JOSH SNIEGOWSKI (film and video major) writes:
We started this day by walking back to the Bizart gallery. Here we got the chance to learn a lot of new things about the past and present of art in Shanghai. We had previously read about them, but we heard more about the Stars movement, which held one of the first exhibits to be closed by authorities. We also heard about the movement from painting to other styles of art in the '90s. In 2000 the Chinese government finally allowed contemporary art into a sanctioned exhibition space.
From all the pieces that I got to see while at Bizart, there were a few that stood out over the rest to me. I do not recall the artists’ names, but their artwork will stick with me. In one, a man tried to sell knowledge in a jar. What was actually in the jar, though, was ground up human brain. Another thing being sold was sausages, but next to the sausages was a disgusting video of them being made. Needless to say, not many looked to have sold. The other two pieces that stood out were completely different from the first two pieces of artwork I mentioned. In one, a man’s arm came through the ceiling and he held a chandelier. Once he could not bear the weight any longer, he dropped the light and it shattered on the floor. In the other one that I liked, an entire room was slowly tilted upward until everything inside of it slid out. I’m not sure what these pieces of artwork were trying to comment on in society, but they definitely will stick with me.
After a nice lunch followed by short talks from some of the heads of Bizart, we were off to the next gallery. The next one we stopped at, Made in Shanghai, included multiple pieces of art which were made within LED lights. This was a school, which I found incredibly interesting, that tried to bring young artists into the main contemporary scene of Shanghai. The main work that stood out to me here was a drummer video that was superimposed onto an actual drum set.
After this we made one more stop at a gallery that contained old-style ink-based paintings. Even though this was more like the art I have been used too, it was a good break from the experimental art we had been seeing for the last couple of days. The pictures were all beautiful, especially the ones that the curator himself painted, which included black-and-white paintings of traffic. After that we ate dinner and were done with the day together as a class.
Later at night, a few classmates and I went out to the New York Bar as a joke to see what it was like. The only thing that made it seem even somewhat American was the fact that it was playing old pop songs like Will Smith’s "Miami." It turned out to be an incredibly fun time though, as some played pool while others danced on the little dance floor. Once again the day was fun and I couldn’t wait to see what we were doing on the next day.
Josh Sniegowski is a sophomore in the film/video department.
