Beijing:
On multiples artists...Part II
By Charles J. Hecht
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At about 10:00 I went to my room
and read some of the new de Kooning biography
before going off to sleep. I was up early
to try to coordinate a side trip to Shenyang.
Four phone calls and five e-mails made me
realize that I was going to focus on completing
my work on the new sculptures and making
some marketing contacts in Beijing. That
morning Gang and I discussed the hanging
of one of my large combination flag sculptures,
Journey, on the outside
of the Pickled Arts Centre until it was sold.
I thought it was a good idea and the sculpture
was delivered to the arts center that morning.
We then decided where and how it was to be
placed. Then Gang, Peter and I decided
to have lunch at a local dumpling restaurant.
Again, the food was excellent. Although Peter
is an architect, he had never worked at an
architecture firm, but had been able to get
isolated jobs on his own. He was in Beijing
for three months to do the architectural
work for a Norwegian sculptor who was having
a major show later this year. He had been
very sick the prior week and he was just starting
to feel better.
Upon my return from lunch, the 4 small
sculptures that I had worked on in my
prior visit were at the arts center.
However, each needed to be polyurethaned
so I made arrangements with Gang's
staff to transport the sculptures and
my bike over to the SAC complex. After
putting on an initial coat, I then went
back to the computer store to pick up
the discs, since the disc prepared from
the photographs was too imprecise for
the etching of the calligraphy. After
I got there the principal of the computer
store decided to repair the computer
so that it could create data discs. Gang
then contacted the fabricator who came
over and picked up the discs.
I then went to dinner with two employees
of the American Chamber of Commerce for
China. Before dinner we toured the arts
center complex and spent some time in
the gallery. They were very impressed
with the facility and thought it would
be a great place for private parties.
Both Martha Vinson and Jim had been recently
transferred to Beijing from other American
Chamber of Commerce offices, but were
totally unfamiliar with the Bei Gao section
or the thriving artist community. I took
them to the same Beijing duck house,
because I knew the food was reasonable
and very good. Jim collects antique maps
of Asia and explained that in Taiwan
this is a very hot area. After graduating
college in Canada he taught at a Korean
school. He then became employed by the
European Chamber of Commerce and transferred
to the American Chamber of Commerce and
had been stationed in various parts of
the world. Martha had previously been
in charge of the American Chamber of
Commerce in Indonesia. However, her fianc'e
lived in Beijing. Since they wanted to
get married she resigned her position
in Indonesia and was offered a position
in Beijing which she gladly accepted.
Mrs. Vinson explained the role of AmCham
China
and had an idea. Would I lend one
of my Chinese flag sculptures to AmCham
in exchange for an article about me in
their monthly magazine? She felt it would
expose the sculptures to American businesses
with offices in China and the theme was
consistent with AmCham-China'92s
mission. She would make arrangements
to pick up the sculpture and have it
installed with the understanding that
there would be no charge for the rental,
but if I sold the sculpture then they
would release it. I thought it was a
good idea and if it was moved while I
was in China I agreed to supervise the
move and work with their maintenance
people on how to install and maintain
the sculpture. She said that they would
be there the next day to pick it up and
let me know when the truck was arriving
at the Pickled Arts Centre, so I could
direct them to the other Li Gang studio
where the sculpture was stored. They
then dropped me off at the arts center.
I was ready to go to sleep after a long
day.
I still had no working refrigerator and
did not want to impose any more on Li
Gang's family. After a cup of tea,
I decided to walk to the main street
to have a late breakfast at the dumpling
house. I met John on the way out and
we walked together down to the main street
where he caught a cab to meet a friend
to do some sightseeing. Unfortunately,
the dumpling place was not going to be
open for another hour so I decided to
walk back to the complex. I ran into
a young Australian painter and his wife,
who are also going into town for some
sightseeing. After visiting for about
15 minutes, I went back to the compound
and got on my bike so that I could put
on more coats of polyurethane at the
sculptures located at the SAC studio
of Gang.
