Day Four
Reheated Beijing duck, left over from the night
before, with scrambled eggs was an excellent
breakfast. I sketched some more, but the sketches
were not good. I did some office work and then heard
from Li Gang. He was working on a sculpture and
wanted to get together in the afternoon rather than
the morning. I decided to go to the used furniture
market to get a comfortable chair for my desk, some
nice chairs for the dining area, and a large work
table. I was hoping to find an interesting
calligraphers table. On the way I met Judas, the
Spanish artist who hosted the beer blast last
August, and we had a short visit. He was preparing
for the Shanghai show. All of the painters seemed to
be participating in that show. We were going to try
to get together before I left on Sunday.
Right now, there are very few official taxis that
come into this area, but I believe this will change
because the area is exploding. There is a new
restaurant, Coco Paris, to be operated by a Japanese
chef, opening in December in the gallery complex
immediately adjacent to 318 Art Park. This is a
complex of approximately 15 to 20 new galleries in
addition to ASpace, which I understand is going to
be divided into approximately 50 separate galleries.
There is also a museum for video arts under
construction. In addition there is a huge new
gallery space being constructed next to the corner
mini supermarket across the street from the gallery
complex adjacent to 318 Art Park.
Fortunately, I had Xaio Wu’s business card and used
my cell phone so that the driver could get
directions from Wu to get to the used furniture
market. The driver still got lost, but I was
thankfully able to remember this area from my past
trip and guided him to Wu’s store/factory. When I
could not find certain pieces in his store/factory,
he showed me to other facilities owned by other
persons. I was able to purchase some interesting
pieces. Rather than a large calligraphers table, I
found a plain, functional altar table. I found some
interesting and comfortable chairs. I also picked up
a pair of very interesting small cabinets that can
be used as bedside tables in the master bedroom
suite. Now that I know how to get there, what was a
four hour round trip with Dongseng and Jhu Li is now
about 30 minutes each way, and not very difficult to
find.
Upon returning to the studio I was not in the mood
to sketch. I was expecting Li Gang so we could plan
my metal studio in the rear of the unit. He did not
call, so I got a lot of reading and day dreaming
accomplished. I also did some office work. The
furniture arrived; it looks terrific. I have learned
that the Chinese do not like used furniture, but the
construction and lines on this furniture, parts of
which could be 150 years old, are, in my opinion,
really beautiful and well executed. You just have to
get used to the numerous nicks and other surface
imperfections. According to Xaio Wu, because there
is no local demand, he is dependent upon American
and European dealers. I am one of the few
individuals, other than dealers for collectors of
this type of furniture, who come into this area,
which is a mixture of used furniture dealers and
reconditioners, industrial plumbers and local shops.
I went out to dinner by myself, because I wanted to
sketch and I was too lazy to go to the market to get
food to cook. I actually drafted a fairly good
sketch for a wood cut at dinner. Refined, this
sketch would serve as a guide for a new woodcut.
Three little children from different tables wandered
over to my table out of curiosity. When I responded
to their impromptu visit they were very friendly,
but still shy.
Using my electric bicycle at night is an adventure
in this area because there are no streetlights.
Because of the smog it is especially dark. I almost
crashed into a big truck that was parked on the side
of the road in an unusual place, even though I was
paying close attention to where I was going. Again,
I regretted not bringing some type of warm woolen
hat to wear when I ride the electric bicycle. I
returned from dinner and attended to some office
work and refined my sketch before calling Leslie and
my office.
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