Kalan at the G20 summit

He was arrested and charged with a felony!

First Post for Color Photo

With this post I'm resuming the source book purpose of this blog, and will use it as a place to let people see what images I'm looking at while I'm making my own work. Right now I'm in Senior Studio and Color Photo. My ideas for Senior Studio are generally sculptural, but obviously I'm interested in Photography (even though I find it difficult to 'think' in the medium of photography). I'm hoping to bring these two mediums together this year but I don't have any idea how.

After being in China I've become really interested in ideas of human space. Human density and urban density, relatedness, connectedness, sense of personal space, escapism, how much we affectionately touch each other, how close we sit together on the couch, how often we say 'excuse me', etc, etc.
I'm also really interested in containers, containers as in buildings or as in tupper-ware, frames and boxes. I am going to explore how to fill these containers in order to give a sense of human density without necessarily representing the human figure.

For my first sculpture project I have been looking at these Mexican devotional objects called nichos- like framed shadowboxes with paintings on tin inside.

Back in the U-S-of-A- way overdue!

(I started writing this over the summer and then never got back to it... )
I am finally back in the United States after all of my adventures in China. I stopped posting on the blog in March, which was partially my decision (so little precious free time) and partially not my decision (Chinese government blanket-blocked all blogspot.com blogs). So here I am, threeish months later, with even more pictures on my computr that never made it up here. Unfortunately I don't think I'm going to take the time to write about all the adventures and post all the pictures, even though I'd love to share. I'll just do a quick summary for now, though, plus a map highlighting every province I've been to in China. Pretty cool!

In alphabetical order: I have been to Beijing, Chongqing, Guizhou, Hunan, Shaanxi, Shanghai, Sichuan, Tianjin and Zhejiang. Whew!

So, after I came back from Chengdu, we had three more weeks of drudgery and learning before we were freed for a short spring break. Jason (a fellow student from ACC who is very dear to me) and I took an overnight train to Xi'an, where we saw the famous terra cotta warriors and sampled foods from the Muslim street. We also went to Tianjin for Jason's Ultimate Frisbee tournament. Tianjin was extremely polluted and depressing, but the tournament was really fun. Although I'd never watched let alone played Ultimate before, I subbed in briefly! It was probably better for everyone if I just watched, though. (terracotta warriors)

Then, back at acc, we rounded out the final few weeks with more Chinese language torture. We finished our semester-long independent projects, gave powerpoint presentations and turned in the 8-page-plus paper. My topic was on the contemporary art district in Beijing, 798, and all of the changes it has gone through; from a artists' studios neighborhood to one of the biggest tourist draws and commercial centers in the city. I also interviewed two of my friends who run their own gallery. They also invited me, later, to act as translator for their gallery during Art Beijing, the largest yearly exposition on contemporary Chinese/ Asian art.

(my independent project advisor, Sun 老师, and me at the post-graduation dinner)

The last few weeks of the program dragged on FOREVER. The professors piled more and more work and projects and presentations on us, and meanwhile we all were literally losing our minds. The desire to speak English became a constant backdrop to every and all thought, the thought of making sounds like "fr", "th", "kl", etc, would make us drool. Everyone handled this intense stress a little differently; I surprised myself by becoming intensely angsty and angry. It was hard to let on this anger (as were many other unhappy emotions) so I don't think it affected anyone else too much, but it was really hard to stay postitive. Throughout the semester it was really difficult to remember just how much progress you'd made due to the constant criticism and increasing demands from the professors, and the last few weeks weren't any different. We finally graduated, went out for karaoke with our professors and found out just how hard it is to switch back and forth between languages with much speed and accuracy.

(a bunch of third year students at professors after graduation- Jason and I are in the front left)

A few days after graduation, I traveled for two weeks with Jason to Shanghai, Hangzhou, Guilin and Yangshuo. We had a great time and saw some incredible scenery, including incredibly serene rice paddies and beautiful lakes and rivers. Traveling in China is hair-tearingly stressful on a normal basis, but during national holidays it becomes nothing short of hellish. Jason and I unknowingly planned our vacation to coincide with the national worker's holiday, during which time everyone else in China goes on vacation, too. One night in Shanghai we found we were stranded after being unable to get on a bus OR train to Hangzhou, and that all hostels in Shanghai were booked. Things were looking really grim until I called my good friend ellis, a fellow China adventurer, who gave us the name of an awesome, tucked-away hostel (read ellis' humorous account of traveling during the worker's holiday here).