I called Li Long Ling and she came over
to look at what I was doing and to invite
me for lunch. Her studio/living quarters
were also in the SAC complex. She then
showed me the studio and upon closer
look, what I thought was a 20 foot sculpture
of a fierce Chinese soldier, was really
a sculpture of a sad migrant construction
worker. Her husband apparently had done
a whole series of smaller bronze sculptures
on this theme. He was represented by
the Red Gate Gallery. Ling considers
herself a designer. She uses ordinary
materials such as tires, threaded pipe
and plumbing fixtures to construct furniture,
and was branching out into more decorative
sculptures. Her latest line of sculptures
were pieces of different types of threaded
pipe, with each piece the same diameter,
constructed to look like a man or a woman.
The man had a faucet and when you unscrewed
the faucet, you then had a woman. Each
of the other parts of these sculptures
was movable to a limited degree. There
were a series of candelabras made with
the same threaded pipe. She also used
two tires laid flat on the ground and
then stitched fabric over the top tire
to form chairs. At the Pickled Arts Centre
she had designed a chair using threaded
pipe and then stretched a piece of leather
for the seating area. It was made for
someone who is Chinese.
Her parents were visiting for a month,
since her husband was doing some postgraduate
work in Amsterdam. Her aunt was going
to do the cooking, and one of her friends,
who I had met at one of the Beijing duck
house feasts, came over to join us for
lunch. Long Ling did not like tall or
heavy furniture so she'd come up
with a unique solution for the dining
table. It was on the second floor immediately
above the staircase. The legs were only
14 inches high but she cut a hole in
the floor so that you would sit Japanese
style with your feet going in the hole
in the floor to dangle over t.he staircase.
Because her mother had arthritis, she
sat in a regular chair away from the
table. Once you got used to the sensation,
it was a very comfortable way to eat.
Lunch was stuffed buns and dumplings.
The stuffing was various vegetables with
garlic and seasonings, which were very
good. A glass of beer was an excellent
accompaniment. It was decided that we
would talk in English because she and
her friend wanted to practice English.
Neither of her parents nor her aunt spoke
English, but we managed to communicate.
I got a call from Gang that Martha Vinson
was over at the Pickled Arts Centre to
pick up the sculpture. So after lunch
I biked back to the arts center. Gang
offered the use of his truck and employees
to help move the sculpture. It took us
the rest of the afternoon to transport
the sculpture to the AmCham office, including
almost an hour and a half to come back
because of the incredible traffic of
downtown Beijing. They were going to
install it the next day.
When I got back to the Pickled Arts Centre,
Li Gang invited me for a drink with a
Norwegian architect, his wife and a Norwegian
expatriate who had decided to retire
to Beijing with her nine-year-old son
and Alex, a Scottish art history teacher
who was spending the night on the cot
that I had previously used, before flying
back to Scotland the next day. He'd
been traveling for two years throughout
the world and was anxious to get back
to his family. He was a very interesting
person and had a lot of good ideas. After
some tea, Gang decided to drive us to
a special tea house, which happened to
be owned by an American, not far from
the Beijing duck house. The place was
unmarked and down an unmarked road. The
building was beautiful and was magnificently
landscaped. They gave us menus that looked
like New York City menus with New York
City prices, but we were there to drink
beer. The cost of beer was what he would
spend at a fancy New York restaurant,
but it was a beautiful place to drink.
After a discussion of art and architecture,
the Norwegian architect told me that
America got what it deserved when the
World Trade Center was destroyed. Since
I did not know the relationship of this
architect to Gang, I attempted to defuse
the situation. Shortly thereafter it
was time to drop off the Norwegian couple
and proceed back to the arts complex.
Upon my return there was a group of artists
talking outside. There was the Australian
painter and his wife, Mick, an Irish
composer/artist, and his wife Irene,
a food artist, Brian Wallace, the proprietor
of the Red Gate Gallery, John Sundvquist
and his Australian friend who is writing
a book on the sacred places in China.
