Category Archives: CZC特工队

handshake 302+friends

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It’s the tenth anniversary of Handshake 302 and you’re invited to the party!!!!

The first event is “Mahjong Parlor.” We have designed a deck of cards–a handheld exhibition. Each suit is a curated introduction to a Handshake project. Hearts are images from the village residency; clubs are from the Biennale; diamonds are from “Singleton Lunch” and; spades are from “Art Sprouts,” which we ran at the P+V gallery (Longheu Girls’ School) in Dalang. “Mahjong Parlor” will be held every second and fourth Saturday afternoon at at Stone Stage in Luohu.

So how did we get here?

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for those who keep asking

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how can I learn more about Handshake 302? Download 握手302介绍 and read about four years of ongoing art and interventions (in Chinese). And don’t forget to follow us on we chat!

What Does Art Teach Us About History?

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In the Republic, Plato argues that the faults of poets are many. In addition to being irrational, they—and this is their gravest fault, he says—“invent” stories about events that never happened. In other words, Plato conflated “story telling” with “telling lies.”

In fact, historians artists approach the past from two different perspectives. Historians are interested in figuring out what happened when and why, while artists explore the past in order to discover future possibilities. Continue reading →

what is worth passing on?

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Friday August 25, 2017 I had the honor of participating in the closing meeting of the second edition of the “Shenzhen Oral History” project. It was a high level and exciting cultural event that commemorated the people who contributed to Shenzhen’s second decade, 1992-2002. A week later on Friday September 1, I attended the salon for Wu Xingyu and Zhong Yuxiao’s art project “Demolition.” Continue reading →

Baishizhou Soundscapes

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Sunday afternoon, 4:00 at Handshake 302:

To truly listen, we must first become quiet, creating a silence proper to ourselves. When quiet, you will hear the sounds of nature. At that moment, the sound flows, and nothing remains but a trace of memory. Silence is itself the opportunity to reflect on what it means to hear.

Listening is not just a question of hearing the music, but of listening to the natural voice, which includes static. Problems come; where does the static of life come from? Why does it appear? The unavoidable sounds of daily life constitute different experiences.

During this workshop we will share sound—its creation, its documentation, and what it means to listen. We invite each participant to quiet their minds and truly listen. The screaming child and your screaming mind: are these sounds the same or different? The rustling wind and a little girls giggle: do they play your heartstrings in the same way? Listen to the soundscapes of Baishizhou and hear your heart. Beat.

Handshake 302 interview at China Residencies

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China Residencies interviewed Kaiqin and me about the ongoing residency at Handshake 302. Check out the interview and learn more about creative engagements with and in China.

another weekend in december

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So “Oysters and Champagne” the Shajing version opened this weekend and it was quite beautiful:

Meanwhile, Handshake 302’s installation, “n=distortion” also opened at the SZ-HK Biennale:

This rhythm of Shenzhen culture can overwhelm. Suddenly, there are installations, performances, and salons everywhere. We are inundated, but frankly often too tired to enjoy the deluge.

However, as a Cantonese proverb says, “Water is wealth.”

Yes.

handshake 302: this is what we do

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A short video about “Of a Piece”, the project that Handshake 302 brought to the Shenzhen Art Museum, June 1-19, 2015.

local is as local does. or not.

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This week I have been thinking about iterations of the “local” in two sites: the 2015 Shenzhen Hong Kong Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture and the Baishizhou Street Museum. In particular, I’m thinking about the possibility of making connections from “here” to “there” when they hinge on the distance between (a) some outside understanding of what the local might be and (b) what might be interesting to actual locals. The possibility of meaningful dialogue is further complicated when “outsiders” and “locals” are organized by global hierarchies, internal class structures, and unquestioned ideas of what might be intellectually and/or aesthetically engaging. Continue reading →

stuck.

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I have been applying for a grant. The US based foundation asks for a CD-rom of work samples, while it is still illegal in China to send CD-roms overseas (domestic mailing no problem.) Here’s the thing. It is perfectly possible to send mega-files from China anywhere in the world, even without a VPN. It’s also possible for foundations to store information on clouds and have a protocol for deleting extra information after a round of submissions. But instead of a simple information transfer, I’m stuck between two outdated systems for archiving (or not) information. Continue reading →