From left to right: Ou Ning, Zhu Wen, Thomas Rohdewald,  Lydia H.Liu, Li Tuo, Zhai Yongming

From right to left: Thomas Rohdewald, Ma Liuming, Zhu Wen, Liu Ye, Mao Yan.

Artist Ai Weiwei

From left to right: Zhu Wen, Zhang Xiaogang, Mao Yan

Poster of Thomas Mao, designed by Xiaomage & Chengzi

Guests of CROSSTALK  Beijing#9, from left to right: Jinzi, Thomas Rohdewald, Zhu Wen, Mao Yan, Ou Ning

Ai Weiwei, Cheng Yizhong, Li Xianting and Xu Bing are in CROSSTALK

Professor Cui Weiping,  Beijing Film Academy

Famous art critic , Curator Li Xianting was talking in CROSSTALK

Artist, Yu Hong and Japanese Writer, Furumai Yoshiko

Zhu Wen, the film director and two film actors- Thomas & Mao Yan

Thomas Mao is the third feature film of Zhu Wen, who is the famous writer and film director. Taking three years to produce, the film was completed in 2009. Thomas Mao is a combination of a foreign name and a Chinese name. In the film, a westerner and a Chinese man came across each other in the remote Inner Mongolian grassland. Under such a special context a conversation between the west and the east began. One of them talks in English, the other talks in Hunan dialect. The director hopes to observe the world full of cultural confrontation with unconventional eyes. ‘Small’is what the film pursues. In an age full blockbusters, the director hopes to make something ‘small’ but really creative.

The style of the film is explicit. It does not appeal to the present domestic film market under the impetuous atmosphere, while it also does not cater to the interest and the tendency of western film festivals. The director tries to break the ordinary rules and discovers new possibilities. The film has a strong surreal atmosphere but is full of humor and fun. It combines elements of comedy, thriller and Kung fu film and reaches a breakthrough in film treatment while keeping the high standard the director always has in film narrative.

The film has a close combination of contemporary art. Mao Yan, the famous painter, and his module Thomas Rohdewald are the special couple in contemporary art. Mao is much acclaimed for his conceptual portrait paintings. His works emphasizes on skills and techniques very much, especially the “Portrait Series of Thomas” since 1999.With his unraveled painting skills and his constant exploration on paintings, he’s acclaimed as “painter’s painter”. The director puts this special feature into the film and invites Mao and Thomas to act in the film. This film is a model which combines eastern and western cultures. While the film was producing, it was shown in Shanghai Art Museum for an inner preview. This film gained nice feedback and highly recommended, which is considered as a successful and deep creation for the area of film and contemporary art.

CROSSTALK Beijing #6: Archiving and Case Study in Contemporary Art from Shao Foundation on Vimeo.

After entering the entrance, there are Liu Xiaodong’s eight early sketches on your right side. Continue along the wall (Part A), you will see Liu’s sketches, notes, documentaries, photographes displayed in reverse chronological order. There are seven documentaries, A Family of Cuba (2009), Festering Heat, Eat First (2008), Grain Rain(2008), Nowincoming (2007), Beneath the Sakure Flower, Hot spring(2007), Dong (2005-2006), Domino (2006). The exhibition presents the creation process of Liu Xiaodong. The integration of motion and stills images introduces multiple ways of experiencing this process.
The dotted lines in the center shows Liu’s sketch book from 1989-1996, the sketches are displayed in hanging acrylic panels.
Part B is the video Stepping into Reality: A Conversation between Wu Hung and Liu Xiaodong.
Part C is a reading area where you can read all sixteen of Liu Xiaodong’s publications.
Part D is a slide show of Liu’s snapshot photographs and sketches.

This exhibition is not to emphasise final work but process. These are memories of the artist, which is usually kept to himself while the exhibition showed these memories to the audience for the first time by seeking the traces scattered in sketches, notes.

We look forward to your visit to the exhibition.

Co-curators: Wu Hung | Ou Ning
Exhibition Time: September 18 – October 29, 2009 (Closed during the National Day holiday)
Opening Hours: 2pm–8pm, Monday–Friday
Address: Beijing Angle Modern Art, 4/F, Tower 1, Zhongguo Hongjie (China View), Jia 2 Gongti Dong Lu, Chaoyang District, Beijing

From left to right: Wu Hong, curator of the exhibition and professor of the Art Institute of Chicago, Thomas Shao, head of Modern Media Group, Liu Xiaodong, painter, Ou Ning, curator of the exhibition and director of Shao Foundation.

Cheers!

From left to right: Ou Ning, Tan Ping, vice president of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Liu Xiaodong

From left to right, Liu Heung Shing, editorial director of Modern Media Group, Thomas Shao, Ou Ning

Ms. Karen Smith

Wang Di, a good friend of Liu Xiaodong. He is one of the first rock players in mainland China and used to sing the theme song for famous Chinese film Wan Zhu. 

Zhang Xianmin, professor of the Literature Department of Beijing Film Academy, and Ou Ning

Chen Jiaying, Beijing District Manager of Modern Media Group

All photographs by Sun Xiaoxi

All photographs by Sun Xiaoxi

After we have revealed all the design proposals for the exhibition, Professor Wu made some comments on each of the proposals and raised some questions and concerns. In the end of the meeting, Professor Wu suggested to combine some of the ideas in two of the proposals as a finalised version of display. Wu also raised some interesting ideas for displaying screens with stop motion image as digital sketchbook archive.Wu also suggested that hanging acrylic boards for displaying sketches should be arranged according to the space within the corners and the columns in the middle of the space.

(All photos by Sun Xiaoxi.)

Unlike previous years, the newly created Shenzhen Public Art Centre will serve as the center of operations for the 2009 Biennale. Curatorial plans are progressing quickly and the team is working to ensure that the problems identified in previous Biennales will be resolved this year.

The theme of the Biennale, “City Mobilization”, was put forth by Ou Ning as a working methodology. He hopes to “mobilize” business, government, and further investigate social phenomena, in order to put together a moving and effective Biennale exhibition. This year, the Biennale will ask architects and artists to create site specific pieces which will allow the public to take part in these interactive installations and projects. Additionally, to make the Biennale as welcoming as possible, symposia will be separated from exhibitions: theoretical and written content will be disseminated through lectures and publications, while the main goal of exhibitions will be to display visually powerful projects. The activities accompanying the exhibitions will also include an architecture film festival and on-site interactive architecture activities.

This year, the Biennale’s Shenzhen exhibition site is located primarily in the underground exhibition space below the Shenzhen Civic square, with satellite venues scattered in various areas in Shenzhen. The main site for Hong Kong will be the Hong Kong West Kowloon Waterfront Promenade. Both sites provide expansive spaces the exhibitions of the Biennale. The exhibition designer’s task naturally involves visualizing the curator’s concept architecturally, as well as coordinating with the participating architects and artists in order to provide them with the most appropriate spaces.

The start of the brainstorming session focused on the Biennale exhibition sites, the administration of the Biennale, and how to make it more welcoming. Beyond that, the architects put forward some creative ideas, for example Li Hu proposed that student participants put up tents or simple dwelling on the Civic square; Qi Xin suggested the idea that the entrance to the exhibition could be subtle enough that visitors would unconsciously enter, and sometimes may become exhibits themselves. The big question was asked: whose Biennale is this? It shouldn’t be an elitist cultural event. The purpose of the Biennale is vague, what everyone wants to express is often different. However, everyone is in consensus that the Biennale belongs to its exhibitors and to the public, and that it is a cultural event for the city.