Then after Jason left to go back to the US, I hung out in Beijing for three weeks by myself. I ended up living with the cousins of the gallery-owner friends I worked with at the Art Expo. Living with two girls from a rural province whose admitted ages seemed to get younger and younger the longer I stayed there was difficult and eye opening. Since they couldn't speak more than a few words of English, I was entirely reliant on my Chinese skills. Even though I'd spoken Chinese for the last four months, something about only speaking Chinese with native Chinese people with whom I shared no common background experiences was incredibly exhausting. I felt like I was constantly misunderstood and feared I frequently tripped over cultural faux-pas and possibly offended them. I likewise got frustrated with them when they couldn't seem to understand where I was coming from or had different social customs. I did learn a lot from them, though; their story was very similar to many people currently living in Beijing. They moved to Beijing hoping to make a better life for themselves, but have had very little education and although their standard of living is higher now, they will encounter difficulties if they hope to get higher-level jobs. Aside from living with these girls I also hung out with my friend Julian who also attended ACC with me. He's an all-around superstar student who started Harvard this fall. When he and I were feeling overwhelmed and weary of life in China we'd get together for western food or go to a beautiful, expensive shopping mall (ha!). I'll be honest- it was hard to be alone in a foreign country and living in a stressful situation. I kept busy by planning my trip with my mom (Robin), sister (Viv) and wonderful friend (Maeve).
(maybe at some point I'll update with pictures and a description of my final two-week trip in China)

Chengdu, Sichuan part one of several...

So I'm really behind on posting, but I'm just going to do what's the most current and worry about the other things later (slash when I get home). Last week ACC had a one week break and we went to Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province. Sichuan is in the south western part of China, home of spicy food and many famous Buddhist and Daoist religious sites.

The Friday before we left we had our midterm exam (covering about the equivalent of of one plus semesters of Chinese at Oberlin), a 15 minute slide presentation in front of 3 teachers and 3 students and another 15 minute speech in front of 2 teachers. It was grueling, but before we'd even had time to catch our breath, we were on the train headed to Chengdu.

The vast majority of Chinese people travel by train, so we were not only saving money but were also experiencing Chinese culture by traveling through China's country side for 25 hours. Yes, that's right, 25 hours. As you can see above, it's a pretty small little area to be stuck in for 25 hours- 3 bunks stacked up with a little table in between. To be honest, I didn't mind the length too much- plenty of time to sleep and read and chat (in Chinese) with classmates. By the last 3 hours or so, though, I was pretty ready to get off the train.

China's country side. The reason the train ride is so long is because we had to wind through all the mountains which allowed us to see many different climates and scenery.

Terraced hills. There were lots of yellow flowers, which I am pretty sure are safflower, which are harvested and turned into cooking oil.

Chengdu was humid and a little chilly, but no matter, we were excited to be out of Beijing, out of a classroom and seeing green things!

Our hotel was right in downtown Chengdu, near a big flashy pedestrian mall. There were always huge crowds of people there, no matter what time of day it was. Our head director, Zhang Laoshi (professor Zhang) teased that Chengdu people never go to work, they just spend their days shopping and going to teahouses. Sounds pretty good to me. The pace of Chengdu is definately more relaxed than Beijing, regardless.

In the very center of the city is a beautiful plaza with fountains and flowers (unheard of in Beijing) and, of course, a statue of every one's favorite communist founder.

Sichuan is also famous for "xiao chi" or, basically, snacks. As I am sure everyone will agree, snacks are great. Above is an example of the many, many sidewalk snackeries (?). Hot pot originates in Southern China and at the above establishment you can select as many skewers of vegetables (all kinds of mushrooms, lotus root, bean sprouts, etc) and meat, tofu and then cook them in a broth (usually dark red and therefore extremely spicy). On the street you can also buy Chuar (kabobs), and it's the same excellent deal- you pick which skewers of meat/ tofu/ lotus root/etc you want and they will boil and then barbeque it for you right there. Delicious. The character for chuar is : 串. Great, right? It actually looks like a kabob! You can also buy all kinds of fruit, including beautifully pre-sliced pineapple on skewers, water chestnuts, mangosteens, mangos, rambutans, pipaw and jujubees. I made sure to try the last three since I hadn't had them before. All delicious. Jujubees are in the apple family but are shaped like a little torpedo and have a very delicate flavor.
There were beautiful fruit stores everywhere- open to the air and wildly colorful. In the foreground you can see that brown spiky fruit- those are Durian, a really strange fruit that smells a little like a sweet onion. They are so smelly that they have been banned on the subway in at least one Asian country.
This picture is for Viv- a store where you can buy things to use in your store... like manikins, steamers and hangers, haha. I saw at least 3 of these, actually.

Next up, Renmin Gongyuan (People's Park), a giant Buddha, monkeys and more.

Theora in Action

Look at that! That's me speaking Chinese- what I came to Beijng to do! I was probably making a "chu" or "xu" sound.

Last weekend I went out to dinner with two family friends, Bill and Sue, who were in Beijing for the weekend. We went to a wonderful Beijing Duck restaurant- it was delicious and glamorous. Because Bill and Sue don't speak Chinese, I spoke English with them (it's an exception to the language pledge, and oh man it was great to speak English) and then translated with the waitresses and cab drivers which was great fun.

On the topic of things to eat, this is a Mangosteen. Delicious.

