Zhongxin Wanghai, September 9 Question: 24 Shanghai Urban Space Art Season Kicks Off in the Rain How can urban space be more interesting and "cohabiting"?
China News Network reporter Zheng Yingying
The 2023 Shanghai Urban Space Art Season (hereinafter referred to as Art Season) kicked off on the west bank of Xuhui on the 24th. During the art season, more than 30 outdoor exhibited works were arranged in the outdoor spaces along the Xuhui Riverside, changing the "scenery" step by step, through which the artists explored and thought about more possibilities of urban space with the public.
Urban spaces can be fun and dynamic
Tango, a cartoonist who previously attracted many tourists with a set of comic cats at the Rockbund Art Season, is here again. For the 2023 Shanghai Urban Space Art Season, he brings two groups of works: one is "Cats Know the Direction", which is scattered all over the river and "directions" with cat tails, these cat installations are different colors and cute.
On September 9, cartoonist Tango's work "Cats Know the Direction" was unveiled in the 24 Shanghai Urban Space Art Season, using a cat's tail to guide the way along the way. Photo by China News Network reporter Zheng Yingying
In Tango's art world, the cat's tail has many uses, not only for directions, but also for "DJing". In his other work, "White Cat Gramophone", the 6-meter-tall white cat installation stands by the river, seemingly playing with the stylus with its tail while closing its eyes and enjoying the music flowing in the record, as if it can feel the breeze blowing.
On September 9, visitors overlooked Tango's White Cat Gramophone, a 24-meter-tall white cat installation standing by the river, echoing the main White Cat Pavilion. Photo by China News Network reporter Zheng Yingying
On the same day, on the riverside where the light rain was dripping, Tango overlooked the "White Cat Gramophone" installation, saying, "When the cat brings the Elizabeth circle, it is very similar to the horn of the gramophone, and then I let its tail 'DJ', so as to form a more relevant comic installation." ”
Tango's comic creations are "brainy" and fun. He said that he hopes to let the comics "intervene" in the urban public space, so that everyone can experience the appeal of the work from different angles.
- Urban space can be "cohabited"
This art season temporarily transformed the warehouse of the White Cat Detergent Factory retained by Xuhui Riverside into the main exhibition hall. The main exhibition hall of the white cat retains the main structure of the factory building and most of the original façade, and the interior space has been renovated. Under the theme of "cohabitation", the works in the museum are divided into four sections: from the concern of "who to live with", to the thinking of "staying in the matter", to the outlook of "urban policy", and finally to the expectation of "natural answer".
Being inside is an attitude of introspection. On September 9, the 24 Shanghai Urban Space Art Season opened, and in the main exhibition hall of the white cat, thinking about "being in the matter". Photo by China News Network reporter Zheng Yingying
Walking through the theme interpretation exhibition area of Xuhui, whether it is indoor pavilions or outdoor installations, artists are interpreting their "cohabitation" from different angles.
Art Season Liu Yi brought three installations of "Tsubaki Tree", "Flower Moon" and "Home" this time. These colorful installations attempt to place the subject of "man" in the objective experience of "universe", "heaven and earth" and "all things".
"When we look at nature from a larger perspective rather than from a human perspective, we see that we are all neighbors." Liu Yi said. This perspective also makes him feel that people are very small, that they need to be humble to nature, and that human beings need to rethink their relationship with "neighbors".
Guo Yiyan, the designer of another work "Fuyuan", introduced at the scene that the location of the work was originally an industrial site, and the West Bank has used this place as a "plant sanatorium" (temporary nursery) in the past few years, and the public green space often has some trees that do not grow well or are too dense will move here for "transition", and this function will continue here in the future.
This art season, the artists "opened" the place to present a "pocket park" to explore what the ecological environment we face in the city is like. Guo Yiyu said that in the process of restoration and transformation, the team found a lot of invasive plants, and tried to remove them as much as possible to retain the native wild plants.
- Urban space in "metamorphosis"
The 2023 Shanghai Urban Space Art Season (<>th) is co-hosted by Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Planning and Natural Resources, Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, Xuhui District People's Government, Yangtze River Delta Ecological and Green Integrated Development Demonstration Zone Executive Committee, Jiading District People's Government, Qingpu District People's Government, Songjiang District People's Government, Fengxian District People's Government, and China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone Lingang New Area Management Committee.
On September 9, the 24 Shanghai Urban Space Art Season kicked off in the rain, with visitors admiring an outdoor work by French artist couple Cledat & Petitpier's The Bathe. Photo by China News Network reporter Zheng Yingying
The event opened on September 9 and officially opened to the public on September 24 until November 9. The 25 exhibition areas in Shanghai will jointly interpret the theme of "cohabitation" through multiple spaces, scenes and dimensions. The 11 exhibition areas include: 20 theme interpretation exhibition area, 20 key sample exhibition areas and 20 practice case exhibition areas.
Since 2015, the Shanghai Urban Space Art Season has been held every two years, witnessing and promoting the "transformation" of urban space.
In 2015, the first Shanghai Urban Space Art Season was held at the Xuhui Riverside West Bank Art Center with the theme of "urban renewal", which not only promoted the development of the Xuhui Riverside area and the effective use of industrial heritage, but also planted the seeds of art in the West Bank, making it gradually become one of Shanghai's art centers.
This year, the fifth space art season returns to Xuhui Riverside again, which has been greatly "transformed". The fifth edition of the Space Art Season chose the less lively and perfect southern section of the Xuhui Riverside, which was once the shoreline of factories and municipal facilities. On January 2018, 1, the southern section of the Xuhui Riverside Public Open Space was officially opened to the public, but compared with the northern section of the Xuhui Riverside that already owns the Long Museum, the West Bund Art Museum and the West Bund Art Center, the southern section is still silent, and many people do not even know that this section also belongs to the West Bank of Xuhui.
This year's Space Art Season integrates the exhibition activities into the context of the promotion of public space, integrates architecture, landscape, public art, sculpture, installation, urban furniture and other art fields, and takes the riverside space of 5 kilometers from Longyao Road to Dianpu River as the carrier, and completes more than 30 works in the fields of space, environment and art, opening the future urban experiment of "cohabitation" and helping the southern section of Xuhui Riverside to "transform" into a waterfront open space with pleasant ecology and rising popularity.
The opening ceremony of the day was held at the West Bund Dome Art Center, which was a "witness" of the transformation of Xuhui West Bank from an "industrial rust belt" to a "science and technology embroidery belt" and a "life show belt", witnessing the innovation and development of Xuhui West Bank as a sample of Shanghai's urban renewal. (End)