IDEA 20090727 Beijing Experimental Media Article

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My friend Stacey Duff, Time Out Magazine's art editor, is interested in pitching some articles about the cross-over electronic, new media, and experimental media in Beijing. October is the time for this to go live. I'm writing quick summary of my thoughts on the subject right now.

Summary

As Beijing's art scene intermixes with International art and while the city has fostered many experiments, DJ crews, and weekly sound arts events, Beijing is not known for its explosion of Internet-based, New Media and experimental arts. More International artists are grounding themselves in Beijing like the Spanish SOS-CORE crew in Huan Tie art area, the Fabricatorz in CaoChangDi. Also, art programs at CAFA and Beijing pump out graduates with degrees in art and engineering backgrounds, all providing the seeds for an emerging media arts scene. Much of this growth is built near the art areas in 798, CaoChangDi and Huan Tie. Whereas often International artists use Beijing as a base for creation with inexpensive housing and fabrication supplies readily available, and living close to the 1st class Beijing airport, more artists are producing local events that cross-over art and DJ cultures.

Currently the weekly schedule fills up with Yan Jun's every Tuesday Waterland Kwanyin at 2kolegas (http://2kolegas.com) and a scattering of irregular events mostly featuring DJ's and VJ's at Yue Gong Yi Shan and White Rabbit. Now monthly, artists have an avenue for experimentation with Dorkbot Beijing (http://dorkbot.org/dorkbotbj) most recently at CORE labs (http://sos-core.com), featuring presentations by Spanish video artist Marula, media artist Rez, and the Fabricatorz crew's open Laoban Soundsystem. Yuanfen New Media Arts Space features openings of Chinese and International artists such as their upcoming show of original on August 1st, "Imagining the Image," with artists Yam Lau and Jean-Francois Côté. Even artists like Ai Weiwei, with his July 1st Green Day Internet party that featured the Laoban Soundsystem, and Cao Fei, with her RMB City, are producing new media and moving beyond creating representational artwork. All are creating projects which build community and create a social network. Early signs point to a growth in experimental media arts as CORE plans more InBassWeTrust.cn events in the future and Laoban Soundsystem provides a platform in Beijing to get the scene pumping.

These aren't club events, or just the standard art, wine and cheese virtual walkthroughs. All of the above projects are promoting artwork infused with technology, new media concepts, and the strength of Internet social networking built-in. Hopefully, the form of new media art in Beijing isn't brewed with the early bad tastes of science center artwork, shanzhai disney parks exhibits, or an overload of arc electricity generators, but rather a high level of remediation of contemporary art with a high level of concept beyond eye-candy or technophilia.

The lack of activity is not from too few artists or participants, its purely to do with connecting up various circles of artists, spaces, and technology. As these connections are made, watch as new media and experimental arts in Beijing expands.

Research

Different groups of cutting edge media in Beijing:

  • Chinese Experimental Sound Art
    • Yan Jun's Waterland Kwanyin
    • Yan Jun and others in Tongzhou
  • International Artists and Collectives doing New Media and Experimental Art
  • CORE (spanish arts collective and lab, and home to delacrew and In Bass We Trust)
    • Delacrew
    • InBassWeTrust.cn
    • Marula, Rez, and more artists
    • http://www.corelabs.cn/
    • Fabricatorz Laoban Soundsystem
      • Jon Phillips (rejon)
      • Matt Hope
      • Yang Tao
      • Long2
  • New Media Art Galleries: Yuanfen New Media
    • David Ben Kay and Ellen's space
    • CPU:798
    • Others?
  • Schools trying to get in on New Media
    • CAFA
    • BeiDa
  • Events
    • Dorkbot Beijing
    • Ai Weiwei Green Day July 1st Internet Party
    • Creative Commons Salon
    • Shao Foundation events
    • Goethe Institute
  • Big Artists
  • Research/Archives
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