffees in cafes, but it was enough that you had been there, in the midst of it all.


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The old factories of an abandoned uniformed industrialism are the perfect setting for regenerative modern art.

There is information about 798 on wikipedia, it might help to search for 'Jiuxinqiao factory complex'. And if you want directions...take the 909 bus from liangmaqiao station and get off at Dashanzi lukounan, you can't miss the big red numbers!