The skin is very thick; the outer layer is tough, but the inside layer is very deep red and crumbly. The fruit is very small, white, and has sections like an orange. It is very sweet and mild, the texture is a little like a peach. The last week or so there have been many people selling them on the street off of their motorized bike carts.

ACC的日常生活 (Daily Life）Part 1

So, now that I've been here over a month, time for basic introductions. Firstly, my school is in Beijing's Chaoyang District (朝阳区）which is north-east of Beijing center. Beijing is made up of several ring roads surrounding the Forbidden City which is the traditional First Ring Road. My school is near the Third Ring Road, so relatively close to the center of Beijing. The subway map above is really confusing because (I think) the top of the map is South and the bottom is North, but anyways, my school is really close to the Dawangqiao station (大望路－我不知道为什么那个地铁图说“大望桥”？）on the Red Line #1. If you want to really have a good time- look me up on Google Earth! If you haven't used it before you'll have to download the program. Then search for Beijing, China, and then "Capital University of Economics and Business" (the school that ACC is housed in). You'll be able to see where I'm staying (the building in the north-east section of the campus), and if you zoom out to the west, you can see the CCTV building, too.

This is the view of our South entrance from outside. The gold characters say Shoudu jingji maoyi daxue (首都经济贸易大学） or CUEB. There are guards on watch 24/7 to let cars in and out and monitor the people walking in and out.

This is inside campus looking at the South gate. On the left are steps going to the library (which I haven't been to- no art books, just economic books in Chinese), and on the right is a small park 公园 which occasionally has a few old people doing their morning calisthenics (my favorite is the clapping and reciting rhythmic sayings. 功课很好玩！

Dis eez the outside of my dorm building- a little glassed in entry way. We have classes and live in this same building, which seemed like an awful idea when I first got here, but it's actually not that bad.

Outside of the building. Everything is dead because it is winter and dirty beause it is Beijing and until last thursday it hadn't rained in 3 months! Today it snowed a little bit too, which means it's cold, but I'm just glad to have some precipitation. A little snow is actually kind of nice (I never thought I'd say that).

This is a car. And also the view of the North gate from inside campus.

Outside the Bei (north) gate looking west. The angular building in the distance is the one that caught on fire a week ago Monday. Apparently they didn't completely put out the fire until Tuesday morning (when I took this picture). The sky was really hazy until the afternoon, and the building was pretty charbroiled-looking.

That same day, a picture from inside our room looking out. Horrible! Our room has a little balcony, which is nice to go out on when you want to take a break from studying.

Ze rrrooom. Katie bought some little New Years delibops, but it still is pretty boring and spare. Unfortunately I did not bring my art studio with me, but I'm hoping in a spare minute I can work some Theora Magic on the walls. hmm. Siena, you know what I mean.

Each room has it's own bathroom, which is great.

Next up, pictures of my homework- another balanced part of daily life at ACC.

photo assortment

Firstly, more photos from 798 taken during my second trip there. Above and below, beautiful courtyard where a tree had been entirely wrapped with red string. This curved concrete bit is actually an entrance to a gallery. Very cool and minimalist.

Haha! Duchamp goes to the chinaware factory.

Yes, Ally, I went here! The coffee shop with a coffee cup filled with (real!) coffee beans for a door. They played American country western music, which seemed a little odd to me.

Another door. For the "weird signs in English" photo album. For some reason the Chinese characters are traditional which are not used in mainland China.

798 is pretty grungy, but that's what makes it so cool. Artists looove the grungy grimy.

Factory which is still being used as such.

Tonight is the last night of celebration of the Chinese New Year (the lantern festival), and also the last night to set off fireworks. Fireworks and firecrackers are readily available during this time of year, and anyone can buy them and set them off, anywhere, anytime. Since loud noises are believed to scare away evil spirits who might be lurking at the start of your new year, it would seem that almost everyone in Beijing participates in this ritual. Although they are beautiful and New Year's Eve at midnight was incredible, after about 3 weeks of constant booming (daytime, too!) I'm really quite ready to have it come to an end. Earlier tonight there was quite the upset in the ACC dorm because we thought that the new CCTV building had caught fire from the fireworks. For a panicked 15 minutes or so we were all leaning out the windows trying to see through the haze and smoke (caused primarily by the fireworks, and only somewhat by the fire). Turns out it was a nearby building instead, and the fire was put out fairly quickly. Still, this is why letting a city of 17 million people set off fireworks at their leisure and discretion is not entirely without risk. The CCTV building is an architectural marvel and was only recently finished. It looks like this: http://images.businessweek.com/ss/05/12/china_wonders/image/cctv.jpg (there is a current name-the-building debate going on, and the vast majority of Beijingers are already referring to it as "The Big Underpants")

These are Longgan- a fruit I'd never seen before coming to China. Since I'm all about rare/ unusual fruit I was really excited when my roomate brought these home. On the inside they are sweet and translucent like a grape but have a pit like a cherry. A little obnoxious to eat but it's worth it.

Time for shower and review the characters one more time and then sleep.