Tracy and a few other artists joined
us for dinner and we again went off to,
surprise, the same Beijing duck house
that I had dined at three out of the
five previous evenings. But it was the
company that counted.
I sat next to Mick who described how he
was combining sound and art to create
something unique and was to give a performance
of his art in Japan the following week.
He discussed why he believed that John
Cage was such an important composer.
Mick also described the 10 day train
trip he and Irene had taken from Moscow,
through Siberia, then through Manchuria
and finally arriving at Beijing. The
best part of the trip was the silence
of the Gobi Desert as the train chugged
through the ever so quiet and bleak landscape.
He also noted that Russia was like a
desert wasteland and that the moment
the train came into China everything
seemed to come alive. He compared the
silence in music to the open spaces in
painting and sculpture. We then discussed
ways of creating space in our art and
life in general. For example, on my walk
I noticed many different sounds but did
not hear the sound of any birds, notwithstanding
the numerous trees in the area. Although
there are lots of dogs it seemed that
the dogs hardly ever barked. Irene then
described some of her food sculptures
and that Mick, who is a chemist at the
university, sometimes worked with her
on these projects. They had managed to
use their ideas for art projects to get
enough grant money to fund three months
of adventure. After we completed dinner
we then went over to join Letitia, the
owner of Imagine Gallery, and the two
French artist agents who were just starting
their dinner. We then made arrangements
to have a local taxi to take us back
to the arts center, where we all went
our separate ways as everyone was tired.
The morning was spent installing my "Journey" sculpture
on the outside wall of the Pickled Arts
Centre. Although
I agreed to pay for a special hoist to
lift the sculpture, which weighs approximately
300 pounds and is 13 feet by 5 feet with
a depth of approximately 2 feet, Gang and
his helpers believed that they could lift
the sculpture using a pulley and manpower.
An hour and a half later the sculpture
was installed and secured. We then took
some photographs to commemorate the
event. Everyone seemed to like
the way the sculpture looked and worked
in the context of the entrance to the gallery.
We then went to the sign maker to pick
up the etched steel to take to the fabricator
for bending the largest sculpture, which
was going to be another flag waving in
the wind, and to go over the details
for completing all three sculptures.
Tracy decided to come along for the ride,
since I was leaving the next day. I decided
to make more detailed drawings so that
there would be less of a chance of a
misunderstanding. Although they had a
limited staff of approximately six employees,
by utilizing a jig and careful welding
of support joints they were able to easily
bend the flag to a shape that I was satisfied
with. I felt much more confident after
this visit that this fabricator would
be able to properly complete the sculptures.
By then it was 2:00 and Gang, Tracy and
I were very hungry. We went to the dumpling
house where the three of us and Gang's
driver, who is the same person who worked
with me on the first coats of polyurethane,
had lunch. Because I was told that this
was a fairly typical lunch I will describe
the menu briefly. We started with fermented
tofu, seasoned with peanuts and chile,
which was immediately supplemented by
a type of barbecued beef off the bone,
but similar to taste and texture to barbecued
beef ribs, Hong Kong style beef noodle
soup and three types of fried dumplings.
We drank the local beer supplemented
with a shot of a local rice liquor. The
thought of getting back on my bike to
put on the final coats of polyurethane
on the four small sculptures was daunting.
Because that I had not heard from Martha
Vinson on any problems concerning the
installation of the sculpture and to
thank her for the enthusiasm, I decided
to give her call. She advised me that
one or two of the Chinese employees had
complained to the head of the American
Chamber of Commerce office in Beijing
upon his return from business trip. Without
knowing anything about the sculptures
they were upset that there was writing
on the Chinese flag. Because one of the
key missions of the American Chamber
of Commerce in a foreign country is to
better relations between American businesses
and the local community, the head of
the American Chamber of Commerce office
in Beijing felt the better course of
action was to return the sculpture. This
was so even though almost all of the
comments she was aware of were very favorable.
