The Shanghai Biennale

Wang Mai's headless horse-shaped pipes in Oil Monsters

The Shanghai Biennale is back in it's 8th run at the Shanghai Museum of Art. The theme this time is Rehearsal, alluding to the fact that art is an on-going production. Art is fluid and changing.  Artist Ma Liang (also fashionably known as Maleonn)  recreates a portion of his photography studio---which is known to be cluttered with quirky, outlandish props---in order to allow visitors to see what the opposite side of the lens looks like in staging a piece of work.  Below are some of the props.

A para sailing skeleton from Ma Liang's studio

Traditional Chinese New Year Lion heads

A traditional Chinese scroll is meticulously drafted over by artist Guan Wei showing futuristic new developments.  On an opposite wall he also uses maps and imagery to make a statement of our increasingly globalized society.  I was more interested in the drafting.

Guan Wei's Development Zone

 Artist Zhang Huan's piece has two parts: a reinterpretation of the Baroque opera Semele  with a Chinese perspective and then second, the transportation of the set which was originally a 450 year old village temple to be displayed in new glory as a museum centerpiece. Cool. Check more about Mr. Zhang's projects and the story of Semele here.

 

There was also an amazing installation by Norwegian art group Verdensteatret that was totally my favorite  It's called And All the Question Marks Started to Sing.  Best said by WSJ's Art Scene Asia, "The work fills a room with spinning bicycle wheels, surreal projections, music and live performance to evoke a cheery if slightly eerie dream." The installation is reminiscent of Tim Burton--another favorite---because both artists bring inanimate objects to life in a creepy but whimsical way. Check out Verdenstreatret's website here.

Image courtesy of Verdensteatret

Then there's the charming playroom by Qiu Zhijie in which essentially a 2 dimensional painting is brought in to 3D. Also, best said by the Wall Street Journal:

[ Mr. Qiu] "brings to frenetic life a famous traditional painting of Ming Dynasty-era city life with an interactive installation comprised of mask painting, mechanized grindstones of ink and of salt, strewn keys and other miscellanea. " WSJ

I wasn't expecting the interactive opportunity of artwork or ability to photograph anything I wanted. Art museums are still a growing cultural phenomenon in China---maybe these lax rules will establish a more enjoyable art-viewing experience in the future. I mean---who wouldn't want to photograph or touch art work?

Yours truly with Qiu’s Notes on ‘Colorful Lanterns at Shangyuan Festival'