China

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Art Photography

Animated Photo Collages by Qi Wei Fong Shimmer to Life as Time Passes

Glassy Sunset, 2013

Tanah Lot Sunset, 2013

Chinatown Sunset, 2013

Several months ago we featured a photographic series called Time is a Dimension by artist Qi Wei Fong that depicted layered collages of landscapes and cityscapes photographed over a 2-4 hour period. Fong has since taken the project a step further by animating the images in this new series called Time in Motion. The new photos, shot in locations around China, Indonesia, and Bali show the change in light at sunrise or sunset through angular rays and concentric circles that shimmer as time passes. You can see more from the series on his website.

Design

An Illegal Mountain Constructed Atop a 26-Story Residential Building in Beijing

While most property and homeowners might be lucky to erect a small fence, add a new wall, or plant a few trees without applying for a permit or checking local zoning laws, things in Bejing are apparently quite different. For the last six years an eccentric doctor built a sprawling mountain villa on the roof above his top-floor flat in this 26-story residential building, all without asking permission of residents or local authorities. The enormous addition covers the entire 1000-square-metre roof and was built using artificial rocks but with real trees and grass.

It only took six years of complaints from neighbors who suffered from the noise and vibrations of heavy construction machinery, water leaks, and other disturbances to finally get the attention of authorities who recently gave the man 15 days to remove the mountain or else it will face forcible removal. Read more over on the South China Morning Post. (via dezeen)

Art

Calm: A Field of Liquid Construction Debris on the Streets of Vancouver by MadeIn Company

What looks like a giant pile of rubble outside the Shangri-La Hotel in downtown Vancouver is actually an art installation by Chinese art collective MadeIn Company titled Calm. All is not as it seems. Pass by in a hurry and you’ll hardly notice this giant pile of broken cement blocks, grass, and construction waste, but stand next to it for just a moment and you’ll notice something almost imperceptible: the entire pile of rubble is moving, slightly undulating atop a giant hidden reservoir of water.

The large field of debris was collected from a renovated Vancouver synagogue and installed on an exhibition space, Offsite, belonging to the Vancouver Art Gallery last April. According to various news reports people seem pretty polarized by the installation, either loving or hating it. The work was inspired by the near perpetual state of urban development currently underway in China. Via the gallery:

Calm’s ambiguity and unexpected ability to move provoke us to question ways of observing, believing and understanding facts, and remind us that the truth often differs from what it seems. In this context, Calm comments on the concerns that arise alongside urban development and the gentrification of residential neighbourhoods, whether in Vancouver or Shanghai. While the volume of construction in Vancouver might pale in comparison and scale to that of Shanghai, there are currently several retail and residential expansions underway within a five-kilometre radius of Offsite.

The installation will be on view through September 29th and you can learn a bit more over on CTV News. It should be noted that if you’re in Vancouver the installation is not actually meant to be touched or climbed on. You can see a similar installation from Benjamin Boré who created the same sort of effect with a brick sidewalk.

Art Photography

Picturesque Chinese Landscapes are Actually Disguised Photos of Landfills

Take a few steps back or perhaps just squint your eyes and these images by artist Yao Lu might resemble traditional Chinese landscape paintings of cliffs, waterfalls, and mountains. Look a bit closer and your perspective may change. Lu digitally assembles each of her images using photographs of landfills and other aspects of urbanization draped in green mesh to mimic idyllic scenery. Similar to the recent work of Yang Yongliang featured on this blog just last week, Lu seems to be making a thinly-veiled commentary on the encroaching ecological threat of urbanization. See much more over at Bruce Silverstein Gallery. (via beautiful decay)

Art Photography

The Silent City: Digitally Assembled Futuristic Megalopolises by Yang Yongliang

Sleepless Wonderland, Lightbox, 2012

Sleepless Wonderland, Lightbox, 2012 (detail)

Sleepless Wonderland, Lightbox, 2012 (detail)

Sleepless Wonderland, Lightbox, 2012 (detail)

Snake and Grenade, Lightbox, 2012

Snake and Grenade, Lightbox, 2012 (detail)

Wolf and Landmines, Lightbox, 2012

Full Moon, Lightbox, 2012

Bowl of Tapei No. 03, 2012

Bowl of Tapei No. 04, 2012

Chinese artist Yang Yongliang (previously) recently released three new bodies of work that will be on view at Galerie Paris-Beijing from from March 14th to April 27th, 2013. Born in Shanghai in 1980, Yongliang is known for his sprawling photographic collages that depict the devastating effects of uncontrolled urbanisation and industrialisation. At a distance the works look like traditional Chinese painting and calligraphy but when viewed up close, the peaceful mountains and seascapes are found to be choked with buildings, factories, and machinery. The images of above scarcely convey the detail in these pieces, but look at this high resolution version of Sleepless Wonderland to get an idea. Head over to Galerie Paris-Beijing to explore more of the three collections titled Silent Valley, Moonlight, and a Bowl of Taipei. All images courtesy the gallery.

Art Design

Green Pedestrian Crossing in China Creates Leaves from Footprints

Jody Xiong of DDB China in conjunction with the China Environmental Protection Foundation created this wonderful outdoor campaign to create a subtle visual reminder of the environmental benefits of walking versus driving. Enormous white canvases with a bare tree were placed across 132 crosswalks in 15 Chinese cities. As pedestrians crossed their shoe soles were imprinted with a small amount of green paint, leaving behind a trail of leaf-like footprints. BBD estimated that nearly 3,920,000 people passed through the installations, and the final posters were eventually hung has billboards in several urban locations. Awesome! (via moeity)