This sculpture had been on display for
one month at the Pickled Arts Center
and there were there no complaints. According
to Li Gang many of the Chinese viewers,
especially those that understood the
sculpture and how it came about, really
liked it. I advised Mrs. Vinson that
I understood and I did not want to get
her or Jim in any difficulty. Subsequently,
on my return to New York City, I came
up with a proposed solution of doing
a Chinese flag without any calligraphy,
and having the calligraphy on a separate
sculpture that would be located over
the corner of the flag or separate from
the flag. It could be either on an adjacent
wall or to the side or above the flag
sculpture. I also wanted to redo the
calligraphy on " True gold fears
not the test of fire." Since
it is impractical to do it on the original
sculpture, this means that I will have
to create a new waving flag in any event.
I also feel confident that I can do this
from the United States thanks to my working
relationships with the Chinese artisans
and workers and the use of computer photography
and email.
However, art must be served so upon our
return to the arts center, I got back
on my bike and peddled over to Gang's
SAC studio to put on a final coat. The
artists were still working on the background
for the American painter were leaving
as I was arriving. They asked me to lock
up and wanted to know if I was going
to be there over the weekend. I explained
that I was going back to America and
we talked for a few minutes. I again
thanked them for their help and we said
our goodbyes. Upon my return to the arts
center Gang said he wanted take me for
a farewell dinner. However, since we
had eaten such a large and late lunch
I was not hungry so we compromised by
having a snack at his place. Also Chang
was going stop by to drop off the completed
scroll since he had previously taken
the dried calligraphy back to his studio/home
to make into a scroll.
In the interim, I decided to go back to
the studio of the SAC facility to pick
up the 4 small completed sculptures because
I wanted to take one of them home, give
one to Gang as previously promised, and
put the other two in a safe place for
storage. Gang'92s Uncle and I
took the van over to the SAC studio.
Unfortunately, none of the keys worked.
Gang'92s uncle suggested that
we climbed through the second-story window
and drop-down into a totally dark studio
with no lights and then scale the inside
to bring the sculptures out through the
window. Henry does not speak English
and it took me about 20 minutes to persuade
him that this was not a good idea, and
that we would either get the sculptures
early tomorrow morning or Gang would
put all four in storage until we figured
out how to ship one of them back to the
states. Upon my return to the arts center
Gang gave me the completed scroll and
explained that since they did not know
when I was coming back, Chang did not
hang around. Gang said he would extend
my appreciation and thanks to Chang.
We then looked at the scroll and I asked
Gang if he could send me a translation
of the poem.
I got up earlier than normal so that I
could make arrangements to pick up the
4 small finished sculptures at the SAC
studio and was told by Gang that they
were already on their way to us. He picked
out the " Harmony " sculpture
that he wanted. I took the other one,
which we packed in bubble wrap, with
me to the airport. Gang graciously arranged
for his uncle to take me the airport.
In retrospect that this was another fantastic
experience. I felt much more comfortable
and was able to do a lot more on my
own. This trip only reinforced my belief
that
the Chinese artisans and persons servicing
their needs are industrious, ingenious
and in almost all instances a pleasure
to work with. I felt that I accomplished
more in one week than I could accomplish
in six months in New York. I know part
of this is due to the fact that I could
concentrate solely on art without any
distractions. A major part of this
is also due to the fact that everything
needed to complete large and complex
metal sculptures is located within
a
very small area, and that there were
skilled people ready, willing and able
to work with me to complete what I
consider to be a joint project. Of course,
without
the help and contacts of Li Gang none
of this would have been possible. His
willingness to work with visiting artists,
often sacrificing time for his work
and his family, is something that I really
appreciate. I look forward to returning
to China to work on more sculptures
at
a truly unique space with the chance
to interact with artists from all over
the world. .
Part
I -->
-> NY
Arts Magazine,
September/October, 2005
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